When We Revile Others We Are, Ironically, Also Reviling God

Reviling someone, whether it is mocking, taunting, or ridiculing, is almost always a sinful act, yet one which many tend to easily forget or overlook when going to confession.

People often revile, ridicule, mock, or taunt those whom they judge to be inferior due to nature or due to some advantage they think they hold over them, even if only temporarily. Often, the one who reviles the other perceives him or herself as victorious and the one reviled as someone beneath contempt.

In our daily life, we need to be cautious when using derisive language. Reviling or ridiculing someone can easily be a sin of anger. At the same time it can not be a sin at all, as when done in jest, like when we good naturedly rib a friend over some idiosyncrasy.

Taunting in sports

In sports, taunting often occurs over a single play within a game, even though the victor of the game is yet to be decided. Both the NFL and the NBA have rules against taunting because it violates the spirit of good sportsmanship, which is respect for one’s opponent.

Usually taunting occurs in sports when one player gets ‘in the face’ of another player or commits some kind of action, like spiking the ball at an opposing player or the opposing team. But it can also be overly aggressive verbal abuse which could end up provoking another player or the opposing team and starting a fight.

Examples of derision in the Old Testament

Sirach 3:12-13 cautions against an especially egregious sin of derision in an instance which includes ingratitude:

“My son, be steadfast in honoring your father. Do not grieve him as long as he lives. Even if his mind fails, be considerate of him. Do not revile him because you are in your prime.”

With our strength we are to aid others, not belittle them. This applies especially to our parents to whom we owe not only our strength but our life. It applies to our neighbors as well as to strangers. And Even in war, it applies to treating captives with respect due to their humanity.

Another prominent instance of taunting in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 17) is in the form of a dare. In issuing a challenge to the Israelites in combat, Goliath also insulted the God of Israel. Initially none of the Israelite soldiers was brave enough to accept the dare. But David, in visiting his brothers in camp, wondered aloud why no one would stand up to defend God’s honor.

Being known to King Saul, as his occasional harpist, David was summoned by the King to see if he would back up his bold talk with action. David said he would, noting that he had killed a mountain lion and a bear, to save sheep each had taken as prey. David tried on Saul’s armor, but found it unsuited to his game plan. Goliath, in his taunt, had thought of close combat in which he would have the advantage. Close combat was essential to his taunt. David met him one to one within distance of a slingshot or javelin, but out of reach of a sword.

Derision in the New Testament

In the New Testament, we can find many examples of mockery and taunting directed at our Lord. This is analogous to the derision warned against in Sirach. However, it is infinitely more extreme.

We owe our life to our parents, but we owe our very existence to God. Our earthly father might be weak or senile, but the God-man Jesus, though vulnerable in his humanity, is all powerful. He keeps us, who would deride him, in existence because of his love for us even while we taunt or mock him.

Jesus’ contemporaries overtly ridiculed, taunted, and mocked him. We do so covertly by our sins. In ridiculing God, we perceive him as inferior to us in the present circumstance. But his response is always the same, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

The religious authorities were the first to taunt and mock Jesus after his arrest, when He was in their custody.

“Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?” (Mt 26: 67-68)

Flaunting authority is also derision

I believe it was St. Robert Bellarmine, who noted that legitimate authority is exercised for the benefit of the one subject to authority, while slavery is the exercise of authority for the benefit of the one in authority. In the latter case, the flaunting of authority is also a form of taunting.

The name Pontius Pilate, more than that of any historical secular person, is on the lips of men. His name is said by those who pray the rosary daily, while recalling his infamy in condemning Christ. He thought it more prudent to sacrifice the life of one nobody than to have the report of a riot on his political resume. Pilate taunted the Innocent, the Christ, with his authority:

“Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” (Jn 19: 10)

The Roman soldiers also mocked Jesus:

“After his scourging, the soldiers put a scarlet military cloak on Jesus, placed a crown of thorns on his head and a reed as a scepter in his hand. They mocked him saying, “Hail King of the Jews” (Mt 27: 28-29).

How ironic that a person should revile the one upon whom he is absolutely dependent, as if God Almighty was by necessity under the power of His derisive creatures.

Yet, hope prevailed for the soldiers. Later, it was in their own fear of natural dangers that opened the soldiers’ eyes to see what they had done.

“The centurion and the men with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Mt 27: 54)

The Irony

It was during His agony on the cross that perhaps the most severe ridicule was addressed to Jesus.

“Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross! Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.”(Mt 27: 39-42)

As perhaps too many mortals do, the passers-by expected God to act according to their wisdom, to do their bidding. They expected Him to conform to their way of thinking and to their will, and only then would they believe.

My favorite taunt is Mt 27: 43, because of its double irony:

“He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am           the Son of God.’”

First, it appears to us that the abandonment is of Jesus by God, the Father, because he doesn’t care about his son. In reality the abandonment is by us of Jesus, who is God, our creator, the very purpose of our being. Second, Jesus rejects deliverance from the cross, because as God, he wants us.

As Jesus says in Matthew 25:40: ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ It stands to reason then, that ‘whatever you do or say to the least of my brothers you do or say to me as well.’