The
men who held Jesus mocked him and beat him. Having blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?” They spoke many other things against him, insulting him.
Luke 22:63-65
Luke 22 [60.] But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned, and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the Lord’s word, how he said to him, “Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.” He went out, and wept bitterly.
Luke 22 [63.] The men who held Jesus mocked him and beat him. Having blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?” They spoke many other things against him, insulting him.
Luke 22 [66.] As soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away into their council, saying, “If you are the Christ, tell us.”
But he said to them, “If I tell you, you won’t believe, and if I ask, you will in no way answer me or let me go. From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
Meaning:
While Peter was denying him in the courtyard and then weeping bitterly outside (Luke 22:61-62), Jesus was in the hands of the guards who had arrested him. Through the night, before the council met at daybreak (Luke 22:66-71), these men passed the hours by tormenting their prisoner. Mark and Matthew record similar abuse, with spitting and blows after the night hearing before the high priest (Mark 14:65; Matthew 26:67-68).
- “The men who held Jesus mocked him and beat him”
These were probably temple guards or servants of the high priest, the same kind of men who had come with swords and clubs to the Mount of Olives. Jesus had not yet been tried or condemned, yet he was treated as a criminal. Such cruelty towards prisoners was common, but Luke wants his readers to see more than a routine beating. Jesus had foretold exactly this: “he will be delivered up to the Gentiles, will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit on” (Luke 18:32). What he predicted on the road to Jerusalem now begins to happen.
- “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?”
The guards turned violence into a game. They covered his eyes, hit him, and challenged him to name the one who struck him. Behind the game lay real contempt. Jesus was widely regarded as a prophet; the people on the road to Emmaus would later call him “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (Luke 24:19). The guards mocked that claim. The irony is deep: Jesus had just prophesied Peter’s denial, and at that very moment it was being fulfilled a few metres away. He could see what they could not. Every word he had spoken about his suffering was coming true in front of them.
- “They spoke many other things against him, insulting him”
The Greek word Luke uses here is the word for blasphemy. Those who insulted Jesus thought they were speaking against a powerless prisoner, but Luke’s readers know they were reviling the Son of God. Throughout the abuse Jesus does not answer back. Isaiah describes the Servant of the Lord: “I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). And again, “He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
- The silence of the Son
Jesus could have called on his Father for help; instead he endured. Peter, who had failed so badly that night, later wrote that Jesus, “when he was cursed, didn’t curse back. When he suffered, didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). Peter had learned from what he saw and heard that night that Christ’s silence was not weakness but strength under control, freely given for others.
The Significance of Luke 22:63-65
- Christ shares the suffering of the mistreated
Jesus was blindfolded, beaten and insulted by men who held power over him. Those who suffer abuse, mockery or injustice can know that their Lord has walked the same path and understands.
- Responding without revenge
Jesus did not return insult for insult. Believers are called to follow his example, entrusting themselves to God, who judges justly, rather than seeking revenge.
- Scripture fulfilled even in shame
The mocking that seemed to disprove Jesus’ claims actually confirmed them. God’s purposes are often at work most deeply where they seem most hidden.
Cross-References:
Mark 14:65: "Some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to beat him with fists, and to tell him, “Prophesy!”" Mark’s parallel.
Isaiah 50:6: "I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair." The suffering Servant.
Luke 18:32: "will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit on." Jesus’ own prediction.
1 Peter 2:23: "when he was cursed, didn’t curse back." Peter’s reflection on Christ’s example.
Conclusion: Through the night the guards holding Jesus mocked, beat, blindfolded and insulted him, daring him to prophesy. Their cruelty fulfilled Jesus’ own words and the prophecies of the suffering Servant, while at the same moment his prophecy about Peter came true. Jesus bore the abuse in silence, leaving an example of patient endurance and trust in God for all who suffer unjustly.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible