When You Have Been Done Wrong, Do You Do Right?

Before turning to the Gospel of Luke we need to read a brief portion of Scripture from First Peter chapter 2. So you turn first of all in your Bibles to the book of First Peter chapter 2.

First Peter chapter 2, beginning to read from verse 21. First Peter 2:21.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps, 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, who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Now turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 22. Luke 22. And we want to begin reading at verse 63 of Luke 22. Luke 22, beginning to read at verse 63.

Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him they struck Him on the face and asked Him saying, ‘Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?’ And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council saying, ‘If you are the Christ, tell us.’ But He said to them, ‘If I tell you you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you you will by no means answer me or let me go. Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.’

Then they all said, ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ So He said to them, ‘You rightly say that I am.’ And they said, ‘What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.’

Elie Wiesel is a widely known Jewish writer and also a Nobel Prize winner. He is also a survivor of one of the darkest nightmares in human history. For the tender age of 16 he was a prisoner along with his father in that notorious Nazi concentration camp in Poland called Auschwitz.

Just this past January the 18th Elie Wiesel celebrated a sober anniversary. It was the 50th year since the last day that he spent in Auschwitz. In an article that appeared in January in Time magazine Elie Wiesel describes his recollection of that final day. I’m going to try to tell you a little bit of his story as much as possible in his own words.

He said this. “At least we will be together,” my father said. His voice was hoarse but soft. I didn’t dare to look at him. In any case it was pitch dark. But I sensed his anguish and I knew that he knew mine. My leg had just been operated on. It was throbbing with pain. I didn’t know whether I could walk. We had not been told how long the trek would last or where it would end. We had simply been told that we were being transferred to the heartland of Germany because the Red Army was near.

“Yes,” I whispered to my father. “We’ll be together. We won’t be separated.” And in my heart the words became a prayer to a heaven that was steeped in blackness. “May we remain together.” For I was by no means sure that we would. Wounded and bruised I had no faith in my own body. I felt that it would betray me. Would my father survive my death? I have often said to myself as if in a bad dream, “We should never have left. Those who were sick as I was could have remained in their beds in the infirmary and waited for the Russians.” In fact it had been suggested that we do exactly that.

In the general chaos my father could have taken an invalid into this place or a dead man’s place. Identity checks were a thing of the past. But there was a terrifying rumor that the SS would not forget us. That they would not leave any witnesses alive. It seemed inconceivable that the Germans would spare people that they had designated as first in line for death. And then Elie Wiesel goes on to describe the way in which the prisoners that were being evacuated from Auschwitz were gathered out under the open sky.

And he writes this. He says it was going to snow. The gloomy sky became black and wicked and pressed down with its weight of blood and death upon the ghost people preparing to leave Auschwitz. I thought of those who were gone and I shared their silence. Suddenly the mass of humanity tensed and became a vast river. An SS officer gave the last order that was ever given in that camp. “Forward! March!”

As we started out a strange man crossed my mind. I never expected to leave this place alive. “Stay together always,” my father said. Two weeks later after a tortured journey to Buchenwald death finally separated us.

Such are the words of Elie Wiesel. And I suspect that you will agree with me that they express a depth of suffering that few if any of us can be expected to face during our lifetime. And yet the 20th century in which we live and which is rapidly drawing to a close has demonstrated over and over and over again the enormous capacity that human beings have to mistreat other human beings.

In some ways the 20th century has revealed the depths of the cruelty that man is capable of showing to his fellow man. And we’re not just talking about Nazi Germany under Hitler are we? We’re also talking about the hundreds and thousands and perhaps millions of people who perished for example under the brutal reign of Joseph Stalin or in the Cultural Revolution of Communist China or in the genocide that took place in Cambodia or in the brutality of Bosnia or in the war between the Hutus and the Tutsis most recently in Rwanda.

There is no question that we live in a century that is marked and scarred by human cruelty. And even though we may never face that cruelty in a life-threatening form the fact remains that it is impossible to go through life without facing human cruelty and unfairness in some form or another more than once.

