Betrayal and Denial

Father, we confess before you that too often when we read your word or hear your word,

we think of how it applies to other people and not ourselves.

We think, Father, of the specks in other people's eyes and not the logs in our own eyes.

And so we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a wonderful work in our midst

and that you would bring your word to our hearts,

that you would bring your word to our hearts so that it would speak clearly to us

and that as you speak to us at the depth of our heart, the command center of who we are,

Father, please make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel

and learning to live for your glory and not our own.

And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

Andrew and I have slightly different ideas about how we like to have the table set.

So I do it here for the sermon. Everything else is the way Andrew likes it.

You know, there's things that happen in the world that you just can't make up.

On the 13th of March, I think that was Wednesday,

Iran, by a lot of...

One of the scales I saw that was rating how different countries treat women,

out of 149 countries, Iran finished 146th out of 149.

And you can't make some of this stuff up,

but on March the 13th, Iran was put on the UN Council for Women.

Not making that up.

UN Council for Women.

So they are now part of the body that gets to judge

how different nations are treating women.

And in terms of not being able to make this stuff up,

the same day that they got named to the UN Human Rights Commission

that looks after the concerns of women,

that same day they sentenced...

And I don't...

If those of you know how to pronounce Iranian names,

I ask your forgiveness if I get this wrong.

Nazrin Sotute, a woman lawyer,

the same day they got put on the UN Human Rights Committee for Women,

they sentenced this lawyer, this woman lawyer,

to an extra 10 years in jail.

And her crime was that she was protesting the laws in Iran

that forced all women to wear the hijab.

So the same day they get put on the Human Rights Council,

they do that.

You can't make this stuff up, can you?

I mean, it's just one of those things you just shake your head

at what goes on.

The fact of the matter is

that as long as there's been human beings,

and I could give Canadian examples,

but the problem is, you know,

we've already talked about Canadian examples

a little bit over the last couple of weeks,

and it could make it look like

I was maybe trying to play political favorites,

which I'm not.

The fact of the matter is

is that issues of religious violence

and just the whole desire for power

and how power can corrupt

is a constant human problem and condition.

And the biblical passage that we're going to look at today

is directly connected

and speaks directly in

to this problem of religious violence,

the problem of the abuse of power.

So it'd be a great help to me

if you turned your Bibles

and opened them to John chapter 18.

John 18 · chapter mention

And we're going to look at that,

not only the text I read,

but the part that comes after it.

When we do narrative things like this,

I often have the text up on the screen,

so you will be able to read it

by looking on the screen.

But, you know, there's something special

about having your own Bible

and being able to make notes or comments

or whatever in your own Bible

as you go along.

And so we're looking at John.

It's John chapter 18, verse 1.

John 18:1

And John is one of the four ancient

eyewitness biographies of Jesus.

John mentions himself here in the story,

but he'll refer to himself as the other disciple.

He never names himself.

And in the flow of the gospel,

John spends more time

with how Jesus speaks to his disciples

on the night before he's betrayed.

That four, six, eight hours,

John spends a long time

talking about what Jesus says to his disciples.

And when we begin here at verse 1,

we're catching up with Jesus

has left the upper room

and the story continues on

and it's verse 1

and it goes like this.

When Jesus had spoken these words,

he went out with his disciples

across the brook Kidron

where there was a garden

which he and his disciples entered.

I just sort of want to pause here for a second.

The actual original word for brook

is a, I don't know if I'm pronouncing this correctly,

apologies, it's a wadi.

A very Middle Eastern thing, a wadi.

A wadi is a spring or a small river

that only erupts into water

occasionally throughout the year.

Usually in the rainy season,

there'll be a stream

or there'll be some water there.

The rest of the year, there's nothing.

And that's what Jesus is actually crossing.

And the other thing,

which is sort of is just,

we're going to talk about this more

in a couple of weeks.

But out of all of the gospel writers,

John is the one who emphasizes the most

that this is all taking place in a garden.

John is going to mention three times

the significance of the garden.

He's going to mention it here

where Jesus is betrayed is in a garden.

He's going to describe

that where Jesus is crucified is in a garden.

And he's going to be the one who says

that when Jesus is buried,

it's in a garden.

And of course, for Jewish and Christian readers,

Genesis 3,

human beings were put in a garden.

Adam and Eve fall in a garden.

