Play the Prophet 2

“Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him, play the prophet, Christ! Who hit you then? (Matthew 26: 67)

The midnight interrogation of Jesus was not a gentle process. It was a period of accounting between the Christ and Satan and the advantage was clearly the devil’s. In an irrational frenzy, everybody turned against Jesus. It was as if there was a competition to see who would deliver the deadliest blow. But Jesus had predicted his passion to the letter. He had also said somewhere else that “Those who belong to me will listen to my voice.” The crowd here does not belong to Jesus. Their reaction to the Truth was violence. They spat on his face; they hit him with their fists; they struck him as they insulted him. The evangelist recorded that Jesus was silent during this ordeal. O that I could learn the golden rule of silence during insults and persecutions!

Paul endured the same persecution. Peter urged us to be happy at such occasions. Christ warned us explicitly to be prepared for it. Two thousand years of church history has vindicated this wisdom that there can be no crown with cross, no victory without victimization and no testimony without tests. Man has yet to discover how to made omelet without breaking eggs. This is the supreme moment of test for the Christ.

What can we learn from this? Dignity and silence under trial. This is impossible without God’s grace. Many After Communion prayers say: “Lord, strengthen us by the sacrament we have received.” We receive the strength from Holy Communion to imitate Christ.