1 When Jesus had spoken these words,
The high priestly prayer of
ch. 17.
He went out with His
disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His
disciples entered. 2 And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the
place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
Real estate inside the city
walls of
We
can relate to that here in
The
median price of a home according to an article in the LA Times today -
$618,000! [1] That’s up 18.6% from last year.
The
walls of the City were built many years before, and as the city grew, it filled
in all the available space.
There
was no room for such extravagances as gardens.
So
the wealthy had little plots of land on the hillsides surrounding the city
where they would plant shade trees & have a place to retreat to the cool
during the hot season of the year.
These
gardens weren’t like the flowers gardens we’re familiar with
– they had shade trees; often trees that doubled to provide some extra
income, like olives or fruit.
The
One of these gardens was a
favorite retreat of Jesus’ where He would often meet the disciples.
When
they visited
The
road from
So the group made its way out
of the room where they’d celebrated the Passover, exited the City through one
of the eastern gates, followed the path down into the valley & crossed over
the stream called Kidron.
Kidron means
“turbid/murky.” It’s called this because
it only flows when there are rains.
Underground
reservoirs further north fill up with rain water then overflow in a stream that
runs through the valley there.
Because
the stream is erratic, when it does flow, it’s filled with sediment
& looks murky.
But
as Jesus crossed it that evening, there may very well have
been something else flowing in the stream bed, something highly symbolic of the
mission He was there to perform.
This
was the Passover, & thousands of lambs were being slaughtered by the
priests on the temple mount not too far away.
30
years after this Josephus tells us the Roman governor was trying to explain to
his superiors in
Since
the Jews refuse to take a census of themselves, they counted the sheep
sacrificed at Passover.
The
number was 256,000! According to the
guidelines of that time, one sheep was for 10 people – meaning there was around
2.5 million people there to celebrate Passover.
Jewish
rules regarding sacrifice demanded the offering be thoroughly bleed, which
meant the blood of 256,000 sheep had to go somewhere.
That
somewhere was the Kidron.
So
as Jesus & the disciples crossed the brook, they’d be stepping over the
blood of the Passover sacrifices.
That
had to have a profoundly deep impression on Jesus Who knew He was the fulfillment
all those lambs over the years had pointed to.
The other Gospels tell us the
garden where Jesus led the disciples was called
The
main use of olives was not as a salad garnish or pizza topping; they were used
for oil.
There
was a working oil press in that garden where people brought their olives.
3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops,
and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns,
torches, and weapons.
These would be the Jewish
police; a group of offices authorized by the Jewish Sanhedrin to keep order in
the
The word “detachment” refers
to a sizeable group.
This
isn’t a troop or squad; it’s at least 200 armed men, some
commentators say it could be a cohort – 1/10th of a legion – 600!
Given
the time of night, it’s probably safer to see a force of about 200.
They come out fully armed &
ready for battle – not knowing how Jesus’ followers will react when they arrest
Him & haul Him away.
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come
upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”
John passes over the time
Jesus pent in prayer in the Garden prior to the arrest.
He
knows the other gospels tell that story. His aim is to fill in the details they
left out.
Jesus had complete mastery of
the situation & knew the time had come for Him to be arrested, so He
presents Himself & challenges them with a boldly stated question – “Who are
you looking for?”
He wants
them to identify it’s He they’re after.
Once
they do, then He can point out they AREN’T
after the disciples.
5 They answered Him, “Jesus of
Notice that the word “He” is
in italics. That means it’s not in the
original Greek text; it’s added by the English translators to aid in
interpretation.
In
this case – it obscures, not clarifies the text.
And Judas, who betrayed Him,
also stood with them.
The other gospels tell us it
was just prior to this that Judas stepped forward to signal the officers that
this was indeed the one they were after.
That
Judas had to point Jesus out proves there was nothing remarkable or unique in
His appearance.
6 Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Jesus used the name of the
Covenant God of Israel – I AM; Jehovah, Yahweh.
And
at the simple announcement of His holy name, the entire detachment staggered
backward & fell down as though knocked over by a strong blast of wind.
Now, at that point, if I were
in the crowd, the wise move would seem to be to split.
But
with a group of 200 of your peers, you tend to not want to run away like a
scared little girl, so you stay against your better judgment.
7 Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of
See?
