A man who chooses the Jesus script is…
A man who leaves revenge in God’s capable hands.
We leave revenge in God's hands not because we’re weak and afraid, but because we realize that revenge is for the weak. A man hell-bent on revenge makes for a great action movie but an awful way of living.
Toward the end of Jesus’s time on earth, Matthew captured this encounter Jesus had with men trying to arrest him.
…Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
—Matthew 26:50–54
Jesus was sending a clear message: taking revenge in your own hands is not only short-sighted but also an attempt to put yourself in the place of God. Revenge is ultimately a short-term power play. Our power is threatened, so we attack or retaliate. It’s a game where we’re made to feel defensive, so we react.
But what if we didn’t react? What if we paused and reminded ourselves, I don’t have to get this person back. What if we remembered that we serve a just God. Whether this person gets what we think is fair or what we think is just, we leave that in God’s hands, not ours.
When we’re fueled by revenge, we give sin control of our lives. We become sin’s instrument for wickedness. Men who choose to follow the Jesus script recognize that God is our master. We make the choice to leave revenge in his capable hands, which may mean, for a time, that wrongs go unpunished. We may even feel that the wicked have won. But we know the battle is not over. Darkness will not overcome, because the light of all men will ultimately have the final say. Revenge is not our responsibility.
