THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

The Arrest, Peter’s Denial, and Jesus’ Trial Before Annas

John 18:1-27

THE ARREST (18:1-14)

The Events of the Arrest

After Jesus had finished delivering the Farewell Discourse and eating the Passover meal with His disciples, He passed through the city of Jerusalem towards the Garden of Gethsemane. Tradition informs us that Jesus most likely ate the Last Supper in the southwestern section of the city. He with His disciples then would most likely have gone through the temple compound, exited the city through the Eastern Gate, crossed the ravine (wadi) Kidron, and enter the Garden of Gethsemane which was located at the bottom of the western slope of the Mount of Olives. The Garden most likely was a cultivated garden because the name “Gethsemane” literally means “the olive press”; it would have been used for the pressing of olives to produce the olive oil for temple use.

According to John, Jesus frequented this garden as lodging for the night. Normally when Jesus was in the area, He would spend the night on the other side of the Mount of Olives in the town of Bethany at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha; however; since the Law prescribed that people were to spend the night of Passover in the city of Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples stayed at Gethsemane rather than in Bethany. Although Gethsemane was not technically within the city limits, the religious leaders allowed it to be counted as part of the city during the Passover to help accommodate the numerous pilgrims who attended the Feast. (Normally Jerusalem was inhabited by only 70,000 people; during the Passover its numbers swelled to over 250,000.) During 2 previous Passovers (John 2 and 5), Jesus most likely spent the Passover night in Gethsemane. This provides the reason Judas Iscariot knew that Jesus was going to spend the night there.

Judas Iscariot now appears on the scene with the Roman cohort, the commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem, and officers from the Jewish temple police force (the Levites). Judas’ betrayal consisted in the fact that he was able to deliver Jesus to His enemies at a place and time at which the crowds would not be present. His betrayal enabled Jesus’ enemies to arrest Him in secret with minimal disturbance.

Judas arrives with a force of at least 200 soldiers. The word translated “cohort” can mean either a literal cohort of 600 men or a maniple of 200 men. Most NT scholars scoff at the very idea of a force of 600 soldiers coming to arrest Jesus; however, when the Roman commander Claudius Lysias merely wanted to transport Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea, he assembled a group of 470 soldiers for the escort (Acts 23:23). Since Jesus was suspected of being a threat to Roman rule, it is by no means impossible then that Pilate sent 600 soldiers out to arrest Jesus. (The presence of the Roman soldiers informs us that Pilate was in on the arrest of Jesus from the very beginning. There is no way that the Jewish religious leaders could have sent this Roman force out to arrest Jesus without the prior knowledge and permission of Pilate.)

This group of soldiers comes armed with weapons while carrying lanterns and torches. Three questions. First, why the need for weapons? Second, why the need for torches and lanterns? Third, why the need for so many Roman soldiers? First, they bring weapons because the soldiers are expecting Jesus and His followers to put up armed resistance. The Jewish religious leaders have fed them the line that Jesus is a threat to Roman rule in Judea. Second, they need torches and lanterns even though it is a full moon (the Passover is always held during the full moon) because they suspect that Jesus is going to try to hide up some tree or behind some huge bolder when He sees them coming. Third, they believe that the huge detachment of soldiers will be necessary to deal with armed resistance from Jesus and His disciples and also from the crowds which might get wind of what is going on.

Having been to the Garden of Gethsemane, I can tell you quite categorically that Jesus saw this huge force coming. The temple and the Fortress Antonia where the troops were stationed are in full view from the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus would have had at least a good 10 to 15-minute warning of their approach. He would have had plenty of time to hightail it to Bethany or even begin His escape to Jericho. Jesus though has no such plans in mind. Instead, He does the very thing they are not suspecting—He goes out to greet them.

When Jesus meets the detachment of soldiers, He asks them whom they are seeking. When they reply, “Jesus the Nazarene,” He informs them that He is the One they are seeking. Because of what happens next, John then parenthetically remarks that Judas Iscariot was with the detachment. After Jesus identifies Himself: “I am He,” the soldiers fall down to the ground. Why did the soldiers fall to the ground? Once more we see a double play on words. The words translated “I am He” can mean simply that, that He is the One they are looking for; however, by this time in our study of the Gospel we have seen how these words also refer to the divine name, “I Am.” Jesus most likely in some form or fashion has displayed His divine majesty to them. This is important because of what He does next with relationship to His disciples.