There's this very clear literary connection

which John is making

to Adam and Eve

and the entrance of evil into the world.

So evil and sin and death

and brokenness and betrayal

and denial and abandonment and failure,

all of these things enter

into the human condition

in a garden.

And it is in a garden

that God will provide a remedy

for the human condition.

We continue in verse 2.

Now Judas, who betrayed Jesus,

also knew the place,

for Jesus often met there

with his disciples.

So Judas, having procured

a band of soldiers

and some officers

from the chief priests

and the Pharisees,

went there with lanterns

and torches and weapons.

And just sort of pause for a second.

It's not obvious

in the English translation,

but in the original language,

John uses a technical word

for band of soldiers.

It's actually,

he's using the technical word

for a group of 600 soldiers.

It's called a cohort.

And he's not saying

that all 600 soldiers came.

You know, if in Ottawa

you said that the fire department

put out the fire,

it doesn't mean that every fireman

went to put out the fire.

It just means the fire department

put out the fire.

And what John is using here

is using the technical Roman term

for a very large group

of Roman soldiers.

And he's signaling to the readers

that this means

that there's been prior collusion

between Pilate

and the group of people

who control the temple.

They have conspired in secret

because there's no way

that the people

who control the temple

would be able to just,

you know,

the bishop of Ottawa

couldn't go up to CFB Petawawa

and say,

could we borrow 100 soldiers

because we want to go do something?

No, they just say,

they say,

get out of here, right?

They don't have the power authority.

So John here

at the original language,

he's signaling

a conspiracy collusion

between the Roman authorities

and those who control

the Jewish high temple.

Verse 4,

continue on.

Then Jesus,

knowing all that would happen

to him,

came forward,

came forward,

walked towards them

and said to them,

whom do you seek?

I just want to pause there again.

It's very, very interesting here

what John is doing.

Sorry,

it's very interesting

in two ways.

The first one is

if you go back

and read the Gospel of John

from the beginning till now

and it's made a bit easier

if you have a Bible like mine

where the words of Jesus

are in red,

it makes it easier

to figure out certain things.

But if you go and look

and see in John's Gospel

what is the very first thing

that Jesus ever says

recorded in John's Gospel?

It is,

what do you seek?

Very, very first words

that Jesus says.

It isn't a declaration,

it's a question.

What are you seeking?

And it's really

a very, very interesting question

to every human being,

isn't it?

Like, what are you seeking?

You can ask that of,

you could ask that of Trudeau,

you could ask that of Andrew Scheer,

you could ask of a street person,

you could ask of everyone.

Like, what are you seeking?

What are your idols?

What's driving you?

It's the very, very first words

that Jesus says.

The same thing

can also be translated

as whom you are seeking.

Sort of a bit better

to translate it as what.

And so Jesus asks

virtually the identical question

of his enemies.

Whom are you seeking?

So just as the beginning

of his ministry,

his public ministry

and his open teaching,

it's going to be prefaced

with this idea of,

like, okay,

as you're coming to deal with me,

and you might think

that you're in control,

and you might just think

that you can be acquiring information,

or it's just all about power,

Jesus asks a heart question

in all of your interactions with me.

What are you really seeking?

Because what we're seeking

is going to have

a profound effect

and impact

on how we deal with people.

That's what's going to go

in the story.

As the story goes on,

we'll see that the soldiers

aren't seeking,

the soldiers and the police

aren't seeking justice.

We're going to see

that Annas and Pilate

aren't seeking justice,

that they're seeking power,

they're seeking other types

of things,

they're not seeking truth.

If they were seeking truth,

there'd be a whole pile

of things that they would

do very different,

but what they really are seeking

is power.

And because what they're

really seeking is power,

personal power,

it blinds them to truth

and blinds them to the value,

it blinds them to a whole pile

of other things.

And so it's a really important thing

for us to think about this.

There are some of us here

who have very,

very little power.

But all of us have

some degree of power.

Maybe it's a parent

who has power over their child

or you have power

in your group of friends,

some type of authority

or influence.

And the question always is,

how are you actually using that?

There's another thing

which is really important

for us just to note here.

It's not an important part

of the story,

but it's an important thing

for us just to pause on.

It's very hard

to be an out Christian today.

I love that term

from the gay lexicon

of being out.

