Matthew 5:12

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. REJOICE, AND BE EXCEEDING GLAD - `exult' [ agalliasthe (G21)]. In the corresponding passage of Luke (Luke 6:22), where every indignity trying to flesh and blood is held forth as the probable lot of such as were faithful to Him, the word is even stronger than here, "leap" [ skirteesate (G4640)], as if He would have their inward transport to overpower and absorb the sense of all these affronts and sufferings; nor will anything else do it. FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: FOR SO PERSECUTED THEY THE PROPHETS WHICH WERE BEFORE YOU: - q.d., 'You do but ser...

12._Rejoice ye, and leap for joy _The meaning is, a remedy is at hand, that we may not be overwhelmed by unjust reproaches: for, as soon as we raise our minds to heaven, we there behold vast grounds of joy, which dispel sadness. The idle reasonings of the Papists, about the word _reward, _which is here used, are easily refuted: for there is not (as they dream) a mutual relation between the reward and merit, but the promise of the _reward _is free. Besides, if we consider the imperfections and faults of any good works that are done by the very best of men, there will be no work which God can judge to be worthy of reward. We must advert once more to the phrases, _on my account, _or, _on account of the Son of Man, _(Luke 6:22;) and _lying, shall speak every evil word against you; _that he who suffers persecution for his own fault ...

3-12 Our Saviour here gives eight characters of blessed people, which represent to us the principal graces of a Christian. 1. The poor in spirit are happy. These bring their minds to their condition, when it is a low condition. They are humble and lowly in their own eyes. They see their want, bewail their guilt, and thirst after a Redeemer. The kingdom of grace is of such; the kingdom of glory is for them. 2. Those that mourn are happy. That godly sorrow which worketh true repentance, watchfulness, a humble mind, and continual dependence for acceptance on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, with constant seeking the Holy Spirit, to cleanse away the remaining evil, seems here to be intended. Heaven is the joy of our Lord; a mountain of joy, to which our way is through a vale of tears. Such mourners shall be comforted by their God. 3. The meek are happy. The meek are those who quietly submi...

Verse Matthew 5:12. _REJOICE_] In the testimony of a good conscience; for, without this, suffering has nothing but _misery_ in it. _BE EXCEEDING GLAD_] αγαλλιασθε, _leap for joy_. There are several cases on record, where this was _literally_ done by the martyrs, in Queen Mary's days. _GREAT_ IS _YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN_] In the Talmudical tract _Pirkey_ _Aboth_, are these words: "Rabbi _Tarpon_ said, The day is short: the work is great: the labourers are slow: the REWARD IS GREAT: and the father of the family is urgent." The followers of Christ are encouraged to suffer joyfully on two considerations. 1. They are thereby conformed to the prophets who went before. 2. Their reward in heaven is a great one. God gives the grace to suffer, an

REJOICE, AND BE EXCEEDING GLAD - Regard it as a great privilege thus to be persecuted and to suffer - a thing not to be mourned over, but as among the chief blessings of life. FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN - That is, your reward will be great in the future world. To those who suffer most, God imparts the highest rewards. Hence, the crown of martyrdom has been thought to be the brightest that any of the redeemed shall wear; and hence many of the early Christians sought to become martyrs, and threw themselves in the way of their persecutors, that they might be put to death. They literally rejoiced, and leaped for joy, at the prospect of death for the sake of Jesus. Though God does not require us to seek persecution, yet all this shows that there is something in religion to sustain the soul which the world does not possess. Nothing but the consciousness of innocence, and the presence o...

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 5:1 AND SEEING THE MULTITUDES; _i.e. _those spoken of in Matthew 4:25—the multitudes who were at that point of time following him. HE WENT UP. From the lower ground by the lake. INTO A MOUNTAIN; Revised Version, _into the mountain _(εἰς τὸ ὄρος);_ i.e. _not any special mountain, but "the mountain nearest the place spoken of—the mountain near by" (Thayer); in contrast to any lower place, whether that was itself fairly high ground (as probably Luke 9:28) or the shore of the lake. The actual spot here referred to may have been far from, or, and more probably ...

REJOICE AND BE EXCEEDING GLAD,.... Because of the honour put upon them, the glory they bring to Christ and his cause, by cheerfully suffering for it; and because of the glory and happiness that shall follow upon their sufferings: FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN; not of debt, but of grace; for there is no proportion or comparison between what the saints suffer for Christ, and the glory that shall be revealed in them by him; not in earth, but in heaven. Saints must not expect their reward here, but hereafter, when God himself will be their reward; he will be all in all; Christ and all his glory, glory and all the riches of it will be the reward of the inheritance, and which must needs be a "great" one. And the more to animate them to suffer with joyfulness, and to support them under all their reproaches and persecutions, it is added; FOR SO PERSECUTED THEY THE PROPHETS WHICH WERE BEFO...

Matthew 5:1. _And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:_ You notice that the Preacher sat down, and that his disciples stood around him. If you find it somewhat warm and trying tonight, remember that you have the best of it, for you sit while the speaker stands. Concerning our Lord, we read: «When he was set, his disciples came unto him:» Matthew 5:2. _And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,_ Perhaps someone says, «He could not have taught them without opening his mouth» I have found that a great many try to teach without opening their mouths; but the earnest preacher speaks with all his might. So did Jesus in the open air on the mountain side: «He opened his mouth, and taught them.» Such grand things

5. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KING CONCERNING HIS KINGDOM. CHAPTER S 5-7 _ 1. The Characteristics of the heirs of the Kingdom.(Matthew 5:1 .) 2. The Confirmation of the Law and its Expansion.(Matthew 5:17 .)_ CHAPTER 5 In the closing of the last chapter we saw our Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by a great multitude of people, which followed Him and who were attracted by the King's presence, before whom the various diseases had to flee. If we turn to the eighth chapter we find the continuation of these scenes we had in the last half of the fourth chapter. Between these two Chapter s are three very important ones, which are as such found only in this Gospel. The contents of the fifth, sixth and seventh Chapter s are in the form of a continued discourse of our Lord, commonly called “t

THE BEATITUDES (_cf._ Luke 6:20). These nine sayings (eight if we reckon Matthew 5:10 as one, or regard Matthew 5:11 f. as having originally stood elsewhere; seven if we omit Matthew 5:5) have analogies in OT (_e.g._ Psalms 1:1; Psalms 32:1; Psalms 89:15; Proverbs 8:32;...