Beauty: Those Mocked and Misunderstood for the Right Reasons

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:11)

"Blessed are those who are mocked and misunderstood for the right reasons, for the kingdom of heaven comes to earth amidst much persecution." (B.Zahnd paraphrase)

The eighth and final beatitude we find in Matthew 5 brings it all full circle when Jesus promises the same reward to the spiritually poor and to those who are persecuted for the right reasons.

Brian Zahnd presents a wonderful way of seeing all of the beatitudes expressed in their fullness in the cross which he contends earlier in his book (Beauty Will Save the World) is the greatest expression of beauty that has ever been known and the beauty that will save the world.

To name and follow Jesus is to live like He lived as seen in the beatitudes, and to live in this way will always lead to a cross. Understood rightly, this way of living is counter-cultural to the ways and mindsets of the world's culture. "The moment Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes on that Galilean hillside - and began to live them - he was launched on a course that would ultimately lead to Good Friday and his crucifixion on the hill of Calvary." Zahnd goes on to show how each beatitude can be seen expressed in the final hours of Jesus' life:

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It was the spiritually poor thief crucified by Jesus who is promised heaven, not the spiritually rich Pharisees.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. The first to be comforted on Easter Sunday were the women who mourned at the cross.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. In lowliness and meekness, Jesus entered Jerusalem on His way to be crucified; His inheritance now is the nations that stretch from sea to sea.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. In His thirst on the cross, Jesus was setting the world aright and giving it a new axis of love, therein finding satisfaction.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. The thief expresses mercy to Jesus when others are mocking Him and in return receives mercy from Jesus.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. The pagan soldier with no claims of spiritual insight was able to see in Jesus what the Pharisees could not see.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Jesus was called "son of God" by the Roman soldier when, by refusing to take up the sword and perpetuate the cycle of violence, He made peace by the blood of the cross.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The principalities and powers persecuted Jesus for all the right reasons, but in Him the kingdom of heaven came to earth and the cross began the remaking of the world according to righteousness.

"The Beatitudes and the cruciform are ultimately the same thing - one existing in proclamation, the other existing in demonstration. It is the beauty that we are called to emulate as followers of Jesus Christ...The Beatitudes and the cruciform are...God's saving beauty. The beauty of the Beatitudes leads to the beauty of the cruciform, and together they form the beauty that will save the world."

This kind of living by God's people provides a safe place for those seeking shelter from the storm of the "ugly and unforgiving pragmatism offered by the principalities and powers."