AfterWords: Towards the Cross – Silence

 

John 19:16-22

We come to the end of Jesus’ trial before Pilate today. After the noise of the triumphal entry, after the noise of preaching in the temple, after the noise of profound debate, after the noise of that last supper, after the noise of the arrest and accusations—Silence. Jesus barely says anything before Pilate. We are uncomfortable many times with silence. Perhaps because of our freedom of speech, the right to speak, we feel almost compelled to speak about everything, all the time. Yet, Jesus remains silent before his accusers.

Prophecies – The Silent One – Jesus in his silence before Pilate, before his accusers, lives into prophecies spoken 600 years before. Isaiah 53 paints a picture of Messiah: “⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isa. 53:7). Isaiah predicts Jesus’ silence.

Silence in Scripture – We often believe our right to speak means that we should. Yet, Paul reminds us twice in his letter to the Corinthian Christians: ¹² “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. (1 Cor. 6:12) and ²³ “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. (1 Cor. 10:23)

Ecclesiastes reminds us, there is “a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak…” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). And Proverbs reminds us that “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues” (Proverbs 17:28).

We tend to think of silence as something negative, something bad. When we come to God in prayer, and we desperately long to hear from God, we often think of silence as the absence of God. Do you remember Elijah’s encounter with God from the Old Testament? God was found in the simple silence of a whisper: “…the Lord was not in the wind…not in the earthquake…not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12). In Scripture we find that silence often reveals the presence of God. This is why Jesus tells us to steal away to a quiet place to pray. This is why Jesus himself got up early in the morning and went out to pray. Silence reveals the presence of God and in silence we hear God. In this trial, Jesus longed to know that God was there…and he surely strained to hear the still small voice of God. In silence we sense God’s presence.

In the Revelation of John, “…When [the Lamb of God] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Rev. 8:1). This silence was the prelude to a mighty act of God—the seven trumpets that brought fire, blood, locusts, falling stars, and the four horsemen. In Scripture, silence often precedes an act of God. For Elijah, the silent encounter preceded God’s act to reestablish the religion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to tear down the false religions that had seeped into the land. In the Revelation, the silence precedes the sounding of the seven trumpets. And at Jesus trial, silence precedes the greatest act of God ever—but that story is for next Sunday.

Conclusions— Silence. Terribly underrated in our culture today. Yet Jesus embraces silence. Silence. In our prayers and daily lives, God may be closest too us, right there, when we finally experience silence…silence around us, silence of our minds. Silence. So often a moment of preparation before God acts in our lives, in our world.

After crying out for six weeks, “God, what do I need to do differently, what needs to change in my life…what do I need to let go of and what do I need to take up, to embrace—that I may grow closer to you?”…after six weeks, perhaps now we, too, must embrace silence during Holy Week that we may know God’s presence in our lives, that we may hear God’s voice speak even to us, that we may prepare to see God do something so needed in our lives.

Let live as we are able in silence this week. Amen.

Sunday, March 29, 2026
Towards the Cross - Silence
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