And it's very hard

to be an out Christian today

if we think about it.

And one of the things

which is so wonderful

about this text

is that Jesus,

he knows that he's going to die.

He knows that these people

are his enemies,

but he walks towards them.

He walks towards his enemies.

And in some small way,

but an important way,

Jesus is modeling

something here

which should be

very important to us,

that we should be willing

to be out Christians

and that God doesn't want us

to live in fear.

He doesn't want us

to live in our city in fear,

in this world in fear.

He wants us to be people

who walks toward the other,

who walks towards other people,

who walks towards situations

rather than hiding from them

and walking away.

He wants us to have a type of

just confidence in God

and love for people

and concern for people

that we walk towards them

but not live in fear.

Well, what happens

next is very, very interesting.

So Jesus, verse 4,

Jesus asks them this question,

whom do you speak,

whom do you seek?

In verse 5,

they answered him,

Jesus of Nazareth.

And Jesus said to them,

I am he.

Judas, who betrayed him,

was standing with him.

And just pause here again

for another second.

So it's not obvious here

to us maybe,

some of you have heard me

say this before,

but it's an important part

of this text,

is that when they,

so Jesus said,

whom do you seek?

And they don't say,

Rabbi,

we're coming to see

Jesus the Rabbi

or we're coming to see

Jesus the Prophet.

They say,

we're coming to see,

we're seeking Jesus of Nazareth

and that's a put down.

Would be just the same

as if one of us,

if you went to Manhattan

in New York City

or you went to Washington

or you went to Hollywood

and somebody came

and introduced you

will use me as an example.

This is George

from Brudenell.

Okay,

none of you know

where Brudenell is.

If you do come

and speak to me afterwards

because you're a bit weird

or you must be

from that region,

Brudenell is a spot

on a map

between nowhere and nowhere.

Tremor is a spot

on the map

between nowhere and nowhere.

Clontarf,

spot on the,

I used to have points there

by the way

as a minister.

So what they're saying

is this is Jesus

of Nowheresville.

This is Jesus

who is unimportant

because he's from Nazareth

and nothing good

comes from Nazareth,

nothing important.

It's nowhere.

It's Hicksville.

It's a hillbilly.

He's not properly educated,

doesn't have the right connections.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for Jesus,

the nobody.

That's what they're basically saying

in response

to who they're looking.

And Jesus,

by the way,

when all the,

there's three times

in this text

where Jesus says,

I am he,

but literally he says,

I am.

Now it can mean I am he,

but it can also mean

the divine name.

That's how he answers,

three times,

I am.

I am,

I am,

I am.

And the text makes

a big point

of saying that Jesus,

Judas,

who betrayed them

was standing with them.

So the disciples

are behind Jesus

in the garden.

Judas,

Jesus walks

towards his enemies.

He walks across the room,

so to speak,

and his enemies

are all there,

maybe gathered around

and they say,

Jesus says,

whom do you seek?

They respond

with Jesus,

the nobody.

Jesus says,

I am he.

Judas is with them.

And then the next thing

is very,

very interesting.

Verse six.

When Jesus said to them,

I am he,

they drew back

and fell to the ground.

I don't know

how many of you

have experience

in the charismatic world,

but charismatics

would say,

they just all got

slain in the spirit.

That's what's happened.

Jesus says,

I am.

Boom.

They all go down.

All of them.

The soldiers,

the police officers,

Judas,

they all get knocked

to the ground.

The swords,

the lanterns,

the armor,

none of it matters.

Boom.

Boom.

Just says who he is

and down they go.

Every one of them.

Now,

I'm not saying

that every time

in a charismatic gathering

somebody gets slain

in the spirit

that's an example of that.

I'm not saying that.

I've only had one time

when I prayed for somebody

and they fell down.

I have to confess,

I had the feeling

that they wanted

to fall down,

but I don't know.

Like,

in heaven,

I'll find out

whether they wanted

to fall down

because it would be

more spiritual

or whether they

actually just did.

I prayed for them

and down they went.

It's only happened

to me once,

but some people

it happens to them a lot.

And I'm not saying

that every time

it happens

it's human

because we can see here

that Jesus does it.

And this is going to be

very, very important

to the rest of the story.

You know,

there's an old Christian

saying that

when Jesus is hanging

on the cross

dying for us,

it's not the nails

that hold them

to the cross

but his love

for you and me.

