Scripture:
John 18
Translation: John 18.1After
saying these things, Jesus left with His followers for the other side of the
Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which He and His followers had gone
to. 2And Judas, the one who would betray Him also knew the place,
because Jesus gathered with His followers there many times. 3So,
Judas, taking a division of soldiers and some assistants of the high ranking
priests and of the Pharisees, was coming there with lamps, torches, and
weapons. 4So, Jesus, because He knew everything that was coming,
went out to him and was saying to them, “Who are you looking for?” 5They
answered Him, “Jesus, the Nazarene.” He was saying to them, “I am.” And Judas
the one betraying Him was standing right there with them. 6Then, as
He said to them, “I am,” they flew back and fell to the ground. 7So,
He questioned them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the
Nazarene.” 8Jesus responded, “I told you that I am. So if you’re
looking for Me, let these people go.” 9[He said that], so that the
message could be fulfilled when He said that “those You really are giving me, I
didn’t lose any of them!” 10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew
it and attacked the high-priest’s slave and cut off his right ear (and the name
of the slave was Malchus). 11So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword
into its sheath. The cup that the Father is truly giving Me, is there any way I
won’t drink it? 12So, the division of soldiers and the commander and
the assistants of the Jews arrested Jesus and tied Him up.
13And they
brought [Him] to Annas first, because he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who
was the high priest that year. 14And Caiaphas was the one who
advised the Jews “it is better that one man die for the people.”
15And Simon Peter
and another disciple followed Jesus. And that disciple was cousins with the
high-priest and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16Meanwhile,
Peter was standing right outside by the door. So, the other disciple known to
the high-priest went out and spoke to the doorman and brought Peter in. 17So,
a slave girl, a doorwoman, was saying to Peter, “You’re not one of This Guy’s
followers too, are you?” That man was saying, “I’m not.” 18And
slaves and the assistants were standing right there starting to make a charcoal
fire, because it was cold. And they were warming themselves up. And Peter was
also standing with them and warming himself up.
19Then the
high-priest asked Jesus about His followers and about His teaching. 20Jesus
answered him, “I really have been speaking openly to the world. I always taught
in synagogues and in the Temple, where all the Jews were gathering; and I spoke
nothing in secret. 21Why are you asking Me? Ask the people who
actually heard what I told them. Look. These people know what I said. 22And
when He said these things, one of the assistants who was right there gave Jesus
a slap in the face saying, “You’re responding to the high-priest like that?” 23Jesus
responded to him, “If I spoke wrongly, testify about that wrong, but if
accurately, why are you hitting Me?” 24Then Annas sent Him tied up
tight to Caiaphas the high-priest.
25Meanwhile,
Simon Peter was standing and warming himself up. So they said to him, “You’re
not one of His followers too, are you?” That man denied it and said, “I’m not.”
26One of the high-priest’s slaves, who was related to the one who
Peter cut an ear off of, was saying,
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with Him?” 27So, again Peter denied
it, and immediately the rooster crowed.
28So they led
Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium. And it was early in the morning. And
they didn’t go into the Praetorium, so that they would get defiled, but rather
eat the Passover. 29So Pilate came outside to them and was saying,
“What accusation are you bringing against This Man? 30They answered
and said to him, “If This Man wasn’t doing evil, we wouldn’t bring Him to you.”
31So Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to
your law.” The Jews said to him, “It’s not allowed for us to kill anyone.” 32[This
happened,] so that Jesus’ message that He said signaling what kind of death He
was about to die would be fulfilled. 33So, Pilate went back into the
Praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus
answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did other people tell you about
Me?” 35Pilate answered, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your people and
high-priests handed You over to me. What did you do?” 36Jesus
answered, “My Kingdom is not a part of this world. If My Kingdom was a part of
this world, My assistants would be fighting, so that I would not be handed over
to the Jews. But of course My Kingdom is not from here.” 37So,
Pilate said to Him, “So then You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You’re saying
that I am a king. I really was born for this purpose and for this purpose I
really did come into the world, namely that I would testify to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” 38Pilate was
saying to Him, “What is truth?” And after saying these, he went back out to the
Jews and was saying to them, “I don’t find any reason for a charge concerning
Him. 39Moreover, it is your custom that I release one person to you
at Passover. So you decide. Should I release the King of the Jews for you? 40So
they shouted back saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (And Barabbas was a
terrorist.)
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Jesus Betrayed and Arrested
in the Garden (vv.1-12)
b.
Jesus Tried and Denied at
Annas’ House (vv.13-27)
i.
Setting and Character Intro
(vv.13-14)
ii.
Peter’s First Denial
(vv.15-18)
iii.
Jesus’ Trial and Abuse
before Annas (vv.19-24)
iv.
Peter’s Second and Third
Denials (vv.25-27)
c.
Jesus Tried and Rejected at
the Praetorium (vv.28-39)
i.
Pilate and the Jews argue
about bringing charges against Jesus (vv.28-32)
ii.
Pilate questions Jesus,
discoving Jesu is King of a different world (vv.33-38a)
iii.
Pilate offers to free
Jesus, but the Jews opt for a terrorist (vv.38b-39)
2.
Themes
a.
Betrayal
b.
Denial
c.
Interrogation/legal
proceedings
d.
Truth vs. lying
e.
Deity of Christ
f.
Omniscience of Christ
g.
The faithfulness/obedience
of Christ
h.
The substitutionary death
of Christ for us
i.
Abandonment
j.
Kingdom
k.
The glory of Christ
3.
Doctrines
a.
The omniscience of Christ
b.
The Deity of Christ
c.
The Sinlessness of Christ
d.
