'Over-egging the pudding' is a quaint English expression which means, 'to ruin something by putting too much into it'.  That was the problem with the religious lawyers.  Once they had Pilate's ear (and the accusation of treason was not to be dismissed lightly), they then poured out the venom that was in their hearts: many lies, half-truths and twisted truths.  Today, the muddle of so-called evidence would easily be torn apart by defence attorneys.  And Pilate was not impressed either (Luke 23:4).  Any objective observer would see that Jesus' accusers were using all the verbal sticks they could find to beat Him.  It looked like a vendetta – because it was.

Mark repeats 'many things' to make clear that Pilate saw through the charade.  The challenge for the Governor would be to confront the religious liars and dismiss the case.  Did he have the courage? He saw nothing worthy of the death sentence (Luke 23:14-15), his wife had a nightmare about the injustice to Jesus and begged her husband to have 'nothing to do with this innocent man' (Matthew 27:19).  Eventually, although Pilate washed his hands in public to say that he should not be implicated in sentencing Jesus (Matthew 27:24), he was fully responsible.  His courage failed, justice failed; he ignored the evidence, his conscience and his wife’s appeal … all because he did not want to upset the religious hierarchy who might start a riot which might lose Pilate his job or his head.  He was a corrupt coward.

Matthew 12:35 tells us that evil does not just pour from the mouth - it is pumped from a heart that has been storing evil. And how the religious rulers hated Jesus!  He was everything that they were supposed to be - but were not.  His words had authority unlike theirs (Mark 1:22).  So their accusations were fuelled by envy, as we shall see in Mark 15:10.  None of these could be taken seriously - and certainly Jesus was not going to dignify their venom by responding to it.  There are many times when speech is silver, but silence is golden.  And Jesus chose silence to discredit the inconsistent accusations piled against Him.

Jesus was never panicked into defending Himself.  Truth is its own defence.  Even though Pilate had never seen a prisoner react like this, it is a good model.  Vindication rarely comes from powerful arguments but from the long-term effects of truth. This is an important principle that will save many hours of fretting. Psalm 37:1-7 gives similar advice - it is excellent medicine for the troubled heart.  If you are being unfairly accused or slandered, place your burden of injustice before the Lord; and leave Him to deal with it.  Jesus did.