The Passion: The Silence of The Lamb — Prophecy Fulfilled
Study The Word
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
The trial of Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus Himself had said in Luke 24:44 that “all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.” Everything. Every detail. And one of the most striking prophecies fulfilled in the trial was the silence of Jesus before His accusers. The prophet Isaiah prophesied it over seven hundred years before it happened — “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.”
Now this is where it becomes so beautifully profound. When the chief priests and the elders and all the council sought false witnesses against Jesus to put Him to death, the Bible says they found none. Though many false witnesses came, their testimonies did not agree together. They couldn’t find consistent testimony! Why? Because Jesus was innocent. He was faultless. And finally, at the last, two false witnesses came and said, “This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.” And the high priest arose and said to Jesus, “Answer you nothing? What is it which these witness against you?” And the Bible says in Matthew 26:63, “But Jesus held his peace.”
σιωπάω siōpaō held his peace – to be silent, to hold one’s peace, to keep still, to say nothing
He held His peace. He fulfilled the prophecy. He was as a deaf man that heard not. He was as a dumb man that opened not his mouth. The psalmist had prophesied this in Psalm 38:13-14: “But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.” And in that silence, while He refused to defend Himself against the lies, what was going on in His heart? The Psalm continues, “For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.” His silence was not weakness — it was faith!
And this pattern continued before Pontius Pilate. Matthew’s account says that when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. And Pilate said to Him, “Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?” And the Bible says He answered him never a word, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Pilate marvelled! He had never seen anything like it.
θαυμάζω thaumazō marvelled – to wonder, to be astonished, to be struck with admiration or amazement
But here is the key — and don’t miss this: Jesus was silent before every false accusation. He did not respond to lies. He did not defend Himself against slander. But every single time they questioned His identity — “Are you the Christ? Are you the Son of God? Are you the King of the Jews?” — He responded. He opened His mouth for truth but closed it against falsehood. Did you catch that? He refused to dignify lies with a response, but He always bore witness to the truth of who He was!
And all of this was the fulfillment of prophecy. The whole passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — the betrayal, the trial, the mocking, the beating — according to the eyewitness accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, was the fulfillment of what was prophesied in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms. Jesus said, “All things must be fulfilled.” And they were. Every single thing. The Psalmist said false witnesses would rise up — they rose up. Isaiah said He would be silent — He was silent. The Psalm said His friends would stand afar off — Peter watched from a distance. Glory to God! The Word of God cannot fail. What God has spoken, what God has had written, must come to pass. It must be fulfilled. And if God has spoken a word over your life, beloved, it must be fulfilled! It will not return void. It shall accomplish that which He pleases.
Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the incredible revelation that the silence of Jesus before His accusers was the powerful fulfillment of Your Word. Thank You for the assurance that what You have spoken must come to pass. Every promise You have made concerning my life must be fulfilled, and I rest in that truth today, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Speak The Word
I am a witness of the faithfulness of God! Every word that God has spoken concerning me must be fulfilled. Just as every detail of the trial of Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy, every prophetic word over my life is coming to pass. God’s Word does not fail. What He has written, what He has spoken, it shall be accomplished in my life, in the name of Jesus Christ!