The Noblest Vengeance

A boy named Tommy who was having difficulty in school because of a hearing problem eventually was fitted with a hearing-aid. The device proved to be very helpful and his class-work soon began to improve. But the hearing-aid also became a problem because some of Tommy’s classmates constantly teased him about his “fake ears.” One day, when one of the students began poking fun at him, Tommy lost his temper and proceeded to punch his tormentor square in the nose. As the bloody-nosed teaser was screaming in pain, the teacher intervened. She told Tommy to apologize to the student and forgive him for his teasing. Tommy thought this over for a moment, then reluctantly he said, “All right, I’ll tell him I forgive him — but first I’m going to turn off my hearing-aid.”

If ever anyone had reason to be bitter and unforgiving, surely it was Jesus in the last week of His life. His agony in the Garden of Gethsemani was not…