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Ask Pastor John
The Secret Superpower of Silence
00:13:24
How does Jesus’s silence before his accusers teach us how to suffer? Pastor John offers encouragement for Christians facing unjust treatment.
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- [00:04]
A
Well, the physical thing happens inside of us when we get treated unfairly. We feel our chest tighten up, our brains start to cycle through comebacks. Later, we're gonna use our memory to play back all the comebacks that 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 who just walked away. Today on Ask Pastor John, the Secret superpower of Silence. A week ago, Pastor John, we read 2 Samuel 16, verses 5 to 14, about the time when King David was traveling and gets cursed by Shimei. Cursed continually, we are told in the text, 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 and David says, quote, leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Wow. Verse 11. It's a fascinating little twist in the story. So David leaves vengeance for God. An anonymous listener wants you to address another text that we're reading today with a similar theme. Pastor John, hello. In Mark 15, verses 1 to 5, and again in Mark chapter 15, verses 15 to 39, we see Jesus respond to false accusations and suffering as he stands before Pilate. And then as he endorsed 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 in the moment? 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 ourselves?
- [01:39]
B
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 by Shimei in 2 Samuel 16. And just like Jesus in his suffering, David did not retaliate against Shimei. So there's the correlation between David and the Son of David. So the patience and silence of David in his suffering point toward the patience and silence of Christ in his suffering. And Isaiah prophesies makes a connection like this in chapter 53, verse 7, 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 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 accepting 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. The clearest answer to that question is given by the apostle Peter in his first letter 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 a very contentious, reviling kind of 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 you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. Now here's where he makes the connection with Christ, verse 21. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example. So there's the explicit connection, leaving you an example 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 four observations from Peter's words. 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 the third chapter of 1 Peter, like this, 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 are blessed, have no fear of them or 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. So the suffering that Christians are to endure is unjust. 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, we entreat. 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. 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. We hand over our cause or ourselves, our lives to God. And we trust him. He's enough. It glorifies God when we trust him to be enough rather than retaliating. So here's the way Jesus put the pieces together for us in Matthew 5. In verses 13 and 14 of Matthew 5, 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. Verses 11 and 12. Then he says that we are to let that light. You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine 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 chapter five, and they come to a crescendo at the end of chapter five. With, 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, you look like your father. You'll be glorifying to your Father, for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. So you. 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.
- [10:55]
A
That verse 11, Leave him alone, for the Lord has told him to curse. That is a wild statement in 2
- [11:01]
B
Samuel 16, you know, because I know people know the end of the story. Yeah, where David arranges for Shimei to be dealt with. And I was thinking that through. And that is exactly in parallel with the way Jesus does it. Jesus is totally willing to be cursed now, but that is not the end of the story. Jesus is going to see to it. And the way David does it. I don't know if I got all this worked out, but the way David does it is to say to Solomon, you know what he did to me? And I forget exact words, but just see to it that he's taken care of. And the way Solomon handles it is by making it conditional. He doesn't just kill him. He says, you stay in your house, you move from your house, you're dead. And he moves from his house and he's dead. So the dynamic there, I don't think, is contradictory. You can't throw that at us and say, see, David really didn't suffer any injustice. Well, he did for quite a long time and was quite humiliating. And then, as the king ought to do when he's in his full power, he deals with injustice, but he didn't do it merely for the past sin. He gave him the chance. So anyway, there's more going on there, and I thought, I can't do all this.
- [12:23]
A
Well, thank you for what you did. Get to we are to glorify God by finding in him the reward that satisfies our hearts deeply enough that we don't need to return evil for evil. That takeaway is deeper than just biting our own tongue. It's about where do you put your trust? You hand the whole mess over. You let God handle the justice. And in a world where everyone is constantly retaliating, that that kind of restraint, it shines like a spotlight in the darkness of this sinful world. We've been here before on the podcast. We've talked about these things before. You can see the Ask Pastor John book on pouting, sulking and self pity. When we are hurt or underappreciated or unappreciated, how do we respond? See page 130 of the book and that whole section that begins there on the Aspadrajan book for more on pouting, sulking and self pity of how to practically deal with those sins in the heart. And speaking of killing these fleshly instincts inside of us. Next time on Ask Pastor John. Kill your ego, find your joy. I'm Tony Reinke. See you on Monday.