Standing Ground
Luke 22:63-71
Imagine being taunted and ridiculed all night long?
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?" They kept heaping many other insults on him. When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. They said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us." He replied, "If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." All of them asked, "Are you, then, the Son of God?" He said to them, "You say that I am." Then they said, "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!" - Luke 22:63-71
What starts out like a college hazing ritual for a newbie freshman turns ugly when the evening of harassment ends.
Jesus knew what was coming, and he stood and took it.
Imagine what might have been going through his mind as he stood blindfolded and was struck by them. Guess who struck me? Are you kidding? What age are you guys? Do your wives know you're out here playing foolish games?
I try to imagine this internal dialogue because I need to remember the human nature of this man we hold up so high. We tend to discount the severity of these actions against him because we know he can take it, but he was just like us. Could we have taken it?
If you have never been bullied in your life, then you probably were the bully.
I know that is a bold statement, but think about it. There is always someone ready to put us down in life, whether on the playground, in the frat or sorority house, in the office, or when applying for a mortgage. People love to use and abuse their power over us.
So, what do we learn from Jesus, that we should just take it?
Yes, and no.
When the elders and chief priests demand that he tell them who he is, he challenges them. You won't believe me if I tell you, so why bother?
In the end, they considered that response proof to convict him.
The system is rigged against him. Where have we heard that before?
You see, often we wind up on the bully side of this equation, rather than the victim side. And yet we claim to be victims to gain support. The elders and chief priests claim that Jesus is a threat to their way of life and their faith, so he must be eliminated. No bullying done here.
We idolize those who stood up to bullies, write books about them, make movies, and tell ourselves we would have done the same as they did. But would we?
Would we have hidden Jews from the Nazis? Would we have withstood painful and torturous treatment as prisoners of war to keep from giving up secrets? Would we declare ourselves Christian when facing persecution and death?
Remember Peter? He had a hard time telling the truth when threatened, and still Jesus made him the leader of the church.
Jesus doesn't expect us to be martyrs. He told us we will be persecuted for believing in him, that we would be bullied because of him, but he knows us. He knows we may fail to stand up. We may try and tail.
But we will never lose his love for us.
That alone should give us the strength we need to stand our ground.
More to come...