"He answered him to never a word." --Matthew 27:14
He had never been slow of speech when He could bless the sons of men, but He
would not say a single word for Himself. "Never man spake like this Man," and
never man was silent like Him. Was this singular silence
the index of His
perfect self-sacrifice? Did it show that He would not utter a word to stay
the slaughter of His sacred person, which He had dedicated as an offering for
us? Had He so entirely surrendered Himself that He would not interfere in His
own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound and slain an unstruggling,
uncomplaining victim? Was this silence
a type of the defenselessness of
sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and,
therefore, He who bore its whole weight stood speechless before His judge. Is
not patient silence
the best reply to a gainsaying world? Calm endurance
answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence.
The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its martyrs. The
anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows. Did not the
silent Lamb of God furnish us with
a grand example of wisdom? Where every
word was occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford no fuel
for the flame of sin. The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and mean, will
ere long overthrow and confute themselves, and therefore the true can afford to
be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom. Evidently our Lord, by His
silence, furnished
a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy. A long defence
of Himself would have been contrary to Isaiah's prediction. "He is led as a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not
His mouth." By His quiet He conclusively proved Himself to be the true Lamb of
God. As such we salute Him this morning. Be with us, Jesus, and in the silence
of our heart, let us hear the voice of Thy love.
Morning and Evening Index
