Prayer: Father, You give us the opportunity to walk with Jesus 2000 years ago through these chapters as He willingly goes to the cross to receive the penalty for our sins. Let us reverently and courageously embrace all that You reveal here. It is easy to categorize these events as tragic, human injustice. Instead, I pray that You open our hearts and open our minds to embrace the divine grace and the unconditional love that is on display. We ask this in the precious name of our Lord, Jesus. Amen.
Jesus Arrested
18 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Points to ponder: Jesus knew. Even when we don’t fully understand, we read and accept that Jesus did. We also read that because of this obedience by Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. [Philippians 2:9-11] I do love that this group coming to arrest Jesus fall down at His feet first! 😊
7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Points to ponder: Jesus responds in a way to protect His disciples – suggesting that the soldiers take Him and let His followers go… but Peter… Peter is always the zealous but misdirected disciple… eager to do, but missing the point. (We read in Luke’s account that Jesus heals the servant’s ear. [Luke 22:51])
12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.
Points to ponder: In Matthew’s account, we read that all the disciples left Jesus and fled. [Matthew 26:56] Sometimes, in our darkest hour of need, we feel alone – like all our friends and family have deserted us. Jesus understands – His friends betrayed… denied… and deserted Him, as well.
This is all pre-resurrection, pre-Pentecost… we live in a different age than Peter and the rest of the disciples. We are held to a different standard. God has revealed more of His will to us in the New Testament. Review Matthew 25:31-46. Our ‘fighting’ on the side of Our King Jesus is not done by swords, but by feeding… hospitality… generosity… visitation and companionship… ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.’
Peter’s First Denial
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.
Points to ponder: Let’s follow Peter for a minute. He couldn’t just flee like the other disciples. He wasn’t invited in like John was. He was curious and needed to know what would happen with Jesus. After all they’d been through – Peter had to know. Peter loved Jesus; he knew that Jesus was the Messiah. But Peter doesn’t understand how these events are being played out. He felt the threat of being associated with Jesus and self-preservation kicked in. His first denial is to a servant girl.
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Points to ponder: For those who think ‘living by the Sermon on the Mount’ is the highest calling of a Christian and we should all try to ‘do it’, this is an interesting encounter. In Matthew 5:39, Jesus tells us not to resist an evil person and if slapped on the right cheek, offer the other. Jesus didn’t.
Here Jesus is slapped in the face and He stands firm with the truth; He is calling the official to be accountable for his actions… and his words. Do you think that after the resurrection this official remembered slapping Jesus for how He spoke to the ‘high priest’?
Peter’s Second and Third Denials
25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.
Points to ponder: In the other Gospels, we get the account of Peter’s misery after the rooster crows and Peter remembers Jesus had predicted this would happen, yet at that time, Peter was adamant that he would never deny Jesus. [Mark 14:72, Luke 22:61]
When… why… how… does self-preservation overrule moral character? This phenomenon is different for everyone. We’ve all had those practice conversations… imaginary role-playing scenarios… where we’re convinced we are capable of doing the right thing. Then the opportunity comes… and we don’t.
As Christians we know that God desires us to mature and produce fruit – we glorify Him when we do the right things. (The ‘right’ things are those actions we take at the nudging of the Spirit that align with His will. As we study His Word, He reveals His will and ta-da… suddenly, an opportunity comes along to put our new knowledge into practice. This builds wisdom… matures us… and honors Him.)
It is important to recognize the opportunity and to thank Him for seeing the opportunity, whether you acted on it correctly or not. This is part of our prayer life – to talk with Him about this new level of partnership.
Peter did not have the same level of fellowship with God at this time. If we are in Christ, with the Holy Spirit living inside of us, learning to submit to His guidance is huge. Talk to Him about it.
If you are trying to be good-enough to please Him… on your own without Him… you will fail. And you’re rejecting Him as Your Savior.
Jesus Before Pilate
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
Points to ponder: Oh, the irony! The Jewish leaders did not want to be ceremonially unclean so they could eat the Passover… when you hear that Christianity is about relationship not religion, this is a key verse.
The Passover was celebrated to remember that God redeemed the nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage… and now Jesus is about to offer a greater redemption – from the bondage of sin.
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Points to ponder: In this Gospel, no one has told Pilate that Jesus was ‘king of the Jews’. But many believed Jesus to be the Messiah, which had the connotation of being a king as well. [Luke 23:2] Jesus confirms the title.
