Only two weeks until Easter! We are getting closer. This week’s Resurrection Egg contains a piece of leather. It is symbolic of the beatings that Jesus suffered. All four of the Gospels write of Jesus being arrested. We will look at verses from each of the Gospels, starting with the first half of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ arrest.
Matthew 26:45-58 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Let me stop there to point out that the Gospels of Mark and Luke are similar to Matthew’s account. The only one that is significantly different is John’s account. He details much more of what Jesus said to the disciples during the Last Supper, including prayers that Jesus prayed. Yet John skips Jesus praying in the Garden and does not mention himself, James and Peter falling asleep. There are a lot of opinions written about why the Gospels differ in their recording, but it seems to me like John’s is different because he was actually there. He contains more details that the other three would not have witnessed first-hand. Let’s look at part of what John wrote.
John 18:1-14 says: When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.
Reading through these accounts, I am struck by a few images. Did you notice it is a crowd of people who come to arrest Jesus? All four Gospels tell us the crowd arrived with swords and clubs. Matthew, Mark and John contain that detail in their description of the crowd, and Luke records in Luke 22:52, “Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?’”
This crowd with swords and clubs makes me think of the medieval practice of “hue and cry.” A crowd of people would get riled up and pursue someone accused of something. They would grab anything that they could use as a weapon and literally run after the person. People would join the crowd, not even knowing who or why they were pursuing someone. It became a mob of public judgement.
It’s not unlike what we have today in our society. Someone is accused of some action or statement that the “crowd” deems wrong and immediately a hue and cry is raised. Quick, jump on the internet, start attacking them. No need to find out if the accusations are true or not. We saw literal “hue and cry” mentality during the summer of 2020. Mobs of people with weapons of all kinds, roaming cities and neighborhoods, crying out for “justice.” The victims were not people who had committed the crimes that they were being judged for. In the mob’s anger, they attacked innocent people and businesses. Now and as then, the hue and cry quickly spirals out of control.
When this mob came to arrest Jesus, it also could have spiraled out of control, except that Jesus was there. When Simon Peter cut off the guard’s ear, that could have led to an all-out riot. Jesus was not going to let that happen. As quickly as He calmed the storm on the boat, He calmed this unruly crowd.
Even in the middle of his arrest, He brought peace.
In our society, it is the same. Jesus is the only One who can bring us peace. We can attempt to take matters into our own hands, but chances are we will only make things worse. Instead of “cutting off ears,” we need Jesus to show us the way to calm the storms and bring peace.
I think one of the fundamental ways He does that is by pointing us to His unchanging Word. There is a lot of talk about fake news and fact-checking, but so much of what gets reported as truth is not truth at all but simply still someone’s opinion. Even within Christianity, so much of the doctrines that are taught are not based on the Word of God, but on people's opinions. So much of what I read, whether it’s about theology or politics, is nothing more than elaborate word gymnastics. The author, in trying to prove a point, will bend over backwards and upside down to make that point. The author wants something to be true, and so they backwards engineer the evidence to prove their point. It’s not unlike what the chief priests were doing when they arrested Jesus.
Returning to Matthew 26:59-61, we see what happens next: “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
I appreciate Matthew telling us they are looking for false evidence. He doesn’t write, “they were looking for evidence.” Instead, he calls it what it is: false evidence. He also rightfully calls the people who were accusing Jesus false witnesses. Reading the wording Matthew uses is exactly what the 9th Commandment tells us not to do: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16 RSV).
So desperate to find a reason to have Jesus killed, they seemed willing to break any commandment to do so. They were trying so hard to find any little thing that they could use against Him. Someone remembered that Jesus said once that He is planning to destroy the temple! No matter that statement taken literally is a ridiculous impossibility for one man to do at that time. Just ignore that fact that He also said He would rebuild it in three days. (They skip that part). It’s enough “evidence” to accuse Him.
Continuing in Matthew 26:62-68, we see: Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
They said they didn’t need any more witnesses. I am sure that is because they didn’t have real witnesses to begin with. They just wanted to kill Him. They wanted any reason, no matter how flimsy, to have Him condemned to die. They simply hated Him. We see their hatred for Him in the way they spit on Him and struck Him. I don’t know about you, but it’s so hard to think about how they hit Him. It’s so uncomfortable and awful to visualize the abuse He suffered. I think it’s important that we don’t skip over the violence, though.
