Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The Wise Man, King Solomon declared that there is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccl. 3:7). Knowing when to do either, and the courage to do it, is our day-by-day task. When the Son of God became one of us in the flesh, He would rise early in the morning and seek His Father's tuition for the day (Isa. 50:4, 5).
When Jesus was arrested, bound, and dragged to the house of Caiaphas, He asked the murderous police to "let these [His disciples] go their way" while He would suffer alone for them (John 18:8).
But Jesus also was ready to "speak" up before the high priest in courageous fearlessness. When the cruel "officer ... struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, ... Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?" (vss. 20-23). That was love on the part of Jesus; He tried to save that man's soul by appealing to his awareness of justice. For all we know, the man may later have repented, for Jesus prayed for His murderers, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34), and the Father answered that prayer.
The courage Jesus showed in rebuking the man straightforwardly when He knew he could retaliate with greater evil, is an inspiration to us. Jesus could have spoken up as He did only if in Him, self was already crucified. Solomon was right--"there is ... a time to speak," and Jesus knew when His had come.
O Father! Please prepare us for when our "time to speak" may "come"!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 8, 2006.
Copyright © 2014 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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