THE WONDER OF SALVATION

Jesus was Beaten until He Bled

The soldiers took Jesus prisoner and brought Him to the High Priest Annas, because the members of the Jewish High Council needed to have two meetings before they could pronounce a death sentence. Jesus must have been exhausted after a night without sleep and a tremendous spiritual battle, as He wrestled with the sin.

The interrogation of Annas concentrated on two points: Jesus’ disciples and Jesus’ teaching. How successful was Jesus? Did He have many disciples? Had they maybe been trained by Him to start an uprising? However, Jesus did not respond to Annas’ questions about His disciples. Would He tell them that one of them had betrayed Him, that all of the others had fled and that Peter was about to radically deny knowing Him? No, Jesus protected His disciples by remaining silent.

Suddenly Jesus said: ‘Why question Me? Ask those who heard Me. Surely they know what I said’²⁷. One of the temple soldiers hit Jesus in the face, possibly with a stick and said: ‘That is not how you speak to the High Priest!’ This was the first, but would not be the last time that Jesus would be hit without reason, just as Micah prophesied: ‘They will strike Israel’s leader in the face with a rod’²⁸. Jesus answered: ‘If I have said something wrong, then tell Me. But if I am right, then why do you hit Me²⁹?’ The soldier remained silent. Annas had Jesus tied up again and sent him to the High Priest Caiaphas, who had summoned the Sanhedrin.

Jesus was beaten until He bled during the interrogation – in your place and without defending Himself – to deliver you from every accusation of the evil one.