Easter is an odd season because the world celebrates Easter by thinking about Spring. It’s the most feminine of all the holidays, isn’t it? It’s soft and sweet. The colors are pastels of pinks and yellows. It’s baby bunnies and chicks. Yet when we think about what Easter is actually about, it’s not soft and sweet at all. It’s very dark. There is suffering. It’s the worst kind of violence against someone who could not have been more innocent. Yes, we have the culmination of Easter on Sunday and the celebration of the resurrection to look forward to, but if we skip the horror of the suffering of Jesus, won’t the significance of the resurrection rather lose its power?
Mark 14 also includes this terrible scene at the Sanhedrin. He records in verses 63 and 64, “The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’
They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards took him and beat him.”
I think it’s important to mention that this violence was taking place by the Sanhedrin. They were the members of the Jewish religious court. It was led by the High Priest. These are the religious leaders who are spiting on Jesus, blindfolding Him as they hit Him. How could He just stand there and let them beat Him? How was He able to take it? At any moment He could have ended it. Yet, He willingly endured this first wave of violence against Him. He let them hurt Him, and He remained silent. He didn’t tell them to stop. He didn’t bother to explain to them they were wrong. He didn’t explain that He was innocent. Even when they said, “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God,” all He said was, “You have said so,”… “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
When they accused Him of plotting to destroy the temple, He didn’t bother to tell them what He actually meant by that statement. His surrender to this attack is a fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah 53:7, which says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
Jesus did not cry out for them to stop attacking Him. He didn’t plead with them to stop. But He defended the truth. John 18:19-23 records Jesus speaking: Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”
When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”
Again, Jesus didn’t attack the members of the Sanhedrin. He didn’t make it personal and insult any of them, even though He could have. Even in the face of persecution and pain, Jesus didn’t change. He stayed consistent. He stayed true to His message. Remember when He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). That is exactly what He did, even while they spit on Him and struck Him.
When we are attacked for speaking truth, what is our response? Do we lash out at those that attack us? Do we hurl insults and seek ways to damage our false accusers? I have to admit, it’s difficult not to strike back. When we are hurt, emotionally or physically, I think our natural response is to fight back. We don’t want to be a victim. We want to return the pain to whoever hurt us. Look at Simon Peter in the garden. When they came to get Jesus, he lashed out and cut off an ear! But if we react in anger, trying to save face or protect our pride, then we aren’t responding in love.
Does that mean that we must always be silent? Can we never defend ourselves? I think there is a vast ocean between lashing out in an attempt to injure the offending party and speaking the truth in love. Jesus did not lash out, but He spoke the truth. I think we are to do the same.
Jesus said in John 7:18, “Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.”
If we are speaking what the Word of God says, then not only will we be speaking truth, but we will be glorifying God. We should we aware, though, that when we speak the truth, we will most likely be attacked for it. It's possible that we could lose friends. We could even lose our jobs. Speaking the truth in a world that loves lies is very dangerous. It’s much easier to “speak on our own” and change God’s word so we keep friends and gain personal glory. If we want to glorify God, then we will lay aside ourselves and not worry about what happens to us.
Jesus wasn’t trying to preserve His life. He was willingly laying down His life. He let go of His rights to defend Himself. He took the insults and beating so that God would be glorified. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
This attitude is easier said than done, but in the same way that Jesus is the only One who can bring peace, He is also the only One who can help us, by His Holy Spirit, to respond in love when we are persecuted. And in the middle of persecution, He can bring peace to our hearts, just like He brought peace to the violent mob.
Sometimes Jesus calms the mob and we escape persecution and He gives us a way out of trouble. Other times, we suffer at the hands of injustice, but even then, He brings peace to our hearts by reminding us that our reward is in heaven. Either way, He promises to be with us.
He suffered all that He did so that He could overcome sin and death and purchase for us our salvation. Our sacrificial Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Easter is only two weeks away. We are nearing the Good News! Let us keep our eyes upon Jesus as we follow His journey to the cross. May the Holy Spirit continue to work repentance into our hearts to help us follow Him.
Pray: Lord Jesus, we praise You. We thank You for loving us so much that You suffered so much for us. Thank You for willingly offering Yourself for us, so we might have salvation. Help us to keep our eyes upon You. Help us to follow You and obey Your word. Please fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that we may respond in love to those who persecute us. Help us to trust in You. We look forward to Easter and to the day we are with You for eternity. In You we pray, Amen.
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