The Silence of JesusMark 14:60, 61Our Lords silence is not only that of meekness, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb. It is the silence of innocence, and, if we may use the word concerning Him, of scorn. He will not defend Himself to such judges, nor stoop to repel evidence which they knew to be worthless. But there is also something very solemn and judicial in His locked lips. They had ever been ready to open in words of loving wisdom; but now they are fast closed, and this is the penalty for despising, that He ceases to speak. Deaf ears make a [silent] Christ. How wonderful the silence of Jesus! He withholds not His face from shame and spitting. He gives His back to the smiters. Meek endurance and passive submission are not all which we have to behold there. This is more than an uncomplaining martyr. This is the sacrifice for the worlds sin; and His bearing of all that men can inflict is more than heroism. It is redeeming love. Alexander Maclaren,Exposition of Holy Scripture