And this is seen here

very powerfully

in this story.

Jesus just knocks

them all down.

How could these people

possibly capture Jesus

and put him on the cross

if he just by a mere act

of his will

can put them all

on the ground?

It helps emphasize

that whatever's going

to happen

is voluntary.

Jesus is walking

towards his suffering.

he's not truly

being captured.

The story continues.

So what happened?

By the way here,

this is also a very, very

one of the things

which is so wonderful

about the story

that we don't think

of often about

but this is an opportunity

for Judas to repent.

This is an opportunity

for the soldiers

to repent.

This is an opportunity

for the police

to question

what they're doing

which is the beginning

of repentance.

So how do they respond?

Verse 7

So he asked them again

they all eventually

get up

he asked them again

whom do you seek

and they said

Jesus of nowhere

Jesus of nowhere

Jesus answered

I told you

that I am he

so if you seek me

let these men go

this was to fulfill

what he had spoken

of those whom you gave me

I have lost

not one

and just sort of pause

why do Christians

believe that the New Testament

is also part of the Bible

because when Jesus

quotes the Bible

he says words

he says

he'll regularly say

in the New Testament

when he's quoting

the Old Testament

he'll say

this was to fulfill

the word

that was spoken

so it's a

it's a formula thing

that shows that God

had said it

that it has authority

and now

John is applying

this same thing

to the words of Jesus

it's a very subtle

literary thing

that's showing

that Jesus' words

have that type

of same divine authority

that the Father has

now remember

I said to you

that this story

speaks directly

into the whole world

of religious violence

it speaks to

the abuse of power

that's going to become

more and more clear

as we go on

Jesus obviously has

a type of vast

untapped

spiritual authority

which is just present

by his mere act

of his will

that the soldiers

and police officers

with their weapons

and their armor

can just

they just all collapse

just by a mere act

of his will

but Peter

is human

and

why have

spiritual power

if you got a sword

it doesn't really matter

in a sense

what Jesus has said

I got a sword

and I'm going to fix this

and that's what happens

here in verse 10

then Simon Peter

having a sword

drew it

and struck

the high priest's servant

and cut off

his right ear

the servant's name

was Malchus

and these next words

are really important

so Jesus said to Peter

put your sword

into its sheath

shall I not drink

the cup

that the father

has given me

and we're going to

talk about the cup

again in a

couple of minutes

but we have here

in this text

in a very very

pithy form

from Jesus

a clear rejection

the sword

never advances

the gospel

the sword

never advances

the gospel

we Christians

I mean probably

not the ones of us

here in this room

but you know

the fact of the matter

is is that if somebody

says to us

well what about this

and what about that

in Christian history

we have to just say

that was wrong

but we learn

that it's wrong

not because we've

taken Rogerian therapy

or because we've

learned from

post-modern

literary criticism

or Nietzsche

that everything's

about power

we can just say

any Christian

like we could

actually just take

them listen

any Christian

throughout history

or any Christian

today that uses

the sword

the power of the

sword to advance

the Christian faith

to advance the gospel

all you have to do

is look here at

verse 11

of John chapter 18

John 18 · chapter mention

like if we were

listening to that

we would know

that you don't do that

that the power

of the sword

does not advance

the gospel

this by the way

isn't an argument

for pacifism

amongst the nations

it's just an argument

for the fact

that the sword

doesn't advance

the gospel

and some of you

might be wondering

why doesn't it

mention here

that Jesus

heals the man's ear

and I'm just

going to say this

you just

I mean we can have

some conversations

about this over

today and over

the next couple

of weeks

there's no

fundamental

contradiction

between the four

different biographies

of Jesus

about how they

picture what

happens in that

evening and over

the next few

hours

John doesn't

just he just

chooses not to

tell that particular

detail of the story

he has his own

particular way that

he's trying to

tell the story

and you can go

back and you can

put them all

together

there's lots of

different scholars

who've combined

all the different

things

but what we're

listening to is

we're listening to

John's account

and one of the

things that John

