Wednesday 2nd April
Read Mark 15:3-5
“The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.’
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.” (NIVUK)
Although brief, Mark’s description of the trial aligns with known practices in Roman provincial courts. Imagine if the official Roman record of this trial was found outlining the many accusations made!
From the other gospels we can piece together some of the charges, not including the claim to be king of the Jews. They included claims to ‘pervert the nation’ by forbidding the paying of taxes, teaching widely throughout Judea and Galilee, stirring up the people and claiming to be the Messiah, a king. Such a large range of accusations and Jesus made no response to any of them.
It seems that the only charge to which Jesus responded was the claim to be king. At least part of the reason is that neither the Jewish nor the Roman leaders would understand the nature of His claim to be king (as John’s gospel makes clear). More significantly, Jesus had regularly stated to his followers that He would be handed over to death in Jerusalem. The inevitability of this outcome is firm in His mind and was the stated goal of His mission. To defend Himself would be to risk that outcome.
Reflecting on his silence is not just ‘amazing’ but sobering. Our natural instinct is to defend ourselves. Jesus even accepted as much when explaining to his followers that they too would be faced with unjust accusations and He promised that we would be provided with the right words at that time. The very Word of God though remained silent before His accusers. For us.
