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Vengeance Belongs to God
Read Mark 15:1-20
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Mark 15:5
We Asians are usually not as vocal as our Western counterparts. When we are wrongly accused, oftentimes we would just keep quiet and say nothing ‘like a dumb boy eating lotus seeds.’ We do not see the point of arguing because we believe our accusers have already made up their mind.
Jesus was silent before His accusers because they were intent on finding Him guilty. To fulfil Scriptures, He said not a word in His own defence. Though He suffered emotionally and physically, He did not retaliate nor threaten to get even. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterwards (Hebrews 12:2). He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly.
Jesus suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps (1Peter 2:21-23). When we suffer for doing good, we are to face it, like our Lord, with confidence that God is in control of the future. God is pleased with us when, for His sake, we patiently endure unfair treatment. We should be joyful when we are persecuted for being or doing right, for these testings will develop persevering faith, proven character and mature hope (James 1:2-4).
God has not finished with us yet. Therefore if, in the face of such trials, we get upset or agitated, we need to deal with our heart before the day is out, thus allowing no root of bitterness to grow. So what if we were wronged? Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Forgive as the Lord forgave us. We can then love and pray for those who persecute us as the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross.
Let God be the Judge.
What would Jesus do? Am I serious about doing what He would do?
Read Mark 15:1-20
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Mark 15:5
We Asians are usually not as vocal as our Western counterparts. When we are wrongly accused, oftentimes we would just keep quiet and say nothing ‘like a dumb boy eating lotus seeds.’ We do not see the point of arguing because we believe our accusers have already made up their mind.
Jesus was silent before His accusers because they were intent on finding Him guilty. To fulfil Scriptures, He said not a word in His own defence. Though He suffered emotionally and physically, He did not retaliate nor threaten to get even. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterwards (Hebrews 12:2). He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly.
Jesus suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps (1Peter 2:21-23). When we suffer for doing good, we are to face it, like our Lord, with confidence that God is in control of the future. God is pleased with us when, for His sake, we patiently endure unfair treatment. We should be joyful when we are persecuted for being or doing right, for these testings will develop persevering faith, proven character and mature hope (James 1:2-4).
God has not finished with us yet. Therefore if, in the face of such trials, we get upset or agitated, we need to deal with our heart before the day is out, thus allowing no root of bitterness to grow. So what if we were wronged? Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Forgive as the Lord forgave us. We can then love and pray for those who persecute us as the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross.
Let God be the Judge.
What would Jesus do? Am I serious about doing what He would do?
Scripture
About this Plan
Scripture Union Peninsular Malaysia's Bible reflections are devotional readings from the thoughts and insights of Asian writers. Consisting of 8 volumes, they cover the whole Bible in four years. Each volume contains books from the Old and New Testaments, and has a mix of historical, poetic and prophetic books, the gospels and epistles. Using this you can cultivate the discipline of a regular, systematic engagement with Scripture and gain an understanding of its magnificent story.
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We would like to thank Scripture Union for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: http://www.su.org.my
