The Silence of the Lamb

In Mark 15; Luke 23; and John 18 we read where Jesus is brought before Pilate by the priests and pharisees.

In Matt. 27:12-14 we read,  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.


Pilate, who is infamous for asking, “What is truth?” knew the truth, at least about this man Jesus. Matt. 27:18 says, He knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. He knew the Jews had unjustly convicted Him, so Pilate justly exonerated Him, “I find no fault in Him” he said, John 19:4.

Pilate wanted to expose the Jewish priests, but he was between the rock and the hard place because he had already messed up three times before in trying to impose his will on the Jews, and he was corrected by Rome for it, according to Josephus and Origen. He could not afford a fourth conflict with them. So he conceded, even though he was warned by his wife to have nothing to do with the conspiracy against this innocent man.

Jesus could have put an end to all the proceedings against Him. Jesus knew how to “shut them up” ...to render them speechless if you will. He Who put Job in his place Job 38-41, knew how to ask the questions no one could answer. Neither did they want to interrogate Him anymore. Matt. 22:46 says, No one was able to answer Him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any longer.

If you have a red-letter Bible, you will know how much Jesus had to say. In John 7:46 one officer of the guard said, “Never has a man spoken as this Man.” There was conviction and authority in His words because they were true, and they were loving. But now, standing in front of His accusers and “judges” He would say nothing in defense of Himself except “I Am” when asked if He was “the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One” Mark 14.

I think we all know that Messiah and Christ mean essentially the same thing... i.e., “anointed” which is an adjective, not a noun. These priests and pharisees would, of course, be speaking Hebrew, possibly Aramaic. Messiah, pronounced maw-shee'-ah and only found twice in Daniel 9 in our bibles, is made English as “Christ.” So we must call it what it is. This is Old Testament Jewish language concerning the Jews. Jesus was their Messiah.

Jesus once had something to say to the water in the water pots at the wedding in Cana,
...and we have three chapters of a sermon on the mount.
He who commanded demons to “Come out!”
...and healed so many people by His Word when He said, “I will”.
Jesus told the storm on the Sea of Galilee to “cease and desist”
...and also said “destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days.”
Jesus cried out, “Lazarus, come forth” and the dead came back to life after 4 days in the grave.

He Who could call upon 12 legions of angels (72,000) at any moment to rescue Him, Matt 26:53, uttered not one word in His defense. He didn’t need a defense because:
    1. He had done nothing wrong, and...
    2. He was ordained and compelled by love to be the Lamb of God.

C.H. Spurgeon said,
“Is not patient silence the best reply to an opposing world? The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows. Did not the silent Lamb of God furnish us with a grand example of wisdom? The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and wretched, will before long overthrow and invalidate themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom.”

Silence, especially in view of the fact that it is foolishness to engage the foolish, is better than argument or any words to those that hate and will not hear. But God opens the ears and heart of whosoever He wills. So sharing the gospel is always good.

Isaiah said, "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." 
By His quiet, He conclusively proved Himself to be the true Lamb of God. Our Lord kept silent before His accusers in order to lay down His life for you and me. His silence was for our sakes.