I don't know about you, but I am the kind of person that when someone insults me, talks behind my back, says something negative about me, treats me ill, etc., I get agitated and retaliate. I come up with an insult to shoot back. I'll grumble about it for days. I let it bother me and complain about it to others. Sometimes it just takes even the smallest little comment to set me off.
I was flipping through my bible this weekend when I came to this verse:
"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." - Isaiah 53:10
If that is not powerful, I don't know what is. It really took me back, and the more I read it over and over the more impact it had on me. I mean yea, as christians we are told over and over again the story of how Jesus kept silent even as he was mocked and afflicted, but to me this verse really puts that into perspective.
"...like a lamb that is led to the slaughter..."
Put that image in your head. A little lamb, innocent and sweet, being silently led along without a clue in the world as to what it is about to face. When I read that verse I thought of that scene in the movie "Babe (1995)" where Babe the pig discovers the slaughter house and what happens to pigs once they are fully grown. As Babe's master (played by James Cromwell) carries him into the slaughter house and sets him down on the table, the pig looks around at all the scary slaughtering equipment around the room and begins to feel very nervous; yet, he doesn't try to run. He doesn't squeal and panic, or even make the slightest peep for that matter. Why? He trusted his master.*
Jesus trusted his master - that is, he trusted his Father. As the night arrived that he knew he was to be arrested, he was so nervous that it is said he sweat blood, praying to his Father:
"Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36)
He knew what awaited him in only a few hours. He knew the worst kind of agony a man could suffer lay in his not-so-distant future. Nevertheless he still prays, "Not what I will, but what you will." And thus, the next morning as he is dragged across the streets, publicly mocked and beaten, people shouting all sorts of wicked insults at him, Jesus keeps silent, for he is focused on one thing and one thing only - fulfilling the will of his Father in heaven, that we might be saved.
"...so he opened not his mouth."
Even the worst comments I have had people make about me are nothing compared to the insults Jesus had hurled at him. Any ill will laid out against me is dust compared to the torment Jesus faced. Yet I have spent a good majority of my life bickering and feeling ill towards my oppressors. I think most of us would have to admit to that. But what did Jesus do as they nailed him to the cross? He kept silent almost the whole time except for just about one moment, calling out to his Father, saying:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
Now that is what complete, totally surrender to the Lord looks like. Asking that the Lord forgive the very men that have sentenced him to a horrible death. Having compassion on those who had not the slightest bit of compassion on him.
So now I am challenging myself, and you as well, next time someone insults you or tries to hurt you in some way, don't retaliate. 99% of the time that is exactly what they are looking for; they're trying to get a rise out of you. So how much more surprised and taken aback will they be if instead of retaliating you keep calm and either ignore their comments or just say "That's ok. I forgive you." That is the last thing they'll expect.
It isn't easy. Trust me, I know. I am probably one of the most guilty when it comes to thinking ill towards my oppressors. But that is where this last verse I am going to share with you comes into play.
"For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed." - Isaiah 54:10
We will mess up. We will make mistakes in life. We will forget to be compassionate from time to time. But the Lord won't. He will always have compassion on us, not matter what we do, all because his son Jesus kept silent for us, so that we might always be clean in his Father's eyes. Eternal compassion...honestly, what could be better than that?
I hope that this is as helpful to some of you as it has been to me this week.
May the Lord bless you and keep you!
-Erin
*Just so you know, Babe doesn't actually get slaughtered. I forget exactly what distracts the farmer... but he never ends up killing Babe. Which I suppose is kind of obvious as you watch the movie, because then the movie would have only been about 20 minutes long.
