Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?

 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"  And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?"

- Matthew 26:57-68

In our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  After the Passover meal (the Last Supper) at which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, Jesus and the disciples went out to the garden of Gethsemane.  And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"     We read of the search for witnesses -- and even false testimony is difficult to find for these men who wish to convict Jesus.  Here my study bible says that the people misunderstand Jesus' words reported in John 2:19-21.  Some Jews, it says, believed that the temple would be destroyed and a new one built by the Messiah.

And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?"  Interestingly, here Jesus begins His silence.  Most likely He answers nothing where there is no one to listen to what He has to say; there is no point in answering what is provided by false witnesses to a court that has no desire to hear His wisdom.  The high priest gives His name, His identity, "Christ, the Son of God."  Jesus quotes from Psalm 110 and Daniel 7:13, confessing that He is the Messiah.  That is, fully Man and fully God.  Only a divine One could sit at the right hand of the Power and share authority with the Father.  The high priest clearly understands this is a claim of equality with God the Father.  Under the Law, for a man to claim this was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16), but Christ is not a mere man.  His declaration of equality is not blasphemy but truth.

We read of Christ receiving beatings, being ridiculed and asked to prophesy, to answer "Who is the one who struck You?"  It's shocking to acknowledge, to understand, but it really should not be so shocking to us to "see" this scene.  Violence as a response to what one does not want to receive is commonplace.   What is also on display is ignorance and complete disrespect for the holy.  A much wiser man (Gamaliel) will treat the apostles quite differently after Christ's death (see Acts 5:34-40).  Brutality is a factor of our world.  It is something we have to take account of when we think about the holy, God's grace at work, and how we can live our lives in faith even in a world where there is ignorance and evil.  In these actions, we're confronted with what it really means to shut ourselves off from God, from wisdom, from even the possibility of the holy.  Our refusal to acknowledge the possibility of God's action in our hearts constitutes a form of brutality, of violence, because we cut ourselves off from something valuable and beautiful, something that gives insight, and knowledge, and mercy.  These men who behave in this way cut themselves off from the possibilities of grace working through them, the potential for human behavior that is "like God" rather than merely brutal.  To fail to acknowledge these potentials in the heart is to do violence to ourselves and our true natures and capacities for spiritual growth within ourselves.  It is to fail to heed the light that illumines behavior and character.  Therefore it should not be surprising that in refusal to truly "hear" and "see" Jesus, brutality is a response -- even one that mocks what prophesy is and does at the court of the Council, in the residence of the high priest.  The important thing here, the essential point not to miss, is that such low behavior comes as a result of a choice for lack of understanding, hardness of heart, a kind of deliberate spiritual ignorance that sets itself in advance against what might be here.  It is a choice to refuse possibilities, to deny that God might be present in this situation.  The lesson for us is to live a prayerful life, to watch and pray, as Jesus told the disciples in Gethsemane.  That is, to live all the moments of our lives in remembrance of God, with consciousness that seeks grace at all times, that looks for the possibilities of God, even in the darkest times.  This is the one way we know that can prevent our descent into brutality and ignorance.  It is the one way to find the way that "all things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28).  God's possibilities are always there.  But we must be open to receiving them.  A closed heart is the recipe for descent into disaster and sorrow.