Character assassins!

Matthew 9:32-37

When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed. But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.”

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

Food for thought!

Have you ever been misrepresented? Has anyone ever taken your words and works and twisted them around and used them against you? Have you ever done something good, with good intentions, which was misinterpreted as bad? Have you ever been attacked, slandered and envied for doing good? This is what is happening to Jesus. He has done something good, he has healed a man, and his enemies are not happy; because they were helpless to oppose him by fair means, they resorted to slander and to character assassination. 

And this character assassination of Jesus was not always from pagans. It was from the religious people of his day, the Pharisees! They hated Him and they hated everything He said and did. They despised Him so much that they actually plotted to have Him killed, Mark 3:6. Things have not changed much today.

These men will do anything to kill Jesus. They begin by killing his good name, his character, his fame. They begin by saying, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.” If this charge sticks, they can undermine His ministry with the people and draw away His crowds.

It is easy to attack people you don’t agree with. You don’t need facts; just make a few wild accusations and people who are not attentive will take the bait. When that takes place, as it so often does, a life, a reputation, a family, or a ministry is destroyed. Beware that you are not in the business of slandering others. When you do, you are truly doing the work of the devil. You are the real agent of the devil. He is a people destroyer (1Pet. 5:8), and he loves to enlist others in the destruction business!

We offend God the author of all goodness, when we call goodness as evil. Have you ever noticed that if and when we like someone, we tend to like everything they do? And if and when we dislike someone, we will dislike everything they do, even the good they do? The Pharisees hated Jesus and attributed his miracle to the power of the devil in him. It was a cruel, heartless attack. Why would they say something so foolish and so cruel against someone so innocent and so holy as Jesus? 

There is nothing so cruel as slander, for it is apt to stick because the human mind always tends to think the worst and very often the human ear prefers to hear the derogatory rather than the complimentary tale. We need not think that we are free of that particular sin. How often do we think the worst of other people? How often do we believe those who misrepresent others? How often do we ourselves misrepresent others? How often? Lord, save us from evil talk.