John 21:1-6 - Fishing

21:1-3

We now come to the closing chapter of John’s gospel and the third appearance of Jesus to His disciples that John reports. This happens by the Sea of Tiberias and some of the disciples had gone fishing. So the disciples had returned to Galilee. The “sons of Zebedee” are James and John, who were partners with Peter in fishing.

So they all went out to fish, but caught nothing. Night was the preferred time for fishing. Some may think it strange that they went fishing after having seen the risen Christ, but we forget that they had no idea what to do. In Luke 24:49 Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes on them in power.

21:4-6

In the early morning, after their fruitless fishing trip Jesus stood on the shore. It would have been poor light, and the disciples a little out to sea, so they did not recognise Jesus. As was His custom, Jesus asked them a question, knowing what the answer would be. He asked them if they had any fish, to which the answer was, of course, no. Jesus told them to throw the net over the other side. They did so and had an enormous haul. Remember that in one of their first encounters with Jesus a similar thing had happened (Luke 5:1-11).

John 20:28-31 - My Lord and my God

20:28,29

Thomas responded with “My Lord and my God”. This is the pinnacle of faith. Jesus then declares that those who believe yet have not seen Him are even more blessed. This of course applies to us, and to 99.999% of Christians. Once again, let me say that those who were around at the time in the first century are not better off than us. We can all have the same faith, and can all receive the same Holy Spirit. We can all know the same Father and the same Lord.

We also see Thomas's proclamation. Jesus is his Lord and God. The Jewish leaders had long realised that Jesus was claiming to be God, the demons knew that He was the son of God, now the disciples knew that He was God. They also worshipped Him as Lord.

20:30,31

It seems a little strange that John puts these words here. For in the next chapter he proceeds to relate the incident of the miraculous catch of fish. However, while these two verses would in some sense make a natural ending to the gospel, the following verses could equally be read as “and here is another miracle”.

John 20:24-27 - Unless I see ...

20:24,25

Thomas had not been present at the earlier meeting with Jesus. Naturally, the other disciples told him about their encounter, but Thomas refused to believe them. He wanted hard physical evidence before he was going to believe any of this. This is perhaps the clearest evidence that the early church were not gullible folk who would believe anything. They knew full well that people did not rise from dead, especially when the person had been crucified!

20:26,27

A week later Thomas was given the “proof” that he sought. Once again the disciples were locked in a room, this time Thomas was with them. Jesus appeared again, and again blessed them with peace. Jesus knew what Thomas had said in response to reports of the first meeting, though we are not told how Jesus knew this. Jesus invited Thomas to put his hands into His side, and to see His hands. Then came the command “stop doubting and believe”. God is remarkably patient with our unbelief, but there comes a point where we must take a step of faith.

John 20:22,23 - Receive the Holy Spirit

20:22

Having just told them that He was sending them out as the Father had sent Him, so Jesus breathes on them saying “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Now we know that Pentecost was the great event that marked the receiving of the Holy Spirit, so what is this all about? Did they receive the Holy Spirit to some measure here, or was it purely symbolic, foreshadowing what would happen later? Well one thing we can be absolutely certain about is that their fulfilling of the mission was intimately connected with working together with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit would be with them, and within them. All this is entirely consistent with all that Jesus has been teaching them from chapter 14 onwards.

So was it purely symbolic? I suspect not. The Holy Spirit is a person and we have a relationship with Him, He is not a force, and there are levels in a relationship. So Pentecost  marked the “marriage” , if you like, between the Spirit and the church, but this does not mean the disciples had no relationship with Him at all until that point. It is also worth noting that there are several major “fillings” of the Holy Spirit that occur after that. We have an ongoing, developing and empowering relationship with the Holy Spirit.

20:23

Now this verse is interesting and difficult to interpret. The Greek could be translated “they have been forgiven” rather than “they are forgiven”, likewise for “it is withheld”. It is probably best to understand this as part of the church's mission. The gospel is a message of forgiveness for sin. It is not the church that forgives, rather we proclaim God’s forgiveness to all who repent and believe. The forgiveness has already been earned by Jesus on the cross. Now this interpretation is fine for the first part of the verse and makes good sense, but what then about the second? “If you withhold ...”. Does it mean that the church can refuse forgiveness to people? Does it mean that if we don’t preach the gospel to a group of people then they are not forgiven? Well, as a church, we certainly should seek to proclaim the gospel to all peoples. Or, and I think this the most likely but I am not sure, does it mean that the gospel is the only means of forgiveness. So if someone refuses the gospel then they are refusing the only offer of forgiveness that there is?

