Do You Smell Like Jesus?

Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The reward?  The reward for suffering persecution for righteousness’ sake is the kingdom of heaven – amplified in verse 12 – great rewards in heaven.  How does that sit with you? 

All of the other beatitudes promised earthly and heavenly rewards – this one focuses primarily on the heavenly.  Look at the last part of verse 12: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  What would those prophets say to you and me?

Hebrews 11 tells us about those prophets who were before us.  How did the writer of Hebrews describe their persecutions?  They were tortured, not accepting deliverance, they were mocked and scourged, chained and imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, tempted, slain with the sword, destitute, afflicted, tormented. 

Hebrews 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

They didn’t see the payoff in this life. The payoff in this life wasn’t what motivated them.   Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The next chapter in Hebrews begins with these words – some of my very favorite words to teach on - Hebrews 12:1-2  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What do these witnesses cry out to us?  What do these who were so persecuted say to us?

They say the same as Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-12  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,  For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.[11] "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. [12] Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.   

They say – we’ve been there; we’ve suffered greatly for righteousness’ sake.  It’s worth it.  Run!  Run for Jesus. The great rewards in heaven far exceed any suffering we experienced while we were on the earth. 

I pray that you have been challenged by the beatitudes.  I certainly have.  If you and I are truly living in these beatitudes, it will be visible to others; it will affect others -

    2 Cor. 2:15-16 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. [16] To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?

Those who live godly, those who live these beatitudes will smell – to some we will smell really sweet, to others we will be a stench.  Our place is to live in a way that our lives produce the fragrance of Christ – how we smell is up to others.  But, “if” we smell is up to us.  The religious, pious Jews, put the perfume on from the bottle, from the outside – Jesus is calling us to allow His fragrance to exude from our insides – If we do, we will not only be blessed and experiencing the wonders of the kingdom of God right here and right now, but we will be inviting others to join us.