Sure there are lots of people who say it never happened, but some things are undeniable:

• The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history.
• Jesus Christ is the most influential person in history. No other figure in history even comes close. His followers today number about 2.6 billion.
• The Bible is the most widely read book in history.

And so as we come to the Sunday before Easter, known both as Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday, it makes sense to reflect on the events that catapulted Jesus to unparalleled significance.

We hear every day about conflict in our public discourse—one side shouting down the other. It’s almost seems that each of us thinks our cause is the most important thing going.

And so it should give us pause when we consider the way Jesus handled what really was the most important thing going.

On trial for his life, he did nothing, said almost nothing.

“If you say so,” is all he said to the Roman governor, the one who had the power of set him free.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” were his last words.

On the greatest stage in history, the greatest actor in history chose to say nothing.

Maybe we need to consider the silence of Jesus the next time we’re in an argument with a friend or a loved one. What’s the cost of “winning” our point? What do we gain by ripping someone on social media? The next time we find ourselves insisting on our own way, perhaps we ought to consider whether our position is really all that righteous.

The only righteous person who ever lived was silent in the face of his accusers.

Compared to Jesus, almost no one remembers the words of other famous people.

But the silence of Jesus, not to mention his word, still stands.