When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”
Jesus has just answered the high priest's questions by pointing to His public teaching. Anyone in the room could check what He taught. What comes next is not a reply but a hand across the face — and a rebuke for the way He answered.
Insult in Place of an Answer
The men whose job was to keep order in the court were the ones who broke it.
Hamilton SmithNo one could answer the Lord's reply. But as so often happens when there is no answer to an argument, the opposer falls back on insult and abuse. So the officers, whose job was to keep order, strike the Lord. The Lord meets these insults with righteous and fearless dignity.
The man who struck Him was an underling, and his motive was to prop up his superior.
William KellyThe only reply was a brutal insult from a Jewish underling who would in this way support the high priest, since he could do nothing else.
A Court Breaking Its Own Law
The officer's outrage was on behalf of legal dignity, yet the room he stood in was itself lawless.
L. M. GrantBut at once a gross violation of justice occurs in the court, under the eyes of the high priest, who does not even reprimand it. An officer struck the Lord with the palm of his hand. He was irritated that the Lord had seen the high priest's breach of judicial order.
Who Was the "High Priest" Here?
The officer's phrase assumes a court with real authority. The man questioning Jesus at this point was Annas, and one writer explains why the Lord gave him so little.
C. E. StuartThe Lord was first taken to Annas... But since he was not high priest, and therefore had no authority, the Lord did not go into matters with him. He had no real jurisdiction in such a case... One of the officers, however, struck the Lord with the palm of his hand. This was an indignity wholly undeserved.
The Answer That Followed the Blow
His answer pointed at what the court had skipped: witnesses.
J. T. MawsonThe whole court must have felt the power and justice of that rebuke, despite its excitement over its own injustice and its success so far. One of them, an officer, lost his head completely and struck Jesus with the palm of his hand. The quiet answer to that blow underlined how illegal the proceedings were without witnesses.
That calm covered more than His own feelings.
Samuel RidoutThey rebuked Him and struck Him for answering, though His answering was an entirely righteous act. His calm reply shows how perfectly He was master of every feeling and of the whole situation.
The Measure Against Which Even Apostles Fall Short
Paul faced almost the same scene before another council and answered differently. That difference is used to mark what is unique about Christ.
J. G. BellettHe could righteously vindicate Himself in everything. He could even reprove His accuser and say, "If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike Me?" But even Paul, in such a case, had to take back his word, and say, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest."
Turning the Other Cheek
Jesus told His followers to turn the other cheek. Under this blow He did not.
The Bible Treasury"If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Of course we must be careful to understand these principles. This is not the spirit of defiance, for there can be real pride in that. It is non-resistance to evil. Look at the dignity of the Lord Jesus when they struck Him. He did not turn the other cheek. We must seek to understand the principle of the thing.
A Blow Foretold
Commentators connect this treatment to an old prophecy of Israel's rejected King.
Arno C. GaebeleinThe rejection of the judge of Israel caused their long history of trouble, ending in the great tribulation. It is the Messiah, our Lord. They despised Him, insulted Him, struck Him with a rod on the cheek. He is called the judge of Israel, because the judge held the highest official position in Israel. They regarded a blow on the cheek as the greatest disgrace.
Summary
- The blow exposed them. When they could not answer His words, they used violence instead.
- The blow was itself the crime. A court set on guarding the high priest's honour struck an untried prisoner. The high priest said nothing.
- The blow met a title without authority. Annas was not the high priest, so the Lord did not argue His case with him.
- The blow drew out perfection. He did not hit back and He did not stay silent. He asked for evidence, master of every feeling — where even Paul had to take back his words.
- The blow rejected their King. They struck Israel's own Judge on the cheek — the deepest disgrace their world knew — and the nation's long history of trouble follows from that rejection.