Matthew 5:11-16

Their calling 5:11-16

Jesus proceeded to clarify His disciples’ calling and ministry in the world to encourage them to endure persecution and to fulfill God’s purpose for them.

"Some might think that Matthew 5:11-12 constitute the concluding Beatitude, since these verses begin with the words ’blessed are you". But it is noteworthy that only here in the Beatitudes do we meet a verb in the second person (i.e., ’blessed are you’). In addition there are 36 (Greek) words in this Beatitude compared to a maximum of 12 words (Matthew 5:10) in the preceding eight Beatitudes. It is reasonable to conclude that Matthew 5:3-10 are a self-contained introduction to the Sermon, while Matthew 5:11-12 commence the body of the Sermon." [Note: Hodges, 2:2 (Spring 1992):1.]