Jesus once more asks them whom they are seeking. When they reply, “Jesus the Nazarene,” He once more informs them that He is the One they are seeking. He then informs them that He will submit to them on the condition that they release His 11 faithful followers; they can have His life only on the condition of their letting the disciples go. Jesus is once more acting like the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He will forfeit His life for the lives of His followers.

Simon Peter though has other plans. He has taken with him a sword because he had anticipated trouble. He draws the sword from the sheath and tries to cleave the head of one of the servants in two. Apparently the servant swerves so that Peter is able to cut off only the right ear lobe of the servant whose name is Malchus. Jesus instructs Peter to put the sword into the sheath. When He continues by saying, “Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given Me to drink,” He is alluding to His prayer in the garden (recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in which He prayed that God’s cup of wrath might pass from Him. Since Jesus has agreed to drink the cup of God’s wrath; armed resistance on the part of Jesus’ disciples is not only futile but also undermines Jesus’ efforts to protect them. The Roman commander then along with the detachment of soldiers and Jewish temple police arrests Jesus, binds Him, and brings Him to Annas the high priest.

(John assumes that we know about Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane because the other 3 Gospels were written by the time he composed his. In that 3-hour prayer Jesus progresses from asking the Father to take the cup of suffering away from Him to accepting the fact God wills that Jesus drink this cup. Because Jesus processed this through prayer, He was able to conduct Himself regally during the rest of the Passion. The fact that the disciples did not pray while Jesus prayed explains why they scurried away at the first sight of trouble.)

The Meaning of the Events

More than any other of the Gospel writers John wishes to convey his theology through the events of Jesus’ life. For example, whereas it would have been easy to say simply that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, he demonstrates it through the actual resurrection of Lazarus. In the same token without spelling out in detail everything he is trying to communicate in this passage, through his narrative John is communicating to us some major theological points.

The first point is the conflict which rages between the darkness and the light. In Luke 22:53 Jesus says that the hour and powere of darkness is upon them; John though communicates this through his narrative. When John mentions that the detachment of soldiers had to bring not just simply torches but also lanterns, he is stressing the truth that this force represents nothing less than the forces of darkness; they had to bring light because the light was not in them (John 11:10). Although real live human beings made up this force, they were nevertheless motivated and energized by no one less than Satan himself.

Look who makes up this detachment: the Romans, the Jews, and Judas Iscariot. The Jews represent religion without God. To be sure they claimed that they believed in God; however, whenever they were confronted with God Himself, they decided that He must die. Modern religions are quite comfortable with Christians believing in God and even promoting the ethical teachings of Jesus; however, once you promote Jesus’ claim to be no one less than God the Son, you incur their wrath because you are a threat to what they believe and to how they conduct their lives. They will not only want Christianity snuffed out; they’ll want you snuffed out as well.

The Romans represent the secular power in the world. The Romans are involved here because peace is being disturbed in their world. Although I like our present President, he seems to insist that the 3 major world religions worship the same God. Why? Because it is true? Hardly. Whatever else Islam is, it is primarily anti-Christian and anti-Jew. Just reflect for a moment on the Dome of the Rock which is in Jerusalem and is considered Islam’s third holiest site. Muslims built that building right smack on top of the holiest site in all Judaism, the Holy of Holies. (Islam’s claim that Mohammed ascended to heaven from this spot is not supported by the Koran; the Koran does not specify where this was supposed to have occurred.) Moreover, look at the shape of the Dome of the Rock. Behind it in pictures you can see another dome just like it but only smaller, the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site for all Christianity. By building the Dome of the Rock on its present site, Muslims are declaring that Islam is superior to Judaism; by building the Dome in the same style of but even larger than the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Muslims are declaring that Islam is superior to Christianity. Islam is not a religion of peace but of hostility towards Judaism and Christianity. When Christians proclaim the uniqueness of Jesus, they threaten social, economic and political stability. When Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Franklin Graham stated these very points, the present administration came down upon them in wrath. Only Franklin Graham and Anne Graham Lotz stood their ground. It irked me that not only did a Christian administration suppress this but also that Christian ministers backed down off what they knew to be the truth. The day is coming when you will be able to believe in Jesus; however, you won’t be able to promote His uniqueness with impunity. If you do, you will risk not only persecution from radical fundamentalists from other religions but also from the secular government.