Jesus pressed the arresting officers to identify who they were after. When they narrowed their intent to just
Jesus, He used the absence of their mention of the disciples as the way to make
sure they were NOT also apprehended.
But Peter, God bless him,
sees this as a ripe opportunity to follow through on his earlier promise to
stick with Jesus no matter what.
10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword,
Hummm, wonder where he got
that.
drew it and struck the high
priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
Peter was no soldier &
didn’t really know how to wield a sword in battle.
You
don’t aim for the head, you aim at the mid-section.
But
Peter just starts swinging & Malchus, seeing the sword flying ducks too
late; the sword catches his ear & it goes flying.
If you’ve ever had a cut in
that area, specially within the scalp line, you know they tend to bleed like
mad.
So
now blood is pouring out of the side of Malchus’ head & the officers are
getting all set for armed conflict.
Those
of you who are peace officers – what do you do if during an arrest a suspect
pulls out a gun or lifts a weapon?
It
gets very serious, very quick!
11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup
which My Father has given Me?”
In the immediate super
tension of the Jewish police squaring off against the disciples – Jesus stands
in the middle, lifts up His voice & commands Peter to drop his weapon.
He
makes it clear to both sides that He’s not reluctantly surrendering to the
police; It’s His choice to go with them.
This is part of His mission.
I want to ask you to take
careful note of something here.
When
Peter put the sword to use on behalf of his Master, Jesus told him to put it
away.
The
sword is not a proper tool of the Gospel, of the Church.
It
is the State’s right to use the sword to restrain evil, as Paul makes clear in
Our
sword is not metal – it is the Word of God.
Mohammed instructed his
followers to spread Islam through the sword.
Islam
means “surrender” and he commanded his followers to bring about the subjugation
of all people through either religious conversion or military domination.
From
the radical Muslim perspective, the War on Terror is simply jihad;
Islam’s
Holy Struggle against the infidels who they have a mandate to convert &
bring under the banner of Mohammed any way possible.
12 Then the detachment of troops and the captain
and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.
Which seems rather comical
after they all just fell to the ground at His mere word.
13 And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the
father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. 14 Now it
was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die
for the people.
John drips with sarcasm when
he says Caiaphas was high priest that
year.
The
office of high priest was a life-long appointment; one ordered by God.
The
high priests were supposed to be of the lineage of Aaron, Moses’ brother.
The
patriarch of each generation was the high priest & upon his death, his
eldest son took his place.
That’s the way it was
supposed to be; but by Jesus’ day, the priesthood had become a corrupt
political office that was more about civil power & material wealth than
anything else.
The
Essene community, which was a small but potent force in
They
fled
The
Dead Sea Scrolls are their writings detailing all of this.
So if the high priest is
supposed to be appointed for life, why is Caiaphus said to be high priest that
year?
And
why,
if he’s the high priest, was Jesus not taken to him; why was he taken
to Annas, Caiaphus’ father in law?
Annas was a notorious
character. [2]
His family was from the priestly line, but he
wasn’t a part of the high priesthood – He’d bribed
his way into office.
Alfred Edersheim, the famed historian of
He’d been high priest from 6 to 15 AD.
His 4 sons had also held the high priesthood.
Caiaphas was his son-in-law also served in that
capacity.
If the priesthood was supposed to be for life, why
this constant change?
When the Romans took direct control of
Instead of the high priesthood being a hereditary
office, the Roman governor assigned the office to who he wanted.
Intrigue, bribery, and corruption followed.
The priesthood went to the greatest suck-up &
highest bidder.
It was a prize for the guy most willing to comply
with Roman interests.
Annas’s
family was incredibly wealthy & had managed to buy the high priesthood.
As the patriarch of the family, Annas was the real
power in Israeli civil & religious spheres.
When it became public knowledge the high priest was
collaborating
with the Romans, the governor would appoint a new high priest; one
who’s reputation wasn’t sullied with such associations.
But eventually it would come out that he too was in
cahoots with
When all of Annas’ sons had been run through, the
selection moved on to his son in law.
But make no mistake, the real power behind all
these guys was ole’ Annas.
Annas
had gained his wealth as the guy who ran the temple marketplace.
The shops where called The Bazaars of Annas.
It was a scheme to exploit those who came to
worship God.
Common Jews hated the household of Annas.
