Mark 14:60
And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
The moment comes while Jesus stands before Annas and the court of Caiaphas. Caiaphas rises up from the throne of judgment to confront Him at its foot, with judges and interested parties ranged on either side, Roman soldiers on the platform below, and the multitude looking on. He rises in gorgeous priestly robe with glittering tiara and costly breastplate, while Jesus stands in coarse, homely garments, though in truth He had reigned crowned in the courts of heaven in garments of brightness attended by holy angels and now stands at an earthly throne to be tried for His life.
Standing before the council, the high priest demands that Jesus answer the accusations brought against Him by the witnesses. Those witnesses charge Him with destroying the temple and rebuilding it, but their statements do not agree. The questioning belongs to a trial arranged to secure His condemnation, for the rulers sought charges of blasphemy for the Jewish authorities and sedition for the Romans, and tried to obtain evidence through perjury, violating their own rule that a person must be treated as innocent until proved guilty.
Jesus remains silent, calm, serene, majestic, and composed, not responding to the demand and hearing the sneering, haughty demand as though He heard it not, in strong contrast to the hostility, agitation, and excited, malignant bearing around Him. He is silent because the sentence has already been decided and the witnesses have supplied no evidence deserving death. His silence fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of the afflicted servant who does not open his mouth when led like a lamb to slaughter. After this demand, the high priest presses Him further to say whether He is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. A holy influence emanates from Him, so that even the hardened multitude question whether a man of God-like presence should be sentenced as a common criminal, and Caiaphas himself is momentarily struck with admiration for His dignified bearing and convicted that He is akin to God, then banishes the thought and hastens the trial.