He was despised and rejected by men, a man of deep sorrows who was no stranger to suffering and grief. We hid our faces from him in disgust and considered him a nobody, not worthy of respect.
I offered my back to those who flogged me and my cheek to those who tore out my beard. I never hid my face from demeaning insults or from those who spit on me.
The God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has done this. For he has glorified his Servant Jesus, the one you denied to Pilate’s face when he decided to release him—and you insisted that he be crucified.
Then they spat on his face and blindfolded him. Others struck him over and over with their fists and taunted him by saying, “Prophesy to us! Tell us which one of us is about to hit you next?” And the guards took him and beat him.
From then on Jesus began to clearly reveal to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer injustice from the elders, leading priests, and religious scholars. He also explained that he would be killed and three days later be raised to life again.
This Man’s destiny was prearranged, for God knew that Jesus would be handed over to you to be crucified and that you would execute him on a cross by the hands of lawless men. Yet it was all part of his predetermined plan.
Pilate responded, “Only a Jew would care about this; do I look like a Jew? It’s your own people and your religious leaders that have handed you over to me. So tell me, Jesus, what have you done wrong?”
A great crowd gathered to watch what was happening. The religious leaders sneered at Jesus and mocked him, saying, “Look at this man! What kind of ‘chosen Messiah’ is this? He pretended to save others, but he can’t even save himself!”
Before dawn they took Jesus from his trial before Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s palace. Now the Jews refused to go into the Roman governor’s residence to avoid ceremonial defilement before eating the Passover meal.
Before dawn that morning, the ruling priests, elders, religious scholars, and the entire Jewish council set in motion their plan against Jesus. They bound him in chains, took him away, and handed him over to Pilate.