Editorial April 14, 1986 Issue

When you are persecuted ... you are blessed

ALLISON W. PHINNEY, JR.

If you had been with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, would you have readily foreseen the Easter outcome of his being seized by armed men? Imprisoned with Paul, would you have sung hymns with undiminished faith and fervor?

It's not always easy to sort out what is actually going on in the midst of daily events. When we look back after the dust has settled, from the perspective of history, we may feel the triumph of good was self-evident. But it may not have seemed all that clear to the people involved.

Christ Jesus gives us a guideline we can be sure of. He says (according to The New English Bible), "How blest you are, when you suffer insults and persecution and every kind of calumny for my sake."^{Matt. 5:11. The King James Version reads, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."}