And again: in the promise given to Nathan about David, among other things, it says: "He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son" (2 Samuel 7:13-14). In one of the Qumran commentaries on this passage from the Book of 2 Samuel it is said: "I will be his father, and he will be my son: this is about the offspring of David, who will appear with the teacher of the law, and who will be in Zion at the end of days" (4_Qflor_1:11). That is, according to Jewish ideas, the Messiah (as the Son of David) must be the Son of God (of course, in the sense of adoption, as an adopted son).

Thus, the question of the high priest is formulated in the Gospel in the Jewish way. Therefore we have no reason to doubt that he was appointed high priest in this way. And this question finally and irrevocably prepared the ground for the condemnation of Jesus. It is quite clear that Jesus, realizing that it was time to put an end to the shameful spectacle in which He would be condemned, no matter what He said, did not hesitate to answer that yes, He was the Messiah. In typical His manner, He explained this title by another name for the Messiah, the Son of Man:

"Jesus said, 'I;

and ye shall see the Son of man;

Who sits at the right hand of power

and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Yes, He is the Messiah, sent by God to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. And they will "see" His messengership, see Him sitting at the right hand of the Power (i.e., God), and coming with the clouds of heaven. At the same time, Jesus Christ, so that no one would have any doubts, briefly quotes the famous passage from the book of the prophet Daniel: "I saw in night visions, behold, with the clouds of heaven came as the Son of man, and came to the Ancient of Days, and was brought up to Him. And to Him was given power, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and tongues should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14).

Jesus' answer was reason enough for the high priest to accuse Him of blasphemy, an offense against God: "You have heard blasphemy; What do you think?" All the other members of the Sanhedrin agreed with the high priest: "They all recognized Him guilty of death." In this way, the Sanhedrin achieved what it wanted. He could bring an accusation for which the death penalty was imposed. Everyone was satisfied.

The mockery of Jesus and the denial of Peter.

14.65-72 — "And some began to spit on Him, and covering His face, they struck Him, and said to Him, 'Prophesy.' And the servants smote Him on the cheeks. And it came to pass, when Peter was in the courtyard below, that one of the high priest's maidservants came, and when she saw Peter warming himself, and looked at him, and said, "Thou hast also been with Jesus of Nazareth." But he denied, saying, "I do not know and do not understand what you say." And he went out into the front yard; And the rooster crowed. The maidservant, seeing him again, began to say to those standing there, "This is one of them." He again renounced. After a while, those who stood there again began to say to Peter, "Surely you are one of them; for thou art a Galilean, and thy tongue is alike. And he began to swear and swear, I do not know this man of whom ye speak. Then the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him, "Before the crows twice, thrice shalt thou deny me; and began to cry."

The narrative of the Passion of Jesus was for early Christianity something more than just a story of His trial. Anyone who learned about these Passions must have felt the horror and injustice of all that was happening. This is the purpose of the passages that tell of the mockery of Jesus and the denial of Him by one of His closest friends.

We read about Jesus being spat upon, beaten, mocked. "And some began to spit on Him, and covering His face, they struck Him, and said to Him, 'Prophecy.' And the servants smote Him on the cheeks" (14:65), and a little further: "The soldiers took Him into the courtyard, that is, into the praetorium, and gathered together all the army, and clothed Him in scarlet, and wove a crown of thorns, and laid it on Him; And they began to greet Him: Rejoice, King of the Jews! And they smote Him on the head with a reed, and spat on Him, and knelt down and bowed down to Him" (15:16-19). These descriptions immediately reminded their listeners of other, biblical texts, which also spoke of the persecution of the righteous man by the lawless. Suffice it to recall the "Song of the Lord's Servant" from the book of the prophet Isaiah: