“But He Remained Silent and Made No Answer”

“And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’ But he remained silent and made no answer…”  (Mark 14: 60 – 61a)

As Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin in a mock trial, many false witnesses testified against Him, seeking to convict the Savior with lies.  However, no witnesses could be found whose stories agreed.  Finally, two witnesses testified that Jesus said He would destroy the temple, the center of Jewish religious worship, and rebuild it Himself in three days.  Yet, even this perversion of Jesus’ statements – He had actually stated that the temple of His body would be destroyed and He would raise it in three days – did not find full agreement among the witnesses.  Jewish law required that no man could be convicted unless there was agreement among two or three witnesses.  The trumped up charges of the Jews were rapidly failing under the weight of the false testimony of these revilers.

Seeking to ensure something could be salvaged in this mockery of justice, the High Priest sought to compel Jesus to answer the charges brought by the witnesses.  “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” demanded the priest.  Yet Jesus was silent.  At this point, Jesus would have had more than ample opportunity to defend His innocence.  He could have clearly stated His own true statements, contradicting that of the witnesses.  He could have sought to have witnesses of His own confirm His own actions and words.  He could have challenged the illegality of the trial as it was being held at night.  He could have pointed out that, as the defendant, He was not required to testify in the trial.  All of these things Jesus could have done, yet, “he remained silent and made no answer.”

Later, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in Israel, marveled that Jesus remained silent before His accusers.  Pilate clearly understood that the charges against Jesus were false, that the Jews sought His death only out of jealousy.  Yet, he was in awe of this simple carpenter from Galilee who chose to not respond to such obviously false charges.  However, seeking to keep peace with the Jews, he allowed Jesus to be executed.  In John 19:6 we read, “When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, ‘Crucify him, crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.’”  The innocent lamb was slain.

As Christians, some 2000 years removed from this account, what can we deduce from Christ’s silence before His accusers?  Let us note that His silence fulfills prophecy written hundreds of years before his earthly birth.   Isaiah 53:7 tells us, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”  Christ was fulfilling the prearranged plan of salvation, determined by God before the foundations of the earth were ever laid.  Had He spoken in His defense, God’s word would not be true.

It is in the plan of salvation that we find the reasoning behind Christ’s willing silence in the face of outright lies.  Jesus Christ, the perfect God-Man, came to earth to live a life of perfect obedience to the Father.  In doing so, Jesus fulfilled every aspect of the law given to man.  There was not one aspect of it in which He was not perfectly obedient, in thought, word, or deed.  At the end of His earthly existence, Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified, despite the clear fact of His innocence, so that He might take the righteous wrath of the Father due to sinners.  He received the due punishment that is owed to sinners on the cross so that the justice of God could be satisfied.  He was buried and three days later He rose Himself from the grave and today sits at the right hand of the Father.  His plan of salvation gives new life to those who will repent and trust in the finished work of Christ because when He received the punishment for their sin, He gave those He redeemed His righteousness.  As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

All this is to say that Jesus Christ sought to make it abundantly clear that He was perfectly innocent of any sin or crime at the time of His crucifixion.  When the false witnesses were called forward, their testimony was so patently false that the High Priest had to attempt to save the trial by making Christ defend Himself.  John MacArthur contributes to this in his study bible notes, “The silence of innocence, integrity and faith in God.  An answer by Jesus would have given all the false testimonies and illegal proceedings an appearance of legitimacy,” (MacArthur Study Bibe, ESV, Mark 14:61 notes, pg 1460).  In other words, had Christ answered the lies which were being given as evidence in any manner, it would have given the appearance that there was at least the possibility what was being said was true.  The trial and the witnesses were false on every level.  By refusing to answer, Christ allowed the evidence to stand, and fall, on its own merit.  Those who watched knew what was happening was fraudulent to the core.  In fact, it was not until the High Priest asked Jesus a legitimate question, was He the promised Messiah, that Christ actually answered.  When Jesus confirmed He was the promised One, the high priest declared that they had no need of further evidence and stated that Jesus should be put to death.  Sadly, they never bothered to determine that Christ had answered truthfully, having pre-determined that they would kill Him no matter what.

But it is in Jesus’ willingness to endure the false trial and the concocted lies of fraudulent witnesses that I believe the Christian can learn a valuable lesson.  While it is unlikely that any of us in the immediate future will stand in a courtroom where the death penalty awaits us, we are daily weighed in the courtroom of public opinion.  That is to say, Christians are daily in the view of the world and what we say, think, and do are forever being weighed in the eyes of those who watch us.  Christ told His disciples that no servant is greater than his master, and that if the world hated Him, it will hate us as well.  Therefore, it is guaranteed that we will encounter revilers, those who so hate God that they will despise us who belong to Him.  They will say many evil things of us, and yes, they will even lie about us.  But if we are to be like our Master, we should be willing to be silent before such false accusations lest we give credence to what they say.

