🙏 Heavenly Father – Thank You for Your Word, strengthen us to humbly submit to its authority. As we bristle with the concept of decreasing ourselves, so that You may increase within, comfort us with the knowledge and confidence we have in Your unconditional and faithful love. It is in His mighty and victorious name we pray this. 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: The 7th time in John’s gospel where Jesus responds with the divine ‘I Am’ identity. He and His disciples are in a garden. 🥰 He know what is going to happen and asks them who they want. The dialogue here is powerful. These same words can obviously have two different meanings depending on the motivation of the heart. Who do I want? Jesus of Nazareth! When He says, I AM… I fall forward on my knees in a posture of submission. When His enemies face His declaration of divinity, they fall back. Trying to stand against Jesus won’t end well for anyone.
The powerful image of Judas, the betrayer, meeting Jesus in a Garden, brings to mind the fall of man, where Adam and Eve also reject God in the Garden of Eden. Our spirits look around at the beautiful garden that God has planted us in… intending to thrive as we abide in Him… and ask ourselves, “Right here, right where I’m at, am I closer to rejecting or betraying God? Or, am I allowing Him to plant me firmly and securely in all that He promises?
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?”
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: Got to love Peter. We are all sometimes slow learners; slow to submit. Sometimes, we have to remember that our ‘good intentions’ are also our indications that we thing we can determine what is ‘good’ on our own… that’s tough to wrestle with. I think Peter’s story points to the reality that it can be impossible to submit to the will of God, without the Holy Spirit. (We also see here the fulfillment of Caiaphas’ declaration in John 11:49-50 after Lazarus was raised from the dead.)
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: When your master, mentor, dearest friend is being arrested, what do you do? John goes with Jesus; he even gets Peter a backstage pass. But the tension is high and the weather is cold. The servant girl apparently knew John was a disciple and a simple question to Peter is revealing. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we must carefully choose our response, even when it is difficult. Peter is on the wrong track here even though he was forewarned by Jesus. Peter chooses comfort – the warmth of the fire. Peter chooses safety and denies the knowledge of Jesus. (Be compassionate to others who are blinded by fear, let your words and actions demonstrate your faith.)
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: In contrast to Peter’s response of denial, Jesus calls out His accusers based on truth and their own law. (Jewish law requires testimony of at lease two witnesses to accuse someone of a crime.)
All legal systems have the intention of providing order, because apparently, humans cannot be orderly without them! The elements of these systems: laws, accusations, evidence, testimony, and judgment, should pronounce a verdict: guilt or innocence and an appropriate judgment. The prophets of the Old Testament accused Israel of allowing this system to go horribly wrong. The purpose of these sections in the Gospels is to show that not much has changed.
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: There is a clear warning of choosing deceit as a response. Once you start on that road, it goes downhill quickly. My heart breaks a little to think that at this point in the history of the question… ‘Didn’t I see you with Jesus in the garden?’… should evoke any response other than joy! Thank God again for the rest of this story!!!
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?”
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.
Points to Ponder: All the Old Testament prophets spoke about worthless religion. Valuing traditions over mercy and justice did not please God. V30 is NOT a charge, it does not answer Pilate’s question. Back then, Pharisaic law vs. Roman law, would be confusing for everyone. Compromise sounds good in theory but allows many opportunities for corruption. Both systems fail with the execution of Jesus.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
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: We see more details of this legal lunacy! And my favorite line in Scripture… Pilate asking, ‘What is truth?’ In an incredibly sad statement of human will, the offer of pardoning Jesus – the giver of life is rejected. The popular vote is for Barabbas, an insurrectionist and taker of life. 😥
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!”
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.”
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.”
Points to Ponder: Like Peter’s denial 3 times, we see Pilate declaring innocence 3 times! But still, Jesus was rejected, flogged, received the crown of thorns, was mocked and slapped. Civil law and religious law are just systems where the strength is derived by the humans enforcing them – history shows that corruption is inevitable in all the worldly systems. Pilate is clearly concerned about the title, ‘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: The ridiculous trial and conviction of Jesus comes to an end and Pilate’s key role in history is completed. Pilate – I can’t imagine a clearer picture of inner turmoil. You cannot value mercy and justice if you are still chained to popular opinion or political allegiance. V15 shows the utter unfaithfulness of the Jewish chief priests… claiming their allegiance to Caesar, an unspoken threat to Pilate, whose actual, required, political allegiance would be to Caesar… SO MANIPULATIVE and deceitful! Key terms here: Son of God, king, power, Caesar – ask yourself, who has authority over you?
V15-16 show the major fail of both the Roman judicial system AND the Law of God, enforced by the chosen men of God, now corrupted by evil.
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.”
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: None of the Gospels give the gory details of the death that Jesus undertook on our behalf. Just the fact that He did… John records here that Jesus carried his own cross. 😧 I will never forget what is on that cross – the weight that included my own failures that my King bore for me.
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,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
Points to Ponder: The three greatest words… ‘IT IS FINISHED!’ The pitiful details of demanding broken bones so that someone’s death would be quicker, is revealed to be anything but merciful. The motivation is selfish – the Jewish leaders couldn’t have this display disrupting their Sabbath. It is clear, that Jesus’ death is on His own terms. It is interesting that the details of piercing Jesus’ side, revealing blood and water, have medical and scientific explanations that hold true today as testimony to Jesus’ death.
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: We see two wealthy men of religious prominence make a public display of their faith at a time when there appears to be zero benefit to them! (Why a man of Arimathea, 7 miles outside of Jerusalem, would have an expensive garden tomb near this awful site of crucifixion, we are not told… but we see the providential hand of God. The cost of the spices has been estimated to be between $150K to $200K.)
How many private conversations they must have had since Nicodemus was told he needed to be ‘born again!’ How many times they must have searched the scriptures and challenged the assumptions of their own ruling party. I think the raising of Lazarus and the blatant hypocrisy of His trial had them saying the same thing as Pilate. What is truth! Their public actions were pretty courageous displays of their faith.
(Here is a list of Messianic prophecies from the Psalms. Another that links Old Testament prophesies to Jesus, including the prophetic books.)
Summary: We began in a garden with Jesus’ arrest and end in a garden with Jesus’ burial. In between we see very little resemblance to how a legal process should play out. We feel the injustice and we sense our inadequacy to be fair and impartial, as humans, to rightly judge others. The power of the mob cry sounds all to familiar to our own recent history. 😒 It is odd to me how many religions still promote a message of legalistic salvation, when we clearly cannot follow laws. 2000 years later and we are no better!
In the first promise of a savior, after the Fall in the Garden of Eden, man is told in Genesis 3:17-18, the ground would be cursed and would produce thorns… here we see Jesus reversing the curse, wearing a crown of those thorns! With Jesus’ death, man’s death begins to work backwards towards eternal life, towards the garden, reentering the presence of God.
🙏 Heavenly Father – we are so thankful for Your Word. We are thankful for Your redeeming Grace – without which, we could never get back to the Garden with You. In the name of Jesus, the One who did it first, we offer our thanksgiving. Amen.