In this week’s memory verse, Matthew 5:11, Jesus continues with the theme of blessings for the persecuted.
Memorize this week
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Matthew 5:11 (ESV)
What Does Revile Mean?
Revile isn’t a word we use every day (the NIV uses “insult”). What did Jesus mean when He used revile? And how can we be reviled today?
Going back to its Greek root, oneidezo, revile means to reproach, to disapprove or disgrace, to call by evil names.
Jesus was often reviled.
- He was accused by the Jews of having a demon (John 8:48).
- He was labeled insane (John 10:20).
- He was slandered on the cross by the chief priests, scribes, elders, and even robbers (Matthew 27:39-44).
Blessings in Reviling
As believers in Jesus, we, too, can be spoken about in critical ways. How do we handle it?
How did Jesus handle it?
He didn’t pass it on. When Jesus was reviled, He didn’t revile back. He left it all with God instead.
“When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”
1 Peter 2:23
Paul encouraged the Corinthians to do likewise.
“When they call us names, we say, ‘God bless you.’ When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them….”
1 Corinthians 4:12-13a, The Message
If anyone abuses us on account of Jesus, we don’t bad-mouth them back. We can ask God to bless them. Loving our enemies is difficult, but Jesus said to do it.
When we do, we, too, receive blessings. Yet another mystery of grace found in the Kingdom.
Please share your thoughts here.
Thank you, Lisa! We’re so surprised when this happens, but He told us to expect it. Our first instinct is usually to defend ourselves or revile back, yet Jesus didn’t. May He give us grace to see the bigger picture of the other person’s need.
Yes, I don’t know why we’re usually caught off guard when this happens. ha. Living where you and I do, we are used to a certain amount of decorum and respect in everyday encounters, but I know it’s not like that everywhere, and it’s not like that all the time where we are either. Regardless, if Jesus could handle it—and he wants us to follow his example—we have to learn how to use that grace wisely as well.