Matt 27:14.
And not a responce from him,
– not even an utterance.
Thus marvelled the governor much.
— Literal
The “him” in this verse is Jesus. He said nothing in responce. Nothing at all. The “leader”, or “governor”, is Pilate, the Roman civic authority over the land. The charges were serious ones, and so thin that the case was a no brainer. The slightest word in defense would topple the house of cards that was built by the deceit of his accusers. Jesus stood silent, and Pilate marvelled.
Roll back the clock just a little. The evidence was so flimsy in the case of what the Jews had against Jesus. So often they had tried their best to catch him, and he always fended off their attacks. Now, false charges of ridiculous proportion were brought up, and Jesus not only allowed himself to be taken into custody, but said nothing to counter them.
The time for paying a price had come. The priests and leaders plotted against him, and he remained silent. He endured abuse and allowed the false charges to stand. It had to be this way. The rejection of his own people. The laying of their lies and sins on him, who had none.
The priests tied him up and took him to the civic authority, Pilate. He remained silent. To utter a word would shed light on the deception, and the price to pay couldn’t come about.
The tragedy of injustice was so plain. Even Judas, his betrayer suddenly became aware of his mistake. It was too late though. The priests kept their blinders firmly in place. They recognized the sin of recieving blood money from Judas, but not the sin of paying the blood money out of the temple treasury. They only saw sins that were convenient to their needs. To face up to the shame of their actions would prevent the price about to be paid.
God is still in control and at work. Through the betrayal and shame, prophecy is still fulfilled. It is the way God intended it to take place. He remains the absolute ruler over his creation and uses both the bad and the good to serve his purposes.
Jesus was questioned by civic authority, and only meagerly responded. He said only enough to let the accusations stand.
He was accused falsely by his own people and said nothing.
The civic authority, a person not even of his own people, could see the shaky ground and urged Jesus to say something. The time had come though. Anything he might say would prove his innocence, and he could be set free. The injustice of his trial is so plain and tragic that anyone can see it. Still, he remained silent. Not answering. There could be no other way. The price for sin of all mankind had to be paid any shred of truth had to be thrown out so condemnation could take place through lies and deception.
Jews traditionally take the heat for the lies, and tragic events that surround the death of Jesus. But our gentile ancestors could still see through the thin veil of lies, and recognize the injustice. Nobody did a thing to change the events. It was our very own gentile, pagan, ancestors who were the instrument of the tragedy that God used for the actual killing of Jesus. The Jews planned it, we did it. We all played our part. The price is paid for all of us.
Our arguments of sin against God seem so solid. We are so quick to claim that we are right and God is wrong, that we know it for sure and the words of the Bible are invalid. God lets us win, and our platform of self deceit wins for the day. We have victory in our shame, not knowing yet that it is shame. God lets us have our little victories, but only because he has a plan.
From such a blatant injustice, God made it so a huge price was paid in full. We all, even those who played part to the death of Jesus, and extending to all people of all times, have been paid for and can enjoy a part in his kingdom. To not be there is a result of our own choice to not claim that inheritance.
If you can also see the injustice to Jesus in this small bit of scripture, then you are able to understand. The deed has already been done. The price of sin paid. All it takes is to reach out and enjoy what Jesus paid for.