Jesus Mocked/Beaten Series

Luke 22:63-71 [ESV]

63Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. 64They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?" 65And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. 66When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, 67"If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe, 68and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God." 70So they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am." 71Then they said, "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips."

63Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.

These ‘men’ were the Temple guard, not the Romans at this particular time. They were more than likely some of the men who had been to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, and possibly their superiors as well… this was a big deal… Jesus was a wanted man… and I am sure all of them wanted to be in on this event.

were holding - soon-ekh'-on-tess which means to ‘hold’ but carries a picture of that of a ship being funneled into a straight, unable to move about freely… another picture is that of cattle being herded into an area where they are trapped and not able to move so that the farmer can administer a brand or give medicine. The basic picture here is that Jesus was bound tightly and there was no human means of escape… They were determined and deliberate in their binding of Jesus.

mocking him and beat him - em-pie-dzo which means to mock, to tease, to play with, but not in a playful manner!

de-ron-ten which is the word for ‘beat’ and means to beat or to flay, skin, thrash or smite… which leads to an entirely different picture than simply hitting Jesus! They were hitting him but with the strict intention of doing great damage to him…

The mocking was coupled with the beating and the implication here is much more sinister… this was a violent attack, both physically and emotionally on a bound and defenseless man. What Jesus had to endure for us was horrendous.

64They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?"

Blindfolded - peri-cal-oops-un-tow

This means to be shut off, covered up, covered over, covered all around… the meaning gives the implied perception that Jesus was totally incapacitated both physically by his bonds but also visually because of the blindfold… total darkness with no sense of what was about to happen (from the human perspective)

kept asking - - ep-er-o-tah'-own which is the imperfect indicative meaning that they KEPT ON ASKING HIM… in a taunting and aggressive tone. This coupled with the em-pei-dzo (mocking) reveal a brutal and horrific edition of blind man’s bluff… he was cloaked and blinded from all directions and they taunted and beat Him mercilessly demanding that He prove Himself and prophesy who was doing it… ruthlessly cruel!

65And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

Finally we see that this sick game of blind man’s bluff was not all they did but it was Luke wanted to emphasize, but they did far more to Jesus than Luke details… as he tells us in this verse that they did MANY other things against Him… blaspheming Him…

The term ‘blaspheming’ here is not that they were being overt against Jesus as Savior… but it was more that they were being overtly cruel and accusatory toward Jesus from a human perspective…

Another word that could be used here is the word calumniate which is defined as making strong false and malicious statements about OR slandering someone. They were accusing Jesus of many things He had NOT done… These men were possibly the instigators of the crowd that shouted out the next day, “Crucify Him!!” on many occasions!

The point we need to see in these few verses is that Jesus… took all this abuse, without resistance and in fact willfully submitted Himself to this… all on OUR behalf!

Scripture tells us in Isaiah 53:3,7-8 [ESV] tells us,

“…3He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not… 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth…”