Matthew 5:10

"Happy are those who have been persecuted for the sake of justice, because from them is the realm of upward vision." At first reading it jarring, perhaps even too glib, to read of happiness and persecution in the same sentence. Persecution is a too real an experience of many in this 21st century. And, the more ardent the work for justice, the more intense can be the opposition. One of the ongoing themes of Jesus' teaching was this, the overwhelming need for justice in human society. But how can it be said that there is any sense of happiness in suffering for one's work for justice?  It would seem that Jesus' point is realized in the preposition "from".  In the Greek text, there is only the grammatical case, implying a preposition.  In Holy Wind Living Breath New Testament, the genitive case here is understood as denoting source rather than possession, as in many translations. Both senses are literal, but HWLB, as quoted in Authentic Teaching of Jesus, presents an alternative and literal way of reading the verse. Jesus' implication is that those who are suffering for justice' sake are where the realm of upward vision arises.  They don't just possess this new realm, but they are its source!  Our deep sense of joy in living justly, even if we are strongly opposed, comes from the conviction that a new realm, a new and higher vision for humanity, will flow from our work.