First Strike

SCRIPTURE: John 18:22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do You answer the high priest like that?"

OBSERVATION: This is a striking moment (pun intended). Here someone on the high priest's staff (we are not given a name) pulls back his hand and lets it fly. It strikes its intended target -- the face of Jesus. A man slapped God. And here's the ironic part; he slapped Jesus because he felt that Jesus wasn't paying the proper respect to the high priest. But the high priest is only an illustration or a foreshadowing of a much greater High Priest, and that is Jesus Himself.
The reality of this situation was exactly opposite of how this man saw it.
Jesus wasn't dishonoring the high priest. Jesus, as the great High Priest, was being terribly dishonored by the high priest and all present. The officer should have rightly slapped his boss, not the Lamb of God.
This was the first strike against Jesus. Many more would follow.

APPLICATION: Making a reaction or taking sides before you have all the information is always a bad idea. You are likely to condemn the innocent and condone the guilty. And we never really have all of the information.
An explosive anger can get me into a lot of trouble. Many times I have allowed myself to get angry when something that someone did annoyed me -- only later to find our the extenuating circumstances, which really justified the action. If only I'd known.
It is better to always get all the information before making a judgement. It is best to never let yourself react out of anger. Learn to control and check emotional responses.

PRAYER: Jesus, I still can't fathom the idea, a man's hand striking You in the face. Thank You for the indignities that you suffered for me. I can certainly undergo indignities and inconveniences for You. Amen.