Luke 22:64
And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?
The verse portrays Jesus blindfolded, struck on the face, and mocked with the challenge to name who had hit Him. The abuse occurred in the judgment hall after condemnation had been pronounced, with Jesus bound and held by two men under Roman guard before an infuriated multitude. It was done in the presence and with the approval and sanction of the priests, rulers and judges, who forgot their office and joined dissolute men and the mob in the abuse. His head was covered with an old garment thrown over it to blindfold Him.
His persecutors also spat in His face, which He wiped away. The taunt mocked His prophetic office and His claim to be the Messiah, while His abusers also used foul epithets about His parentage and low birth and declared His claim deserving of shameful death. The cruelty came from men who claimed to be righteous but acted from Satan's spirit, using envy, jealousy and religious bigotry to carry out wicked purposes. This treatment displays the enmity between good and evil foretold in Eden.
He was struck, mocked and insulted by men for whom He was about to give His life. He endured meekly and humbly, with no word or look of retaliation, no angry look and no reproachful response, and remained pure and unstained in character. He had power to stop His persecutors, knowing that the hosts of heaven witnessed His humiliation, that the angels were stirred to rescue Him instantly but were restrained by their commanding angels, that even the least angel could disperse the throng and deliver Him, and that by a word or look of divinity He Himself could strike the multitude dead or drive them away in fear as He had driven the defilers from the temple. He consented to bear the scorn and abuse in human weakness out of love for the Father and faithfulness to His mission as Sin-bearer and Redeemer, because the plan of redemption required Him to suffer what wicked men inflicted.
This cruel treatment fulfilled prophecy, which had declared what He would suffer at the hands of men. Angels faithfully recorded every insulting look, word and act against Him. The same face that was smitten and appeared calm and pale will shine in glory brighter than the sun and give light to the city of God, and the base men who scorned it will one day desire to hide from it and pray to rocks and mountains to cover them. His suffering calls His followers to be prepared to suffer for His sake.