wants to really

emphasize is this

whole problem

of power

and how power

bends people

out of shape

because we're

going to see in a

moment that this

very very same

guy who's all

emboldened to

take his sword

and attack

somebody within

a few moments

when some young

snippet of a

woman says

by the way

aren't you a

disciple of Jesus

completely and

utterly cowers

before her

because of all

of the idols

that we seek

and power is a

huge idol

that we seek

it always has

feet of clay

it always has

feet of clay

it almost always

just makes us

paranoid

and it makes us

worried

and as we see

time and time

again throughout

human history

sometime

people who have

the greatest power

just somehow

or another

make the dumbest

mistakes and

the weakness

in the most

unlikely of

all places

things and

that's going

to be

communicated in

the form of

this story

as we

continue

so verse 12

so the band

of the soldiers

and their

captain and

the officers

of the Jews

arrested Jesus

and bound him

in the original

language the word

captain

John has

correctly identified

the correct

military term

for a person

who is in

charge of a

cohort

in Roman

military terminology

for that time

period

he uses the

right military

technical term

verse 13

so they capture

him

and first they

lead him

they led him

to Annas

for he was

the father-in-law

of Caiaphas

who was the

high priest

that year

it was Caiaphas

who had advised

the Jewish

leaders

that it would

be expedient

that one man

should die

for the people

see how there's

this constant

language of the

problem of power

what they really

mean is

we all know

that what the

people really

need

is people like

us

to lead them

and as long

as there's people

like us

who are in

power and

authority

well

that's how the

people thrive

we have this

man

this

tiresome

irksome

itinerant

nobody

from nowhere

is filled

and wouldn't

it be far

better for

the people

if that

irksome

man

was gone

and it's

really interesting

because John

when he records

this first thing

by Caiaphas

he said that

Caiaphas

unwittingly

is actually

speaking a

profound truth

in fact that

it's going to

be far better

that Jesus

dies for the

people

that Jesus

comes to die

for the people

you see

this is another

thing here

about this

insight

about the

problem

with power

at the end

of the day

God is always

only working

on plan

A

God doesn't

have plan

B

C

D

E

F

he doesn't

say

oh

dang

they captured

Jesus

I guess

I better

come up

with another

plan

it's not

like watching

your typical

thriller

where in

your typical

thriller

something

goes

I just

started watching

this Netflix

film about

retired

army rangers

wanting to

steal a

drug lord's

money

and of course

halfway through

the movie

there's a

problem with

the helicopter

that doesn't

describe the

gospels or

God

he never

has

that's no

spoiler alert

by the way

that you

expect that

there's going

to be some

problem that

goes on in

the movie

in a movie

like that

but God

never is

sort of

working on

dealing with

curveballs that

come his way

and he has

to have a

different

thing

and so

what we

see here

is that

what that

means is

this

there's two

fundamentally

different ways

that God

uses us

he uses

us as

his friend

or he

uses us

as his

tool

see he

uses us

as his

friend

when we

submit to

him

when we

say

Lord

may you

guide and

direct my

day today

Lord

could you

give me a

chance

where I

can bear

witness to

you today

Lord can

you show

me in

the office

how I

can pray

for people

Lord

there's a

situation

in the

office

they want

to do

something

which is

wrong

and I

don't know

how to

deal with

that

I know

I can't

do it

I just

give it

into your

hands

can you

either

give me

the courage

and the

strength

to not

go along

with it

or could

you just

work it

so that

they

realize

either

they

shouldn't

do it

or you

know

and we

pray

into it

and God

uses you

in that

way

and he's

using you

as his

friend

but other

times he

uses you

but he's

using you

as his

tool

and as we

see throughout

the entire

story

Caiaphas

who is the

high priest

ironically

his relationship

with God

is like

this

it is

like this

but it

doesn't mean

that God

never uses

him

but he

doesn't

use him

the same

way that he

uses a man

or a woman

whose posture

to God

is like

this

who is

now being

used as

his friend

and what

the text

those who

know a

little bit

about the

history

know that

Annas

is technically

not the

high priest

right then

he was the

high priest

he was the

patriarch

this just

comes right

out of

power and

