◄ What Does Mark 14:61 Mean? ►

Jesus was the sinless Son of the Blessed One, and when falsely accused by the religious court of the Jews (which had been unconstitutionally convened in the middle of the night in order to falsely accuse the Lord and condemn Him to death), He remained silent. We read: "Jesus kept silent and did not answer anything."

Jesus had no need to defend His innocence, for every member of the Sanhedrin knew that he was a Man sent from God. No-one could do the things that He did unless God was with him, but jealousy and envy drove these Pharisees to falsely accuse the One Who was incarnate Truth. And yet at His illegal trial when these Jewish leaders plotted to kill the Prince of life, Jesus kept silent.

Why? Why did the Lord refuse to defend Himself when He had the power to summon up more than twelve legions of angels? Well, Christ's quiet composure at His trial was partly to fulfil the prophetic Scriptures, for we read: "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." But His silence was also deafeningly eloquent, for it gave witness to His dignity, integrity, and restraint in this ecclesiastical court hearing, in which every aspect was grossly unlawful, not only by moral standards but also under the law of Moses. And this in part pertained to the conduct of the high priest.

The high priest's questions to the Lord had been designed to trap and condemn Him, but Jesus maintained an impressive silence and did not answer, which both confounded and angered him. And we discover in the construction of this verse of Scripture that the high priest kept on asking Jesus the same question over and over again: "Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?"

"The Blessed One" was a Jewish title that was given to God alone. This question from the high priest was irrelevant for Jesus had openly demonstrated His Messianic qualification by means of His many signs and wonders and His claims to deity were equally blatant - for Who but God can forgive sins?

But finally and with great composure Christ broke His silence and made the most unequivocal admission of His deity, by answering the high priest's interrogation with the words: "I AM." Jesus broke His silence with the very name of God that had first been given to Moses so many centuries before: "I AM." Jesus broke His dignified silence with an undisguised claim to Deity: "I AM, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven."

Heavenly Father, I stand amazed that the Lord Jesus Christ should be so despised and rejected of men and accused of such terrible blasphemy in the most shocking manner, knowing that He had come to die on the Cross to pay the price for the sins of the high priest and all those who were accusing Him in that court of law, knowing that He had come to earth to die for my sins and the sins of the whole world, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Praise His holy name, AMEN.