The Faithfulness/Obedience
of Christ
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
We Must See Who Jesus Is
i.
He is God
1.
Jesus revealed His Glory
and Deity in v.6
a.
It knocked everyone back
and off their feet
b.
But even though they were
shocked and amazed for a moment, they still took Him in.
c.
This is a good warning for
us, because we can still choose sin, chose to betray Christ even when His glory
and Deity are clear to us
2.
Jesus revealed the power of
God when He healed Malchus’ ear (v.10)
3.
Jesus revealed His
relationship with God the Father in v.11
4.
Jesus revealed His Deity
through His perfect knowledge of the future
a.
His betrayal by Judas
b.
His denial by Peter
c.
His trial by the leaders
d.
His rejection by the people
5.
Jesus revealed His Deity by
talking with Pilate of a heavenly origin and a heavenly kingdom
ii.
He is Savior/Sacrificial
Substitute
1.
That Jesus is dying for the
people is even clear to the Jewish High Priest (v.14)
2.
Jesus is our sacrificial
lamb, not just because He is dying for us, but because it is the high priests
that are killing Him in our place
3.
Jesus is our sacrificial
substitute, because He is innocent, blameless, blemishless
4.
Jesus is our penal
substitute because He is arrested, tried, and condemned in our place: Jesus
experiences on earth what we would have experienced in heaven before God; He is
judged guilty on earth for us, for our guilt, just as a sacrificial substitute
5.
He spoke the truth of
salvation
6.
He healed the slave’s cut
off ear.
iii.
He is King
1.
As revealed in His
attitude: Jesus is always cool, calm, collected, in control. Even in the face
of death, He doesn’t act as if He is any less of the person He claimed to be
2.
Pilate straight up asks
Jesus if He is a King. Jesus says Yes. But He is King of a different world. He
is the Heavenly King.
iv.
He is Model
1.
Jesus shows us how to obey
God
2.
Jesus shows us how to be
humble
3.
Jesus shows us how to
suffer
4.
Jesus shows us how to die
5.
Jesus shows us how to deal
with false accusation
6.
Jesus shows us how to deal
with rejection
7.
Jesus shows us how to live
in faith faithfully
b.
We Must Remember What Jesus
Suffered
i.
He was cruelly betrayed
1.
By one of his closest
friends
2.
At night
3.
Under threat of soldiers
4.
With all His closest
friends put in danger
ii.
He was violently arrested
1.
There were soldiers
2.
Peter attacked a soldier
3.
There was blood and injury
iii.
He was unjustly tried
1.
Jesus faced trumped up
charges
2.
Jesus was not allowed to
speak freely in His own defense
3.
Jesus was hit
4.
Jesus was tried in a shady
night court (which was kind of illegal)
5.
Trustworthy Witnesses were
not called
iv.
He was totally denied
1.
By Peter
2.
Three times
v.
He was falsely accused
1.
No charges, just the vague
charge of being “evil”
2.
If anything the charge was
that Jesus was a terrorist/rebel leader trying to become king
3.
Pilate dismissed the
charges, sort of, but still didn’t free Jesus
vi.
He was foolishly rejected
1.
He was rejected by the
people
2.
He was rejected for an
actual terrorist/rebel
3.
He was rejected when He
could have been freed
vii.
all in less than 24hrs.
1.
it happened fast
2.
Jesus has to experience and
suffer all these things in less than 24hrs, which means the intensity of the
suffering was all amplified and packed together
c.
We Must Beware Our Human
Vulnerabilities
i.
Greed
1.
for money
a.
Judas
2.
for power
a.
the High Priests
b.
Pharisees
c.
Jewish leaders
d.
Pilate
3.
for safety
a.
Peter
b.
Pilate
4.
for sin
a.
Priests
b.
Pharisees
5.
for status
a.
Pilate
b.
Peter
6.
(for sex, love, food,
drugs/alcohol, etc.)
ii.
Fear
1.
Of poverty
a.
Judas
2.
Of powerlessness
a.
the High Priests
b.
Pharisees
c.
Jewish leaders
d.
Pilate
3.
Of danger
a.
Peter
b.
Pilate
4.
Of repentance/holiness
a.
Priests
b.
Pharisees
c.
Pilate
5.
Of humility/humiliation
a.
Pilate
b.
(Peter)
c.
Priests
d.
Pharisees
6.
(Of sexlessness,
loneliness, hunger, pain/boredom, etc.)
d.
We Must Respond in Faith
i.
We must worship Christ as
our God
ii.
We must trust in Christ as
our Savior
iii.
We must obey Christ as our
King
iv.
We must follow Christ as
our Model
2.
Discussion Questions
a.
Have you ever been
betrayed? What happened? How did it feel?
b.
Why do you think John
spends so much time talking about the trials?
c.
Do you think people would
believe in Jesus if they just saw some of His Glory and Power? Why or Why not?
Try to explain v.6 in light of your answer.
d.
What do you think Jesus
meant when He said His Kingdom was part of another world? What relationship
does His Kingdom have with this world?
e.
Have you ever felt
pressured to avoid acknowledging your allegiance to Christ? What was it like?
How would you want to respond to that kind of pressure in the future?
f.
Greed and Fear can
sometimes act as two sides to the same coin. Examine how greed or fear could be
at work in your own life. Discuss how you could work against it.
g.
Besides Greed and Fear, and
there any other human weaknesses or vulnerabilities that can keep us from
worshiping, trusting, obeying, and following Christ?
h.
Of the four ways we can
respond in faith to Christ (worshiping, trusting, obeying, following), which
one is hardest for you to live out daily? Which one is the easiest? Why?
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