Monday; August 29

When Jesus was standing in front of His accusers, He had every right to be upset. He had been falsely charged, berated, belittled and misrepresented. If there ever was someone who had a platform to claim being bullied or mistreated, it was Him. Yet, even though He had the perfect opportunity to defend Himself and retaliate against those who were out to get Him, He did nothing. Matthew records, “And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.” (Matthew 27:12). As we look back on this choice by the Son of God, there are a couple of rationales for His response (or lack thereof). First, this fulfilled prophecy, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, He did not open His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7). If we are looking for evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, here is another proof. Second, it appears that Jesus was modeling Christian behavior for us. When people falsely accuse us or berate us, we may feel compelled to fight fire with fire, but does it really do any good? There are times we should defend our good name, but Jesus shows us that there are times when we just need to remain silent and allow our lives to speak for themselves.

A few days ago, I was introduced to an observation by Toby Mac who said, “Sometimes you just have to be okay with people not knowing your side of the story. God knows!”. The next time we are tempted to retaliate, let’s think about Jesus and remember that the only opinion that really matters is our Father’s.

Think About It!

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