Our Teacher was opposed by government and religious orders. He repeatedly warned His disciples that they would also be persecuted. He even told them to rejoice in it (Matthew 5:11-12). How do persecuted Christians survive? They pray for their persecutors. Though they experience pain they count it an honor to identify with their Lord and all those who suffered before them. They want their reactions to be like their persecuted Lord, whose reaction to suffering teaches them to be like their Teacher.
“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!” Matthew 10:25 (NASB)
