Matthew 27:12-14
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.
Matthew 27:12-14
One of my favorite shows is The West Wing, which chronicles the fictional presidency of Josiah Bartlett and sketches the inner working of White House politics. In the series, President Bartlett is compelled to invoke the twenty-fifth amendment, temporarily surrendering power in order to focus on recovering his daughter, who had been abducted in a terrorist kidnapping. Due to an elaborate course of events, the Speaker of the House, a member of the opposition party, becomes the acting president.
Feeling the political power balance shift, members of President Bartlett’s staff begin regretting the president’s decision. As they debate the cost of President Bartlett sacrificing his power for the maintenance of constitutional order, a member of the opposition reminds them, “A truly self-sacrificing act usually involves some sacrifice.”
I have often recalled those words in considering the call to follow Jesus Christ. Christian discipleship is not merely about accepting a set of facts—chiefly the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in the place of sinners—but more so about acceding to Jesus’ demand that we die to ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow him (Luke 9:23). The apostle Paul urged such daily dying as a reasonable and right response to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, writing, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1-2).
It is easy to lend our voices in worship as we sing phrases like, “Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee,” or, “I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back.” It is difficult to lend our lives in worship as we consecrate our words by bridling our tongues so that we bless and do not curse, as we consecrate our wealth by giving generously and sacrificially for the building of God’s kingdom, and as we consecrate our work by employing a kingdom ethic in which the end is not corporate dominance or personal success, but the glory of God. It’s painful to die to self, but then that’s the nature of sacrifice.
Jesus exemplified the very sacrifice he enjoined. At Gethesemane he prayed, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:39). Those agonizing hours of prayer for Jesus were all about accepting the will of the Father. Jesus learned in prayer to sacrifice his will in order to accomplish the will of the Father. The decision he made in worship to obey the Father was then developed in his cruciform work.
Those around Jesus hurled insults and invectives. They charged him with fomenting insurrection. They called for his condemnation and execution. Yet he gave no answer. Pilate knew the religious leaders were not pursuing justice, but vengeance. He pressed Jesus to answer the charges, but he gave him no answer. Jesus’ silence did not reveal absence of defense, but an accession to duty. Jesus had resolved in the hour of prayer to do the Father’s will. How would the Father’s will be served by debating matters before Pilate and defending himself before the clergy? It seems it would not have been, so sacrifice in that moment looked like silence (Mark 15:5; John 19:9; Isaiah 53:7).
I pray you have decided to follow Jesus, but more than that I pray you actually follow him—follow him to the garden of acceptance, follow him to the cross of accession—for only in following him can you enter the kingdom of God.