The leading priests and Pharisees gave Judas a band of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to go with Him to betray and capture Jesus. This group of soldiers was estimated to be 600 men. Remember this was all being done under the cover of night (while most people were sleeping) so they came bearing torches, lanterns, and weapons. They came to the olive grove because Judas knew He would be there.
Jesus knew what was happening and that the time for Him to be arrested had come so He asked them who they were looking for. They said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth. To which Jesus told them, “I Am He." Judas and the soldiers may have been expecting a fight and were shocked by Jesus' admission. He proclaimed, “I Am He,” declaring His deity and may have terrified those who understood that proclamation as being God. Such a proclamation would cast fear into some hearts realizing the power of God. This caused them all to draw back and fall to the ground. Jesus stood in front of them while they were on the ground, to me, a perfect picture of how it ought to be. They fell before Jesus, the Son of God. They didn’t do it out of reverence but perhaps fear.
Jesus asked again, and again He claimed to be the one they had come for. He instructed them they could take Him but were to leave those with Him alone. This He did to fulfill what He said earlier that none of those the Father had given Him would be lost.
In a burst of emotion, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. Peter may have been ready to fight all the more but Jesus told him to put his sword away. Then He asked Peter this question, “Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” Jesus was reminding Peter He had come to do the will and work of the Father. That work included the suffering He was soon to endure for the salvation of mankind. He was asking Peter if He should ignore what He was sent to do for the sake His own well being. This was a great lesson for Peter and his future decisions, as well as for all of us.
The soldiers then arrested Jesus, tied Him and led Him away to Annas, who was the father in law of Caiaphas the high priest. Remember, Caiaphas was the one who said in chapter 11:50 “You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than the whole nation to be destroyed.”
Peter and an unnamed disciple followed them as they led Jesus away. The unnamed disciple is thought of as being John, one of the sons of Zebedee. The unnamed disciple was allowed into the courtyard but Peter was not. The other disciple was familiar to the high priest and spoke to the woman guarding the gate and she allowed Peter in. As he entered she asked Peter if he was one of Jesus' disciples. He answered, He was not. Peter made his first denial, seemingly unaware he had done so.
It was a cold evening and there was a fire burning. Peter joined a group at the fire to warm himself. Inside, Jesus was being questioned by the high priest regarding what He had been teaching. Jesus answered the question by telling the priest that His teachings were done in the open, in the temple and heard by everyone there. He told the priest He had not taught in secret and he could ask any of those who heard Him teach what He taught about. In typical power fashion a guard slapped Jesus, accusing Him of insulting the high priest by His answer.
Here is where several things become apparent. His questioning was actually illegal according to their own law. They were trying to get Jesus to incriminate Himself and it was illegal to strike any person who was not yet convicted. Jesus came back at them and the soldier who struck Him. They knew the law and Jesus pointed it out to them by saying, “If I said anything wrong you must prove it. But I am speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” If He was lying, they had to show where He was wrong but they didn’t nor could they, for Jesus was speaking truth. In that situation, they had no right to strike Him and were, in fact, violating their own laws. They were willing to do anything and everything to destroy Jesus even if they had to break the same laws they were attempting to use to convict Him.
These men were given over to evil and would break even the law they claimed to live by to get rid of Jesus. They wanted Him gone and would do whatever it took to make that happen. One might think Jesus' comments took Annas by surprise or left him speechless, causing Annas to bind Jesus and send Him to Caiaphas.
While that was happening, Peter was still at the fire. One of those standing at the fire asked Peter if he was one of Jesus' followers. Peter again denied being a disciple of Jesus. That was his second denial. Then a man who was a relative of Malchus whose ear Peter had cut off and was also a slave of the high priest spoke up. He said, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” Peter again denied being with Jesus and immediately a rooster crowed fulfilling Jesus' prediction that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed.
John doesn’t mention much of the trial before Caiaphas other than it ended in early morning. This tells us that all the unlawful things the high priests did to destroy Jesus was done during the night. Understanding this, we might be able to see that any people who loved Jesus would not be aware any of this was happening. Most people may not even know how involved the religious leaders were in what happened to Jesus. Now in the early morning, the religious leaders had finished and were presenting Jesus to Pilate. To those awakening, one might think Jesus' trial was all at the hand of the Romans.
Jesus was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor, Pilate. Those who took Him from Caiaphas to Pilate would not enter Pilate’s headquarters because it would defile them and they would not be able to celebrate Passover.
This entire concept just makes me crazy. It was a clear picture of the religious leaders doing things on the outside that appeared to keep them clean, such as not entering Pilate’s place yet they broke their own laws, lied, and conspired to kill Jesus without a proper trial and with no real proof of any laws being broken. What they did more than defiled them but they saw themselves as clean for not being on Roman ground. This immediately took me back to Jesus' comments in Matthew 23:25-28;
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish but inside you are filthy-full of greed and self indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean too. What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs - beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like religious people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
They would look undefiled by not entering Pilate’s palace but were full of guilt, treachery and schemes on the inside. All filled with plans to kill a man innocent of any crime.
The crowd not coming into Pilate forced him to come out to them. He came out and asked them “What is your charge against Him?” They answered, “We wouldn’t have handed Him over to you if He weren’t a criminal.”
Did you notice they didn’t answer his question?
Actually they could not give Pilate a description of Jesus crime because He hadn't committed any. In a way their answer was not an answer but a “duh?” maybe intending to make Pilate look stupid if he pressed them for a crime.
Pilate instructed them to go away and judge Jesus by their own law. Of course, that was pointless because they had already tried that. So, the religious leaders might have given Pilate the impression they had already judged Jesus and found Him guilty and needing to be put to death. They accomplished that by saying that only the Romans were permitted to execute someone. This also fulfilled the prediction as to how Jesus would die.
Pilate went back into his headquarters and asked for Jesus. He asked Jesus several questions. Jesus responded by telling Pilate His Kingdom was not of this world. If it were, His followers would never have let Him be taken by the religious leaders. Jesus told him, He came into the world to speak the truth and all who love truth know what He was saying was true.
Pilate went out to the people and told them he found Jesus to not be guilty of any crime. Pilate may have thought he could diffuse this entire thing by using his tradition of releasing a prisoner at Passover. He asked the leaders if they would like him to release Jesus but they said no and asked for Barabbas, the revolutionary and murderer instead.
FOR AUGUST, WE WILL FINISH THE GOSPEL OF JOHN BY STUDYING CHAPTERS 19, 20 AND 21.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.