「耶穌卻一言不答。」－馬太福音15:23
「祂...默然愛你。」－西番雅書3:17
耶穌的沉默和祂的說話同樣富有深意。
祂的沉默未必是不許可的表示，有時反而說出祂的默許，是祂表達深處喜悅的方式。
「我的魂哪，你為何憂悶？」祂即使不回答，你仍應需向祂讚美。
我們來聽聽一個古老而美麗的故事，說到一個基督徒夢見主如何走近三位禱告的姊妹們身旁...
當主靠近第一個姊妹，祂洋溢著喜樂和榮光，溫柔的俯下身來，用最甜美、親切的嗓音向她說話。然後祂到了第二位姊妹身邊，卻僅僅用祂的手輕撫她低垂的頭，給她一眼愛的讚許。
最後祂快步通過第三位姊妹，沒有一句鼓勵的言語，沒有一個慈愛的眼神。
這位做夢的基督徒便說：
「主必定最愛第一位姊妹！祂雖然給第二個姊妹柔愛的眼神，卻沒有給她愛的確證；而第三位姊妹必使主憂傷不堪，因為祂不僅一言不發，也沒有眼神碰觸；我真不知她到底作了什麼，竟能使祂對她如此冷漠。」當她試著解釋夢中的情景時，主親自來到她身旁，告訴她：
「你完全誤會了我的舉動了。
我溫柔地向第一位姊妹施慈愛，是因為她需要我格外的眷顧，使她能繼續行走窄路；她若沒有我無時無刻的體恤扶持，必會跌倒失喪。
第二個姊妹對我有較大的信心和愛心，因此不論何種環境試驗臨到她，我都能放心。
而我似乎對第三位姊妹沒有絲毫理睬，但那是因為她對我有最大的信和愛，我也願意訓練她，使她能承託最大、最神聖的事奉。因她清楚認識我的心意，全然信託我的帶領，她已不需要我外在的動作來察知我對她的許可，也不會因我所量的環境而灰心喪志；當理智、感官，和天然的本能都無法接受時，她仍然不因我絆跌，因為她知道我以永遠的愛愛她。雖然她有時不明白環境臨到的原因，但她深深確信有日她將全然領會。
我默然的愛你們，因我的愛遠勝言語所能表達，遠超人心所能領會。我的沉默，也是為讓你們學習在靈中跟隨我的引導，自動並樂意來回應我對你們的愛。」祂將「行奇妙的事」，讓你知曉祂沉默的秘密，並且在所有祂收回恩賜的時候讚美祂，使你更認識並愛慕這位恩賜背後的賜恩者。
"He answered her not a word" (Matt. 15:23).The silences of Jesus are as eloquent as His speech and may be a sign, not of His disapproval, but of His approval and of a deep purpose of blessing for you.
"He will be silent in his love" (Zeph. 3:17).
"Why art thou cast down, O?soul?" Thou shalt yet praise Him, yes, even for His silence. Listen to an old and beautiful story of how one Christian dreamed that she saw three others at prayer. As they knelt the Master drew near to them.
As He approached the first of the three, He bent over her in tenderness and grace, with smiles full of radiant love and spoke to her in accents of purest, sweetest music.
Leaving her, He came to the next, but only placed His hand upon her bowed bead, and gave her one look of loving approval.
The third woman He passed almost abruptly without stopping for a word or glance. The woman in her dream said to herself, "How greatly He must love the first one, to the second He gave His approval, but none of the special demonstrations of love He gave the first; and the third must have grieved Him deeply, for He gave her no word at all and not even a passing look.
"I wonder what she has done, and why He made so much difference between them?" As she tried to account for the action of her Lord, He Himself stood by her and said: "O woman! how wrongly hast thou interpreted Me. The first kneeling woman needs all the weight of My tenderness and care to keep her feet in My narrow way. She needs My love, thought and help every moment of the day. Without it she would fail and fall.
"The second has stronger faith and deeper love, and I can trust her to trust Me however things may go and whatever people do.
"The third, whom I seemed not to notice, and even to neglect, has faith and love of the finest quality, and her I am training by quick and drastic processes for the highest and holiest service.
"She knows Me so intimately, and trusts Me so utterly, that she is independent of words or looks or any outward intimation of My approval. She is not dismayed nor discouraged by any circumstances through which I arrange that she shall pass; she trusts Me when sense and reason and every finer instinct of the natural heart would rebel;--because she knows that I am working in her for eternity, and that what I do, though she knows not the explanation now, she will understand hereafter.
"I am silent in My love because I love beyond the power of words to express, or of human hearts to understand, and also for your sakes that you may learn to love and trust Me in Spirit-taught, spontaneous response to My love, without the spur of anything outward to call it forth."
He "will do marvels" if you will learn the mystery of His silence, and praise Him, for every time He withdraws His gifts that you may better know and love the Giver. --Selected
