Silence

Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him.

- John 19:1

When I try to imagine the reality of these words, I become indignant. What impudence, what arrogance, what monumental ignorance for a godless petty official to rain such humiliation on the Author of Life!

My own sufferings fall so miserably short when I measure the degradation that the Innocent One endured at the hands of this heathen. How small are my wounds compared to His. How immeasurably childish my grievances appear when held up alongside the grotesque aggression visited upon Him.

If there were ashes and a rough shirt to wear in our day, I would put them on to signal my unworthiness and shame forever having brought a single complaint to His ear. For now, this brief essay will serve to remind me of His silence in suffering – no, His silence in unjust suffering caused in part by my own offenses.

My prayer is that He forgives me forever uttering a word in excess of His own when wronged. By His silence, I am shamed into quietness, by His stripes I am healed of words spoken in vain.