politics

Annas was

the high

priest

he was

deposed

by the

Romans

but he

continued

to be

the power

behind the

throne

five of

his sons

became

high priest

and Caiaphas

is his

son-in-law

and so

for an

extended

period of

time

they might

be somebody

technically

who's the

high priest

but there's

the power

behind the

throne

the one

who actually

exercises

the real

power

and that's

Annas

and he

wants to

see Jesus

and so

the authorities

don't bring

him first

to the

Sanhedrin

they don't

bring him

to Caiaphas

they don't

bring them

they don't

bring Jesus

to lawful

authority

they bring

him to

the power

that is

controlling

the temple

for their

own

ends

the Bible

is a

constant

critique

of how

religion

is used

to further

your own

power

and interest

it is

a constant

critique

of those

who like

to advertise

in their

business

listings

that they're

evangelicals

so that

people who

are

Christians

will go

to their

businesses

and they

can get

away

with

charging

more

or on

the other

hand

those of

us who

go looking

for a

Christian

business

so they

will be

we can

try to

force

them to

charge

us

less

that's

never

happened

to a

single

person

in this

room

I'm

sure

but it

is a

constant

critique

of the

use

of

religion

in

particular

the

use

of

Christianity

to

line

your

own

pocket

and

make

yourself

powerful

so

Jesus

sorry

verse

14

verse

13

again

they

led

him

to

Annas

for

he

was

the

father

in

law

of

Caiaphas

who

was

the

high

priest

that

year

it

was

Caiaphas

who

advised

the

Jews

that

it

would

be

expedient

that

one

man

should

die

for

the

another

disciple

it's

John

referring

to

himself

since

that

disciple

was

known

to

the

high

priest

he

entered

with

Jesus

into

the

courtyard

of

the

high

priest

but

Peter

stood

outside

of

the

door

so

the

other

disciple

who

was

known

to

the

high

priest

went

out

and

spoke

to

the

servant

girl

who

kept

watch

at

the

door

and

brought

Peter

in

the

servant

girl

at

the

door

said

to

Peter

you

also

are

not

one

of

this

men's

disciples

are

you

complicated

but

see

aren't

you

one

of

his

disciples

here's

this

big

strong

fisherman

brandishing

a sword

half an

hour

20

minutes

earlier

and

between

the

lowly

servant

girl

who

stuck

at

the

door

in

the

middle

of

the

night

he

says

I

am

not

I

am

not

verse

18

now

the

servants

and

officers

had

made

a

charcoal

fire

because

it

was

cold

and

they

were

standing

and

warming

themselves

Peter

also

was

with

them

standing

and

warming

himself

and

some

of

you

might

know

this

some

of

you

might

not

there's

only

two

places

in

the

entire

New

Testament

where

a

coal

fire

is

mentioned

here

and

after

Jesus'

resurrection

when

he

reinstates

Peter

you

might

remember

we'll

see

the

story

in

a

couple

of

weeks

that

Jesus

has

died

he's

risen

from

the

dead

the

disciples

now

know

that

Jesus

is

risen

from

the

dead

they've

done

some

fishing

they need

to

make

a

few

bucks

and

as

they're

doing

their

fishing

they see

a man

on

the

beach

and

he

has

a

fire

and

Peter

recognizes

it's

Jesus

and

they

go

there

and

it's

a

the

same

man

who

denies

Jesus

three

times

Peter

will

now

be

asked

by

Jesus

three

times

do

you

love

me

and

in

John's

gospel

the

link

of

the

charcoal

fire

is

specifically

the

link

the

denial

of

Jesus

by

Peter

being

reinstated

so

verse

19

the

high

priest

then

questioned

Jesus

and

the

order

is

important

remember

I

said

to

you

what's

going

on

in

this

story

is

a

concern

for

power

not

for

truth

but

for

power

and

so

Annas

is

questioning

Jesus

about

his

disciples

before

he

questions

him

about

his

teaching

how

many

disciples

do

you

got

what

positions

of

authority

are

they

in

how

can

we

root

them

out

this

is

the

language

of

every

tyrant

throughout

history

and

every

tyrant

today

they

want

to

root

out

the

people

because

they're

concerned

with

their

power

Jesus

in

verse

20

answered

him

I

have

spoken

openly

to

the

world

I

have

always

taught

in

synagogues

and

in

the

temple

where

all

the

Jews

come

together

I

have

said

nothing

in

secret

why

do

you

ask

me

ask

those

who

have

heard

me

what

I

said

to

them

they

know

what

I

said

when

he

had

said

these

things

one

of

the

officers

standing

by

struck

Jesus

with

his

hand

in

the

original

language

it's

emphasized

that he

strikes

Jesus

on

Jesus'