Thursday, March 28, 2013
Maundy Thursday
Mark 15:3-5 And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you." But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
A SILENT ADVOCATE?
Despite the serious charges His enemies leveled against Him when He was on trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus said nothing. The Roman procurator could not understand Jesus' silence. Serious charges like sedition and inciting rebellion meant serious sentences. At one point Pilate asked Jesus, "Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" (John 19:10).
Pilate was amazed that Jesus was silent when His life hung in the balance scales of Roman justice. To the Roman a person's life was the ultimate value. After all, to him this life and what it had to offer was all that really mattered. Anything else a person couldn't really be sure of. But Jesus looked at life differently, didn't He? He was sure there were things more important than life itself -- things like being obedient to His Father and paying the price for your eternal salvation.
Sometimes the accused is silent during court proceedings because he has an attorney who speaks for him. But Jesus stood silent in Pilate's court because He was your Advocate -- and still is. He willingly went to the cross for you, so that He might plead His righteousness before the Father on your behalf.
" ... if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).
