"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR THOSE WHO ARE BEING HATED, EXCLUDED AND REVILED ETC"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR THOSE WHO ARE BEING HATED, EXCLUDED AND REVILED ETC"

Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.

Luke 6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

The NLT reads the above verses this way.

Luke 6:22 God blesses you who are hated and excluded and mocked and cursed because you are identified with me, the Son of Man.

Luke 6:23 “When that happens, rejoice! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were also treated that way by your ancestors.

Some explanatory thoughts and application:

1. Jesus uses the word, "Blessed", which means "Happy" to describe what we are when men hate us, exclude us and so on.

2. He then goes on to tell us why we are blessed. And, here are the 2 reasons why. (1) It's because we have a great reward in heaven waiting for us. (2) The prophets of old were treated the same way. 

3. An important point to consider, is that this is because of "The Son of Man's sake". That is, the hatred, exclusion etc, is because of our relationship to Christ, and our standing firm in love, in His Word. 

4. It's helpful to remember, that they did the same thing to Jesus. People don't just naturally welcome and love God's people. In fact, as stated here, they often have intense hatred and malice towards them. 

5. So, if you are doing what God has called you to do, don't be surprised if you also experience what Jesus talked about. But, don't forget to rejoice and leap for joy, etc. There's a reward waiting for you. This life is not all there is to our existence in Christ. There is the life to come. And those rewards for what you are going through now, are safe and sound, being reserved in heaven for you.

A prayer:

Father, Your Word is so helpful to us. Thank You for it. We gain perspective, hope, comfort and encouragement from it. It sets our thinking in the correct way. Thank You for caring enough to explain things to us. Especially the more painful things of life. We love You, and look forward to our rewards in heaven. 

Pastor Bob Grenier