Judas Iscariot represents those who claim to be followers of Jesus but are not. Even a year earlier Jesus had declared that Judas was nothing less than the devil himself (John 6:70-71). There is a vast array of people who claim to have aligned themselves with Jesus Christ but are secretly the devil by nature. When Jesus does not come through for them in the way they think He should or whenever they see that it is getting to be too dangerous to be one of His followers, they will not only abandon Him but will also betray Him by leading hostile forces to arrest Him. Judas represents the high and mighty in the church who claim they are true to Christ but will sell Him out in the very end.

PETER’S DENIAL AND JESUS BEFORE ANNAS (18:15-27)

At this point John weaves together the story of Peter denying Jesus and the story of Jesus before Annas the high priest. He does this first in order to show that the 2 episodes were occurring simultaneously. While Jesus is on trial before Annas, Peter is on trial downstairs in front of the high priest’s servants. John weaves together the stories second in order to contrast Jesus’ responses in His trial with Peter’s responses during his trial. Whereas Peter will fail miserably when he is questioned, Jesus will remain faithful and true during His interrogation.

We have become so familiar with the story of Peter’s 3 denials that we tend to forget how significant this story is. Although all the stories in the 4 Gospels are important, the more Gospels a certain story appears in, the greater the impact it had upon the early Christians. For example, although Jesus performed numerous miracles, the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle except for the resurrection to appear in all 4 Gospels. Why? Because it made such a tremendous impact upon those first Christians. Similarly Peter denying Jesus 3 times appears in all 4 Gospels. Why? Because this was not just any man denying Jesus. This was Peter, “the Rock,” whom Jesus had appointed to lead the apostolic band. It sent shock waves throughout the early believers. It was so devastating that at the end of this Gospel, John felt it necessary to record how Jesus restored Peter to full fellowship with Him.

This story also serves the purpose of encouraging us who fail Jesus. Christians fail. They just do. We are not a perfect people, just a forgiven people. Proverbs says that the difference between the non-Christian and Christian is not that the non-Christian fails and the Christian never falls; it says that whereas the Christian falls 7 times and gets back up each time, the non-Christian never gets back up even after he has fallen just once (Prov. 24:16). Well, if Peter the Rock fell and was restored to full fellowship with Jesus, then we can be confident that even though we fail (and we will), Jesus will likewise restore us to full fellowship with Him and make us viable members of His kingdom.

Peter’s Denial (part one) 18:15-18

Whereas Peter is going to fail miserably in this episode, the truth though is that he along with John displayed to a certain degree an amazing amount of courage. Whereas the other 9 disciples deserted Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter and John followed Jesus to the home of Annas the high priest where Jesus’ interrogation was to begin. John gains immediate entrance into the home because he is at least an acquaintance of Annas the high priest. [Most NT scholars find this information preposterous. They claim that in no way would the high priest have anything to do with a lowly fisherman. Remember though that John was not just some lowly fisherman. His father Zebedee had a lucrative fishing enterprise on the Sea of Galilee. It was so lucrative that Zebedee was able to hire assistants (Mark 1:20). Zebedee may very well have been the owner of the Sun Kist Tuna operation of his day. Such men would not have escaped the notice and favors of the high priest.] John returns and arranges with the slave girl who keeps the door to allow Peter to enter the courtyard.

As Peter enters, the slave girl questions Peter if he is one of Jesus’ disciples. Now notice who is questioning him. It’s not some big burly Roman soldier. It’s not even a man or a woman. It’s a little girl who is in charge of opening and shutting the door. It doesn’t matter though. Peter instantly denies his association with Jesus. One denial down, 2 to go. After denying Jesus the first time, Peter goes over to a charcoal fire around which are huddled the high priest’s servants. It is early spring (or later winter) in Jerusalem when it would be chilly at night. In order to stay warm and to keep as close to Jesus as possible without being detected, Peter warms himself at the fire.

