The Aquila Report

Your independent source for news and commentary from and about conservative, orthodox evangelicals in the Reformed and Presbyterian family of churches

Providence College
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Search
Home/Biblical and Theological/Two Ways to be Free from the Need to Respond

Two Ways to be Free from the Need to Respond

Curiously though, Jesus did not feel the same need as we do to always respond.

Written by Michael Kelley | Saturday, May 22, 2021

A big part of the reason we always feel the need to respond in any situation is because we lack this assurance and confidence. We don’t know who we are, or at least, we haven’t fully embraced it. We, because of Jesus, have become the sons and daughters in whom the Father is well-pleased, and because we are God’s adopted children, we have no need of any more self-justification. If we truly internalized this truth, the truth of who we’ve become in Christ, we might find ourselves with an increasingly closed mouth.

 

We love to respond. No, wait – that’s wrong. We NEED to respond.

Don’t we?

You know the feeling as well as I do. There is someone who brings something to us – it’s an accusation; it’s a criticism; it’s a rebuke – it’s a whatever. Someone does something or says something or insinuates something, and we, in return, feel a compulsion inside of us. It’s a burning down deep in our guts. We. Must. Respond. And usually when that response comes, it’s part and parcel with what has just been dealt to us. If it was anger, we respond in anger. If criticism, we respond with criticism of our own. If accusation, we respond with defensiveness. Whatever the case, we respond.

Curiously though, Jesus did not feel the same need as we do to always respond.

The prophet Isaiah predicted the non-response of Jesus:

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion reflect the same silence:

And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He didn’t answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Don’t You hear how much they are testifying against You?” But He didn’t answer him on even one charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed (Matthew 27:12-14).

So he kept asking Him questions, but Jesus did not answer him (Luke 23:9).

Interesting, right? Maybe even a little maddening? It gets inside us a bit because of the injustice. Here is Jesus, being falsely accused and maligned with all sorts of groundless accusations and insinuations, and He responds with … nothing. Silence. A closed mouth. It’s such an unbelievably stark contrast to our undeniable compulsion of response. It’s almost as if Jesus has some kind of freedom we do not have – a freedom whose fruit is silence. While we are enslaved by our need to have the last word, a clever quip, or some kind of drop-the-mic self-justification. Why, then, does Jesus have this freedom of non-response that eludes us? I would propose two reasons.

Read More

Related Posts:

  • 4 Ways to Respond When Christians Hurt You
  • Good News, Ladies! You’re Sons!
  • A Theology of Confusion: How Faith Responds When God’s Ways…
  • A False Sense of Assurance
  • The Trinitarian Beauty of Adoption: The Father

Subscribe, Follow, Listen

  • email-alt
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • apple-podcasts
  • anchor
Providence College
Kept Pure Conference - 2023

Archives

Books

Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian - by Danny Olinger

Special

God is Holy
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Donations
  • Email Alerts
  • Leadership
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Principles and Practices
  • Privacy Policy

Important:

Free Subscription

Aquila Report Email Alerts

Special

Letter of Jude
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Principles and Practices
  • RSS Feed
  • Subscribe to Weekly Email Alerts
Providence Christian College - visit

DISCLAIMER: The Aquila Report is a news and information resource. We welcome commentary from readers; for more information visit our Letters to the Editor link. All our content, including commentary and opinion, is intended to be information for our readers and does not necessarily indicate an endorsement by The Aquila Report or its governing board. In order to provide this website free of charge to our readers,  Aquila Report uses a combination of donations, advertisements and affiliate marketing links to  pay its operating costs.

Return to top of page

Website design by Five More Talents · Copyright © 2023 The Aquila Report · Log in