There’s a passage in the Talmud which says:
“Woe to the house of Annas! Woe to their serpent’s hiss! They are High
Priests; their sons are keepers of the treasury; their sons-in-law are
guardians of the
This
is why Jesus was brought first to Annas.
The Jewish police knew who the real power was.
Jesus had attacked Annas’s financial interest twice
when He cleared the temple at the beginning & end of His public ministry.
Annas wanted to be the first to gloat over His
capture.
15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did
another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with
Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.
Mark tell us when Jesus was
arrested the disciples scattered.
It
got pretty hairy right at the end with Peter’s misadventure with the sword so
they all fled.
But
it didn’t take long for both Peter & John to collect their wits & turn
around to follow the police back to Annas’ house.
Most Bible students see this
“other disciple” as John’s characteristic oblique way of referring to himself.
He
was known to the high priest, probably through his family business.
John’s
father Zebedee ran a successful fishing business in Galilee that supplied many
of the wealthy in
There’s
a good chance that before following Jesus, John had been part of several trips
to
Because
of this, he was able to gain access into the courtyard of Annas’ mansion.
16 But Peter stood at the door outside.
Because he lacked the
connections, the servants kept him out.
Then the other disciple, who
was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and
brought Peter in.
John knew Peter was waiting
at the gate & went and secured his entrance by telling the gatekeeper it
was okay.
17 Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter,
“You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am
not.”
The gatekeeper took a closer
look at Peter as he entered the courtyard & asked him if he was one of the
disciples.
Now – as a disciple of a
rabbi, as someone who enjoys the elite position of being a disciple,
what ought we expect from Peter by way of reply?
“Absolutely! Jesus is my Rabbi!”
But Peter denies
being who & what he is – Jesus’ disciple.
18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of
coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood
with them and warmed himself.
These were the police &
officials who’d gone to
Their
job isn’t done. They have to provide
guard duty for the prisoner until His fate is determined.
So
while the trial goes on, they make a fire there in the courtyard because the
mid-night hours have turned chilly.
Peter
makes his way over & quietly steps near to warm himself as well.
19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples
and His doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always
taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in
secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard
Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” 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?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the
evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”
We need to understand that the entire examination before
Annas was a mockery of justice.
Jewish law forbade the accused being asked
questions that would incriminate himself. [3]
Witnesses had to be brought who could establish the
facts.
And when the crime was worthy of capital
punishment, which is what Annas was gunning for here with Jesus, there had to
be a minimum of 3 witnesses whose testimonies all agreed.
The other gospels tell us that witnesses were
brought, but none of their testimonies agreed.
In frustration, Annas demanded Jesus answer for
Himself.
All
Jesus is saying by way of reply in vs. 20 & 21 is that the City of
There was no lack of credible witnesses.
The problem is, not one of them would provide the
priests with the ammo they wanted to put Jesus down.
When
Jesus gave this reply, one of the officers slapped His face in rebuke.
Jesus simply responded that this was an abuse of
justice; what He’d said was the proper way to conduct a trial & Annas was
in grave error.
But Jesus never had any hope of justice.
He knew He was already condemned in their eyes.
The person who clings to evil seeks only to eliminate
opposition, without regard for justice.
24 Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Since Jewish families tended
to build their houses next to each other, and since Annas was such a
domineering patriarch, there’s a good chance Caiaphus’ home was immediately
next to his father in law’s.
It’s
also very possible Caiaphus was in another room there in Annas’ palace, waiting
for his father in law to have his fun with the Prisoner before the real trail
began.
25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore
they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He
denied it and said, “I am not!” 26 One of the servants of the
high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not
see you in the garden with Him?” 27 Peter then denied again; and
immediately a rooster crowed.
Just
as Jesus had forewarned.
Some are troubled by a side
by side comparison of the denial stories.
In
all 4 Gospels the first challenger is a young woman.
For
the second challenge, John says it was “they” meaning the people standing round
the fire, while the other 3 Gospels say it was another young woman.
John
says the third challenge came from a servant of the high priest while the other
3 say it came from those standing at the fire.
Is this a contradiction?
Matthew,
Mark, & Luke all agree in their narrative, while John, the only one who
was actually there, tells a different story; or does he??
A
careful reading of Matthew, Mark & Luke’s account don’t actually put the
second challenge coming directly from the young woman.
