Ministry of Silence
“Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.”Isaiah 53:7
After Our Lord had been arrested and sentenced, we do not hear much from Him. Rather He remains relatively silent. This is His passion. It is a passivity, but not an idle one. This part of His life and ministry was one that was passive, one that was about what He allowed others to do to Him. His passion was what He suffered, what He permitted to be inflicted upon Himself for the sake of the Father’s will. Jesus’ passion was a ministry of silence.
It was through this ministry of silence that Our Lord’s mission was brought to completion and perfection. It was in His silence that He spoke the loudest. It is no wonder that it is said that God comes to us in the silence. For it is in the silence of our hearts that God meets us and speaks to us. It was not in the earthquake or fire that Elijah experienced God’s presence, but rather it was in the small still voice. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, Jesus “was silent and opened not His mouth,” but allowed the soldiers to strip Him and nail Him to the Cross, because it was there, in His silence, that God was present. It was His silence that moved the centurion to faith. How can one endure such pain and suffering and yet remain silent and unforgiving? It was incomprehensible to the people, but it moved them to think about all that was said about Jesus, and for some it brought them to faith. It was in His silent suffering that people came to experience the presence of God. May we today, sit in the silence, and meet the God who comes to us.
