After the Silence

When the high priest initially asks Jesus to answer the accusations against Him, Jesus remains silent.  In that silence, He beholds the fullness of the moment: Peter hovering in the corner, men yelling, the religious council prepared to condemn He who came to save.  And the high priest asks again, "Are you the Messiah?"  In the midst of the broken, fallen religious system, among people prepared to kill, Jesus now answers.  After the silence, He speaks, hearkening back to God's words to Moses, I am. I am He who can see through the facades you have erected for yourselves.  I am He who was and is and is to come.  Your petty games and trivialities don't impress Me. I am who you say I am and so much more than you could ever imagine.  "You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."  No weaponry. No armies.  The simple and powerful truth. He is the Truth.  He is The Way, The Truth, and the Life.  All pretension melts away in His presence, without  shouting and without shame, Jesus declares who He is and in His declaration, we can find ourselves.  We are beloved.  We are sons and daughters of the King Most High.  We are forgiven.  We are loved.  Knowing who we are in Christ and knowing whose we are, allows us the freedom to face our shadows, our false selves, the personas we have constructed to live in this fallen world.  Jesus sees all, knows all, and loves us as He gently whispers in a still, small voice to us, revealing the HE is all we will ever need. He is enough.

Ask God to show you the falsehoods in your life.  Ask Him to fill those broken places with Himself.  


Mark 14: 53-65 NIV

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.

Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.