Listening to God's Silence
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Learning from Jesus' silence when Herod demands entertainment, to listen when God does not respond.
Text: Luke 23:6-12
Date: 11/23/2025, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 216
Description:
When Pilate learned that Jesus was a Galilean, he sent Him to Herod Antipas to be tried. Herod was ecstatic because he had long wanted to meet this famous Prophet and be entertained by His supernatural powers. A short review of Herod Antipas' weak character and moral degeneracy will help us visualize the scene that follows. For much to Herod's disappointment, Jesus not only refused to perform for him-- He would not utter a single word. We will analyze the significant fact that unlike the other judges in these legal proceedings (Pilate and the Sanhedrin) Herod's trivial and insincere desire for entertainment is the only time Jesus refused to say anything at all. When Jesus does not fill the silence with words or entertainment-- Herod fills it himself by mocking Jesus, dressing Him up in shining clothes and returning Him to Pilate. We will find in this a deeply damaging model that has been picked up by the church over and over again in the years to follow. When people demand that God entertain them with His supernatural Presence, quite often the response is silence. And rather than listening to and learning from that silence, they try to fill it with their own words, entertainment, and energy-- and then pin God's name on it. Like Herod, they gain nothing from the encounter, because they fail to listen to God's silence.
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I. Introduction: Elijah at Mount Carmel, 1Kings 18:21, 26-29.
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 23:6-12.
A. Context
1. The legal proceedings.
2. The transcendent King, Luke 23:3.
3. Pilate and the Chief Priests as examples.
B. Jesus and the interview with Herod.
1. Grasping at straws, vs. 6-7.
a. Why Pilate sent Jesus to Herod.
b. Getting reacquainted with Herod Antipas.
2. Herod's delight, vs. 8.
a. Herod's persistent anxiety, Luke 9:7-9; Matt. 14:1-2.
b. A strange emotion, Matt. 2:10; John 20:20.
c. Seeking a sign.
i. As an "antiphrasis".
ii. For all the wrong reasons.
3. The disappointing interview, vs. 9.
a. Questions devoid of content, Matt. 6:7.
b. A deafening silence, Isa. 53:7; Matt. 26:62-63, 27:12-14.
c. A scathing commentary, John 8:44, 18:36-37; Matt. 23:15.
4. A dramatic comparison, vs. 10.
5. Filling the silence, vs. 11.
a. Mocking Jesus with contempt, Luke 7:31-32.
b. Dressing Jesus up.
6. An unholy alliance, vs. 12.
a. Probing the relationship.
b. The ultimate irony, Matt. 10:34-36; Eph. 2:16-18; Rev. 5:9.
III. Application
A. A few examples.
B. The underlying lesson for the church.
IV. Conclusion, Isa. 55:11.
