John chapter 18
Read verses 1-11
In this section we find a blending of the majesty and the meekness of Christ.
Jesus crossed over the brook Kedron after Judas had made his agreement to betray Him.
Perhaps you remember another person who crossed over the brook Kedron.
When King David’s son, Absalom led a rebellion and Ahithophel, his friend and counselor betrayed him.
As far as we know, Jesus never spent a single night in the city of Jeruselem.
The last week of His life, Jesus went to Bethany and stayed with His friends.
Even on this last night, He left the walled city of Jerusalem to go to the place we know of as the Garden of Gethsemane, a place of quietness, in order to give His enemies an opportunity to take Him.
John does not include the agony Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane.
John speaks of Jesus’ glory and he places great emphasis upon the deity of Christ, while the other Gospels emphasize Jesus’ humanity.
Jesus will not resist arrest, for He is the Lamb of God who offers no resistance “led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
The dignity of Christ is absolutely overwhelming, and I think this is very important for us to note.
A band of men came out.
A band of men is a tenth part of a legion and would consist of approximately 500 men.
Matthew says that a great multitude came with Judas.
Why would they come with such a great number of men and with swords and clubs?
That feeding frenzy crowd knew that Jesus had performed many miracles, and they believed that if they would bring along with them enough armed men, they could capture Jesus.
Oh, let me tell you folks, if Jesus had not yielded Himself to the them, all the weapons in the world would have been absolutely worthless.
Notice they called Him “Jesus the Nazarene” and they refuse to call Him the Christ.
Well, that’s all right, because today Jesus is a name that is above every name.
The day is coming when those on earth and even those in hell will bow his or her knee to the name of Jesus.
The thing that is strange is that Judas didn’t know Him.
Why do you suppose Judas didn’t know Jesus?
Paul says, “…even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…” (II Cor. 4:3,4).
Judas didn’t know Jesus because Jesus stood there as the Lord of Glory.
Even in this dark hour when Jesus was yielding Himself as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, He revealed His deity, His glory, and verse 6 says “they all fell on the ground.”
Jesus revealed to these men that He was absolutely in charge, and they could not arrest Him without His permission.
Notice they didn’t fall forward to worship Him, but they fell backward on the ground in fear and dismay.
There was utter confusion for a moment because they were getting a glimpse of the Lord of Glory.
Listen to Psalm 40:14 which predicts this scene: “May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.”
The unsaved person does not know Christ.
People can read the Bible, be very religious, and very moral, and not see Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
In verse 10, we see Peter cutting off the right ear of the high priest’s servant.
Why didn’t they arrest Peter for this?
Again, there is Old Testament prophecy stating that the Shepherd would be taken and the sheep scattered.
Jesus said He had lost none of those God the Father had given Him, so the disciples would not be captured.
Luke tells us that Jesus touched the servant’s ear and healed him.
Peter was a good fisherman but he was a lousy swordsman.
He cut off an ear when he meant to cut off a head.
Read verses 12-14
The religious rulers were the ones who had plotted all this, and Jesus went outside the city of Jerusalem to give them the opportunity to arrest Him.
They bound Him, which wasn’t necessary because Jesus is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.
They led Jesus away to Annas first.
Only John’s Gospel gives us that detail.
Annas had been the high priest and was probably still in the living quarters of the palace of the high priest.
Annas was one of the most brilliant, clever, and most satanic of all the high priests.
Caiaphas was the one the Roman government accepted, but the real head of the religious group was Annas, who was a true politician, and knew how to handle complicated Roman politics.
It was Annas who plotted the arrest, the trial, and the crucifixion of Jesus.
It had been already predetermined that Jesus was to die, and Annas knew how to forge charges against Jesus that would get the death penalty from the Roman authorities.
The entire trial was a mockery.
Read verses 15-18
Peter’s First Denial:
“…another disciple” is the writer of this Gospel, John.
John was known to the high priest as apparently John was known in this political and social circle of high society.
John tells the girl on duty at the gate that Peter is a friend of his, and so John is allowed to bring Peter in.
Peter is scared to death, but John, who was most likely a regular visitor there, was at home there.
Remember that the other Gospels tell us that the girl spots Peter as a Galilean because Peter’s speech gives him away.
She asks Peter that fatal question, “You are not one of His disciples, are you?”
Peter says, “I am not.”
It was cold, so the servants and officials stood around a fire to keep warm.
Peter was standing with them, warming himself.
Read verses 19-24
The trial before the high priest.
Jesus is yielding Himself to die for your sins and my sins.
He does call their attention to the fact that what they are doing is illegal and contrary to the Mosiac Law.
It was illegal for the trial to begin at night and end on the same day.
It was illegal for them to hit a prisoner who had not yet been proven guilty.
John puts verse 24 in the text to tell us again that it was Annas who bound Jesus and plotted His death.
Read verses 25-27
Peter’s Second and Third Denials:
We learn from the other Gospels how Peter went out and wept bitterly.
He denied his Lord, but thank God, Jesus was on His way to die for Peter’s sin, and Jesus had already told Peter that He had prayed so that Peter’s faith would not fail.
Have you ever wondered why Peter can backslide and find his way back in favor with God, but Judas could not?
Peter was a true child of God and Judas was not.
A child of God may roam far away from God, but God is never far away from him.
God elected Peter to become his chosen, but God never elected Judas to become a child of God; that’s one of those secret things that belong unto the Lord our God (Deut. 29:29).
Read verses 28-40
Jesus before Pilate:
In this section of our text we see high religion and the person of Jesus Christ side-by-side.
Jesus is going to die on the cross because the religious leaders are bringing the death sentence against Him, but in verse 28, we see they are so religious that they want to eat the Passover meal.
They are meticulously religious, yet they are plotting the death of the very One who is the fulfillment of the Passover.
Pilate senses that something is very wrong, and he is looking for a way to get himself off the hook.
He tells them to judge Jesus themselves (verse 31).
This fulfills what Jesus had prophesied.
Jesus had told His disciples that the Jewish religious leaders would condemn Him to death and would deliver Him over to the Gentiles.
Now He was being judged by Pilate, the representative of Gentile Rome.
If the Jews had taken Jesus and had Him put to death, according to their law, Jesus would have been stoned to death.
But again, the Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 22 describes a death by crucifixion, and the only authority who executed by crucifixion was Rome, so Jesus had been delivered to the Romans to fulfill Old Testament prophecy.
Jesus appealed to Pilate’s heart and Pilate was dumbfounded.
Pilate could not believe that there was someone claiming to be the King of the Jews, and the religious leaders would have the audacity to bring such a charge.
Pilate is out on a limb and in his heart he wants to help Jesus.
Pilate would be happy if Jesus would just say He is not a king, because this would get Pilate off the hook.
Jesus said, “…my kingdom is from another place” (verse 36).
Jesus is literally saying that His kingdom is “out of” this world.
The kingdom of Jesus is not of our world system, not built upon power structure or politics.
Folks, the time is coming when Christ will completely remove His Kingdom from the world.
Then, when Christ comes, He will establish His kingdom (1,000 year reign).
Pilate is so puzzled that he doesn’t know what to do.
Pilate stood in the presence of the Lord Jesus, who was and is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but Pilate didn’t have the courage to release Him.
The Bible makes it clear to us that Pilate was assured that Jesus was an innocent man.
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Telephone: 803-754-8690
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
