JOHN 18:23 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?”
Jesus answered, 'If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?' — Jesus' response ("If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong") appeals to reasoned justice: let the accusation be specific and substantive. He does not claim injured innocence melodramatically but invokes the principle that punishment should follow proven wrongdoing. This appeal to justice itself, even in injustice's face, characterizes Jesus' remarkable composure.
Church Fathers on John 18:23
When Jesus had appealed to the testimony of the people by, 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 thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answer you the high priest so?
This shows that Annas was the high priest, for this was before He was sent to Caiaphas. And Luke in the beginning of his Gospel says, that Annas and Caiaphas were both high priests.
Here is fulfilled the prophecy, 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 smite you Me?
Read all 9 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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