Have you ever been falsely accused?

It’s a message I’d received from a dear reader that made me write on being falsely accused. The message I received was: “Bob, can I have a small story to comfort a friend of mine who has been falsely accused in public?”

“Do I have a story?”

“Do you, Bob?”

“Many! About those who have accused me of the wildest things in public! In fact, in my hand I’ve got a copy of the minutes of my society meeting, which is a pack of lies, written by some who have become adept at it!”

“How do I handle all this falsehood? By reminding myself again and again of the person, who after doing all the good anybody ever could ever do on earth, when brought in front of the very public he had helped, heard the same people shouting, ‘Put him to death! Put him to death!’”

“How could that ever happen?”

“Oh, it happened alright, just like it’s happened to you and me. He lived many years ago, and his only purpose was to help people live their lives better and get closer to God. Not just that he had the gift of healing, and healed visually impaired people, those who were differently abled and even brought back to life some who were dead.”

“That’s a good man, Bob!”

“Who was accused of bad things!”

“But the people would have stood by him…”

“Very, very rarely do people want to leave their comfort zone and stand up for others even if they are innocent. So nobody stood up for him, even his close friends, eleven of them ran away and one even betrayed him!”

“That’s terrible… who was this man?”

“Jesus, the son of God!”

“Why did he go through all of that? He could have had angels to deliver him.”

“He went through this to tell all those who are going through it right now, that he knows what betrayal means. He knows the pain, the sadness, the humiliation and the rejection.”

“What did He do to those who hurt him? As God, did he have revenge?”

“He cried out to God, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” He understood why those people accused him and wanted him killed. Which means that even as you see yourself being accused falsely in public for things you’ve not done, if you can understand why people are doing it, that they have their own reasons, maybe jealousy about the talents you’re blessed with, which the Jewish priests had for Jesus. Maybe fear, that you stand in their way of making quick money or their way to power. Whatever it is, if you can fathom why they are doing what they are doing, and understand how you don’t need to do the same things because of your beliefs or strengths, then you can only look at the same people who hurt you and feel pity and compassion for them.”

“Because they are weaker than me?”

“Yes. That you are actually stronger than they are, which is healing by itself…!”