But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marveled.
All Commentaries on Mark 15:5 Go To Mark 15
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
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.
