Retaliation

“He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”
1 Peter 2:23 NLT

‭‭Whenever I think of the way the Son of God was treated during His life here on Planet Earth, and particularly during His trial and execution, I become deeply saddened. It’s hard enough to see such treatment when it happens to fellow human beings, but the Son of God, Jesus Himself. …? We read about how fellow believers are treated in authoritarian states such as Afghanistan or North Korea. Christians in some parts of India suffer greatly for no other reason that their belief in God. But surely the greatest miscarriage of justice took place in Palestine two thousand years ago, in a city called Jerusalem. 

Starting with the insults levelled at Jesus in the grounds of the high priest’s home, we read in Luke 22:63-65, “The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?” And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at him“. But there is no record of Jesus even acknowledging what His tormenters had done. The next time He spoke was in front of the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin. In response to a question about whether or not He was the Messiah, ” … He replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer” (Luke 22:67b-68). Jesus was in control but submissive to the outcome of what was yet to come. Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews, to which Jesus replied “you have said it”. And finally we read what He said in Luke 23:34a, “ … Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing …”. Jesus was happy to leave “His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly“.

Jesus could have called upon angels to help Him, as we read in Matthew 26:53, “Don’t you realise that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” He could have used His miracle-working powers to zap all His antagonists at a stroke. But in spite of all the abuse Jesus suffered, He kept focused on the reason why He came to Planet Earth. John 3:16,“ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life“. Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost“.

We pilgrims can only fall down before Jesus in gratitude, that He did not flinch from the path set before Him, and He swallowed the bitter cup of death and sacrifice for the sins of humanity to the last drop. There will come a time when all those who were complicit in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus will be called to account. Perhaps, in hindsight, they realised their crime, and fell on their knees in repentance before God. Only then would they hear the Saviour grant them forgiveness. Today, there are many around us who either do not know what Jesus did, or have chosen to ignore the Good News of what happened that day at Calvary. Through their rebellion and sin they too are complicit in hammering home the nails. But we pilgrims know why we have been called, and we mustn’t flinch from fulfilling our calling, no matter what it takes. We may or may not suffer abuse. But, like Jesus, we press on to the Heavenly goal.

Dear Father God. Jesus never turned away from the Cross, even though He could have done. Please help us to follow His example. In Jesus’ name. Amen.