Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
When questioned by Pilate, Jesus remains largely silent. This is not the silence of a victim, but the Silence of the Sovereign.
This is not the silence of a man who has nothing to say, but the silence of the Word of God who has already spoken His final "I AM" (Mark 14:62) and now permits the judgment of the world to proceed.
When Pilate asks, "Are you the King of the Jews?", Jesus responds with the cryptic yet firm: "You say so" or "It is as you say").
Jesus avoids the trap of an earthly political claim while simultaneously forcing Pilate to utter the truth. He is a King, but His kingdom is not derived from Roman permission.
Jesus does not deny His Kingship because to do so would be to deny His nature as the Messiah. By accepting the title from the mouth of the Roman governor, He shows that even the pagan state must acknowledge His status, however unintentionally.
As the chief priests heap accusations upon Him, Mark records that "Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed."
The Creator does not need to defend Himself against His creatures. Jesus had already given His testimony to the High Priest; to argue with the "false witnesses" now would be beneath the majesty of the Son of God.
This is in fulfillment of the prophecy about the Suffering Servant:
Isaiah 53:7: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter..."
In the Gospels, thaumazein is usually the reaction of people to a divine miracle. Pilate was used to prisoners who begged for their lives, lied, or shifted blame.
Jesus’s calm, majestic silence was so contrary to human nature that Pilate sensed a Supernatural Presence. The presence of the Incarnate Word exerted a pressure on Pilate's conscience that no mere man could exert.
The most important theological detail in this silence is its purpose in the Divine Court.
Jesus was silent before Pilate because He was standing as the Universal Sinner. In the "Great Exchange," He took our guilt; therefore, He had no defense to offer before the bar of justice. His divinity is revealed in His ability to legally represent all of humanity in a single moment.
Jesus is the Lord of the Trial. He determines the extent of the conversation and the timing of His own death.
As St. Augustine famously remarked, Jesus did not stand before Pilate as one who was being judged, but as the one who was judging the judge. His divinity is found in His absolute composure and His refusal to seek an "earthly" acquittal, knowing that His "Heavenly" mission required the Cross.