Rather,
she comments to the people gathered round the fire that she thinks Peter is
a disciple. John tells us that they
then present the challenge to Peter.
In
the third challenge we have much the same thing.
It’s
perfectly natural to see the servants & police standing round the fire
chatting about all that’s going on when one of them who’s joined the group an
hour after
the second challenge, (Luke tells us it was an hour) he sees Peter standing
there & voices his challenge.
As
he does, the rest of the servants renew their inquiry, which Peter
flatly rejects.
And
with that 3rd denial, the rooster crows, recalling to Peter’s memory
Jesus’ warning that before the dawning of the next day, Peter will have denied
Him, not once, but 3 times.
Peter’s failed in the very
thing he was most strong in – courage.
It
was Peter who whipped out his sword and started swinging in the Garden in the
face of overwhelming odds.
It
was Peter who stepped out of the boat during the storm on
It
was Peter who followed Jesus to Annas’ house when the rest of the disciples ran
away.
It
was Peter who left his hiding place & ran to the tomb on Sunday morning.
Peter
was a brave guy. He was ready when it
came to the big & obvious challenges.
But
it was precisely because he was brave & courageous that he failed
in courtyard of the High Priest.
His
idea of courage was all set for the challenge of an armed mob; it wasn’t ready
for a little girl.
When
a couple hundred stormed into
When
it was a handful of humble servants trying to keep warm, he wasn’t ready.
We need to realize we face a
wily adversary who’s highly skilled in spiritual warfare.
He
knows what our strengths & weaknesses are.
He’ll
throw an obvious assault against our strength, with no real intent to defeat
us.
His
aim is to get us to lose our vigilance by making us think we’ve got that area
closed tight.
The city of
The
city was fabulously wealthy under the reign of it’s King Croesus.
It
sat atop a step cliff with high walls that were impregnable.
Many
armies had wasted themselves in assaulting the city over the decades.
When
the Persian king Cyrus arrived, he held his troops back and set a siege on the
City.
The
Sardisian had plenty of supplies and knew they could outlast the siege.
Cyrus
then promised a huge reward to any solider who could find a way to take the
city.
One
Persian guard fixed his eyes on the city walls & just watched for hours.
He
saw a soldier accidentally drop his helmet over the wall.
He
disappeared, then reappeared a short time later several yards down the slope,
outside the walls.
The
Persians realized there had to be a secret door somewhere.
So
that night, he led a small troop of Persian up the slope in that same area and
began looking.
Sure
enough, they found a little postern gate that was easily jimmied open.
Stepping
inside, they expected to find guards, but everyone had gone home for a good
night’s sleep.
The
Sardisians were so confident in their walls, their lofty position, & their
past as an unconquerable city they hadn’t set a guard.
The city ended up falling to
just a few Persian soldiers.
What’s
outrageous is that even with this as their history, the city of Sardis fell in
exactly the same way a couple hundred years later to the Greeks.
What’s the lesson?
The
very thing you are strong in may be the place you fall to if your dependence is
rooted in yourself instead of the Lord.
I’ve
counseled lots of men & women over the years who’ve told me that they
thought their marriage was good & adultery was a non-issue, who fell prey
to it.
I’ve
talked with plenty who had no problem with gossip, who actively resisted it
when it came up, but who ended up getting embroiled in a terrible case of
tale-bearing.
I’ve
known people of incredible grace & mercy who treat a grudge like the plague
who’ve allowed some minor slight to cripple them spiritually &
relationally.
It doesn’t matter what your natural
strength is – it has to be made dependent on Christ or it will
become the point you stumble in.
If you don’t believe me, ask
Peter.
28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium,
This was the Governor’s
palace.
We
don’t know if this was the Antonio Fortress adjacent to the Temple or if it was
one of Herod the Great’s mansions in the western part of the City.
and it was early morning. But
they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled,
but that they might eat the Passover.
The religiously careful
refused to go under a Gentile’s roof for fear of ritual contamination.
Since
it was the Passover, these guys were extra careful to avoid anything that would
mean they couldn’t eat the meal.
Interesting
that these guys were so careful about something like that yet they had no
qualms about condemning an innocent man to death.
BTW – can anyone see a
problem presented by the last part of v. 28 – “that they might eat the
Passover.”
For
these guys – the Passover comes later that day.