The question then becomes how do we handle that? How do we respond to the cruelty and injustice of people? And because that’s an important issue I would like to talk to you a little bit this morning for a few minutes about the following question. The question is not perfect English grammar mind you but I think it gets my point across. And the question is this. When you have been done wrong do you do right? And that question happens to be the title of my message this morning. When you’ve been done wrong do you do right?

I’m never going to forget an incident that occurred when I was probably in the second or third grade. Our family lived in a house in Catonsville Maryland which had at least for my youthful eyes a very large yard. I believe there were a couple of trees in it. There were a lot of bushes, shrubbery, and a lot of red beetles with little wings on their back which they used to take short hops through the air.

Well one day my brother and I were out in our yard. And I blush to confess this to you this morning but I was amusing myself by catching beetles and pulling off their wings. Now I will not tarnish my brother’s memory because I really do not remember whether he was just watching or participating in the activity. But my mother, who would have been a flaming success as a woman detective, discovered what we were doing. And she called me on the carpet and gave me a dressing down for my cruelty which I have never, never forgotten.

And she warned me that she may better never see me do that again. And you know that to the best of my recollection from that day to this I’ve never pulled the wings off of any insect. And even though she’s in heaven today if I were to go out and do it this morning I would have the uncanny feeling that she was probably watching me.

And you know I have to wonder in fact I can barely guess what must have been in the heart of God the Father as He looked down and watched the scene that we read about just a little bit ago in our passage of Scripture. What an ugly demonstration of human cruelty.

Jesus of course had been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had been brought to the house of the Jewish high priest. And the men who were guarding Him were not content just simply to keep Him in custody. But instead as Luke informs us they began to make fun of Him. They began to mock Him. They began to strike Him and hit Him. And because He had a reputation in Israel as a prophet somebody put a blindfold around His eyes. And then the men took turns striking Him in the face. And they said, “Prophesy! Tell us who it is that struck You!”

And as if that were not enough Luke tells us they heaped on Him all sorts of insults and blasphemous statements. I don’t need to tell you do I that in His 33 years, perhaps a little bit more than that, of living on earth Jesus had never hurt a single person. Unlike any of us never did wrong to one person. And during the last three and a half years He’d been traveling around the land of Palestine healing those who were sick, casting demons out of those who were possessed by demons.

There was never any person that lived on the face of the earth who deserved this treatment less than Jesus Christ. It is an ugly and repulsive scene. But in the midst of this scene my friends there is something that jumps out at us from the pages of Scripture. And I want to suggest that what jumps out to our view is the complete silence of Jesus Christ in the midst of all of this.

You remember that the great prophet Isaiah the Old Testament wrote of Him as a sheep before His shearer is dumb so He opened not His mouth. And as we just read from the book of First Peter, Peter remembers all this. And he says when He was reviled He did not revile in return. When He suffered He did not threaten.

And we need to stand in awe and wonder before the scene. Not only because it is an ugly display of human cruelty but because of the marvel of the silence of Jesus Christ. You know something? When you and I are treated unfairly and unjustly usually silence is not our strong point on occasions like that. “How dare you do that? Just who do you think you are? If you think you can get away with that you have got another thing coming. I’m going to remember that and I’m going to get even if it takes me the rest of my life.”

Of course nobody at Victor Street would ever respond like that, right? Maybe not. Maybe I’m wrong. Quite a few years ago two distinguished United States senators by the name of John Randolph and Henry Clay had a vigorous argument on the Senate floor. And for several weeks they refused to speak to each other. Then one day they met one another face to face on a narrow sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue. And at first neither one of them would step aside. And finally John Randolph looked straight in the face of Henry Clay. And he said, “I never step aside for scoundrels.” And immediately Henry Clay replied, “I always do.” And he stepped out into the muddy street and let John Randolph have the sidewalk.