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
Points to ponder: In a typical provocative conversation, Jesus speaks of His Kingdom and His purpose to testify to the truth. Then two incredibly parts of this conversation… Everyone on the side of truth listens to me… followed by Pilate’s, ‘What is truth?’
Remember, there is only one division in this world that matters! Genesis 3:15 again. Either you’re in the offspring of the woman (Jesus… the way, the TRUTH and the life) or you’re in the offspring of the snake (the father of LIES).
I give Pilate, the Roman gentile, a pass here. It was the nation of Israel that was supposed to teach the surrounding nations about God and about truth. They didn’t. Pilate is a human judge – he tries to release Jesus. First, just declaring that there was no basis to charge Him and then, using a customary practice of releasing a prisoner. But the crowds want Barabbas, not Jesus.
Now we watch how Pilate… who desires to do the right thing… also fails in the opportunities given to him.
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
Points to ponder: Really, Pilate? You had Jesus flogged – a man you knew to be innocent? The soldiers make a mockery of His ‘kingship’ and Pilate presents Jesus again… as a man. How very bizarre! Did Pilate think that by beating an innocent man that somehow that would satisfy the bloodthirsty crowd?
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
Points to ponder: It’s like watching Peter deny Jesus three times. Pilate tries to exonerate Jesus again!
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
Points to ponder: I wonder if Pilate ever forgot this conversation. He hears that Jesus claims to be the Son of God and Jesus talks about Pilate’s power being given from above. Pilate’s power is the choice to free Jesus or crucify Him, but that power was given to Him by God.
Jesus tells Pilate that those who handed Him over were guilty of a greater sin… after all, the religious rulers are violating the 9th commandment, at least, in bearing false witness against Jesus. But notice that Jesus doesn’t exonerate Pilate. Pilate’s choice is still sinful. [James 4:17]
Pilate declared three times that he found no basis to charge Jesus, but then handed Him over to be crucified. The breaking point was the comparison of Jesus to Caesar – who do we trust, who do we obey, who do we worship? God or earthly rulers? Like we saw earlier with Peter, Pilate’s own personal well-being, his self-preservation kicked in.
This is a warning for all. Self-protection is a slippery slope. [John 12:25]
And finally, in this section, we witness the chief priests sad answer to Pilate… We have no king but Caesar.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of nazareth, the King of the Jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.” [Psalm 22:18]
So this is what the soldiers did.
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Points to ponder: Jesus asks us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He’s not asking us to do something He didn’t do first. And His cross is carrying the weight of my sin. ☹ We know the disciple to be John. None of the others are there – only some women, including Jesus’ mother. Pilate takes a stand on what he’s written on the notice attached to the cross, but we just feel sorry for him now – too little, too late. The notice doesn’t absolve the guilt of condemning Jesus to the cross.
The Death of Jesus
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” [Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Psalm 34:20] 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”[Zechariah 12:10]
Points to ponder: It might take a while to sink in… but here’s Christianity’s punchline. IT IS FINISHED! The work of redemption was completed at the cross… from now on, it a march of victory for those who believe.
The pitiful details of demanding that bones be broken so that the deaths would be quicker, is revealed to be anything but merciful. The motivation of the Jewish leaders is selfish – they had a Sabbath to observe. 💔 These details are wild… they meet the earlier prophecies, they meet the Levitical standards for a Holy Sacrifice, and they have scientific, medical explanations that hold true today to testify that Jesus was at that time… dead.
John, in writing this Gospel, is testifying so that we too may believe. He includes some of the Old Testament prophecies revealing that this was always God’s plan.
The Burial of Jesus
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Points to ponder: It is nice to see evidence of members from the Jewish leading party make such a public display of their faith. We see the hand of God touching the hearts of men that we are often too quick to judge.
Summary: In these chapters we began in a garden with Jesus’ arrest and end in a garden with His burial. In between, we see a corrupt legal process play out. We see the best of human intentions fail. And we see the grace of God transform the lives of some of those we least expected to become believers and followers of Jesus.
🙏 Lord, thank You for Your Word. Let us rely on Your strength and not our own to stand firm and announce, ‘We only have one King – Jesus.’ And let us always hold onto the hope and pray for Your divine touch of grace into the lives of the unbelievers that are around us. Shine Your light and Your life through us. We ask this in Your mighty name, Jesus. Amen.