Sometimes, the best answer is no answer at all.
Jesus usually responded to questions and requests, even when the other person appeared to be combative. But at the end of His life, as He endured a series of unjust trials, He responded to some questions with silence. When the chief priest asked Him to respond to the testimony of false witnesses, “He held his peace” (Matthew 26:62-63). When Herod “questioned with him in many words,” the Savior, “answered him nothing” (Luke 23:9). As He stood before Pilate, “the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.” Pilate was perplexed, “Answerest thou nothing?” he asked. “Behold how many things they witness against thee.” But He remained calm and silent, “so that Pilate marvelled” (Mark 15:3-5).
Alma and Amulek found themselves in a similar situation in the city of Ammonihah. After witnessing the horrific martyrdom of the women and children who believed, the chief judge said, “Ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them because they were of thy faith.” Then he asked, “What say ye for yourselves?” (Alma 14:15). When “Alma and Amulek answered him nothing,” he had them thrown into prison. Three days later, a group of lawyers and judges came to the prison and “questioned them about many words; but they answered them nothing.” The chief priest asked, “Why do ye not answer the words of this people? Know ye not that I have power to deliver you up unto the flames? And he commanded them to speak; but they answered nothing” (Alma 14:15-19).
Elder Neil L. Andersen said:
There are times when being a peacemaker means that we resist the impulse to respond and instead, with dignity, remain quiet….
Jesus taught us to withdraw from the circle of anger and contention. In one example, after the Pharisees confronted Jesus and counseled how they might destroy Him, the scriptures say that Jesus withdrew Himself from them, and miracles occurred as “great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all.”
“Following Jesus: Being a Peacemaker,” General Conference, April 2022
Today, I will talk and listen in ways that uplift other people. I will recognize that words are not always needed, and I will discipline myself to not talk when it’s time not to talk.
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