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In the People the Word Creates 261
deeds of Jesus’s disciples sees the glory of God. As with Jesus’s miracles,
so with the disciples’ good deeds, there is something peculiar about the
glory of these works. What is it?
Jesus had just said about his disciples:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matt. 5:10–12)
So it is clear that not all who see the disciples’ “righteousness” (v. 10)
are moved to give glory to God. Some people persecute and revile them
(v. 11). But amazingly, Jesus says that his people—those who have been
“called out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9)—must not
grumble, but rather rejoice. This kind of response to suffering is so utterly
extraordinary that Jesus immediately says, “You are the salt of the
earth. . . . You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13–14). The stunning
taste and brightness of the disciples’ joy in suffering for righteousness’
sake is the salt and light of the world. 2 This is the peculiar glory Jesus
brought into the world. This is the light of the glory of Christ that we
see in the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4). And this is the peculiar glory his followers
reflect when they “behold the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).
So when Jesus says in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your
Father who is in heaven,” the light he has in mind is the peculiar brightness
described in verses 10–12. The light that moves people to give glory
to God is not mere good deeds but deeds of love done with Christdependent
joy in spite of mistreatment. When people have their eyes
opened by the Spirit of God, they see the God-given beauty in such
deeds and give glory to God. Others see just another moral performance
and chalk it up to natural causes.
2
Another evidence for this interpretation is Paul’s line of thought in Phil. 2:14–15: “Do all things without
grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the
midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Notice that
the specific behavior that shines as “light” in the world is “not grumbling,” which is another way of saying:
when things go badly, do the opposite of grumbling, namely, rejoice, which is what Matt. 5:12 says.