Stand Silent
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Isaiah 53:7-10.
7. 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 dumb, so he opened not his mouth. 8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9. And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10. Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand;
There is so much going on in the world right now. I’ve been watching many powerful people offer us a tremendous amount of rhetoric and fist-pounding and bravado and jockeying for more power, or perhaps hoping to retain whatever power they perceive they currently have. It’s all a very tenuous situation that changes minute by minute. One of my concerns is that most of the players involved in this power struggle among world leaders are not up to the task of leading us! I don’t see much of the Christ-like humility and clarity in our own leaders, which causes me concern in how they are presenting themselves (and representing us) to the world.
It’s risky to use the term humble in reference to Christ, because many people view humility as weakness or believe that one who is humble is ineffectual or submissive or weak. Christ was none of those. He was humble, certainly, because he had an accurate assessment of his own importance—savior? Yes. God? No. That’s how he viewed himself, I think. I may not be making a strong argument, but every time I read this passage from Isaiah and then read an account of Jesus before Pilate, silent and seemingly stoic, I am bewildered and amazed. He did not defend himself before his accusers! I know I would not have been able to shut up had I had his track record!
He had done nothing wrong. In fact, he had done everything right. Jesus did exactly what God sent him to earth to do. Having accepted his assignment, he knew he had nothing for which to apologize, nothing to deny, nothing to say, because he had just finished saying all there was to say. He had done it. He had said it, and now all that was left was what was to come. He knew that in order to fulfill his life purpose, he must die on the cross. He was resigned to it. He was not passive though. Not at all! Passive suggests no choice in the matter. He was committed to it. He was ready. He need not defend or deny or argue about anything he had said or done.
I’ve been in at least two situations where I stood “accused” of something and “my side” of the story was not circulated among those who heard the accusations. It’s a terrible feeling. My desire was to broadcast a message somehow, letting everyone know they had it wrong. “You’ve only heard one half of the story!” But I didn’t. I suffered through. I had done the right thing, but some days it didn’t feel right as I wondered who knew me well enough to believe that what was being said couldn’t possibly be true and who had bought the story hook, line, and sinker. I would never equate anything I’ve experienced to that of Christ before his accusers. Because I had lived through those awful, hurtful, painful experiences, and so I marvel all the more at Jesus’ silence.
His silence must have been maddening! I used to wonder why he never tried to argue with Pilate. Really, though, what was there to argue about? Jesus was who he said he was. End of discussion. It makes me think of God telling Moses, ‘I AM who I AM’ at the burning bush. No elaboration required. It is what it is, what it is. So Jesus knew it wouldn’t matter what he said. The die had been cast; the events had begun to unfold just as written; he knew who he was and whose he was. That was enough. Nothing else needed to be said. He saw the big picture, politically, and understood that Pilate was between a rock and a hard place. I wonder if somewhere in his mind he was thinking, “I’m not going to say anything that might change the course of history, or interfere with my Father’s plan.”
All I know is he stood silent before his accusers, knowing what was to come. I would very much like to see that stance adopted by some of our world leaders, vying for land, power, resources, or whatever worldly things after which they lust. Stand silent before God. Stand silent before the world. Do what you should. Do what is right and just. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, rest in God. And stand silent.
My prayer today is that no matter how passionately you feel you must plead your case before the world, stand silent – just for today. And that you rest in the knowledge that God knows who you are and whose you are.
Mary
