
Isa. 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
Have you ever been wrongly accused of something? It can feel terrible. I once had to face an accusation against me. Well, twice actually. The first was when I was in Grade 1 when I punched a kid who is a bully. It felt really good at that time. But it didn’t end well as my teacher marked me after that and I needed to face that kid’s older brother on my way home! The second time was when I was called out into the Parish Priest’s office (I was raised in a Catholic Church) and I was accused of stealing the offering money of which I didn’t actually do (Honest! You don’t believe me on this do you?).
Sometimes in those situations, you can be speechless because you are taken off guard and surprised and a little tongue-tied. Well, the Lord Jesus wasn’t guilty, he wasn’t caught off guard and He wasn’t without words that could be said… Yet He remained speechless! Why? The answer is 1 Pet 2:23:
“…while being reviled, He (Jesus) did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
The key words in that passage are “kept entrusting”. The Greek word translated “entrusting” here is “paradidōmi” which means “to surrender, that is, yield up, entrust, commit, give (over, up)”. How could Jesus remain silent before those who accuse Him? Because He had completely committed and given the whole situation over to the one who judges righteously. He didn’t need to fight for His rights or state His case, for it was God who controlled this trial, not His Jewish or Roman accusers. This silence was not a weakness! It was supernatural strength powered by an overwhelming knowledge that His Father was taking care of the consequences!
How about you? Are you doing that or is there something that is eating away at you, causing anxiety and worry and stripping the strength that you have for today? We need to learn to entrust ourselves into the care of Him who judges righteously. It is better to trust our Lord than to punch that guy that had wronged us.
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