Having been arrested, Jesus is taken to appear before the council of religious leaders, and they desperately try to find a charge that will validly stick. We might have assumed that they had carefully worked out how they were going to ensure his condemnation, but that is clearly not the case, as they struggle to find suitable testimony against him.
Just one of the disciples is mentioned in this section, Peter. Despite his failings, Peter has not completely disappeared. He is trying to remain incognito, but he does follow, although at a distance and we see him warming his hands at the fire which the guards have to keep them warm. Peter does want to know how the story ends, but he is not going to intervene. I wonder whether there are situations in which we lie low instead of being bold for God.
Back in council, the problem is that they are making it up, and it is therefore difficult to identify two concurring stories. In despair or fury, or both, the high priest finally tears his clothes and declares that the normal rules of testimony do not apply. There is no need for two agreeing witnesses because Jesus is – allegedly – an identified blasphemer. So, Jesus is condemned and maltreated. He is spat at, hit and beaten. They mock him by urging him to prophesy. In fact, that is exactly what is happening, an enacted prophecy.
As Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man) comments – “they ridicule him, commanding him to “play the prophet”. This is the first instance of mockery that ironically utters the truth, for Jesus’ words are being fulfilled even as his opponents speak; indeed his prediction of Peter’s threefold denial comes to pass in the very next episode. But the real prophetic vocation lies not in predicting events, but in fidelity to the script of biblical radicalism. This, Jesus is “pommelled” by the attendants – an allusion to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. Truly Jesus is a prophet, for he is being dishonoured by his own people (cf. 6:4).”
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