As we make our way through the Sermon on the Mount, it's always good to remember how it was received by those who heard it...

Matthew 7:28-29 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Common folk looked up to scribes as the experts and authorities on the Old Testament, but the words of Jesus sounded like the words of the Author. The people were astonished because He clearly spoke as "the Power behind the scribe's pen." When Jesus states that we should rejoice in persecutions because the reward is great, He likens it to the fate of the prophets of old. He speaks as one who witnessed the sufferings of the prophets, and witnessed the reward they received. He speaks as one with firsthand knowledge of these things.

The Bible asks the question, "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" (Psalm 118:6)

The Bible also asks, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

At the end of Hebrews 11, we're told that the prophets were...

...tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins (not fine clothes); being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:35-40)

Jesus was a prophet too, and like the prophets, He's waiting for the prize at the end of the race. Jesus and the prophets are watching and waiting.

The Jews had a saying: "It is better to be one of them that are cursed, than to be of them that curse; for, at the end, the curse causeless returns to him that curseth."

The goats have to eat what they see because they walk by sight, but the sheep have faith in their Shepherd, and His ability to lead them to green pasture. He's given us His word; even the very thought of a reward in heaven should cause us to leap for joy. Jesus is waiting to receive you, and receive me. He waiting for crowns to be cast before His throne; for the created ones to give glory to their Creator; for the time when those who've suffered for His sake, having received reproaches of the like that befell Him, will have them all wiped away; for the time when the revilers and persecutors will be terribly unhappy.

For His pleasure you were created (Rev 4:11). When you suffer injury, and do not return it, you glorify Him. When you suffer injury for His sake, be glad. Leap for joy. Smile and count it a blessing. No amount of suffering for the cause of Christ will make us worthy of salvation's grace, but we're told to rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.