John 20:19-21 - Peace be with you!

20:19,20

The disciples would be feeling fearful. Their leader had been killed. Since then they had discovered that His tomb was empty. Mary, a woman, had told them He was alive, but why should they believe her! They would fear that the Jewish authorities might well come after them next.

With the disciples in this state of fear Jesus came and stood among them. Now the door was locked, either Jesus passed through the walls or door, or the door was miraculously unlocked. “Peace be with you!”. When under pressure Jesus stands with us, and His blessing upon us is His peace.

Jesus then showed them His hands and side. There those who talk about a spiritual resurrection. Such people are speaking nonsense, the message of the Bible is that the resurrection was very much physical. The disciples were overjoyed.

So why had joy come into the situation? The circumstances had not changed, but they now knew so much more about who Jesus is, He is the risen Lord. In all our circumstances what we need is to know Jesus better.

20:21

Jesus again gave them His peace, He then also gave them a commission. “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” As mentioned earlier, at about chapter 14 a new theme is introduced into John’s gospel. Up to then it is all about Jesus, who He is, His mission, His relationship with the Father. Then at about chapter 14 a new theme is introduced, and that new theme is about us, our mission, our relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are to do the things that Jesus did, and in the same way.

John 20:18 - Women in ministry?

20:18

So Mary went to announce these things to the disciples. She told them she had seen the Lord and passed on the things Jesus had told her to say. Now consider the enormity of this. A woman is instructing men, passing on words from the Lord to men. There is disagreement in the church over the role of women, egalitarians and complementarians being the two “camps”. In very broad terms the first say women can do all, or most, roles that men do, ie pastoring, teaching, preaching etc. The second group say that men and women are equal but have different roles. The Biblical support for the latter are based on things that Paul says in the pastoral epistles, and one or two other places as well. I have some sympathy for this view and for their wish to stick to Biblical principles, but verses like this show that the matter is not that simple. Now men and women are different, and we certainly need to respect that difference, and to rejoice in it (unlike societies increasingly crazy views on gender). It is interesting that the Biblical grounds for the complementarian view come largely from the New Testament, there is little support for it from the Old. Indeed, Micah 6:4 talks of Moses, Aaron and Miriam leading the nation. On a practical point of view, I know some very good women preachers. On the other hand, in some churches there are women ministers who are widely off-beam (but of course there are many men who haven’t got a clue as well!). Anyway, whatever your view, this verse is very interesting in this context. I would far rather listen to a woman who was dedicated to Christ and to the word of God than to a man who wasn’t.

John 20:15-17 - Do not hold on to me

20:15,16

So Jesus spoke to her, and as He often did He asked her questions. Why are you crying? Who are you looking for? Of course, she actually had no need to cry and the one she was looking for was right there before her. For God had done a most wonderful thing, and something He had said He would do. There are times when we are in distress but there is no need to be, for what we think is a disaster actually isn’t. God has done something more wonderful than we ever imagined.

Mary thought it was the gardener. In addition to what I said on the earlier verse we must also remember that she may well not have looked into the face of the man who was there. Mary offered to go and bring the body back to what she thought was its rightful place.

Jesus then spoke her name, and at that point she realised who He was, she recognised His voice (John 10:3). Rabboni is a strengthened form of the term Rabbi, meaning teacher. Jesus had taught them beforehand about His death and resurrection, but they failed to understand any of it. Mary now realised what a wonderful teacher Jesus was.

20:17

“Do not hold on to me.” Given the enormous relief there would have been in Mary there would have been a tremendous temptation to want to hold on to Jesus, but she must not do so. Earlier Jesus had said that He had to go to the Father so that the Holy Spirit could be sent. The resurrection did not happen just to prove Jesus was alive, it was one step along the way. There was work to be done! So Mary had to go to the disciples. Note that Jesus calls them His brothers. The cross and resurrection is not just about proving how great God is, though of course it does that. It is about involving us in His plans, about us becoming the people God intended us to be. “My Father and your Father, my God and your God”. Jesus is stressing the similarity between our relationship with the Father now and His relationship with the Father. We are to seek to live as Jesus lived on earth, walking in fellowship with the Father.

John 20:11-14 - Why are you crying?

