Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
I know that in some senses Jesus was a special case in that it was God's desire that He should die for our sin and be raised again from the dead. So, what Jesus did here may not be the right plan for every situation. Yet, He demonstrates a principle here that is often the right plan. He did not answer His accusers.
In life, we will be accused -sometimes rightly and sometimes wrongly. There is a sense in which in either case we do not need to defend ourselves. If we are rightly accused -that is, if we are guilty of something, perhaps an admission of guilt and public repentance is in order -but defending our actions or attitudes is not. We don't want to make excuses for or defend bad choices or wrong behavior.
It is a little more difficult when we are wrongly accused. Then we have a strong desire to defend ourselves - to protect our reputation and preserve our honor. But Jesus did not defend Himself. He allowed His reputation to speak for itself. Anyone who actually knew Him, knew the accusations were false. He rested in the fact that even though man accused, He was right with His Father -that was enough.
So, the principle is this: when man accuses, we don't need to defend ourselves because: 1) If we are in the wrong, there is no appropriate defense. In this case we need to acknowledge our guilt and repent. 2) If we are in the right, we need no defense because we are right with Father and ultimately He is our defender and the only opinion that matters. In this case, we forgive our accusers and leave it with God.
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