It appears that the many words of the crowd have won. Jesus didn’t even defend himself (Luke 23:9). In his quietness, we hear no eloquence, no powerful reproaches, no clear condemnation of wickedness. The loud speaking of the people appeared to have defeated the silence of Jesus; yet, nothing could be further from the truth.

“So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer” (Luke 23:9).

Ecclesiastes tells us that there is time to speak and a time to keep silent. And this makes sense enough, but the issue is, when is the fitting time? When is it better to speak? And when is it necessary to stay quiet? This is the art of wisdom.

Yet, as a society, we have pretty unanimously voted in favor of speaking. Our world, filled with technology and social media, never stops speaking, be it with words, pictures, or videos. Background music follows us everywhere. There is pressure to yelp every restaurant, photo every meal, and post every opinion that passes between your ears.

This obsession with speaking has crowded out any positive value of silence. Yet, our Lord masters the art of the silence for us, so that we might speak better for him and so that our words may be conformed to his words.

In the gospel accounts of Jesus’ trial, we read that Pontius Pilate tried to acquit the innocent one. Yet, Pilate didn’t have the courage to do the right thing. He wasn’t going to risk his life for Jesus, so Pilate threw him to the wolves, granting the demands of the violent gang. Pilate set free a murderer and rioter, and Jesus was handed over to the will of the riotous crowd.

And with this, it appears that the many words of the crowd have won. Jesus didn’t even defend himself (Luke 23:9). In his quietness, we hear no eloquence, no powerful reproaches, no clear condemnation of wickedness. The loud speaking of the people appeared to have defeated the silence of Jesus; yet, nothing could be further from the truth.

Here are seven things you need to know about the silence of Jesus.

1. The silence of Jesus before Pilate makes us think back to what he said previously.

And they remembered his words. (Luke 24:8)

2. The silence of Jesus makes us remember how he prophesied that the Son of Man must suffer and die for our salvation.

And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:21-22)

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