The Weekend, November 14 –
The
weekend provides us with one reading or both days. Today, we continue to read in John’s Gospel,
18:1 – 27. After you finish reading the
passage, please come back and we’ll look at it again.
“Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over
the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples
entered it” (18:1). The last night
has taken Jesus and his disciples from the Upper Room through Jerusalem, passed
the Temple, and out the city gates. They
walked down the Kidron valley, crossing the small river that flows on the east
side of the city, and began their walk back up the hill that formed the Mount
of Olives. Half-way up the hill was a
small olive orchard called Gethsemane.
The word Gethsemane means “olive press” – a fitting word to
describe the agony Jesus was about to experience. Matthew tells us in his Gospel that Jesus
spent about three hours in the garden, praying, while his disciples struggled
with sleep.
While
Jesus is praying, Judas is leading a band of five to six hundred temple guards
out of the city to arrest Jesus. “Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the
place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having
procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the
Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons” (18:2-3). The
sight of lanterns, torches would have been visible from the garden. Jesus prayed until near the time they
arrived and then awakening his disciples, he went out to meet them.
“Then
Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them,
“Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to
them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When
Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So
he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these
men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom
you gave me I have lost not one” (18:4-9).
Why
did they fall down when he said who he was?
The now-familiar phrase, “ego eimi”, meaning “It is I, I am”, was
a reminder to them that he claimed he was God-incarnate. They drew back and fell down because of the
presence of the Son of God. If you have
ever wondered what it will be like to stand in heaven and see Jesus, the lamb
of God, and the glory of the Father, this might help us understand why people
hide their faces and bow low to the ground in the presence of God. Jesus reminds the guards that he alone is the
one they are seeking, and to fulfill what he had spoken he orders them to let
the disciples go. It would have gone
smoothly except for Peter’s sudden impulsive action – “Then Simon Peter,
having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his
right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put
your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given
me?” (18:10-11). Jesus’ rebuke must
have startled Peter and the others.
Peter had said he’d be willing to die for Jesus, but the only death that
was to take place was Jesus’ alone. It
was the “cup that the Father has given me”.
The cup was symbolic of Old Testament prophecy that warned of God’s
judgment and wrath as a “cup poured out”, and that night Jesus had
prayed to the Father that “if it is possible let this cup pass from me, but
not my will, but your will be done” (Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42).
“So
the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested
Jesus and bound him. First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law
of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had
advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the
people” (18:12-14).
John,
writing fifty years later, can still vividly see what happened. It was the “hour” Jesus had told them was
going to come. The soldiers would have
pulled Jesus’ arms behind him, and after tying his wrists together, the rope
would have been pulled up around his neck and tied as a noose. They led him back down the valley, across the
Kidron river, and back up through the east gate of the city to the man who
exercised the greatest power – the former, and now older, chief priest, Annas.
His son-in-law was Caiaphas, the reigning chief priest who had unwittingly
prophesied that it was better for one man to die for the nation than for the
nation to die. The disciples began to
walk behind, following, but only Peter and John stayed with the soldiers
(18:15) – the others scattered, probably returning to the safety of the Upper
Room. Peter and John are at the gate of
the courtyard of the high priest, and John knowing the servant girl allowed
them into the courtyard (18:16). When
the servant girl saw Peter she asked him:
“The
servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s
disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers
had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and
warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself” (18:17-18).
We
must remember the detail – for later on – that it was a charcoal fire that Peter
stood with the soldiers to warm himself.
He denied that he was Jesus’ disciple.
Jesus is inside Annas’ home. He
had never met the aged high priest – the real ruler in Jerusalem – and Annas
had never met Jesus. He began to ask him
questions in order to find out best to trap him into blasphemy.
“The
high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always
taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have
said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me
what I said to them; they know what I said” (18:19-21).
Jesus
will not take the bait. He was on trial and
it was not a legitimate trial. Jewish
law did not allow for a trial at night, and never in the home of a high
priest. There was a judgment hall for
those who broke the law to stand before.
The accused never had to be forced to speak in his own defense. If there were wrongdoings, the court had to
hear the testimony of at least two witnesses or more. Jesus’ comments are a rebuke to Annas of his
procedures.
“When
he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his
hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered
him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said
is right, why do you strike me?” Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas
the high priest“ (18:22-24).
Jesus’
rebuke drew the wrath of one of the temple officers, but Jesus stood his
ground, knowing that the beginning of this ordeal was in front of a kangaroo
court. Annas now realizes he will get
nowhere with Jesus and sends him on to his son-in-law, Caiaphas. Meanwhile…
“Now
Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also
are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”
One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear
Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”
Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed” (18:25-27).
It was
now early morning. John does not record the trial in front of Caiaphas, but
Matthew and Mark do (Matthew 26:57 – 68; Mark 14:53 – 65). John instead focuses on Peter, and by
extension himself also, as they stand from afar off watching the proceedings. Peter fulfills the prophecy Jesus had spoken
just hours before in the Upper room. The
implications were not recorded by John, but Luke reminds us that at the moment
of the rooster crowing, Jesus looked up and Peter looked back and they saw each
other. Peter left, bitterly weeping
(Luke 22:60 – 62).
We are
reading and imagining a divine scene unfolding.
The Jewish leaders “finally” had the trouble-maker, Jesus. Finally, they were going to deal with this
man who threatened their power and rule.
They wanted to exact revenge on Jesus for his words that had challenged
them, and they stood in their presumed pride and authority convinced they were
doing the will of God. Yet, it is God
who is directing the affairs. Their sin
is so visible, but it is for that very reason – Sin – that Jesus is begun to
bear the guilt of all mankind. Poor
Peter…he meant well, but he embodies all of us who love Christ Jesus. We do not comprehend the sinfulness, pride,
and fickleness of our faith. Peter
turned his back walking away, wracked by guilt and shame, thinking his failure
was eternal – it was not. Jesus “looked”
at him, and while Peter thought the worse of it, Jesus knew a time would come
when the guilt and shame would disappear and forgiveness would reign. Sometimes it’s good to sit and reflect on how
easy it is to Sin against our Lord, and how wonderful it is that He took that
“cup” for us.
Peace
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