We have seen that in chapter 14, after Yeshua was tried in the home of the two High Priests, Annas and Caiphas, instead of being tried at the court designed for trials, that is at the Sanhedrin, they began to physically mistreat Him.
Let us read that one verse 65 which closes the religious leader’s trial of the Messiah. Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face. Here we read that they blindfold Him. The actual Greek word means that they covered and hid His face completely.
It is the same word that is used to describe a mask.
This word was especially used to speak of someone’s presence and countenance. The Septuagint used it almost exclusively to describe God’s presence, panim.
And so, by covering the face of the Messiah, they showed their disdain and contempt toward Him, but see that, unknowingly, they were fulfilling another prophecy found in Isaiah 53:2-3, He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. By putting a hood over His face, they literally fulfilled this prophecy. By doing this, they were hiding their own faces from the Holy One, of whom, they would later confess that they despised.
And how ironic it is that some asked the Messiah whose face they covered, to prophesy as to who slapped Him, when, at the same time there were dozens of prophecies, some as old as 1500 years, which spoke of these very actions.
Third, we read that they beat Him with their fists and with slaps in the face. This is an action of degradation. This is an action of utter disrespect and scorn. This also was prophesied in Isaiah 50:6 but, this was not to hurt him as much as it was to disgrace Him. In the Talmud, striking with the fist, or with the flat hand, was regarded as an insult. m. B. Qam. 8.6 and t. B. Qam. 9. We also read in the Tosefta that Whoever strikes another with an overturned hand, he is punished, not because it is a blow that causes pain, but because it is the blow of an insult. This explains well what was happening in Mark 14:65.
And this brings us to see the spiritual extent of the mistreatment. Have you noticed that this mocking focused on His prophetic mission? To the nation of Israel, Moses predicted that a Prophet would come to save them. Here they were literally belittling Yeshua, Who is the fulfilment of this prophecy.
While the religious leaders of Israel were denigrating His office of Priest, we later see, in the second mistreatment of Yeshua, that the Romans were denigrating His office of King. We read in vs.17-18 of chapter 15 They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
As for His office of Priest, this comes from the people themselves when Yeshua was on the Tav, the cross, and there they said in Mark 15: 29b, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. When Yeshua spoke of this Temple, He spoke of His body which rose on the third day (John 2:19), but He being the High Priest, became the new Temple. These were then mocking His priestly office. This office of priest was also mocked by the passersby, the Jews and those of the nations.
Here then we have the leaders of Israel mocking the work of the Messiah as Prophet and as prophesied by Moses when He spoke about His First Coming. And after this, we have the nations, mocking His office of King as prophesied by John when He will be coming as King of kings at His Second Coming. Then all together we have the mocking of His Priesthood.
Looking at these things, it seems that behind the mistreatments and the mocking there was an evil scheme being realized; indeed a seeming victory for the spiritual evil forces. It was only an apparent victory. No wonder that the account of the coming of the Messiah, in Isaiah 53, begins with the affirmation of the three offices of the Messiah; Prophet, Priest and King.
The account of Isaiah 53 actually begins in the previous chapter. We have in vs.14 & 15 of Isaiah 52 three offices that are mentioned and confirmed even before the mistreatment prophesies of the next chapter. In vs.14 we have His office of Prophet where His rejection is predicted;
Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men. Just like all the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures were rejected, and all killed, as Jewish tradition testifies, little did they realize that their own actions were fulfilling this prophecy.
Then in vs.15 we see the other two offices: So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.
As for His Priestly office, He is seen as sprinkling many nations which is the action of the priests at the Temple which He will perform in the Messianic Times. The middle part of vs.15 speaks of His office as King – as the kings of the earth will finally learn that full authority is given to Him at His Return; then He will be the King of kings. It is at this point that the prophecy then goes into describing in detail all that the Messiah has done for us in Isaiah 53.