Blessed Are the Persecuted

Matthew 5:10-12 says Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (11)  "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (12)  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  

Jesus was persecuted from the time of his birth to the time of his death. His disciples were also told that they would be persecuted and even rejected by their families (Matthew 10:34-39). Even the blind man who Jesus healed in John 9:33-34 ended up being eventually thrown out of the synagogue. We too are promised blessings as we face persecution (Luke 6:27-36).

"Hast thou no scar?  No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?  I hear thee sung as mighty in the land, I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star, Hast thou no scar?  Hast thou no wound?  Yet I was wounded by the archers, spend, leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent, by ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned: Hast thou no wound?  No wound, no scar?  Yet, as the Master shall the servant be, and, pierced are the feet that follow Me; but thine are whole: can he have followed far who has no wounds nor scar?" - Amy Carmichael