"The Devil Permitted to Do All that was Possible to Christ"

Matthew 26:66-67: What do you think? They answered and said, He is deserving of death. Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hand, saying, Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?

Perhaps you have drempt of revenge against that one you have feared--teacher, employer, relative, neighbor. Your pent-up anger has boiled, and you wait for the day when you can explode. Satan has attempted to destroy the testimony of Jesus and failed. Now, Jesus is a prisoner in the house of the High Priest, and all the hatred placed in the hearts of those in the Sanhedrin by the Prince of Darkness is permitted in these verses to be revealed. When Caiaphas asks: What do you think? The Sanhedrin gives the well rehearsed cry for the death penalty.

The Sun of Righteousness, the Son of God, the King of the Universe--looks in these verses only like the man of sorrows. They spat in His face and beat Him. Others struck Him with the palms of their hands. It was judgment day, but the ones doing the judging would find that they had condemned the Lord of Glory. Imagine how composed the Lord had to be when they would strike Him and then ask that He would prophesy who had stricken Him.