Yes, you read that correctly.  It is actually Christ-like to allow our names and reputations to be besmirched without attempting to defend against it.  This is not to say that every single time someone challenges our integrity that we are to be doormats and let ourselves be walked upon.  Rather, in the cause of Christ, when we encounter those who want to lie about who we are and what we have said, or done, if we seek to defend ourselves, we may well give credence to the unregenerate heathen who seeks to mock Christ.

Think about it in this fashion, have you ever heard a lie so obvious, perhaps from a politician in a scandal or a criminal caught in the act, that you knew there was no way anyone could believe it?  But then someone attempts to answer that claim.  Rather than point out the fact that the lie is too obvious to dignify with an answer (this used to be a reasonable answer by the way), they actually try to dissect the lie and explain why it is wrong.  Before long, numerous news outlets are vying for the opportunity to add their two cents and everyone is debating the matter like it is actually a legitimate defense.  You sit amazed because you wonder how it ever got to this point.

Those who seek to lie against us do so, not because they have any legitimate, rational reason to do so.  They do it because they hate God, nothing more.  Therefore, they will use the most outrageous tactics they can come up with in order to tear Him off His throne.  That being impossible, they seek to destroy the only thing they can, His followers.  Since the birth of the church, believers in Christ have been called ignorant, rebels, divisive, zealots, even cannibals (because we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood in communion) and atheists (because we deny all other gods).  All of these claims are made so that, like those who lied about Christ, they can destroy those who proclaim the truth.  And all of these claims are obvious lies, just as those who testified against Christ.  Therefore, the Christian need not attempt to defend his or her innocence before the world, for the lies themselves are clear on their own merit.  To argue for our defense would give legitimacy to those tell the lies to begin with, as if they had an argument worth listening to.

Our answer then, as it was with our Savior, should be to rightly identify Him who we follow as the promised Messiah, the Lord and Master of all.  We should not seek to preserve our reputation, rather, we should humble ourselves in the light of Him who we serve.  We should declare His glorious gospel message, pointing revilers to the cross that they may find forgiveness for that which they have blasphemed by lying against the truth.  If we believe our own names and reputations are more valuable than the cross, then we reject the very attitude our own Master displayed when He was put on trial.  He was willing to be hated and reviled so that souls might be saved.  Are we so willing?

I have written this article from the perspective that the world will seek to attack and revile followers of Christ.  Yet, it is not always on the level of religious persecution in which Christians may find themselves being besmirched.  Often times, Christians may find acquaintances, co-workers, family, so called friends, or even other “Christians” who are quick to denigrate them by spreading false allegations and rumors.  This may not even be directly in response to their professed faith.  It may be to personality conflicts, jealousy, unrighteous and unjust anger, or a number of other reasons.  How then should a Christian proceed?

There are times, especially in cases of in which the accuser is known, it would be best that we determine if there is some perceived sin we have committed against the person.  It does not necessarily give credibility to the accuser if we are seeking to rectify a wrong we may have actually committed, be it intentional or accidental.  Often the soft word of apology and repentance will establish in the eye of the accuser we understand that sin hurts others and offends our Savior.  We establish credibility in Christ when we are willing to be humble in this manner.

However, if we determine that we have not sinned against another, we have to determine whether or not it is wise or even needed to engage in defending against the accuser.  If someone is seeking to harm a marriage, a family relationship, one’s job, etc., then seeking to establish the truth so as to preserve necessary relationships is important.  When our character and integrity are questioned insomuch as those whom depend upon us would have reason to question, it would be needed to defend the false allegations by speaking the truth.  Much in the way that a man who is truly innocent of a crime (such as theft, murder, etc) would seek to defend against unjust punishment, we have the duty to defend our integrity so that we may continue to love and provide for our families, loved ones, and employers.  Such defense against lies is entirely appropriate.

There are times when we will encounter those who lie against us that have no real impact, except to our own pride.  We may encounter the rumor mill at work, neighbors who think we are weird, or online, social media attacks from bloggers, Twitter trolls and the like.  These are people who, much like the revilers of God who seek to tear us down because we belong to Him, seek to destroy the names and reputations of others to build up their own pride.  In truth, they are not worthy of our time and energy to respond.  Their lies and deceptions are clearly known.  To give them a response would be to establish, if in no one else’s, at least their own minds their legitimacy.  If we seek to defend ourselves, then we prove to them, and perhaps the following they have, that they have something worth listening to.  Let us be like Christ and give them no defense.  Let us not legitimize them in any fashion lest we be guilty of helping them sin further.  Better that we be willing to be humbled and hated, so that we might emulate the attitude of our Savior, than to be puffed up in pride feeling that we are something worth defending.

To conclude this article, Christ knew that there were those who would seek the most vile means to destroy Him, yet He answered them not in His own defense.  He did so in order that His innocence would be clear and so that no one could question the purpose of His sacrifice on the cross.  If we are to be like our Savior that bought us with His precious blood, what purpose can be gained by defending our names and reputations?  Rather, to be like Christ, to let the lies stand, and fall, of their own merit, will testify volumes, even as it did with Christ our Lord.