Church Fathers Commentary John 18:22-24

"And when he had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me? Annas therefore sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest." — John 18:22-24 (ASV)

Theophylact of Ohrid: When Jesus had appealed to the testimony of the people, an officer, wishing to clear himself and show that he was not one of those who admired our Lord, struck Him. And when He had said this, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

St. Augustine of Hippo: This shows that Annas was the high priest, for this was before Jesus was sent to Caiaphas. And Luke, in the beginning of his Gospel, says that Annas and Caiaphas were both high priests.

Alcuin of York: Here the prophecy is fulfilled: I gave my cheek to the smiters. Jesus, though struck unjustly, replied gently. Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He were saying, “If you have any fault to find with what I have said, show it; if not, why do you rage?” Or, in other words: “If I taught anything unwisely when I was teaching in the synagogues, prove it to the high priest. But if I taught correctly, so that even you officers were impressed, why do you strike Me, whom you previously admired?”

St. Augustine of Hippo: What can be truer, gentler, or kinder than this answer? He who received the blow on the face did not wish for the one who struck Him that fire from heaven should consume him, or the earth open its mouth and swallow him, or a devil seize him, or any other, even more horrible, kind of punishment. Yet did not He, by whom the world was made, have the power to cause any of these things to happen? Instead, He preferred to teach us the patience by which the world is overcome.

Someone will ask here why He did not do what He Himself commanded—that is, not give this answer, but turn the other cheek to the one who struck Him. But what if He did both? What if He answered gently and also offered not only His cheek to the one who struck Him, but His whole body to be nailed to the cross?

In this, He shows that those commands of patience are to be fulfilled not by a physical posture, but by a preparation of the heart. For it is possible that a person might turn his cheek outwardly while still being angry. How much better it is to answer truthfully, yet gently, and be ready to bear even harsher treatment patiently.

St. John Chrysostom: What, then, should they do but either disprove or admit what He said? Yet they do not do this. It is not a trial they are conducting, but a conspiracy, an act of tyranny. Not knowing what else to do, they sent Him to Caiaphas. Now Annas had sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Theophylact of Ohrid: They did this thinking that since Caiaphas was more cunning, he might find something against Jesus worthy of death.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Caiaphas was the one to whom they were taking Jesus from the beginning, as Matthew says, since he was the high priest that year. We must understand that the high priesthood was shared between them, alternating annually. It was either by Caiaphas’s consent that they led Jesus to Annas first, or their houses were situated in such a way that they had to pass directly by Annas’s house.

The Venerable Bede: Annas sent Him bound, but this was not the first time He was bound, for they had already bound Him when they arrested Him. They sent Him bound just as they had brought Him. Or perhaps He had been released from His bonds for that hour to be questioned, after which He was bound again and sent to Caiaphas.