Yet
the Passover Jesus had with the disciples was eaten the previous evening. What’s the deal? When was Passover?
The answer is a bit
complicated, but I’ll just summarize with this.
There are 2 possible ways to reconcile this –
1)
We know the Pharisees & Sadducees were in a huge debate over the calendar
at this time.
These
calendars varied by a single day, with the common people & Pharisees opting
for a Passover one day before the Sadducees & most of the wealthy.
The
guys mentioned here as bringing Jesus to Pilate were Sadducees.
2)
The other option & one that finds far less support is that with so many pilgrims
coming to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem, there were far too many lambs to
sacrifice in one day so they spread the feast over two.
The
pilgrims celebrated the feast a day before the residents of Jerusalem &
Judea.
29 Pilate then went out to them and said, “What
accusation do you bring against this Man?” 30 They answered and said
to him, “If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to
you.”
As soon as Pilate heard the
priests had arrived to issue charges against someone, he knew the penalty was death.
If
it was some lesser punishment, they would have handled it themselves.
So He asked, “What’s the
charge?”
Instead
of specifying
what it was, they say, “Trust us Pilate; He deserves to die.”
From this oblique answer
Pilate concludes this is nothing more than another one of the many religious
controversies that got the Jews so riled up.
31 Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him
according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for
us to put anyone to death,” 32 that the saying of Jesus might be
fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.
Rome had striped the
Sanhedrin of the right to exact capital punishment.
33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called
Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
The priests had finally given
Pilate something specific to be concerned about.
We
talked Sunday about why this claim would be so troublesome to Pilate.
34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell
you this concerning Me?” 35 Pilate
answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You
to me. What have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My
kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be
delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You
a king then?” Jesus answered, “You
say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this
cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had
said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in
Him at all.
Since we looked at this
passage in depth on Sunday, we’ll not make further comment tonight.
Notice
that Pilate comes out to tell the priests after a thorough interrogation, he
finds nothing in Jesus worthy of Rome’s wrath.
39 “But you have a custom that I should release someone
to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of
the Jews?” 40 Then they all cried again, saying, “Not this Man, but
Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
At this point, Pilate knows
he’ll be turning Jesus back over to the priests & that
they’ll probably take out on Him what fury & violence they can.
They
may even conspire to murder Him if Pilate won’t do it for them.
So
he looks for a way to release Jesus.
Every year at Passover, as a
way to mollify the huge crowds, the Romans had gotten into the practice of
releasing one of the Jewish prisoners.
A
crowd has now gathered for this and Pilate comes before them to offer Jesus’
release.
He knows that the common
people despised the priests, so he put the decision on Jesus’ release to
them.
The
other option was a brigand named Barabbas, a common thief & murderer who
was no one’s hero.
In
Pilate’s calculations, Jesus was the hands-down winner of the gift of pardon.
What
he didn’t know was that the priests were even then circulating through the
crowds threatening the people that if they called out for Jesus’ release there
would be serious repercussions.
When Pilate opened the
choice, the calls for Barabbas far outweighed the calls for Jesus.
When
he asked what was to be done with Jesus – again the crowd caved to the
provocation of the priests & called for His crucifixion.
What’s interesting about this
little detail John includes here is that the name Barabbas means “son of the
father.”
“Bar”
is Hebrew for “son of” like “Mac” in MacDonald or “O’” O’Donnell.
Abbas
means “father;” Barabbas = son of the father.
Barabbas is not a first name,
it’s a surname.
Simon’s
full name was Simon barJonah.
So what was Barabbas’ first
name?
Some
very ancient Greek, Syrian, & Armenian texts of the Gospels say his first
name was Joshua – or, in it’s Greek form; Jesus.
So
when the crowds called out in reply to Pilate’s question, “Who shall I
release?” “They cried out, “Jesus Barabbas, not Jesus of Nazareth.”
Some see in the reply of the
crowd a picture of Israel’s rejection of the true Christ & how they will
instead be fooled by an imposter, the antichrist.
[1] http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes15mar15,1,1839533.story?coll=la-mininav-business
[2]The Gospel of John : Volume
2. 2000,
c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the
[3]
Maimonides, the great Jewish scholar
of the Middle Ages, said: “Our true law
does not inflict the penalty of death upon a sinner by his own confession.” The Gospel of John : Volume 2.
2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the