John 18 - The Arrest and Trial of Jesus

Click Here to Read John 18

Jesus Arrested

The scene was now set for Jesus' arrest. Judas knew the places where Jesus frequented and he tipped off the religious leaders, who brought soldiers in to arrest Jesus. They were expecting a fight as evidenced by the fact they were carrying weapons. Jesus knew all of this was going to happen, so he was not surprised. Jesus willingly gave himself up to them. 

When he asked them who was it that they wanted? They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth!" with which he answered, "I am he". The Greek words for this saying are, "Eigo Eimi". In Hebrew these are the same words which were the Divine Name used for Yahweh in the Old Testament. This connected the previous "I am" sayings had been saying all along. I.e. "I am the light of the world", "I am the bread of life", and "I am the resurrection and the life." Make no bones about it, Jesus is asserting that He truly equal to God.

Meanwhile Peter went into fight mode and took off the ear of the high priest's servant. Jesus rebuked Peter for not understanding the meaning of the cup of suffering he was about to drink. Peter was still in the dark about Jesus' true mission to die for the sins of the world. In trying to stop those who were trying to arrest Jesus, he showed that he still thought Jesus was not fulfilling what he and the others thought the Messiah should be, a national hero. Meanwhile Jesus was arrested and brought to Annas the father in law of Caiaphas, the high priest. 

Peter's zeal for Jesus turned into fear, as he denied Jesus when he was found in the courtyard and questioned by the servant girl. Peter stood around a fire to warm himself with other officials and servants. As he was standing around the fire, another person noticed Peter and again he denied knowing Jesus. Then, a relative of man who was the victim of Peter in the "ear cutting" incident also noticed Peter. Again Peter denied knowing Jesus. The rooster crowd fulfilling the prophecy Jesus made that before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny him three times. 

When the high priest questioned Jesus, he maintained his composure not defending himself or denying his teaching. Meanwhile one of the officials thought Jesus was being disrespectful, so he slapped Jesus in the face. When Annas had nothing to charge Jesus, he sent him to the high priest Caiaphas. 

Jesus Arrested

Finally, Jesus ended up coming before Pilate the Roman governor. The leaders were ironically worried about breaking Jewish laws regarding ceremonial uncleanliness. It's ironic because they were sending off the Son of God to be crucified, but they were worried about being unclean. No washing with water would be able to scrub their dark hearts. 

Meanwhile Pilate does really want to have anything to do with Jesus. He wonders why the Jews can't deal with their own internal problems related to their own religious laws. Pilate doesn't see Jesus as a threat to anyone. The only thing remotely interesting to Pilate is this idea that Jesus called himself, "The king of the Jews". Surely Jesus wasn't starting a rebellion to overthrow the Pilate's kingdom. 

Meanwhile Jesus deflects Pilate's questioning by saying, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were so he would have let people like Peter put up a fight." Pilate plies Jesus with further questions about his so called "kingdom". More importantly Jesus states that his testimony about himself is true, because he has only come to testify to the truth. People would either accept Jesus was the truth or reject him. It was their choice and the consequence would be their own to deal with. 

Pilate is seemingly frustrated by the interview with Jesus and is content to let Jesus go on the custom of letting one Jewish prisoner go during Passover. But when Pilate offers this to the Jews they shout, "Don't give us Jesus, give us Barabbbas!" Barabbas was a known murderer, who had participated in a plot to overthrow the Romans. In reality he was a much more clear and present danger to Pilate than Jesus! 

When the crowd chose Barabbas instead of Jesus, it reflected the fallen nature of all humanity. The name Barabbas sounds very much like son of the father. They chose a false, violent son of the father instead of the true Son of the Father. This prefigures the future embrace of the ultimate Barabbas – the one popularly called the Antichrist.


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