Isaiah 53:7 "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Sometimes you are known by what you don't say. In this case, Isaiah prophesied that Christ would not open his mouth to defend himself, even in the face of certain death. Hundreds of years later that came true when he stood in front of his accusers:
Sometimes you are known by what you don't say. In this case, Isaiah prophesied that Christ would not open his mouth to defend himself, even in the face of certain death. Hundreds of years later that came true when he stood in front of his accusers:
When Jesus stood before Pilate and Caiaphas, he would not defend himself, and he did not try to explain himself. In the case of Caiaphas, his mind was already made up. Pilate’s situation was different. Because he was confused about Jesus’ true identity, he did not have a bias against him. But even with Pilate, Jesus would only speak in order to force him to make a decision, not to enter into a debate with him.
Pilate had to decide what to do with Jesus. In that sense, he stands for all of us. Once Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, he should have let him go. But he didn’t. We can speculate about Pilate’s motives for hours, but in the end he could not wash his hands of the guilt of Jesus’ blood. Jesus spoke to him only to help him come to a decision. Once he knew the truth (that Jesus was innocent), the Lord had nothing more to say to him.
When Peter wrote to the beleaguered, scattered, persecuted Christians in the first century, he used this passage as an example for how to respond when you are attacked for your faith:
“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:21-23).
According to Peter, following Jesus means that sometimes we will suffer even when we have done nothing wrong. The greatest honor for any Christian is to be like Jesus. When we suffer unjustly, we share in a tiny portion of what happened to him. Though he did no wrong, he was betrayed, tried, denied and crucified. Though he never sinned, he was hated by the power brokers who plotted to kill him. The same thing will happen to us. People close to us will disappoint us, and some will turn against us.
How will we respond?
Peter points to Jesus and says, “He did not retaliate.” When we are insulted, our natural inclination is to return an insult for an insult. But Jesus chose a better way. As the old spiritual puts it, “He never said a mumblin’ word.” When he stood before Pilate and Herod, and when he faced the jeering mob, he uttered no insults, he made no threats.
-When they scourged him, he didn’t retaliate.
You find out what you really believe when others mistreat you. Sometimes the real test of your faith is what you don’t do. Sometimes you’ll be a better Christian by not saying anything at all.
When you are mistreated, repeat these four sentences:
-It’s not about me.
-It’s not about now.
-It’s all about God.
-It’s all about eternity.
As you read these words, I encourage you to stop right now and say those four sentences out loud. Write them down on a card, and put the card where you can see it. Try repeating those sentences every day for a week so that the truth will be tattooed on your soul.
Let me ask you a question: Do you think Jesus was a helpless victim that day at Calvary? He was the Son of God. He had the power to call down a legion of angels to set him free. He had but to say the word and all of heaven would come to his aid. But he never said that word.
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