Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: January 28

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth" ~ Isaiah 53:7

One of the most majestic things about Jesus was the way he stood before Pilate and said nothing. He didn't sulk. He didn't jut His chin in defiance. He didn't bite His lip to keep from talking. He simply stood there when He was accused and "answered nothing." "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth ..." His silence was so majestic and so cutting that it shattered the poise of all those about Him and caused them to scream and tear their clothing like mad people in their fury at His calm. But His poise held. He was being held by the Father. And as their fury rose, His silence rose. And His silence in the face of affliction should have proven to them that He would rise too no matter what they did to cut Him down! "He was oppressed and he was afflicted ... and he answered to him never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." His silence was so God-like that the governor marveled at it. His silence was so God-like that Pilate tried to maneuver a way out of any part of His crucifixion! His silence was so deep, all who beheld it must have known that kind of silence is possible only with God. Can we know it now as we stand before our "shearers"? Yes. We can be silent too. The same Christ who was silent then has come to dwell within us. We can learn to be willing to be misunderstood. Even by those we love. "Christ in me" ... my only hope of silence in the midst of anything.

"... nevertheless ... not I, but Christ liveth in me."