AREN’T YOU GOING TO ANSWER THEM?

Today’s Bible readings are Numbers 15:17-16:40, Mark 15:1-47, Psalm 54:1-7, & Proverbs 11:5-6

Mark 15:1-5

Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

³ Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, ⁴ and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” ⁵ But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.

I truly marvel at Jesus when I read this text. I am amazed at His ability to keep silent. This is coming at a time when He is being wrongly accused. This is an argument that He could have won. The Pharisees were in the wrong. They were making things up about Jesus. They were even lying. Jesus could have easily burned them but HE chose to remain silent.

Isaiah 53:7

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with keeping my mouth shut at times. Sometimes I have a hard time keeping it shut even when I’m wrong. It, many times, becomes about me wanting to prove my point. Not to mention the fact that if I have been treated harshly, or unfair, I am really going to defend my cause. Yet it wasn’t so with Jesus. I have never been treated as unfair & unjust as He was, yet He remained silent.

I remember a time when I was younger, my wife & I were fighting about something. I was talking to my father-in-law about it. This was one of the many occasions where I was right & knew I was. I was sharing this with him & he said something that I have never forgot. He simply said, “Would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?” At the time I felt like he was badly misunderstanding me. I mean, I was right for crying out loud. Yet, there was great wisdom in his question.

What I have learned over the years is that you never win if it takes ruining the relationship in the process. When this happens, you lose even though you win the argument. I wonder how many relationships have been walked away from because one person wanted to be right more than they wanted to be happy. They won the argument at the expense of the relationship.

Why do we feel the need to defend our cause? I wonder if it is a lack of faith? The bible teaches that we should let God defend us. When we are the ones defending ourselves we leave no room for the justice of God to work for us. I see in the life of David that He trusted in God to work out the issues in his life.

Psalm 35:1-3

¹ O Lord, oppose those who oppose me. Fight those who fight against me. ² Put on your armor, and take up your shield. Prepare for battle, and come to my aid. ³ Lift up your spear and javelin
    against those who pursue me. Let me hear you say, “I will give you victory!”

I sense that this is a word for somebody reading today: “The fighting ceases as soon as you decide not to engage in the conflict.” Let God defend you. Let Him come to your aid.

When we constantly try to prove our point & be right, all we do is sever relationships & create wounds in the hearts of people we love. Let’s learn from Jesus that we can hold our tongue even when others are greatly in err. When we are being treated unfair we can practice humility the same way Jesus did. Teach us YOUR ways Lord! That is our cry today.

Pastor Richard Schlotter