No Guinness, although I think there’s a bottle of Michelob left from the last time my father visited. And the nap was Overtaken By Events ... just as I dozed off, I heard one of my sons moving a chair into the kitchen so he could rummage the freezer :-). Life is like that sometimes.
My point, such as it is, is that without more information, such as who are the Lemann Brothers, and on what they base their interpretation, we’re not going to have any useful discussion of what is actually an interesting question.
Maybe NYer can help with this. I don’t have Mr. Schoeman’s book, so I can’t add anything.
Okay ... I have the book and here is what Roy Schoeman has written.
Both Matthew and Mark explicitly mention Jesus' silence as well as the underlying motive of envy. From Matthew 27:12-18.
But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor wondered greatly .... For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
The Leman brothers made the touching point that Jesus' silence before the High Priest was motivated by His profound respect for the office of the Jewish Priesthood. Mosaic law forbids compelling a witness to testify against himself. It was because Jesus did not want to put the High Priest in the position of sinning against that law that He refused to answer the High Priest's questions even though beaten for it (John 18:19-23).
The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together; I have said nothing secretly. Why to you ask me? Ask those who have heard me, what I said to them; they know what I said." When he had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"
Jesus acquiesced only when the High Priest ordered Him to answer in the name of God.
Hope that clarifies your question.