"So they picked up stones to throw at him (Jesus),
but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple."
John 8:59, ESV
"Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind since birth..."
John 9:1, ESV
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "Jesus was often reviled, but never ruffled. “One of the things worthy to be noticed in our Lord’s character is his wonderful quiet of spirit, especially his marvelous calmness in the presence of those who misjudged, and insulted, and slandered him.”
Reviled but never ruffled...
I like that.
James Boice writes, "The sense of the flow of the text (from John 8:59 to John 9:1) is that Jesus was not shaken or disturbed by the almost deadly confrontation with the religious leaders that just happened."
He isn't running.
He isn't plotting his revenge.
The Bible doesn't even say He was angry.
Moments after this messy altercation with religious leaders, Jesus just goes back to it - loving people, healing the broken, ... doing what He was placed on the earth to do.
And when they came after him again after he heals the blind man, Jesus doesn't cower.
He doesn't lash out.
He just speaks truth boldly.
He answers their questions honestly.
As Boice writes, “We find Him calm and self-possessed..."
They might want to kill him, but His heart was to save them.
That's the Jesus way.
Wash Judas' feet (John 17).
Love the unlovely (John 8).
See the value that others can't see in someone (John 4).
Forgive the Undeserving (John 19).
Phil Wickham wrote a song about it:
If you curse me, then I will bless you,
If you hurt me, I will forgive.
And if you hate me, then I will love you,
I choose the Jesus way.
If you're helpless, I will defend you,
And if you're burdened, I'll share the weight.
And if you're hopeless, then let me show you.
There's hope in the Jesus way...
If you strike me, I will embrace you,
And if you chain me, I'll sing His praise.
And if you kill me, my home is heaven,
For I choose the Jesus way.
And I wonder if we would have been able to do what Jesus did?
I wonder if we would have kept our cool?
If we would have responded like Him?
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