Vengeance.
Not a word we typically use today. Maybe payback, karma, or “getting what’s coming to you,” sounds more familiar. But they all describe “retribution exacted for an injury or wrong” – or to put it simply, justice being done against an injustice.
Everyone has or will eventually be falsely accused of something. I remember my first time; my boss not even giving me a chance to defend myself, but simply reprimanding me. Granted, there was some grace and understanding, but nonetheless it led to a lot of embarrassment.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever been in a similar situation but immediately my mind went on the defense. I tried every angle. This coworker over here was breaking way worse rules than I was accused of, why aren’t they getting corrected? Or that rule wasn’t communicated to me, so how is it my fault? And then I began tearing down my boss – how could he be so blind to the truth that I was clearly innocent?
Whatever injustice is done to us – whether we are falsely accused or are mistreated in some way – we all have a desire to make it right. Whatever word you want to use for it, it seems that we have an innate drive for justice. A drive that causes us to simply not keep our mouths shut.
Why We Can’t Keep Our Mouth Shut
The desire for justice is a trait that is not inherently bad. We see this when the Bible references that we can experience anger without sin (Ephesians 4:26) or when it commands to uphold laws (Romans 3:31). Justice is something we are created to desire. This is one of the reasons we cannot stand by while injustice is being done whether to ourselves or others. However, this is not the only reason.
Let’s use this example: when you receive a low grade on a paper you know you should’ve gotten an A on, why do you get upset? Or when your boss calls you into the office and reprimands you for something you “said to a coworker” that you definitely did not say, why do you rush to defend yourself? Or let’s say you’re watching your kids and one of them rips a toy out of the other’s hands leading that child to cry out for justice. Why? Because we feel we deserve to be vindicated. We deserve recognition for hard work; we deserve to be seen in the right; we deserve retribution for affliction. Self pity and anger can easily emerge in the face of injustice because we feel that we deserve mercy.
How can I say that? Look at our actions. Even when we are in the wrong, we often are quick to make excuses on how it’s not truly our fault. So and so did this or that happened so that’s why we did xyz – a trait we picked up from our ancestors (Genesis 3:12-13). When wrong is done to us, we believe we deserve justice. And as I said above, this is not a bad belief in itself. Justice should be done. The issue becomes when we feel we are owed justice.
Which leads to another reason we rush to revenge – the fear that if we don’t worry about justice no one will. We often think, if I don’t take the time to right the wrongs done to me, no one will care enough to do it. Who will carry this weight if I do not? After all, I’m the one who felt the most pain from that sly comment or that abuse or that betrayal. No one will seek justice because no one understands as well as I do.
I have to be constantly on edge. I have to protect myself. I have to seek revenge. Because if I don’t, no one will.
The Silence of the Perfect One
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 53:7)
This verse is certainly not talking about me. It’s talking about Jesus, the Son of God when He stood trial before His crucifixion. Each gospel book (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) describes this courtroom scene and each highlights a specific detail: His silence.
The story begins with Jesus being arrested and taken to the high priest, Caiaphas, and the council of scribes and elders (Matthew 26:57-58, Mark 14:53-55). It says in verses 59-63,
Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward… And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent.
The silence continued when Jesus was set before Pilate, the governor of Judea during Roman times, and Herod, the ruler of Galilee and Perea. The chief priests and the elders continued to falsely accuse Jesus in front of Pilate and He continued to not answer (Matthew 27:11-12). At one point, after finding out Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate sends Him to Herod for judgment. Here, too, Jesus is silent (Luke 23:9). But during this exchange, the mistreatment moves to contempt and mockery (Luke 23:11). Jesus was silent in the face of being belittled and spit on. Jesus was silent in the face of death. In fact, His silence led to His death (John 19:9-10).
