No Defense

But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? (Mark 14:61).

When Jesus was arrested and put on trial, He gave no defense. For the most part, he remained silent when questioned. His main purpose in taking human form and coming to earth was to die for the sins of mankind. He knew He must die if we were to have eternal life with Him, and it was the Father's will that he do so. 

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53).

He had the power to call down legions of angels. He could have spoken a few words and changed anything or everything. Instead, His steadfast, undying love sent him to the cross for us. As Blake Western wrote in Astonished Beyond Measure, "His silence was the silence of majesty. It was the silence of love."

Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (John 10:17-18).

Blake goes on to say, "The fact is that they did not take the life of Jesus. Jesus gave His life. No army could take His life unless He willed to give it. His silence was not an admission of guilt." "He gave His life in order that we might live.... To avoid the cross is to abandon all hope. The cross is the doorway to life."

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