The Meaning of the Cross, Day 31

Welcome to the seventh week and day 31 of our series, “40 Days of the Cross.” Each day we take just a few minutes to look at a word which will help us better understand the meaning of the cross. Today’s word is silence. 

On the cross, the execution of Jesus took about 6 hours to complete. For a crucifixion, that was actually a fairly short period of time. Roman crucifixions could last for days. But in those six long hours, Jesus only spoke about 60 words. That averages out to about 10 words an hour. By far the great majority of Jesus’ time on the cross was spent in silence. Why is that? It was certainly possible for Jesus to speak. Why was Jesus so silent on the cross? 

This silence was a fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah. And in this prophecy, we get a clue about the reason for Jesus’ silence. Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” A lamb led to the slaughter does not open its mouth to protest; a sheep being sheered does not complain about its sheering. In the same way, Jesus did not complain or protest His crucifixion. Despite the unfairness of the cross, Jesus remained silent. This was because the cross was His purpose. All of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth, all of human history since the Garden of Eden, had pointed to this moment. Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan for the redemption of humankind through the death of the Son of God, taking the punishment for our sins. 

Jesus was silent, not raising a voice of objection or dissent, because He was in the place He needed to be. Jesus would rather silently endure the pain and injustice of the cross than raise His voice dissent. He endured the cross in silence because He loves us. That kind of love is a mystery to me. We’ll talk more about mystery tomorrow. 

After we pray, I encourage you to take a few minutes to meditate on the silence of the cross and what it means to you.
 

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love which allowed Your Son to suffer the cross in silence. Help us to understand the silence of the cross and to seek Your will with just as much willingness to submit to Your plan for our lives. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, amen. 

Thanks for reading today. 

Continued tomorrow