There is a time to be silent and a time to speak up.

One of my biggest regrets of my childhood took place when I was about 9 or 10 years old.  I had just moved to a new community and a new school, so making friends was a high priority for me.  Thankfully, I met several classmates right away who became pretty good friends, and I would hang out with them regularly.  One of those friends was a guy named Jimmy.  Jimmy and I hung out nearly every day.  His family was particularly gracious to me and included me in a lot of their family activities.

 Jimmy and I were also in the Boy Scouts together, and each week we attended the meetings that were held at one of the buildings downtown.  One particular evening, either during a break in the meeting or soon after, some of the older guys started picking on some of the younger guys, and for whatever reason, much of what they did was targeted at Jimmy.  I remember it turning somewhat aggressive with punches, slams, and kicks flying in all directions.  Eventually, Jimmy ran outside.

 Several minutes later, his mother walked into the building and wanted to know what was going on and why her son ran out of the building like he did.  No one spoke, so eventually she turned to me and gave me the opportunity to tell her exactly what happened.  But because of my fear of the older guys, I didn’t say a word.  I wasn’t helpful at all, and she left the building upset at everyone and severely disappointed in me.

 As an adult, when I think back to that moment, I can clearly see that I should have spoken up for my friend.  I learned a big lesson through that experience and through seeing the severe disappointment in my friend’s mother’s face.  In life, there is a time to be silent, but there’s also a time to speak up regardless of the consequences.

 In Mark 14:53-65, Jesus demonstrated both activities.  He showed us when to be silent.  He also showed us when the most right thing to do is to speak up and boldly exclaim the truth.

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.  (Mark 14:53-56)

 Some of the saddest things to observe when we read through the gospel accounts of the earthly ministry of Jesus are the continual rejections Jesus received when He interacted with the religious leaders of His day.  These were men who had been trained in the Old Testament law.  They were respected by the people.  They could quote the Scriptures.  They knew the word of God in their heads, but that very same word wasn’t reaching the depths of their hearts.  These men cared more about the honorable positions they held among the Jewish people than they cared about honoring and submitting themselves to God Himself.

 For quite some time, their hatred toward Jesus had been growing.  They were jealous of the attention He was receiving.  They resented His willingness to expose the dark motives of their hearts.  They wanted to kill Him, but they knew they had to be very careful about how they went about doing so because there were many people who respected and revered Jesus.  Jesus taught with authority.  He healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast demons out of the possessed.  Many people were starting to see Him as the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, so opposing Jesus openly didn’t seem like a great option for the religious leaders who resented Him.

 So, after arresting Him under false pretenses late in the evening under the cover of darkness, they brought Jesus to the home of Caiaphas who was serving as the current high priest.  Technically, according to Jewish law, Annas who was Caiaphas’s father-in-law should have been serving in that role up until his death, but the Romans removed him and replaced him with his son-in-law, presumably because they believed Caiaphas might be easier for them to work with as they tried to rule over the Jewish people.

 A large group of Jewish religious leaders met at the high priest’s home, ready to examine Jesus.  Their motives weren’t pure, and they had already predetermined the sentence they wanted to place upon Him, but just the same, they knew they needed to attempt to go through the motions of giving Jesus some sort of a trial.  We’re told that they actively looked for people to give testimony against Jesus that would justify their desire to kill Him, but they couldn’t find the testimony they were looking for.  In fact, they found many people who were willing to lie about Jesus, but because they contradicted each other repeatedly, their testimony wasn’t admissible. 

 It’s interesting to observe Jesus enduring a moment like this because there’s a strong picture of the Christian life that’s given to us in this account.  The moment you become a follower of Jesus, you are united to Him and adopted into the eternal family of God.  On the spiritual level, that reality irritates the devil severely, and there’s a common way he chooses to respond to your union with Christ.  He responds with mockery, slander, and accusation.  

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”  (Revelation 12:10-11)

 As you follow Jesus, Satan is more than happy to slander you.  Day and night he brings accusations against those who are united to Christ by faith.  Sometimes he speaks those words himself.  Other times, he will use those who are aligned with him to bring the accusations.  On occasion, he may even attempt to persuade us to bring false accusations against ourselves through the messages we begin preaching to our own hearts.

