Audio Transcript
A physical response happens inside us when we get treated unfairly. We feel our chest get tight. Our brain starts to cycle through comebacks. Later, we will play back all the comebacks we didn’t think of in the moment. We want instant justice, to land the right verbal jab. But today, we’re looking at a guy who had rocks thrown at him — and just walked away. Today on Ask Pastor John: The secret superpower of silence.
A week ago, Pastor John, we read 2 Samuel 16:5–14 about the time when King David is traveling and gets cursed by Shimei — “cursed continually,” we are told, and not just with words but with thrown rocks at David and his entourage. In response to the endless cursing, David refuses to take vengeance. Instead, they travel on, David saying, “Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to” — a fascinating little twist in the story (2 Samuel 16:11). David leaves vengeance for God.
An anonymous listener wants you to address other texts we read recently: “Pastor John, hello! In Mark 15:1–5 and again in Mark 15:15–39, we see Jesus respond to false accusations and suffering as he stands before Pilate, and then as he endures the cross. Why did he remain silent in the face of accusations? How does his silence reflect humility and obedience to God’s will, even when he seemed to have every right to defend himself? Was this all only for his act of self-emptying in obedience to the Father? Or does his example teach us also how to respond to injustice and personal suffering?”
In many ways, the Jewish King David was a foreshadowing of Jesus, who is called the Son of David. And one of the ways that David foreshadowed Jesus was by enduring many hardships as the king of Israel, including being cursed by his own people. In the case you pointed out, Tony, he was cursed by Shimei in 2 Samuel 16:5–13. And just like Jesus in his suffering, David did not retaliate against Shimei. There’s the correlation between David and the Son of David. The patience and silence of David in his suffering points toward the patience and silence of Christ in his suffering. Isaiah 53:7 prophesies a connection like this:
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
So, when Jesus is silent before the accusations of the Sanhedrin and before Pilate and before Herod, he was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53 (“like a sheep that before its shearers is silent”), and he was fulfilling the foreshadowing of David’s acceptance of cursing. And the question that our friend is asking is whether he was simply fulfilling his role as a self-emptying Lamb of God, or whether his example is intended to teach us how we should live.
Opposition to Obedience
The clearest answer to that question is given by the apostle Peter in his first letter, 1 Peter 2:19–23, because he focuses directly on the suffering of Christ, and he makes it, explicitly, an example for us to follow. So, here’s what he says. I think these words are hugely important for us today in the very contentious, reviling world in which we live. He said,
This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. (1 Peter 2:19–20)
Now, here’s where he makes the connection with Christ. First Peter 2:21–23:
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example [there’s the explicit connection], so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
So, it’s clear that Peter thinks that the way Jesus endured his suffering is an example for us to follow. This is fundamental to the way we Christians should respond to the opposition that comes against us in our obedience to Jesus. So, here are four observations from Peter’s words.
Suffering Like Jesus
First, this suffering of Jesus was unjust, and that’s the kind of suffering Peter’s telling us to endure. The slaves in those churches — that’s who he’s addressing immediately — the slaves were enduring this, but not only the slaves. A lot of people think, “Well, this just doesn’t apply to everybody.” Well, it does. These instructions were for all Christians because they turn up in the very same words in 1 Peter 3:9. He’s talking to everybody now:
Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called [those are the very words he used earlier], that you may obtain a blessing. . . . Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy . . . so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:9, 14–17)
So, the suffering that Christians are to endure is unjust. That’s the first observation.
Second, our response is not to return reviling for reviling, because when Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return. On the contrary, we are to bless. This was what Jesus taught. This is the way Paul defined his ministry — not just Peter. Paul said, “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat” (1 Corinthians 4:12–13).
Third, the way we do this without giving up on the cause of justice is by handing over our cause to God who judges justly. Justice will be done sooner or later. God will settle all accounts at the cross or in hell. Nothing will be left undealt with. That is not our job when we are wronged. So, what is the purpose, then, of enduring unjust suffering now?
And that’s the fourth observation from Peter. Peter says that when we look to God — he uses the phrase “conscious of God” (see 1 Peter 2:19) — when we look to God and suffer this way with Christ, it’s a gracious thing with God. What does that mean, “a gracious thing”? A gracious thing means a beautiful thing, a praiseworthy thing. Why is it praiseworthy? Not because it calls attention to our worth, but because it calls attention to the worth of God. He supplies what we need now in order to suffer as we ought, and he supplies the justice in due time. When we endure suffering with Jesus, we do it the way Jesus did. We hand over — that’s the literal translation — our cause, our lives to God, and we trust him. He’s enough. It glorifies God when we trust him to be enough rather than retaliating.
Responding with Love
Here’s the way Jesus put the pieces together for us in Matthew 5:11–16. Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In the context, that saltiness and brightness is our miraculous ability to rejoice in doing good when we are reviled (Matthew 5:11–12). Then he says, “You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine,” so that people can see your good deeds that are flowing from that kind of heart and mindset and faith, and glorify your Father who’s in heaven. That’s the point of being the light of the world. That’s the point of not retaliating. That’s the point of good deeds, that your Father in heaven may be glorified.
And then he spells out some of those good deeds in Matthew 5:44–45, and they come to a crescendo at the end of chapter 5 with this: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father.” Chips off the old block: You’ll look like your Father; you’ll be glorifying to your Father. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
So, yes, both the teachings and the sufferings of Jesus are meant to teach us how to respond when we are treated badly, unjustly. We are to glorify God by finding in him the reward that satisfies our heart deeply enough that we don’t need to return evil for evil. This is a great light in a dark and retaliating world, and God wants it to shine with this kind of love.