20:11-13

We now get the first resurrection appearance, and it is to women. Mary was crying outside the tomb. This was not a quiet sobbing but a loud wailing. Two angels then appeared, one was at the head, and one at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been. They asked Mary why she was crying. Mary was not at the stage that John and Peter were, she still thought the body had been taken away. Now looking at the facts this was the most obvious conclusion, indeed the only reasonable conclusion. But God had done something beyond all human expectation.

20:14

Mary turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but did not recognise Him. Now this may seem strange at first, “how did she not recognise Him?”, but think a little about it. First, she had been weeping so there were tears in her eyes, she was emotionally distraught. Then she had absolutely no expectation of seeing Jesus, He was dead! Even in normal circumstances if we see someone in a totally different context to that in which we normally see them we can be unsure if it is who we think it is.

John 20:3-10 - Something is missing

20:3-7

So Peter and John set off for the tomb. They ran there to see what had happened, John running more quickly. They glanced into the tomb and saw that there was indeed no body, and the lined clothes were lying there. This latter fact indicates that the body had not been stolen, for if it had they would have taken the body wrapped in the linen. The reference to the face cloth shows that it had been folded up neatly, probably by Jesus Himself.

20:8-10

For some reason John had been reluctant to go inside, but now he did so. It then says “he saw and believed” without saying explicitly what it was that he believed. However, from the context of the whole gospel it must be that he believed in Jesus. He now understood that Jesus had been raised from the dead. However, they still did not realise the significance of this, for they did not understand that Scripture had foretold all this. Possibly John just believed that Jesus had returned to the Father. So the disciples went back to where they were staying. This may seem a rather strange reaction. However, if they thought Jesus had returned to the Father it would not be so.

John 20:1,2 - Who rolled away the stone?

20:1

Mary went to the tomb on the first day of the week. This was Sunday, and it is because this was the day that Jesus rose again that it became the standard day of worship. Mary went early, no doubt to complete the burial preparations which had not been completed because of the Sabbath.  She saw that the stone had been moved.

20:2

Mary’s response was to run to Simon Peter. and John (the other disciple). At this point she thought the body had been taken away, as if killing Him wasn’t enough, He couldn’t even receive a decent burial. She had no thought of resurrection at this point, The “we” in “we do not know” indicates the presence of other women beside Mary. Opponents of the gospel are very keen to say that there are contradictions between the gospel accounts of the resurrection. Trying to piece everything together into a completely consistent whole can be difficult, but we need to remember that none of the gospel writers were trying to give an absolutely complete account. Each gave some of the details and looked at things from a particular perspective. There is complete agreement on the key facts, Jesus is risen! Moreover, a little thought often reveals that supposed contradictions are more imagined than real. For instance, other gospel accounts indicate that there were at least two women present. While John focuses on Mary, the “we” here shows that there is no necessary contradiction with the other accounts.

John 19:38-42 - Buried

19:38-40

Joseph of Arimathea fulfilled Isaiah 53:9 about Jesus having a grave with the rich. Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus, secret because of fear of the Jewish leaders. Note that John has an somewhat ambiguous attitude towards the secret disciples (Joseph and Nicodemus). Pilate gave Joseph permission to take the body away.

Nicodemus was another secret disciple and his earlier encounter with Jesus (John 3) must have had some effect on him. Nicodemus came with various perfumes for the burial. So the body was buried in the normal way for Jews, bound in a linen cloth and with spices.

19:41,42

Jesus was buried in a new tomb. The fact that it was a garden indicates it was a fairly large plot of ground. The tomb was handy, being near the place of crucifixion. With the Sabbath close at hand, they were keen to deal with the body quickly.

John 19:32-37 - Not one of his bones will be broken

19:32,33

The Roman soldiers complied with this. They first broke the legs of the men either side of Jesus. However, when they came to Jesus they discovered He was already dead. As an aside, one of the “anti-resurrection” theories is that Jesus did not actually die on the cross, some saying He “swooned”. This is a frankly ridiculous suggestion. First, when He appeared to various disciples He was perfectly healthy. Even if He had not actually died, He would have been in the most terrible and weakened state. However, the Romans were experts at building roads and killing people. They knew how to make sure someone was dead. So, seeing that Jesus was dead they did not break His legs.