You know the name of the game. It’s one-upmanship. It’s getting in the last shot. Hitting them harder than they hit you. No one played the game of one-upmanship better than Sir Winston Churchill the famous wartime prime minister of Great Britain. And my favorite story about Churchill is an occasion when he was at a dinner. And as was his custom occasionally he drank a little bit too much. And a woman approached Sir Winston Churchill. And she said reproachfully, “Why Mr. Churchill you are drunk.” And Winston Churchill replied, “And you madam are ugly. But in the morning I shall be sober.”

And don’t you agree that there’s something way down inside of us who kind of loves to get in zingers like that, don’t we? Don’t we wish we could think of things like that to zing the people who annoy us and mistreat us? Don’t we kind of like getting in a zap with a put-down that people will never forget?

I like the story of Luella Parsons. I think it was about Luella Parsons the famous Hollywood gossip columnist of a generation ago and Clare Boothe Luce who was the famous daughter of the publisher of Time magazine. And according to the story they were approaching the door one day. And Luella Parsons opened the door and stood aside. And she said to Clare Boothe Luce, “Age before beauty.” And Clare Boothe swept through the door. And she said, “Beauty before the beast.”

And that’s the way it’s played, isn’t it? Hit for hit. Shot for shot. Insult for insult. But Jesus didn’t play that game at all. Even though He could have played it better than any of us. Do you realize that He was the Creator and Sustainer of the people who were heaping upon Him the physical and verbal abuse that He was enduring? With a single look, with a single thought, He could have struck them all dead.

And not only did He not do that He did not revile them in return. He did not even threaten them. He didn’t even say so much as a single harsh word. And Peter says He left us an example that we should follow in His steps.

Well finally morning came. And after this night of abuse Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin, the high council of the Jewish people. The elders, the scribes, the Pharisees were there. And as Jesus stood before them they say to Him, “If you are the Christ tell us.”

And my friends at this point Jesus breaks His silence. Previously the abuse that had been heaped on Him was personal. But now He was in a courtroom situation. Now He was being asked to respond. And I believe that the words that Jesus uses here are not tinged with anger or bitterness. I think they are a simple statement of fact.

And Jesus says to these men, “If I tell you you won’t believe. And if I ask you a question in my own defense you won’t answer me. Neither will you let me go. But hereafter the Son of Man shall sit down on the right hand of the power of God.”

What was Jesus saying? May I suggest He was saying something like this. In this courtroom I will not get justice. You won’t believe what I tell you. You won’t respond to my questions. You’ve already made up your mind not to let me go. But my case is with God. And He will vindicate me. And the moment is coming when I will sit down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

What was Jesus doing? I think He was doing the very thing that Peter told us that He did. When He was reviled He did not revile in return. When He suffered He did not threaten. But He committed Himself. He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.

No justice here. But my case is with God. And He will do the righteous thing.

May I suggest to you that when you confront injustice, unfairness, cruelty the very wisest thing you can do is to commit your case to God who is the righteous Judge.

We all know don’t we that this trial led to Jesus being nailed to a cross between two thieves. When He died He was buried in a garden tomb. But on the third day, a day that we remember in a special way this morning, on the very first Easter Sunday morning He got up from the place where He was lying in that tomb. He walked out the door. And He was a living man. And He will never die again.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Forty days later He ascended up into the clouds. He returned to the presence of God. And the Bible tells us that when He returned to the presence of God God said to Him,

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.

You will sit with me says God. And someday your enemies will come bowing before you and confessing your name.

Did Jesus do the right thing to commit Himself to Him who judges righteously? You better believe that He did.

Adoniram Judson was a missionary to the far-off land of Burma. For his first seven years in Burma he suffered hunger and all sorts of personal hardship. During that period of time for 17 months he was cast into Ava prison. And he endured in that prison unspeakable mistreatment. When he was released from prison he brought on his body the marks of the chains and the shackles by which he had been so cruelly bound.

But his faith in God had never wavered. And when he was released he stood before the ruler of that province. And he requested permission to preach the gospel in another province. And the ruler denied him that permission. And the ruler said this. He said, “My people are not fools enough to believe what a missionary says. But I fear they may be impressed by your scars and turn to your religion.”

