John 18:28-30 - What accusation do you bring against this man?

18:28

Jesus is now taken to Pilate. It is important to note that the Jews and the Romans are implicated in the crucifixion. Jesus died for the sins of all of us, it was all our sins that nailed Him there: male-female; Jew-Gentile; black-white; slave- free. Intimate details of various meetings are given. Some question how John could have known this. This really is a very silly question. Jesus was there, and the risen Christ was perfectly capable of telling the disciples! John may also have got some of the details from other sources. The fastidiousness of the Jews (referring largely to the Jewish leaders) demonstrates the corruption of their souls. They are ensuring that they are “clean” so that they can eat the Passover, and are doing so while they are working to kill an innocent man, even the Son of God. Sin can be utterly deceptive, and all of us need to be aware of this, we need to be on our guard against sin in our own lives.

18:29,30

Because of the fastidiousness of the Jews, Pilate had to go outside to meet them and find out what the accusation was.  The Jews try to avoid giving a direct answer, saying that Pilate should know that they would not have brought Jesus if there wasn’t a just cause. The Jews knew what they were doing, in the sense of knowing the trial of Jesus was a sham.

Exodus 17:1-3 - Why do you test the Lord?

17:1,2

The Israelites are continuing to complain their way through the desert. They moved on from the Wilderness of Sin “according to the commandment of the Lord. So there is an element of obedience here, yet we see again and again that their hearts were far from God. There was not trust in them. The Lord’s path took them to Rephaim where there was no water. The immediate response of the people was to complain to Moses. Moses asks them why they are quarrelling with him, and why were they putting the Lord to the test? In complaining to Moses they were denying that God would look after them. Sometimes the paths that the Lord leads us along in life take us to dry or difficult places. It is so easy to complain in those times, to think that the Lord is not caring for us.

17:3

The people were thirsty, and it was true that there was no water. They continue to complain to Moses, grumbling that he ever brought them out of Egypt. Their focus is on Moses when it should have been on the Lord. It was the Lord who brought them out of Egypt, Moses was only following God’s commands. And it was the Lord who would provide for them in the desert.

John 18:22-27 - Peter again denied Him

18:22-24

At this point one of the officers struck Jesus with his hand, apparently incensed that Jesus was apparently insulting the high priest. Jesus responds calmly, as He did throughout the trials. Jesus had not actually insulted anyone, merely asking a question. So He challenges them to tell Him what was wrong with what He said. When people are in the wrong and are stubbornly persisting in their wrong ways they will not respond rationally. Annas seemingly had no answer to Jesus at this point, so sent Him on to Caiaphas.

18:25-27

We now get Peter’s two other denials. There is a contrast between Peter’s response to questions, and that of Jesus. Peter denies being who he is, denies being a follower of Jesus. Peter is still warming himself by the fire. First an indeterminate “they” ask Peter if he is a disciple of Jesus, which Peter denies. Then a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off thinks he saw Peter in the garden with Jesus. Again, Peter denies it. John does not go into the details of Peter weeping bitterly or cursing. He is just interested in the simple fact of Peter’s denial. As we know, and will shortly read, this was not the end of the tale. Peter’s failure was not the end. Nor is failure in our life. The grace of God is the determining factor, not our human failure.

Exodus 16:27-36 - But they found none

16:27-30

Despite the clear instructions, some of the people went out on the seventh day to do more gathering, but found nothing. This is a very human reaction. We do not by nature like relying on God, it is something we have to learn how to do. The Sabbath was created for man, it is a gift to us as a day of rest. We do not need to work on that day, there are times when we can take a rest. Moreover, the Lord makes provision so that we can rest. But we do need to trust God.

16:31-36

We now get a more detailed description of the manna. This shows that this stuff was real. Some of it was to be kept as a reminder of how God had provided for them in the wilderness. This was done. They continued to eat the manna for the forty years that they were in the wilderness. Once they entered Canaan it was no longer needed. God makes special provision for us in wilderness times, but this is only for a time. For the most part, things are provided by natural means.

John 18:19-21 - I have spoken openly to the world

18:19

There are a series of trials and hearings of various sorts. First, Jesus is questioned by Annas. Jesus was questioned about His teachings and His disciples. Jesus’ teachings had severely criticised the religious leaders, and gave a very different message than the one promulgated by the religious leaders. They feared the disciples because of the fear in a revolt of some sort. In reality we know that they actually had very little to fear from the disciples in their current state. Once the Holy Spirit had been given things would be very different!

18:20,21

Jesus does not mention the disciples at all. He wanted to protect them, but most importantly the issue was not the disciples, Jesus was the issue. So Jesus makes sure that the focus remains firmly on Himself. Jesus replies by asking why they need to ask about His teaching. His teaching had hardly been done in secret. Jesus has spoken openly in the temple, as well as elsewhere. Anyone who wanted could have heard what He said and questioned it. “Ask those who have heard me ...” It was not Jesus they needed to question, rather they needed to consider their own response to Jesus and His teaching.

Exodus 16:13-26 - Quail came up and covered the camp

16:13-21

So in the evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning dew covered the ground. After the dew had gone, the manna was left behind. The people had never seen this stuff before, and Moses told them that it was the bread that God had provided for them. Moses then gave them instructions on collecting the manna. They were to gather as much as they needed to eat. Everyone had just the right amount. They were also told not to leave any of it till the morning. Some, however, did not obey this command and did keep some. But in the morning any that had been kept over went utterly putrid. We cannot draw any general conclusions against storing things, for there is a time to store stuff (e.g. Joseph and Egypt), but there are times when God will literally provide day by day. Moses was angry with them. Moses’ anger was a feature of his life and would cause trouble.

16:22-26

On the sixth day they gathered twice the usual amount. This was because the seventh day was a “holy Sabbath”. There would be no food on the Sabbath. This is the first mention of the word “Sabbath”, though the concept is introduced in Genesis  2:1-3. We should note that the Sabbath concept is introduced before the Law. The extra manna collected on the sixth day did not go fusty on the next day. We see here that God is in absolute and detailed control of the provision.

John 18:15-18 - Are you one of His disciples? I am not.

18:15,16

Peter and another disciple follow Jesus. The “other disciple” is probably John. John (or whoever the other disciple was) was known to the high priest and so could gain entry. All sorts of questions are asked about timings, and how could the other disciple gain entry etc. Sometimes we do well to remember that we know very little about the ins and outs of how all sorts of little details of life worked. Peter could not gain entry, and so waited outside, but John then got him permission to enter.

18:17,18

Peter’s denials then begin, the denials he had vehemently said he would never give. A servant girl came and challenged him, asking if he was also a disciple of Jesus. It would seem that she knew that John was a disciple. Peter denied being a disciple. Verse 18 implies that all this was taking place at night, not the normal time for court proceedings! Peter was with the servants and officers warming himself by the fire, doing his best not to be identified as a disciple.