And when He had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with ther palm of his hand, saying, Answerest Thou the high priest so? John 18:22
We shudder to think of the indignity of this offer, to insult the Son of God with a slap. No doubt he felt he was preserving the dignity of the high priest, and his insult was obviously with the full consent and encouragement of Caiaphas. But there is coming a day when both the officer and the one-time high priest will stand before the Great White Throne. With the positions reversed, and in an atmosphere of utmost terror and awe, those two men will face the One they insulted. At that time, the officer will realize that it was Caiaphas who he should have slapped. His rash act – and its dire punishment – will hang on his soul forever. And he will have plenty of company.
Caiaphas was the pinnacle of the Jew’s religion at that time. As the high priest, he held the top office and was the most influential person in religious circles in a religious nation. Those around him sought his favours and honoured him with their words and deeds. Caiaphas was much like today’s religious leaders. For example, it is pathetically funny how those in the Romish religion kowtow to the whims of the pope and his entourage. Other religious leaders enjoy the attention and fanatic actions of their followers. Sadly they are following only religion and a religious leader, failing to acknowledge the God that the religion ignores. We look at those leaders and their followers and regret that they are unable to see the error of their blindness. Their religious zeal is little more than the actions of the officer who insulted the Lord Jesus with a slap. With the Lord Jesus so obvious before them, they insult Him to honour their own leaders.
Our hearts are touched as we see the meekness of our Saviour standing before Caiaphas. Legions of angels must have longed to strike vengeance on the officer and his high priest for their indignities. But our Lord stood meekly, and submitted to the indignities, because He must go to Calvary for us. The officer’s insult was just the first of many that day. And the Lord Jesus knew about them all before they ever occurred. And He accepted them, not for His sake but for ours.
The shame that men heaped on our Lord stands as proof of our condemnation, and as proof of His offer of Salvation. -Jim MacIntosh