19:34-37

Just to make sure, one of the soldiers thrust a spear into Him and there was a sudden flow of water and blood. The “water” is probably fluid that had accumulated around the heart. John has two purposes in reporting this. One is to demonstrate that Jesus did actually die. The death and resurrection of Jesus is not a myth, but an historical event. The other reason is the fulfilment of Scripture. See how seemingly innocuous events worked together for the fulfilment of Scripture, in this case Exodus 12:46 and Zech 12:10. It was because the Jewish leaders wanted to avoid having dead bodies out in the open on the Sabbath that we have proof beyond doubt that Jesus did actually die, and that Jesus was pierced by the spear.

John 19:28-31 - Death

19:28-30

Jesus now knew that His work was finished, He had paid the price of our sin. The reference to Scripture being fulfilled is possible a reference to Ps 69:21. Earlier (Mark 15:23) Jesus had refused a drink of wine mixed with myrrh. The myrrh had a sedative effect and so would dull the pain a little, Jesus needed to experience the cross in full. This drink of sour wine was used to quench the thirst, and Jesus’ work was now finished. Hyssop is associated with the Passover (Ex 15:22; Ps 51:7).  Jesus said "It is finished". This seems rather tame, but in Matt 27:50 and Mark 15:37 we read that it was a loud cry. Furthermore, "It is finished" is the victory cry uttered when a conquest is complete. Jesus had completed His work. He then "gave up His spirit". This emphasises the fact that Jesus gave His life, it was not taken from Him.

19:31

Preparation day was preparation for the Sabbath, but this was a special Sabbath because it was Passover week. So, true to their religious sensibilities, they did not want the bodies left on the cross on the Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the legs broken. A victim of crucifixion would use their legs to lift themselves up so they could breath. If their legs were broken they would die very quickly. So again we see the the blinding and distorting effect of sin on our minds. The Jewish leaders were fastidious about minor details, but were totally blind to the horror of what they were perpetrating on the Son of God.

John 19:19-27 - King of the Jews

19:19-22

A sign saying what the crime of a someone was was often fastened to the cross. Pilate insisted that a sign saying “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” was placed on His cross. Being “king of the Jews” was the “crime” for which the Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to Pilate. The sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek, making sure that everyone passing by could read it. The Jewish leaders didn’t like this. They wanted to have it taken down, but Pilate refused. They now had no hold on him. So on the cross the truth was told, for Jesus actually was, and is, the true king of the Jews. And the message was written so all, Jews and Gentiles, could see and understand.

19:23,24

The soldiers took Jesus’ garments. The tunic may have been quite valuable as they did not want to tear it. This was in fulfilment of Psalm 22:18, and was a common custom among Roman soldiers. Psalm 22 is the most oft quoted Psalm in the New Testament. David wrote Psalm 22 about 1000 years before the crucifixion.

19:25-27

Most of the disciples had fled (but not John), but some of women were around watching the excruciating events. His mother’s sister may be Salome the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus saw His mother and “the disciple whom He loved”, namel John. Even in the midst of His agony Jesus thought about the well-being of His mother, instructing John to look after her, which he did from this time forth. Note that we are in the midst of the most momentous events in history, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet in the midst of all this Jesus is still taking account of practical details of people’s lives. We will find that in the midst of important times seemingly trivial things will come in to our minds, seeking to distract them. We should take a two pronged attack to resist this. The first is to realise what is really important and to put that first, and the second is to  know that God takes account of all things, even the mundane everyday matters of life.

John 19:17,18 - Carry your cross

19:17

Jesus carried His own cross. This would probably be the cross member, and was quite a common practice. When Jesus said we had to be prepared to carry our own cross He was referring to being prepared to be condemned by the world.Mark 15:21 tells us that along the way Simon of Cyrene had to take the cross, Jesus having been so weakened by the flogging. Calvary is the Latin word for Golgotha, the place of the skull.

19:18

So Jesus was crucified there. When we talk about the cross we tend to dwell upon the physical pain involved, yet in the New Testament there is very little on this aspect of things. Perhaps because they were familiar with what crucifixion meant the horrors of the means of death didn’t need to be elaborated on, but also perhaps because it wasn’t actually the worst part about it, nor the even the most significant part.

He was crucified along with two others, one on each side. The Son of God, the only truly righteous man to have ever walked this planet was numbered with sinners.

