Wednesday, March 4, 2015

1 Peter 2:23 - Who... did not revile in return"



“Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”  1 Peter 2:23
The central and most striking – no pun intended – concept in this verse is the nonretaliatory nature of Jesus Christ and our instruction to be like Him.  He was reviled but did not “back revile” as the Greek vocabulary reads.  This is so not like me!   When someone hits me with words, reviles me, my instinctive, practiced, and usually very effective response is to hit them back with more hurtful words.  How contrary to Christ that makes me!
Colossians 2:4 speaks to this same issue with these words, “being reviled we bless….”  That is being like Christ.  If something must be said, and we almost always feel we must speak an answer, then let our reply be a blessing.  The culture will not do this, ever; so returning a blessing when reviled will surely mark the believer as a follower of Jesus Christ.  It is this separation that will mark the church as different from the world, and such marks are vital to the cause of Christ.

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