They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. The crowd asked for Barabbas because the chief priests put them up to it (Mark 15:11). Mark 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. Barabbas means “son of abba” or …
Category Archives: Chapter 18
John 18:39
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’?” Pilate appealed to the crowd (Matt 27:15, Mark 15:6) with this proposal to release Jesus, and not to the chief priests, because he knew what …
John 18:38
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. Pilate asks “What is truth” of Jesus and it is unknown just how he asked it. He could have asked wistfully or jestingly as Francis Bacon thinks, “What is truth? …
John 18:37
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate’s question could be a simple request …
John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Jesus stresses that He is indeed a King, but not in a sense that would be a threat to Rome or any other civil …
John 18:35
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Pilate’s answer is contemptuous of the Jews. Pilate could care less about their religious disputes. He obviously has nothing but hatred and disdain for the Jews. His attitude has …
John 18:34
“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” Jesus answers Pilate’s question with another, but He is not trying to be vague or evade the question. On the contrary, Pilate’s answer will show exactly the answer for which he is looking from Jesus. If Pilate asked the question …
John 18:33
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Morris is caught up with this passage and notes, “In a scene full of dramatic power John pictures for us the lowly majesty of Jesus confronting the proud majesty of Rome’s representative.” What this confrontation is …
John 18:32
This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. The charge which the Sanhedrin had against Jesus is not a Roman violation, but a Jewish one: blasphemy (Mark 14:64) which had a penalty of death by stoning (Lev 24:16). Jesus had already …
John 18:31
Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. Pilate does not want to be manipulated by these Jews. If there is no offense against Roman law, then they must try Jesus themselves. The Romans respected the local laws of their …
John 18:30
“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” “evildoer” or “criminal.” The irony of it all is that they accused the One who went about doing good (Acts 10:38) by healing, delivering, feeding, teaching, and raising from the dead those who were in need, as being …
John 18:29
So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” Pilate accommodates the Jews and goes out to them. He was not always so nice. He had a great deal of contempt for the Jews and their “superstitions”. Pontius Pilate was the Roman procurator of Judea from A.D. 26-36. …
John 18:28
Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. John doesn’t give any of the details of the trial of Jesus before the …
John 18:27
Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a cock began to crow. For the third time Peter denies knowing or following Jesus. We often concentrate upon Peter’s failure, but Barclay observes the following: “The essence of the matter was that it was the real Peter who protested his loyalty in the upper room; it …
John 18:26
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 olive grove?” This last questioner is different from the rest and his question looks for an affirmative answer. He was a relative of Malchus and had a special …
John 18:25
As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” Peter’s fall to the first temptation to deny Christ has led to another, but this time he is confronted by several servants instead of just one little maid. One of …
John 18:24
Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. Annas had apparently decided that he wasn’t going to get anything out of Jesus so he concluded the preliminary examination which Hamilton notes is “inadequate, illegal, and, in verse 22, brutal.” Therefore, Annas sends Jesus to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin for more formal and …
John 18:23
“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” Jesus does not strike back, but neither does He turn the other cheek as He had instructed His disciples in (Matt 5:38-39). Augustine notes that “those great precepts of His are …
John 18:22
When Jesus said this, one of the officials near by struck him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. The slapping of Jesus fulfilled scripture and types (Job 16:10, Isa 50:6, Mic 5:1). This indignity also happens to those who follow Christ (Acts 23:2). However, this action was …
John 18:21
“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. The reply of Jesus doesn’t even mention His disciples. He is obviously determined to protect them to the very end, which is probably why He used …
John 18:20
“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. The reply of Jesus doesn’t even mention His disciples. He is obviously determined to protect them to the very end, which is probably why He used …
John 18:19
Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. They were hoping to find Jesus guilty of being a false prophet or of enticing secretly (Deut 13:1-5) so they could have legitimate reason to pronounce the verdict they already had decided upon. The high priest starts by interrogating Jesus, which was strictly …
John 18:18
It was cold, and the servants and officials stood round a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. There was danger in joining them and danger in not joining them, but notice what a little thing brings Peter into the company of his enemies and proves to …
John 18:17
“You are not one of his disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” Again the courage of John is accentuated, this time by a little word that is left out of the NIV translation but is in the original — the word “also.” The doorkeeper asked if …
John 18:16
but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. Peter was as close to Jesus as he could get and was just waiting for an opportunity to get closer and yet, if …
John 18:15
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, The “other disciple” who is unnamed could have been Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, or an unknown disciple, but was most likely John, the beloved disciple. Note the similarities of …
John 18:14
Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. Caiaphas had made an unconscious prophecy in (John 11:49-50) that Jesus would die for the people. Morris notes that “Here was no idealist ready to see that justice was done, but a cynical politician …
John 18:13
and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Annas was made high priest, not by God, but by Quirinius procounsel of Syria, about 7 AD and was removed from that position several years later by Valerius Gratus procurator of Judea. Four of Annas’s sons held the …
John 18:12
Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him Notice that the Jews and the Roman soldiers are linked together in the arrest of Jesus. Matthew Henry observes that “Both Jews and Gentiles seized him, and so both Jews and Gentiles tried and condemned him, for he …
John 18:11
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Peter should not have been wielding any weapon at all, but the sword he exercised was the wrong weapon even if he was supposed to use one (Eph 6:17, 2 Cor 10:4, Heb 4:12). Peter would later …
John 18:10
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.) Simon Peter was probably not in the habit of carrying a sword, but the disciples had two of them with them (Luke 22:38) , one of which he had and …
John 18:9
This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” It is common to find in the Bible that something has happened “in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.” John uses that phrase here for the word which Jesus had spoken. It …
John 18:8
“I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” Note that the last part of His words to the soldiers, “let these men go” is in the form of a command which is contingent upon what they have just told Him. Any advantage Jesus …
John 18:7
Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus could have taken advantage of their situation and escaped but He is still standing before them and repeats His question. Henry observes that “They did not lie long where they fell, but, by divine permission, got up again; it …
John 18:6
When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. The response of the armed crowd to the words of Jesus should have indeed been them falling to the ground, but they should have fallen face first in humble prostration to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Instead, they …
John 18:5
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) The word “he” is added and was not in the original language. Jesus actually said, “I am” which is an answer in the style of deity (Ex 3:14), thus again claiming to be equal with God …
John 18:4
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” They didn’t need their lanterns and torches because Jesus, the last Adam, had no intention of hiding among the trees of the garden as did the first Adam (Gen 3:8) and their weapons would have …
John 18:3
So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Those coming against Christ were a mixed group of Gentiles and Jews (Psalms 2:1-2), who hated each other but were united against the One Who came to reconcile …
John 18:2
Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. “Betrayed” is actually the present participle “was betraying” when referring to the actions of Judas. The reason for this is that he was betraying Him at that very moment. The rich had gardens on the Mount of Olives …
John 18:1
When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. The duties of the priest were to teach, pray, and offer sacrifices. Jesus as the true high priest (Heb 5:10) has just finished …