You know something? Despite that refusal Adoniram Judson did preach the gospel. And no doubt the scars played their part. And by the time that Judson’s work was done a hundred churches had been founded in Burma. And thousands and thousands of people had come to personal faith in Jesus Christ.

And today the name of Adoniram Judson is known in Christian circles all over the world. And he is recognized as one of the greatest missionaries of human history.

And let me tell you something. When you confront the cruelty and injustice of men in obedience to God, yes it may be scars. Some of them may be physical. Others may be emotional. But those scars can be a badge of honor. They can be a mark of your obedience to God and your faithfulness to Him. And in due time He will vindicate you. He is the righteous Judge who will honor those who have been faithful to Him.

And what’s the secret of it? What’s the principle behind it? Very simple. When you’ve been done wrong be sure that you do right. And leave the outcome to God.

And don’t you see that this confidence in God, this assurance of God’s exaltation in the future, led Jesus directly to boldness? For now the men of the council say to Him, “Are you then the Son of God?” Are you then the Son of God?

Now make no mistake about it folks. Jesus knew perfectly well that if He gave a positive answer to that they would use it as a basis for condemning Him to death. But He didn’t dance around it did He? He didn’t mince His words. His reply was clear and definite. “You rightly say that I am.”

And they all turn to each other. And they say, “That’s it. We’ve heard it ourselves. He’s condemned Himself out of His own mouth.”

And you see it is just as if Jesus had been so bold that He would guarantee His own death. But He did. Because that death was necessary. It was essential for your eternal salvation and for mine.

That’s why Peter tells us, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.”

And if there’s anybody in the audience this morning, this is Easter, and you don’t know for sure whether you’re going to heaven when you die, you can walk out that door this morning with complete assurance. And what you need to understand is that when Jesus died on the cross He paid for all of your sins. All the sins you have done. All the things you will ever do.

And by His resurrection God signals to us that He is satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. And all that God is asking you to do is to believe in Him for the free gift of everlasting life.

I can’t think of a better Sunday morning to quote the best-known verse of the Bible.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

And listen to me. If you believe that this morning then you can walk out of this door knowing that you have everlasting life. And knowing that you will never, never perish in hell. Because God says so.

And if you’re a Christian already you can walk out into a world which will probably deal you some heavy blows sooner or later. But you can be determined to suffer in obedience to God. And to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ your Savior and Lord.

This story is a little hard to believe but here it is. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth a man by the name of Dr. Thomas Cooper took upon himself the task of revising a dictionary of the English language. He labored on his notes for eight years. He was planning to add 33,000 words to the dictionary as well as many other improvements.

And one day when he was not in his library his wife came in. And this is where I have trouble imagining this but maybe that’s only because I’m single. You know what his wife did? She took his notes and she burned them all up on the pretense or pretext that he was going to kill himself with study.

Shortly thereafter Dr. Cooper walked into the library. He saw the destruction of his notes. And he asked who was responsible for this. And his wife admitted that she had done it. And folks according to the story all he did was to sigh and say, “Dinah, Dinah you have caused a world of trouble.” And then he sat down. And he labored for eight more years to reconstruct his notes.

Now folks I wish I could tell you that the only place you will meet unfairness and unkindness is out there in the unsaved world. But that wouldn’t be true would it? Sometimes we meet it in our most intimate circles. Sometimes we meet it in our very families.

And the question then becomes are we prepared to act like Jesus Christ? Are we prepared to suffer by following in His steps? Or to put it another way when you have been done wrong do you do right?

Shall we pray? On this Easter Sunday Father we express our enormous gratitude for the sufferings of our Savior on our behalf for our eternal salvation. But those of us who are believers in Him Father want to take Him as our model and as our example. And to walk out of here, we’ll never be completely like Him in this respect, but we pray for grace to take the wrongs and injustices that are done to us in a Christian and in a Christ-like manner. Help us to do this we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.