Jesus never defended Himself

God in person.  That is who Jesus is.

God, ergo Jesus, is Omnipotent.  He has absolute authority.

When Jesus walked this earth - whoa.  Let's pause here and just take that in.  God Almighty lowering Himself to become one of us.  This is the singular action that sets Him apart from all other "gods."

As I was saying...when Jesus walked this earth, He had many critics, many doubters, many naysayers, many outright haters who opposed Him.  We could get into all the reasons why this happened, but I want to dwell on the fact that Jesus never once defended Himself against all of these losers.

I suppose when you know you are God, there is not an ounce of insecurity as to who you are.  Ergo, no need to defend yourself to those whom Jesus knew would never convert anyway.

Point being...He, above all, had every right to defend Himself, yet He did not.

We are a society who loves our rights.  But right to do what?  Sin in new and "better" ways?!

Yes, some rights must be fought for.  But many times, it is a fight for the "right" to sin!

Behind every person or group fighting for their rights is one foundational reason:  freedom.

People want to be free.  This is a good thing.  But they are sometimes barking up the wrong tree.

The government is not going to provide you with the inner, spiritual freedom that only Christ can provide.  Oh the manmade laws may change, but the human heart is only transformed through the power of the Gospel.  That is the power of Christ living in us when we receive Him as Lord and Savior of our lives.  Then and only then will we experience true freedom.

Nothing new under the sun, so King Solomon said.  He was spot on.

They fought against Jesus when He was here in person the same ways they fight against Him now.  In ignorance to who He really is and why He really came.  In prideful, rebellious defiance - asserting their "right" to handle their own lives, make up their own self-seeking agendas, and asserting themselves as "lord" of their own lives.

But people are not God.  The world is living proof that we don't really know how to handle things on our own.  We truly all need an all-wise, all-loving, righteous Father who knows the real scoop and how to rule and reign, set things right, make things right, and heal us, set us free, and make us whole.

We all know you can't legislate conscience.  That's an inside job.  If the laws were powerful enough to change people, then there would be no more murders, wars, etc., in the world.  But we all know there is no shortage of those.

I mean people know that killing someone is against the law - they know the consequences - yet kill they still do!  The law isn't changing them at all.  They still do their own thing.

Where is the power that changes a human from the inside out?  There is only one genuine way I know to do this:  through the power of the Living God via the Holy Spirit, leading, convicting, guiding us into all truth.  God still has all the answers.  That will never change.  

So Jesus had no need to defend Himself because He was the only perfect, sinless human being who ever lived.  That's what bugged the people so much!  They couldn't find fault with Him so they made up things about Him, lied about His character and identity, and all sorts of wicked things that eventually led to His crucifixion.

But not only did that not take Jesus by surprise, but He knew that that was His purpose for entering into this mess of a world in the first place!  To die for our sins. 

So the very enemies that opposed Him were but pawns in the bigger Plan of God.  Ha!

Jesus, of course, knew this and He did not let His haters detract Him from His heavenly purpose.

Can we say the same when our haters try to get at us?  You have no haters?  Hmmm.  Makes me wonder if you are truly living out the Christian life fully.  Jesus had haters.  We belong to Jesus.  Ergo, we will have haters!

The trick is to, like Jesus, never feel the need to defend ourselves.  Just be a doormat, you say?  No.  Just follow the example of Christ, Who, by the way, is the only example worth following.

Keep your peace.  Haters gonna hate no matter how righteously we live our lives.  That is the reason people hate the Christians!  How dare we show up their sin for what it really is!  That's exactly what Jesus did when He spoke.  He said, in essence, You're off track.  You missed the mark.  I am here to save you and offer you real hope, eternal life.  You won't find it anywhere else, folks.  It's all in Me!

So next time someone bullies you and your faith, just sit quietly and only speak up if Jesus leads you to - not in defense, but let Him give you His wise words to speak.  You won't win an argument against those whose minds are already made up against the gospel.  The gospel is not an intellectual thing - it is spiritual.  And only those with His Spirit can discern its truth.  So you won't win the God argument with intellectual prowess.  Jesus never did and neither should we.

Jesus simply told it as it is.  If you didn't like it, or Him, He simply moved on!

In a world where people take offense at the tiniest thing (oy!), as Christians we need to become inoffendable.  We let God be our Defender.  

Let God's plan play out.  He is still on the Throne!  Our job is to seek Him, listen to Him, trust Him, and obey Him. 

Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Supreme example in all things.  Thank You that You never stooped to defending Yourself.  Thank You that You came to this earth that so desperately needs a Savior!  Help us to not get defensive when being verbally attacked but to rise above the critics and carry on in Your truth and strength! For we know that You will set all things straight eventually.  We know that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord!  Alleluia!  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.