He made no answer [View all]

In the gospel (passion) today, when Pilate questioned Jesus, it was said that Jesus "made no answer." It was said this surprised Pilate. I suppose Pilate would have expected Jesus to defend himself, especially given that Pilate himself believed Jesus was innocent. I think similar things are said in the other gospels.

I think the conventional thinking is that Jesus was simply waiting for his fate, but I'm wondering if there another message in his silence. It also seems like there have been other well known cases where someone unjustly accused decides to remain silent, but in some Googling, couldn't find any.