Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him

 

Jesus Christ in Prison, Russian icon.  Praetorium Prison of Christ, Jerusalem, Israel

 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.  Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of God?"  So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am."  And they said, "What further testimony do we need?  For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."

 

- Luke 22:63-71 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to arrest Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."  Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."  And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

 

 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.  The One who is the all-powerful Lord and Judge stands abused by those who wield power over Him.  St. Cyril of Alexandria comments upon Christ's endurance and lack of response, and His display of patience:  "This One is despised as one of us, patiently endures beatings, and submits to the ridicule of the wicked. He offers himself to us as a perfect pattern of patience. He rather reveals the incomparable greatness of his godlike gentleness."

 

 As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  My study Bible comments here that Jesus asked many questions of the Jewish leaders which they refused to answer because doing so would have meant confessing Him as the Christ -- see Luke 20:47, Matthew 22:41-46, Mark 3:4.

"Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of God?"  So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am."  And they said, "What further testimony do we need?  For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."  My study bible explains that by His claim, "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God," Jesus declares Himself to be equal with God.  This is in language which is clearly understood by His interlocutors, those who have put Him on trial.  They now have evidence with which they will charge Him with blasphemy.

The words of St. Cyril should really give us pause.  We must stop to think about this scene of Christ being debased and abused, humiliated and tortured.  This is a scene of  power, of a particular use of power.  St. Cyril also writes, "We of earth, mere corruption and ashes, immediately attack those who would disturb us, as we have a heart full of fierceness like savage beasts. He, who in nature and glory transcends the limits of our understanding and our powers of speech, patiently endured those officers when they not only mocked but also hit him."  This is a picture of the ancient world, one in which the "great and powerful" were also those who were ruthless.  Those who lorded it over others and were considered truly great and praiseworthy were also those who used power in ways that crushed and enslaved others.  Humility as virtue was introduced by Christ to the world as praiseworthy, and revolutionary.  And, if we are honest, this notion of humility as virtue is still revolutionary in many circumstances and places.  For this reason, when Christianity first began to spread to the world, in the very early centuries of the Church, it was derided by the pagan world as a "religion of women and slaves."  As we have visited many times, when the disciples began to dispute with one another over who would be the greatest, Jesus told them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:25-27; in this reading).  Jesus accepts what is happening to Him, because He has understood from the beginning what the reality was going to be, and how the Father wanted Him to go to His Passion.  But what we are to understand is not a fatalistic philosophy.  It is instead our due to observe that Jesus has already exhausted every means whereby He can bring His ministry of salvation to the people and also to the religious leaders.  He has sparred with them and taught them at every turn over His ministry of three years.  And we should remember, also, that the Gospels teach us there were many times He chose to evade death at the hands of others in powerful positions.   If we think about it, we might even include the attempt to murder Him as an infant (see the Egyptian exile of the Holy Family, thus escaping what is called the Massacre of the Innocents in Matthew 2:13-18).  We should also remind ourselves that prophecy forewarns us of real events; events do not happen in order to fulfill prophecy.  But possibly our most important consideration is to ask ourselves precisely why the events surrounding Jesus and His "end" or "exodus" would happen this way.  Clearly, everything regarding Jesus' life and ministry is a gift to us.  All of this happens so that we have this story, and for the purposes of our salvation.  Jesus does not take on punishment because God demands it, but rather He endures all the cruelties and injustices of this world brought on by the evil one, by those spiritual forces who desire rebellion against God, desire to resist Him, and who resent human beings.  Whatever we go through, He has assumed through His human life, and that includes injustice and abuses of power, pain and torture, beatings and horrific suffering and death.  In what is known as the Critique of Apollinaris and Apollinarianism, St. Gregory Nazianzinus refuted the idea that Jesus did not have a human mind.  He famously wrote, giving us a landmark in our understanding of Christ and the Incarnation, "For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole."  The same can be said for human pain and suffering:  in His Incarnation, Christ took on all that we experience in a world afflicted by evil, and thus brought salvation to us even in the midst of our own suffering.  He has forever transfigured this reality of our world through His endurance and patience, and brought us meaning within our own challenges, pain, injustice, and suffering.  He has been there, so that He is always there with us, and can truthfully say, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).  Like Christ, our own times of suffering through evil may in fact be times of opportunity for greater spiritual harvest.  As we go through our own challenges in this world, let us remember that every struggle is a chance to go through it with Him, to be united to His saving life and mission in this world, to transfigure our own experience with faith by God's grace.  For He is with us always, and that is His promise to us.