John 19:13-16 - Here is your king

19:13,14

Pilate knew the game was up. Making one last attempt he brought Jesus out to the people. Pilate sits in the judgement seat, signalling that he was going to make a decision, though in fact he made a decision by avoiding making a decision. The day of preparation is the day of preparation of the passover week. Many people make play of apparent inconsistencies between the various gospel accounts of timings of events. A lot of these are explained by two facts. One is that the day began in the evening in Jewish reckoning, and the second is that the Jews and Romans had different ways of referring to time. So one account may be expressing things in Jewish time, another in Roman time.

19:15,16

There was no placating the Jewish leaders. They wanted Jesus dead and that was that. When sin is fully born it will completely take over a man, or group of men, not listening to any reason, and certainly not listening to any righteousness. They then made the ridiculous claim that they had no king but Caesar. Now the Jews were far from keen on Caesar and would have loved to have seen the back of the Romans, but sin will quite happily lie. The only group amongst them who may possibly have legitimately said this were the Sadducees. So Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. The soldiers had the job of carrying out this order.

John 19:10-12 - You have no power over me

19:10,11

Pilate was getting exasperated. He reminded Jesus of the power that he had, or thought he had. Either to set Jesus free or to have Him crucified. Jesus now does respond, telling Pilate that he has power only because God has given it to him. This applies to all of us in whatever positions of authority or power we may find ourselves, great or small. We sometimes glory in the position that we have. This is a grave mistake, we should instead focus on how we use the power or authority that we have. Do we use it for good, for righteousness, for justice and mercy, or to get our own way? Or, as Pilate was doing here, acting out of fear? We can do wrong things either out of the direct desire to do wrong, or out of fear. We are guilty in both instances. But Pilate was not the most guilty. The religious leaders were the most guilty. Now we also know that the cross was always God’s plan, everything was happening according to His plan, but this does not take away one ounce of guilt from the religious leaders.

19:12

Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, so he made repeated attempts to set Jesus free, but the Jews refused to listen. Remember that the “Jews” here means the Jewish leaders. They told Pilate that if did set Jesus free he would be no friend of Caesar. The question Pilate needed to answer was where did his allegiance really lie. Was it with God or with Caesar? We all know the answer he came up with. Pilate was using all sorts of political tricks, but there comes a point where the question is very simple, do we go with the truth or not? Nominally Pilate had more power than the Jewish leaders, but in reality he was beholden to their demands. We have power structures in our societies, but the reality can often be quite different.

John 19:6-9 - Son of God

19:6

The chief priests and officers were not to be placated and cried out “crucify Him”. Note that it is the religious leaders and their officials who are crying out crucify Him, not the general populace. We see here the hardening effect of sin. They were so determined to have Jesus crucified that nothing less would satisfy them. Pilate then gives Jesus over to them, knowing that they do not actually have the authority to crucify Him.

19:7,8

The Jews then referred to the Law saying blasphemers should be put to death, and in claiming to be the Son of God Jesus was claiming equality with God. This put even more fear into Pilate. Now why was this? Maybe it was because he could see the Jews were not going to be bought off with anything less than the crucifixion of Jesus. Or maybe it was the mention of His being the Son of God. Pilate had met Jesus and knew that there was something different about Him. He had a sense of the enormity of the position he was in, but he was unable to respond in a manner that equated with that position.

19:9

In response to his fear Pilate went back inside the palace to speak again with Jesus. “Where do you come from?” We read these words as a simple question, but Pilate was probably saying them in desperation and fear. Despite the position of power that he had, he knew he was dealing with something and someone far greater than himself, and far greater than the Roman empire. Jesus remained silent. Earlier He had replied to Pilate’s questions, but had received no good response. So now He remains silent.

John 19:1-5 - Here is the man!

19:1

Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The exact nature of the flogging is not made known, and could have ranged from a relatively mild flogging (I emphasise the word relatively!) to the very severe floggings given prior to crucifixion. Remember that Jesus has not been sentenced at this point. Pilates’ hope is that this will appease the Jews. Note that he had some respect for the truth, knowing that Jesus was innocent, but not enough to make a stand on the issue.

19:2,3

The soldiers mocked Jesus and the Jews. They made a mock crown out of thorns and placed it on His head, along with a purple robe. Purple was a colour associated with royalty. The soldiers taunted Jesus by striking Him on the face (an action of insult) and pretending to honour Him as the king of the Jews.

19:4,5

Having had Jesus whipped and humiliated, Pilate takes Him out to the Jews again, hoping that now they will be satisfied and happy to have Him released. Pilate tells them again that he can find no guilt in Jesus. Jesus was brought out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, ie looking suitably ridiculous and humiliated.