So why? How was Jesus able to maintain silence in the face of abuse and death when we can hardly hold our tongues when someone cuts us in line? It’s not because Jesus is a pacifist or a doormat, bent on only “keeping the peace.” It is clear Jesus brings judgment (John 9:39) and we get our drive for justice from the just nature of God.
It comes down to the humility Jesus had. Mark 14 states that the only testimony they could find against Jesus was false. Not a single accusation was true. We will never experience this. When we feel we deserve justice we fail to remember how much injustice we have done ourselves. (not that many times justice should be done; I am not saying abuse and mistreatment should go unpunished) Perfection in human form remained silent in the face of injustice whereas we, frequenters of injustice-doing, cry aloud when injustice is done to us.
Jesus’ humility is even more evident in the one time He does speak. In the article “The Silence of the Lamb,” the author mentions that in Matthew 26:63-64, “What Caiaphas did here was to put Jesus under oath before God, and so he was obliged to answer. Jesus could not and did not deny who he is. But this was not an act of self-defense or self-justification in the face of false witnesses. It was simply the truth” (Adrian Rogers). And when Jesus answered, He switched the title from Son of God to Son of Man, a reference to His deity using Daniel 7:13-14. But not just a reference to His deity, but also how He humbled Himself by taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man (Philippians 2:6-8).
In the face of injustice, humility – a release of one’s rights to revenge and vindication – is what kept Jesus silent. But silence also flows from a trust that justice will be done.
Trusting Justice to the Justifier
“Therefore the LORD will wait,
that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted,
that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
(Isaiah 30:18)
Revenge is a natural response to wrongs done to us or those we love. It is normal to want to protect yourself from harm and to repay those who harm you. But we ourselves are imperfect protectors.
In 1 Peter 2, it references Jesus’ silence in the face of false accusations. Actually, it’s a passage talking to servants when they are mistreated by their masters.
This is what he says:
For 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 when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, 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.
(1 Peter 2:19–23)
Okay, woah. Beaten? Suffer? I understand following Jesus’ example but does that mean I stay silent in abuse? No, it does not. This does not mean we stay in unhealthy circumstances “for Jesus.” This means trusting that God will handle the justice. As author John Piper puts it, “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” (The Secret Superpower of Silence).
So the right move might be to quit the job or leave that relationship or distance yourself. But the goal is greater health and not to enact vengeance and justice. God handles that.
And we can trust Him to do so. God is a God of justice. He will repay (Romans 12:19). He is a God of vengeance for His children (Psalm 94:1). He is an avenger (1 Thessalonians 4:6). He is afflicted when we are afflicted (Isaiah 63:9). He will fight for us and we need only to be still (Exodus 14:14). When we do so, we “glorify God by finding in him the reward that satisfies our heart deeply enough that we don’t need to return evil for evil” (The Secret Superpower of Silence). This is the gracious thing 1 Peter 2 is talking about.
I have always found it interesting that Pilate is mentioned several times as “marveling” at Jesus’ silence. The word “marvel” in these passages is often used in situations for something so glorious or mysterious that it’s shocking. I believe Pilate marveled here because Jesus’ silence in the face of death and extreme suffering was so glorious, so mysterious, so unnatural that it was shocking. Jesus took the injustice of pain, suffering, punishment, shame, belittlement, mistreatment, and death to save us from the just death sentence we deserved. This is the very reason we can trust Him with the injustice done against us.
In danger of quoting too many sources, I would still like to leave you with this one by Tim Keller in his book The Prodigal Prophet, “A God who substitutes himself for us and suffers so that we may go free is a God you can trust.”
Trust the One who gave justice to the unjust. He will bring vengeance for those who wait for Him.
Resources
- The Secret Superpower of Silence by John Piper
- The Power of Silence: What Jesus’ Silence Before His Accusers Teaches Us by Tonya Coaxum
- The Silence of the Lamb by Adrian Rogers
- The Prodigal Prophet by Tim Keller
- Matthew 26
- Mark 14
- Luke 23
Overwhelmed 