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“Christ also suffered for us…who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:21, 23).
The Lord Jesus is God, and did not have to submit Himself to all the insults that man heaped upon Him. However, He did not answer back, threaten them, or use rough words with them. He committed it all to His Father, for those wicked men would be judged in a coming day. We are told to do the same thing, for we follow a rejected Christ.
However, the Lord Jesus did speak to men’s consciences all through His earthly ministry, and He spoke to those who ill-treated Him too. He reminded the Jewish leaders that “hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power” (Matt. 26:64), and He reminded Pilate that “thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:11). But He did not defend Himself.
We are called to act the same way. It is good to reach the consciences of those who oppose us, but we are to accept reproach from this world; it is a normal thing for a Christian.
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