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Compare Matthew 26:53; Luke 23:9-10, 13-14; John 19:8-15
Why did Jesus make no defense? Why did he say so little before Pilate?
Because he would go to his death without resistance. He would no more defend himself verbally than he had defended himself physically, even though, as he pointed out at his arrest, he could have called upon legions of angels to protect him.
“To this end was I born,” he says at John 18:37, “and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth [ἵνα μαρτυρήσω τῇ ἀληθείᾳ].”
The Greek verb μαρτυρήσω (martyrêsô, “[that] I bear witness”) contains an obvious secondary hint of martyrdom. In the words of the Christmas carol, “Jesus the Saviour did come for to die for poor on’ry people like you and like I.” That was the whole point.
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