John 18:36-40 - My kingdom

18:36

Now Jesus does answer. “My kingdom is not of this world”. Now it is important that we understand the meaning of this.  It does not mean that His kingdom has nothing to do with this world, in fact the exact opposite of that is true, it has everything to do with this world. What it does mean is that it is completely different in nature and in the way it operates. If His kingdom was “of this world” then Jesus would have had people fighting for Him. Instead He rebuked Peter when he did fight. Jesus kingdom is very different.

18:37,38

Pilate sees that Jesus is a king, and in saying this he is correct. Jesus replies that He was born and sent into the world in order to bear witness to the truth, and if if someone is truly interested in the truth then he will listen to what Jesus has to say. Pilate, who was now acting as a judge, should have been interested in the truth.

We then get Pilate’s infamous words “what is truth?” Maybe Pilate thinks Jesus is just a philosopher. Pilate had a chance to listen to something far more important and far reaching than the self-interested claims of the Jewish leaders, but he neglected to do this.

So he went outside and told the Jews that he could find no basis for a charge against Jesus. This would not be pleasing to the Jewish leaders.

18:39,40

At Passover time the Romans traditionally released one prisoner. So Pilate offered to release Jesus. This was not going to work, there comes a time when we need to make a positive decision for Jesus. Those who are not for Him are against Him (Matt 12:30).

As we know, the Jewish leaders elected to have Barabbas released instead.. Anyone but Jesus! The duplicity and utter hypocrisy of their actions are highlighted by the fact that Barabbas was an insurrectionist. Earlier they had sought to claim to be bring Jesus to Pilate because He was supposedly a troublemaker, and yet they then chose to have a real troublemaker released.

We should not expect opposition to the gospel to be reasonable.

John 18:31-35 - Are you the king of the Jews?

18:31,32

Pilate sensed the game the priests were playing, knowing that they had no real concern for the well being of the Roman empire so it must be a religious dispute of some kind. So Pilate urged them to take Jesus away and deal with the matter themselves. If Pilate did handle it then any decision he made was only likely to lead to trouble for himself. The Jews then give the real reason they have brought Jesus to Pilate. They want Him killed and while the Romans allowed them some rights, they did not have the authority to sentence someone to death.

If the Jews had been allowed to kill Jesus, then it would have been by stoning. This was a horrible enough death, but did not fit with the prophecies nor the words Jesus had spoken about Himself being lifted up. So we see that even the details of Roman jurisdiction were under the control of God.

18:33-35

Remember that the Jewish authorities are outside the building, so they would not hear the words that Jesus spoke to Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus directly, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Based on what the Jewish leaders had said he had surmised that they were accusing Jesus of claiming authority over them, in place of the Romans.

Jesus knew what was going on and asked Pilate if this was a genuine question on his part, or based purely on what others, ie the Jewish leaders, were saying.

Pilate does not deny that it is the Jewish leaders who are behind all this. No doubt he considered the Jews to be a troublesome and enigmatic people.

John 18:28-30 - What are the charges?

18:28

This verse highlights the utter hypocrisy of the religious leaders. They led Jesus to the governor’s headquarters. They wanted Jesus killed, but did not have the authority to do that themselves, the Roman rulers had to do that. But they did not enter the governor’s headquarters themselves so they would not be defiled. They were about to kill the Son of God, their Messiah, yet they were concerned about entering the house of a Gentile. We need to beware of the deceitfulness of our hearts. Entering a Gentile’s house paled into insignificance compared to what they were in the midst of doing. Yet they thought they would still be “clean”. The Passover festival in total lasted seven days and “eat the Passover” may refer to the whole festival, rather than just the meal itself.

18:29,30

Pilate went outside to meet them so that they would not be “defiled”. Pilate was governor of Judea from AD26-36, during the regin of emperor Tiberius. Pilate would be keen to avoid antagonising the Jews. While the Romans were quite prepared to violently put down any insurrection, they much preferred to maintain peace, and it did not look good for any governor who experienced an uprising on his watch. So Pilate went outside to meet the party of priests wanting to know what the charge was.

The priests know they are on very dodgy ground with nothing substantial to charge Jesus with. So they make  a vague statement, appealing to Pilate’s desire for a quiet life.

John 18:19-27 - Questions and denials

18:19

Jesus was questioned by the high priest about His teaching and His disciples. In a formal trial witnesses should have been brought forward to testify against Jesus So either the priest was just ignoring normal court rules or this was just seen as a kind of preliminary hearing.

