As Peter was in the courtyard, denying that he knew the Lord Jesus, what was happening to Jesus inside the house?
(NASB) Luke 22:63-65 “Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him and beating him,
64 and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, ‘Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?’
65 And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.”

  Who had hit the blindfolded Jesus?  What a question to ask the Son of God!  He could have answered by naming the ones who hit him.
  He also could have told them their deepest, darkest secrets – for He knows all people and their real needs.  That is why He was suffering…for their real needs before God Almighty.

  The suffering of Messiah began, not at that illegal trial, but in the Garden of Gethsemane…while He was praying.  While He was agonizing in prayer, fervently praying, yielding to the will of His Father.  (Luke 22:44; Matthew 26:42)

  How can we know that this treatment of Jesus was the will of God?
(NASB) Isaiah 50:6 “I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”

  What did Jesus know and how did He respond to such humiliation?
(NIV) Isaiah 50:7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame.”

Remember: Jesus knew this would take place – but He had waged the battle in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Where are you waging your battles?  On the battlefield or in prayer?

  Why did Jesus suffer this cruelty?  He suffered for those men! 
  He did not strike out with words as He was hit and spit upon.  He spoke no threats to His tormentors.  He was going to go to the cross for those men.  He knew they needed Him!  (Just as we need Him now.)

  Jesus paid the penalty of our sins.  He redeemed you and me, He purchased our freedom from our sins through His suffering and death.  Scripture states:
(NASB) Isaiah 44:22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud
And your sins like a heavy mist.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

  When we respond to the Lord’s plea, we become His children, saved by Messiah Jesus.
(NASB) Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.”

Messiah: the Suffering Servant ~ God’s love for you!