Jesus Before Annas (18:19-24)

While Peter is denying Jesus and warming himself at the fire, the high priest Annas begins to interrogate Jesus. Two pieces of information note mentioning. First, the room where Jesus is being interrogated is on the second floor overlooking the courtyard where Peter is waiting. It is very likely that there is no outer wall so that the participants upstairs and downstairs are in full view of each other. This fact will play a significant role later. Second, although Annas was not technically the high priest (his son-in-law Caiaphas was), for all practical purposes he was still the acting high priest. Normally whenever a person was made high priest, he was high priest for life. The Romans though felt that allowing one person to remain high priest for life would result in concentrating too much power in the hands of a single individual. As a result, after serving for only 9 years (6-15 AD), Annas was forced to relinquish the high priesthood. He still remained though the power behind the throne in the fact that after he relinquished his control, he managed to have all 5 of his sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas become high priests. In fact in Acts 4:6 when Luke mentions the assembling of the priesthood, he calls Annas the high priest, not Caiaphas.

Jesus’ trial will assume 3 different stages: the interrogation by Annas, the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (which John only alludes to), and the formal trial before Pilate which is the trial for all practical purposes. The scene before Annas serves as a type of police interrogation in which they are trying to gather evidence to use against Jesus. The trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin serves as a type of grand jury investigation at which time the charge against Jesus will be formulated to present before Pilate. The trial before Pilate serves as the formal, conclusive trial.

Although Jesus is a dead man as far as the Jewish religious leaders are concerned, they still need to drum up some evidence which they can use against Jesus before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. They proceed to interrogate Jesus with regards to His teaching and followers. They are hoping that Jesus has said something which could be construed as treasonous against Rome or that Jesus’ followers have done something which could be viewed as subversive by the Romans. Whatever their scheme is, Jesus is not biting. He reminds them that He has spoken publicly in the synagogues and the temple. If they want to get information, they are going to need to interrogate witnesses.

Why did Jesus respond this way? The OT Law stipulated that a person was not supposed to give evidence in a trial against himself. Why? Because any evidence he gave should be viewed skeptically since it would certainly be self-serving; therefore, the Law stated that a person was to be convicted only on the basis of the testimony of 2 witnesses but preferably of three. By invoking this, Jesus is demanding a fair trial.

At this point one of the officers takes his hand and either slaps Jesus with open palm or else forms a fist and punches Jesus in the face. Jesus does not cower and whimper. Instead, He takes the officer to task for his conduct. If Jesus has answered wrongly, then the officer should have told Him how He erred; if, however, Jesus was right in what He said, then the officer had no right to slap Him. The fact that he did slap Him showed that the Jewish religious leaders knew that they were wrong and were now resorting to violence. Jesus in effect is doing 2 things. First, He is demanding a fair trial. Second, Jesus is exposing them for what they are—murderers garbed in religious clothing. Exasperated at his futile efforts against Jesus, Annas sends Jesus to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.

Peter’s Denial (part two) 18:25-27

While Jesus is going through His interrogation, Peter is downstairs in the courtyard warming himself at the charcoal fire. Some of the servants ask Peter if he is one of Jesus’ disciples. They assumed he was with Jesus because his accent betrayed him to be a Galilean. Peter denies this. Two denials down; one to go. At this point a relative of the slave Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off, asks Peter if he saw Peter in the garden with Jesus. John says that Peter denied it again. According to Mark 14:71, he called down curses upon himself. In other words, he said something like this: “May God send me to hell if I was ever His disciple” (actually he used some blue language; however, that is the gist of what he said.) It is at this point the cock crows, reminding Peter of Jesus’ prophesy that Peter would deny him 3x before the cock crowed.

According to Luke something even more piercing occurred. Jesus and Peter were within view of each other. When Peter denied Jesus for the third time, Jesus upstairs turned to look down at Peter. The disappointment on Jesus’ face pierced Peter’s heart. Peter ran out of the courtyard weeping bitterly (Luke 22:62). Today you can still visit Caiaphas’ house where tradition tells us these events occurred. It is ironic that even today you can still hear the roosters crowing, even during full day. Even today Peter cannot catch a break.