1 Peter 2:23 KJV
[23] “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”
The enemies of our Lord tried to provoke Him repeatedly. They wanted Jesus to respond to them in a way that would allow them to accuse Him. Their goal was to discredit His testimony so the people would reject Him. Jesus was much wiser than the religious leaders and was committed to the Father’s will.
The word reviled not only means to rebuke but also to abuse. We see this repeatedly in the life of Christ, but He handled every situation with grace and character. Nothing man could say or do would detour Him from the will of God. He proved in His ministry that He was the committed Savior. He gave us a great example to follow when handling those who mistreat you.
Dear reader, the easiest thing to do when someone rebukes or abuses you is to respond to them the same way. Jesus could have taken the very law they were using against Him and rebuked them with it. Yet He held His peace and allowed them to have the last word. He permitted them to mistreat Him and falsely accuse Him. He didn’t even try to defend Himself. Why wouldn’t Jesus put an end to their rebukes and abuse?
Christ was committed to the Righteous Judge. He did not come here to defend Himself. Calvary would settle everything for time and eternity. He was willing to suffer false accusations and rebuke to please the Father and to reach those who would one day believe in Him.
Friend, do not get side-tracked by trying to run down every false accusation people say about you. Do not feel you must have the last word when someone rebukes or verbally abuses you. God will one day have the last word. Stay focused on the will of God for your life. Keep the attitude of the Savior in our verse. It is better to stay silent than to justify yourself to a crowd that will never listen anyway. When people attack you for your faith, remember that they have a heart issue. Those who attacked Jesus were not interested in hearing the truth. They hated Jesus because of the truth. One day, God will silence every critic and those who have turned away from our Lord.