Sacred Silence

Silence.

Jesus knew a little something about it.
And we, the Jesus people, have a lot to learn from His silence.
Maybe just as much about His silence as we do His vocal expressions.

Because it is in silence that the power of Jesus is often witnessed best in those who know Him and serve Him.

Matthew 27:12-14 records an importance silence.
“But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against Him, Jesus remained silent.  ‘Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?’  Pilate demanded. Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governors surprise.”

Silence.
And yet I have a feeling it spoke volumes.

We see it in Isaiah 53:7.  And not just once, but 2 times, “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.”

A commentary I dig into says this, “This indicates that they were not taking His life, but that He was laying it down.”

He didn’t retaliate, resit, or riot.  He gave Himself up willingly to them.  He sacrificed Himself.

We are often tempted to believe that arguing will somehow “prove our point.”  That raising our voices will in some way “convince, coerce, or compel someone to our side.”

But the point of knowing Jesus for ourselves and learning His ways is not for the purpose of equipping us to argue better with people who have opposing views as us.  The point of knowing Jesus and learning His ways are to challenge us to choose the cross-carrying way of living.  

And silence is part of what identifies us as the Jesus people.

We can learn so much from the words and ways of Jesus.

Necessary silence is notably sacred.