The Powerful Silence of Jesus

Bruce Lee once said, Calm is a superpower. And we see the Biblical proof of this when God tells David, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). When you picture someone who is calm and still, I imagine you also picture them being silent. That is, without saying as much, we often associate stillness and calmness with silence. There is something so powerful, about someone who only speaks when necessary. Too many of us have found ourselves in trouble for something we’ve said. They haven’t figured out quite yet, how to reprimand us for what we think. So, until they do, bite your tongue, ignore the awkwardness of silence, and watch how quickly you take back control.

I say all this, because, as always, this is all about Jesus. Jesus completely understood the power of silence. And the evangelists make this clear to us in their writing. Not only does Jesus repeatedly tell those he has healed to keep what he has done a secret, but Jesus himself practices what he preaches, and keeps silent at one of the most consequential moments of his life on earth. When Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate to be judged for his alleged crimes, we see how powerful and intelligent Jesus is. It’s not like the sermon on the mount where we see how powerful and intelligent he is by means of what he says, in this case we see his power and intelligence by what he doesn’t say.

We read: And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.

And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.

Then Pilate said unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; in so much that the governor marvelled greatly. (Matthew 27: 11-14)

So the passage begins with Pontius Pilate asking Jesus about the accusation, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And Jesus answers, in semi-deference to this Roman official’s earthly authority: Thou sayest. But he doesn’t actually say anything at all. Notice Jesus is neither confirming nor denying the accusation, all he is doing is affirming what the governor is asking him. But we all know, it’s what he’s not saying that is speaking volumes at this moment. The passage continues, and so too do the accusations leveled against him. This time it’s the elders and chief priests accusing Jesus directly. How does Jesus respond to this? He doesn’t. He says absolutely nothing. The silence is so deafening in fact that Pilate has to ask him about explicitly. He says, “Don’t you hear the accusations? Have you got nothing to say.” Scripture reads, “And he answered him to never a word.” And because of this silence, Pilate “marvelled greatly.” Keep in mind, this is a powerful Roman official, who spends his days judging everything and everyone. And Jesus, this alleged criminal, stands before him and does what no one does. He doesn’t beg for his life or plead his innocence, like everyone else does, he lets the silence say it all. This calls to mind a line from Shakespeare that goes “Methinks thou doth protest too much.” This line highlights the fact that when people are accused of something, especially if they are guilty, they will typically overcompensate with a more elaborate explanation than would otherwise be necessary. Jesus, on the other hand, knows he doesn’t have to defend himself in such a way, his innocence speaks for itself. His calmness is a superpower.

As we can see from all this, the power of silence cannot be overstated. In all situations we should call to mind Jesus’ example, and remember we have the divine right to remain silent.