This is why I need Him

Jesus keeps raising the standard. Yesterday I read these verses and saw how He did not sin when He suffered unjustly. Instead, He committed Himself to the Father, trusting Him to do what is right. This morning I realize that He went beyond that.

The verses are from 1 Peter 2:22-23. “(Jesus) committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 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.”

My commentary says this about the “did not revile” part:

Revile: Although He was insulted and abused, Jesus remained in control of His words and did not utter slanderous remarks in return.
Threaten: Although He suffered physical pain, Jesus did not cry out that He would get even or even that He desired to inflict pain on those who were causing Him agony.

Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah and said He would be like this.

And they made His grave with the wicked — but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)

I find out that “violence” is translated as “lawlessness” in the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament because the translators understood that “violence” referred to violence against God’s law—or sin. No matter what happened to Him, Jesus did not and could not sin. He was the perfect Lamb, without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1:19), just as the Law prescribed.

This verse says there was no deceit in His mouth. This is a high standard too. If someone hurts me, I might not say anything to their fact, but I am apt to say something in return and it is not always, “Bless you.” Jesus did not sin by breaking the Law, nor did He sin with what He said.

Yet these verses go even farther. 1 Peter 2:23 says that Jesus had the perfect inner response to His enemies also. My commentary says this:

Committed Himself: The Greek does not have Himself, and thus does not say whom or what Jesus kept giving over to God. Most likely, He constantly entrusted both Himself and His revilers to the power of God in order to let God deal with both as a righteous judge. (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary)

The commentary adds that when I pray, I am to forgive (that is, release to God) any offenses against me. It is not my responsibility or prerogative to “get even.” Mark 11:25, 26 says,

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Jesus Christ was perfect inside and out. No matter what happened to Him, He did not sin, even when He was wrongly condemned to death by the world. His perfection included trusting even His enemies to the care of God.

How did He feel about those enemies? From what I am reading this morning, it is clear that His attitude toward His enemies sets a standard far higher than mine:

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:7-10)