Passion & Last Supper✦ Passion CenterpieceClear Fulfillment
The Suffering Servant, Silent Before Accusers
Written: ~700 BC→Fulfilled: ~AD 30
Isaiah prophesied the Servant's silence before his accusers, fulfilled in Jesus's silence before Pilate and the chief priests.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Old Testament Prophecy
Isaiah 53:7
"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."
New Testament Fulfillment
Matthew 27:12-14
"When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge, to the great amazement of the governor."
Commentary
The silence of Jesus before his accusers was so remarkable that Pilate was "greatly amazed." Isaiah's comparison to a lamb being led to slaughter is particularly poignant, as Jesus was being tried during the Passover season when lambs were being slaughtered throughout Jerusalem.