BURKITT : | Mr 15:1 | Mr 15:2-5 | Mr 15:6-15 | Mr 15:16-20 | Mr 15:21-37 | Mr 15:38-41 | Mr 15:42-47 |
Reference
2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. 4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. 5 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled. (Mark 15:2-5 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
It is very observable, how readily our Saviour answers before Pilate; Pilate said, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Thou sayest it; or, it is as thou sayest. But to all the accusations of the chief priests, and to all that they falsely laid to his charge before Pilate, our Saviour answered never a word. He answered Pilate, but would not answer the chief priests a word before Pilate, probably for these reasons, because his innocency was such as needed no apology; because their calumnies and accusations were so notoriously false, that they needed no confutation: to show his contempt of death, and teach us, by his example, to despise the false accusations of malicious men, and to learn us patience and submission, when for his sake we are slandered and traduced; for these reasons our Saviour was a deaf man, not answering the calumnies of the chief priests; but when Pilate asks him a question, which our Saviour knew that a direct answer to would cost him his life, Art thou the king of the Jews? He replies, I am.
Hence, says the apostle, that Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession 1Ti 6:13. Teaching us, That although we may, and sometimes ought to hold our peace, when our own reputation is concerned, yet must we never be silent when the honour of God and his truth may effectually be promoted by a full confession: For, says Christ, whosoever denies me before man, him will I deny in the presence of my Father, and before all his holy angels.