Stand for Itself

December 5

Sometime there’s just no point in arguing. We’ve all put ourselves through the ordeal of trying to justify our words or our actions. We’ve put ourselves through the wringer in order to clarify something said or done that someone simply didn’t grasp as we’d intended it.

Though we may count ourselves to be skilled wordsmiths, we have to acknowledge that we never were able to make our point. The one who did not understand initially, still didn’t ‘get it’ when we’d gone through our hoops of attempting to explain, to clarify.

Jesus must have felt the same way when at His mockery of a trial Pontius Pilate inquired of Him, “’Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?’ But He kept silent and did not answer anything” Mark 14:60, 61. Jesus did not argue before His accusers. He knew the futility of debate and He knew that in order for the plan of salvation to be implemented, this moment had to come.

But, beyond that, He knew that if these people had seen His miracles—blind eyes that were opened, deaf ears that were unstopped, demon-possessed lives that were set free from oppression—and yet did not believe Him, there was no point of further clarification that He could state that would change their hearts. Like Him, we must let the living epistle of our lives stand for itself.