 That’s why it’s important to know the truth of who we are in Christ.  Preach the message of the gospel to your own heart regularly.  Satan has been conquered by the shed blood of Jesus.  Testify to the truth so your mind, heart, and words aren’t aligned with the lies and deception of Satan.  Don’t join him in his false accusations against God’s people.

And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 61 But he remained silent and made no answer.  (Mark 14:57-61a)

 As all manner of false accusations and twisted distortions were brought against Jesus, how did He respond?  In those moments, Jesus endured these harsh words from His critics, but He remained silent.  They testified against Him, but Jesus didn’t say a word.  There was no need.  The hearts of these men were so hardened that they were beyond persuasion.  They had no interest in the truth.

 Have you ever had an experience like this where you realized it would be a waste of words to attempt to change the mind of another person?  A while back, I had a conversation with someone who seemed to be harboring an irrational disdain for another brother in Christ.  Being friends with both men, I attempted to be a peacemaker and speak on the accused brother’s behalf.  It didn’t take long before I realized that the man I was speaking to had no interest in hearing what I had to say.  He spoke over me.  He changed the subject.  He refused to listen.  When it became clear that I was wasting my words and wasting my time, I let the conversation come to a natural end and decided to commit the matter to prayer instead.  The time for speaking was over.

 As Jesus was being falsely accused, He could have attempted to refute what was being said, but He elected to remain silent and let the accusations pour out against Him.  Truthfully, He was enduring all of that for us.  We’re the sinners who deserved to be accused, but He took those accusations upon Himself as He atoned for our sin.  He was also making a point to fulfill the prophetic words spoken in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years earlier that said, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

 There’s a time to speak and a time to remain silent.  This was a time for silence, but as Mark’s gospel also illustrates, Jesus was willing to speak up when failing to do so would mean denying who He really is.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”  (Mark 14:61b-62)

 Caiaphas asked Jesus point blank if He was the Messiah.  When that question was asked, Jesus gave a direct reply.  Not only did He affirm that He was indeed the Messiah, He likewise affirmed that He was God.  In Exodus 3:14 when Moses asked God to reveal His name to Him, God told Moses that His name was, “I AM WHO I AM.”  And in Exodus 3:15, He also told Moses to tell the people that he had been sent to them by “I AM.”  When Jesus began His reply to Caiaphas with the words “I am,” followed by speaking of Himself as the “Son of Man” who would be seated at the “right hand of Power,” there was no doubt Jesus was revealing His divinity.

 Jesus was speaking the absolute truth, but not everyone receives the truth when it’s being presented right in front of their face.  Caiaphas certainly didn’t.  His mind was already made up about Jesus and his heart was hardened to any further information about Christ’s identity.  Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jewish people, didn’t receive these words as welcomed truths.  Rather, he treated the words of Jesus as blasphemy.

And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.  (Mark 14:63-65)

 Ironically, even though Caiaphas didn’t believe a word Jesus said, I think He was thrilled to hear Jesus say it.  Under the Jewish law, calling yourself God or speaking out against God in a malicious way was punishable by death.  To illustrate his utter disgust with Jesus revealing His divine identity, Caiaphas symbolically tore his garments and encouraged the council to declare Jesus a blasphemer who deserved immediate execution.  They agreed.

 These men then took the liberty to spit on Jesus, blindfold him, strike His face, and mockingly demand that He display His divine nature by prophesying which person had hit Him.  It was a troubling and disgusting sight, but Jesus endured this all on behalf of those He came to save.

 There is a time to remain silent and a time to speak up.  Let me encourage you to seek wisdom from the Holy Spirit as to when it’s time for each response.  And when you’re given the opportunity to testify to who Jesus is, don’t hesitate to honor Him with your words and your testimony.  Even if you’re treated in a similar manner to the treatment He endured, honor Him with your lips, your lifestyle, and the lasting impression you leave upon those you interact with in this world.

© John Stange, 2024