(de Con. Evan. iii. 8) Luke has also laid open the false charges which they brought against Him; for he thus relates it: And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. (Luke 23:2) There follows: And Pilate asked him, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
(in Marc. 4, 44) The Jews had a custom of delivering him whom they had condemned to death, bound to the judge. Wherefore after the condemnation of Christ, the Evangelist adds: And straightway in the morning the Chief Priests held a consultation with the elders and Scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. But it must be observed, that they did not then first bind Him, but they bound Him on first taking Him in the garden by night, as John declares.
(ubi sup.) By Pilate's asking Him about no other accusation, except whether He was King of the Jews, they are convicted of impiety, for they could not even find a false accusation against our Saviour. It goes on: And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest. He answers in this way so as both to speak the truth, and yet not to be open to cavil.
(ubi sup.) He indeed who condemns Jesus is a heathen, but he refers it to the people of the Jew's as the cause. There follows: But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled. He was unwilling to give an answer, lest He should clear Himself of the charge, and be acquitted by the judge, and so the gain resulting from the Cross should be done away.
They then gave Jesus up to the Romans, but were themselves given up by God into the hands of the Romans, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, which say, Recompense them after the work of their hands. (Ps. 28:5) It goes on: And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
For His answer is doubtful, since it may mean, Thou sayest, but I say not so. 1And observe that He does somewhere answer Pilate, who condemned Him unwillingly, but does not choose to answer the priests and great men, and judges them unworthy of a reply. It goes on: And the Chief Priests accused him of many things.
But Pilate wondered, because, though He was a teacher of the law, and eloquent, and able by His answer to destroy their accusations, He did not answer any thing, but rather bore their accusations courageously.
He is the One who, although he was silent in his passion, will not be silent finally in the day of reckoning. He is our God, even if unrecognized. He is already known among the faithful and all who believe. When he comes manifesting himself in his second coming, he will not be silent. For although he was formerly hidden in humility, he will come manifested in power.
The Lord became the defender of truth, and came in silence before Pilate, on behalf of truth which had been oppressed. Others gain victory through making defenses, but our Lord gained victory through his silence, because the recompense of his death through divine silence was the victory of true teaching. He spoke in order to teach, but kept silent in the tribunal. He was not silent over that which was exalting us, but he did not struggle against those who were provoking him. The words of his calumniators, like a crown on his head, were a source of redemption. He kept silent so that his silence would make them shout even louder, and so that his crown would be made more beautiful through all this clamor.
This silence of our Lord Jesus Christ took place more than once. It occurred before the chief priest, and before Herod, and before Pilate himself. So it was not in vain that the prophecy regarding him had preceded: “As the lamb before its shearer was dumb, so he opened not his mouth,” especially on those occasions when he did not answer his questioners. Usually he replied to questions addressed to him, but in this case he declined to make any reply. The metaphor of the lamb is used to indicate that his silence does not imply guilt but innocence. When he did not open his mouth as he passed through the process of judgment, it was in the character of a lamb that he did so; that is, not as one with an evil conscience who was convicted of his sins, but as one who in his meekness was sacrificed for the sins of others.
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 15:1-5