By His Wounds: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus before Caiphas

Jesus Before Caiphas

Jesus was led towards Caiphas' court, greeted by the mobs hisses and jeers. Jesus turned, seeing John and Peter standing afar, watching.

Caiphas called out in a loud voice, and the crowd parted for him, similar to the way Jesus had parted the sea for Moses. Caiphas exclaimed to the crowd, "Who has disturbed the peace of this holy night? Near Passover?" Spotting Jesus, he finished with, "The blasphemer."

The crowd laughed at Jesus, and the soldiers beat him, shouting, "Answer him! Speak up! Are you dumb?" Jesus struggled to regain his balance.

So far, the pain Jesus had gone through—his beatings, his stumbles, and the words of others—near torn him apart. He wished to cry out to everyone, "I love you! I'm doing this for you!" but, to fulfill the Scriptures of Isaiah, Jesus uttered not his mouth. He wanted to, though, more than anything. Jesus could have ordered the soldiers to a stop in a trillionth of a second. He could have cured every wound, every cut, and every single pain he had by simple saying the word. He could have disappeared from the courtyard, out of the chains and ropes, and gone wherever he wished to.

But he didn't. Jesus stood there, surrounded by his haters, and took the pain of beatings and spits to the face, kicks to the gut, and curses. He bore the pain of seeing his Apostles nearby, watching, and he bore the pain of seeing his mother—his precious mother—hold back tears.

That pain was almost the worst, seeing his mother's pain. There she was, in the back of the crowd, almost the only one who didn't shout hateful words at him. Her veil was covering her hair, and only her faced showed. There were dark circles under eyes, and her face was as pale as the moon. Every once in a while, a tear fell down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away in order that her Son would not see her pain. But he did. He saw the inside of her heart, and her innermost thoughts. She said to him, My Son, how I hate the pain you are going through. But I know, it is your will be done, and this has to be.

When she finished her thought, Jesus nodded slightly, showing he had been listening. Showing he cared about her. Showing she would be all right.

A Roman soldier beat Jesus square in the face. Jesus stood his ground this time and listened to the accusations the entire mob yelled at him.

"He cures the sick! He casts out demons by the help of demons!"

"He called the Pharisees hypocrites!"

"He says he is going to destroy the Temple, and yet in three days, build it up again!"

One certain person charged through the crowd and paraded around Jesus, laughing and scoffing, "Lo, lo! Listen to this: He calls himself the Bread of Life, and said that whoever does not eat his flesh and drink his blood will not have eternal life!"

The crowd clenched their teeth and licked their lips, then making gnawing motions as if chewing on food.

Jesus listened as the mob made fun of the parables he told, the instructions he gave, and continued saying the crimes he had apparently committed. They laughed when recalling the story of the paralytic man at the pool of Bethsaida and how Jesus had cured him.

Caiphas, angry, raised his hands and said, "Stop with these accusations! If you have no proof, then remain silent."

A member of the Sanhedrin, whom Jesus knew by name, stood before the crowd and claimed how this was wrong. "In the dead of night? We should wait for Pilate. This isn't right! Stop it now!"

"Get him out of here!" everyone called. "Get out! Traitor! Have him killed!"

That did not stop another Sanhedrin member from saying the same thing, and the crowd pounced on him in anger and resentment. Jesus smiled in sympathy for them, but that smiled was turned into an expression of pain when he was once again kicked in the stomach.

"Enough!" Caiphas said again. He slowly walked towards Jesus, eyeing him. Jesus saw the anger in his eyes and the sins of his heart—the sins he would be dying for later this day. He saw every thought Caiphas had at that moment—and they were not pleasant thoughts.

"Answer me this, Jesus of Nazareth: Are you the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God?"

Silence throughout the court. Jesus needed to answer this question. So he did. In a loud and majestic voice, he proclaimed, "I AM. And I say to you now, you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of Heaven."

Above Jesus, he saw the clouds of Heaven open themselves at his words, and the light of his Father shining down on him. Yet Jesus also saw the devils below Caiphas, the ones in Hell, chanting just as the mob was. When Caiphas, shocked and frightened, tore his garments and called out, "He is a blasphemer! We don't need any more witnesses! This man has sinned! The penalty is death!" the devils below him cheered.

Like a union, the crowd shouted out together, "Death! Death! Death! Death!" Jesus' eyes filled with tears, and for the first time since his arrest, he cried. Not much, just a simple tear fell down his cheek, but it was enough to show the real pain he felt at that moment by those people. The mob before him contained the same people he had known since the beginning of the world. Each one of those persons had and always will be carved into the palm of his hands. He had created each and every one of them with love and care, just like his father Joseph taught him to be loving and careful with his wood working. And now here the crowd was, chanting that their Lord should be put to death.

Jesus looked at John, and nodded towards his now weeping mother. John nodded and ushered his way through the aroused mob. Upon reaching Mary, he side-hugged her and led her away.