David watched, dumbfounded, as his friend Jason was accused by another student, Bryce, of cheating on a test. David knew Jason hadn’t cheated because they had studied together, and Jason knew all the answers.
What David couldn’t understand, though, was why Jason didn’t defend himself in front of the teacher. He stood there as Bryce went on and on about how he had seen Jason copying answers from Bryce’s papers.
Man! If someone had accused me of something so awful, you’d better believe I’d defend myself vigorously, David thought.
Finally, Jason spoke. “Mrs. Pierce, may I make a suggestion that might settle this issue?”
“Certainly,” she replied. “What’s your idea?”
“What if you pull each of us into another room and ask us the questions that were on the test? That way you’d know if either of us needed help in completing our own test.”
“That’s an excellent idea.”
“No!” Bryce exclaimed. “I’ve already answered all the questions. You have my paper, and I’m telling you Jason copied from my test.”
Mrs. Pierce remained calm. “If you are telling the truth, Bryce, then you’ll have no trouble answering the questions orally.”
Twenty minutes later, a subdued Bryce followed Mrs. Pierce to the office as Jason joined David in the hallway. David stared at his friend. “I can’t believe you just stood there and took it while Bryce was lying about you copying his answers. I would have let him have it with both barrels, telling him just what I thought of his lies!”
Jason looked at David for a moment before answering him. “Do you remember the lesson we had a few weeks back in Sabbath school? The one where the Jewish leaders made up all kinds of lies about Jesus to get Him in trouble with the officials?”
“Yeah, I remember that story. What does that have to do with you getting accused of cheating?” David asked.
“Well,” Jason began, “we read about how after the chief priests made all of their accusations, Pilate said something like, ‘Aren’t You going to say anything? Haven’t you heard the charges they’ve accused You of?’ Mark 15:5 says that Jesus didn’t answer him at all . . . and that Pilate was amazed.”
“Yes, but that was Jesus. We certainly aren’t Him!”
“No, we’re not,” said Jason. “But we are trying to be more like Him. So I figured this was a chance to show patience when falsely accused. I think Mrs. Pierce appreciated that I didn’t yell or argue with Bryce. Peacefully enduring a difficult challenge proved a much better witness of my faith than getting loud and making a scene.”
David reflected on Jason’s words. “Well, you’ve certainly taught me a good lesson on patience in all of this. I’ll start looking for ways to endure with patience — and silence.”
Jason and David laughed as they headed home.
Marcia Sanders writes from Fort Smith, AR, where she attends the Church of God (Seventh Day) with her husband, Randy.
