Silence. Sometimes it is the perfect antidote for the busyness of life. Sometimes it is the worst of indictments. There are times we need to speak up. There are times when we need to stay silent. It can be difficult in those moments of decision to know when and how to speak up. At least it is for me!
Jesus confronts some religious leaders of His day. He does it in a synagogue on the Sabbath. They are there to try to catch Him in the act of doing a miracle in order to bring charges against Him. To them, Jesus is a threat. He has power and authority which they want. And from their perspective, the only way they can get it is to kill Jesus, eliminating the competition. Sounds like our political environment, doesn’t it! Lies and deception. Not much has changed.
Jesus invites the man with the shriveled hand to stand before them and then He asks them what appears to be a simple question. But the question is anything but simple. Jesus puts their interpretation of the Law on trial. They believed that the Law, and keeping of every minute detail of their prescriptive code drawn from the Law made a person right with God. If they kept all the rules, they would end up on God’s “Nice” list, rather than the “Naughty” list.
Because they had flipped the Law on its head, making it something to be served, rather than something that served them and their spiritual growth, they had lost all touch with the reality of the LORD’s presence and grace. Jesus pushes them to make a decision that the very crux of this dilemma. He asks them to take a stand and choose the good, even if it meant that they would break one of their superimposed regulations.
Their silence speaks volumes. They should have answered by agreeing with Jesus, that doing good and saving lives is what is important. But instead, they recognize that Jesus has trapped them. Or perhaps that they have trapped themselves. They know they are caught, so they stay silent.
Have there been times when you were caught, and you knew it, and you could have declared your error and come clean, but instead you remained silent or went into attack mode?
The Arnold Journey 