18:20,21

Jesus’ answer is a rebuke against the high priest. His teaching had been done openly, much of it in the synagogues. He never made any secret of what He did. So Jesus is pointing out the ridiculousness of the question. Moreover, He challenges them to bring forward witnesses who had heard Him teach, of which there would have been many. Ie He is highlighting the illegality of the current proceedings.

18:22-24

That Jesus’ answer was a rebuke is shown by the reaction of the officials. They knew what Jesus was doing and so slapped Him in the face. This too showed the weakness of their position. If we are challenged when we know we are in the right we normally respond carefully arguing our case and pointing out the weakness of the opposing case. When we know we are doing something dodgy is when we normally respond with an outburst, usually a verbal one, but sometimes a violent one, as it was here.

Jesus remained calm and challenged them to show why He is not speaking the truth. So Jesus is taken to the high priest, Caiaphas.

18:25-27

Now some of the others standing by the fire ask Peter is he is one of the disciples as well. Apparently John was known as a disciple of Jesus. Yet again, Peter denies being a disciple. But one of them had been with the arresting party and had seen Peter strike the soldiers ear. Indeed he was a relative of the soldier who Peter had struck. Remember also that, despite the torches, the light would have been far from perfect, so he would not have been absolutely sure that it was Peter. Once again Peter denied it, and then the cock crowed.

John 18:12-18 - In denial

18:12-14

Jesus is then arrested and bound. The “bounding” could be the equivalent of modern day handcuffs. He was taken to Annas, the father-in-law of the current high priest, Caiaphas. Although Annas was not the high priest, he had been so until 15 AD when the Romans deposed him, and may well have been regarded by many as the real high priest. In John 11:49-50 John mentions Caiphas saying it would be better for one man to die for the sake of the nation. There are two points in this. One is the prophetic nature, though of course Caiaphas was in no way a man of God. The other is the highly irregular nature of the “trial”. Caiaphas had already made his mind up about what was to happen. Under Jewish law a trial and sentencing could not take place on the same day, hence the rush to get the trial under way.

18:15-18

The other disciple mentioned here is elsewhere referred to as the one Jesus loved and is probably John. Whoever this other disciple was, he was known to the high priest and so could gain access to the courtyard. In those days there was not an enormous social gulf between the priests and the “ordinary” people. Peter had to wait outside, and then was allowed in. The servant girl who let them in asked Peter if he was a disciple of Jesus too.

Why did Peter reply “I am not”? He was not under direct threat at that point. Maybe it was the suddenness of the question and the whole tenseness of the situation. Many of us have had the experience of saying things in reply to a question and then wonder why we said that, or wish we had said something else. In 1 Peter 1:13 Peter urges us to prepare our minds for action, perhaps this incident motivated him to do this, knowing how easily we can slip up. Peter stood with the servants and officials around a fire to keep warm.

John 18:7-11 - Put your sword away

18:7-9

Jesus asked them again, “who is it you want?”. “Jesus of Nazareth” was the reply. A literal rendition of this would be “Jesus the Nazarene”. Jesus then urges them to let the others (ie the disciples) go. This point was all about Jesus, there is nothing anyone else could do to add anything to it. Our salvation was bought at a price paid by Jesus alone. There is nothing any other man could do to add to it at the time, and there is nothing we can, or need to, do to add to it now. Peter had made his earlier declarations of allegiance, but we know how that ended.

In having made the arresting party say it was Jesus of Nazareth they were after, Jesus made it impossible for them to do anything other than let the disciples go. Verse 9 then sees this as a fulfilment of not having lost any that the Father gave to Him. When we think of that promise we probably think of it in spiritual terms, in terms of our eternal salvation. This verse shows that it has a very practical here and now application as well. The promises of God have both a here and now and an eternal significance.

18:10

The other gospels refer to this incident, but only John tells us that it was Peter who cut off the soldiers ear, and only John tells us that the soldier was called Malchus (Matt 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:49-50). And only Luke tells us that Jesus healed the man (Luke 22:51).

18:11

Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away. Jesus did not come to avoid going to the cross. If that was His purpose then He would never have come to earth in the first place. Moreover, this happens after Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane when He has prepared His heart and mind for what lay ahead. It was the Father’s will that Jesus went to the cross. One of the repeated themes in John’s gospel is that Jesus came to do the will of the Father.