Hold Your Peace

# 731 Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 15:2 Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." 3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

According to Luke 23:2, one of the charges the religious leaders mentioned to Pilate was that Jesus claimed to be the Christ, a king. This of course would get Pilates attention. (Can't have any king but Caesar you know.) So he takes Him inside the Praetorium and asks Him privately, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied in the affirmative.

John provides further details of this conversation with Pilate, with the end result that Pilate took Jesus out to face the people again and to tell them that he found no guilt on Jesus' part.

In Pilate's opinion there was nothing kingly about this man, certainly nothing about the man that Rome needed to be concerned about!

The Jews then replied with one accusation after another concerning Jesus, and Jesus clammed up, fulfilling the prophecy of Isa 53:7, “so he openeth not his mouth.”

Look at the effect this had on Pilate! He “marveled.” The word means he “admired.” Maybe more people would admire Christ followers if we would learn to measure our responses to accusations against us more carefully. Maybe there is something to that passage in Ex 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

Sometimes I think we put a little too much emphasis on defending the faith and not enough on displaying it.

Father, grant us the wisdom to know when to speak and to know when to be silent.