Hold Onto Peace
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? Matthew 26:59-68 (KJV)
The religious leaders were looking for false witnesses to accuse Jesus so He could be put to death. Many came forth, but they failed to produce anything that they could use to justify execution. Finally, two “witnesses” accused Jesus by twisting His words and taking them out of context. They accused Jesus of threatening to tear down the temple and build it back up in three days. Jesus was referring to His own body, but the chief priests and scribes used it to accuse Him of blasphemy.
During all of this upheaval and lies against Him, Jesus did not say anything, but He held His peace. The high priest even asked Him why He was not answering. Jesus still said nothing. Jesus held His peace by not speaking, but He also held onto it by not allowing the circumstances He was in to get Him upset. He gave in to peace instead of anger and indignation.
When we face situations where people come against us to do us harm, we must hold onto our peace and hold our peace. We can be certain that God will take of things. When we hold onto our peace, we can hold our peace and not try to justify ourselves or seek vengeance against unfair accusations and treatment. Peace in God is our source of victory and wisdom. Our peace allows us to wait on God to hear from Him so we know what to do to respond correctly to the situation.
The high priest then commanded Jesus to answer. According to the Law, Jesus was required to answer, so He did. While He spoke, He continued to hold onto His peace. By maintaining an attitude of peace, Jesus was able to face every aspect of His trials, beatings, scourging, and death by crucifixion. As we hold onto our peace, we can face life’s hardships with power, where we overcome them and they don’t overcome us.
When Jesus answered, the high priest charged Jesus of speaking wrongly. However, Jesus had spoken truth. He was not guilty; they were. They said He was worthy of death and then they humiliated and abused Him. They spit in Jesus’ face. They buffeted Jesus, which in the Greek means to strike with the fist, to beat violently, to beat blow after blow. They mocked Him, and vicious punch after punch, stinging slap after slap, Jesus held onto His peace and held His peace.
The wicked religious leaders charged Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with crimes He never committed. What injustice! Yet, Jesus endured it all by holding onto his peace. He overcame every false accusation, the brutal beatings, the mockery, and the cruelest form of death by holding onto His peace. He did it to fulfill God’s plan, and He never defended Himself. He trusted the Father to keep His Word and therefore He could hold onto His peace. While He never said anything in His own defense, He did speak words of forgiveness for His persecutors.
By holding onto His peace and holding His peace, Jesus accomplished what He came for. He fulfilled His mission and assignment. When we received Jesus, we received peace, because the Bible calls Him the Prince of Peace. In the midst of injustice and unfair circumstances, we can hold onto our peace by holding onto Jesus. In so doing, we can overcome anything.
