Judge, Attorney, and Redeemer: John 18:12-27

As we continue moving through John’s gospel, we are focusing in on the details this gospel includes during the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death. From the start of chapter 13, all the way to the end of chapter 19, John’s gospel records the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death in detail. John takes 7 of the 21 chapters in his gospel to emphasize this single point in time, and looking at exclusively the chapter breaks, we could conclude that one third of John’s gospel focuses on the 24 hours between the special supper Jesus shared with His disciples, to Jesus’ corpse being removed from the cross and buried.

However, I’m jumping ahead a little. While we are most of the way through the details John includes, we are still early on in the details of what happened. In our last episode, we looked at Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus, and for this episode, we begin with Jesus’ arrest and what happened the rest of that night.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 12, John tells us:

¹² So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, ¹³ and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.

¹⁵ Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.

Let’s pause reading briefly here. When reading this, I am amazed that Peter and one other disciple, after running away to avoid being arrested, followed behind the mob and were ultimately brought into the courtyard of the high priest. I suspect that this was because both disciples wanted to know what would happen to Jesus.

This means that three of Jesus’ disciples were near Jesus during this night. While our passage doesn’t mention him by name, since Judas Iscariot brought the mob, and since Judas Iscariot wanted to see Jesus escape, we can be confident that he was there. Matthew’s gospel describes Judas committing suicide when realizing that Jesus was condemned, and Judas died before Jesus did. With this information, we can conclude that Judas Iscariot was present during the trial of Jesus.

The other person this passage does not name specifically is a disciple who was known to the high priest and this disciple let Peter in. While logic might suggest that this unnamed disciple could have been Judas Iscariot, it would be unlike John to not name Judas. More than any other gospel, John shares names of people involved, and the only disciple never to be named directly is John himself. This gives weight to John being the author of this gospel, and this is why tradition describes John as the disciple who let Peter into the courtyard. I don’t know much about John’s life prior to being a disciple of Jesus, but something in John’s past made him known and recognized by those living with the high priest.

The only named disciple in this passage is Peter, and ironically enough, if Peter had not followed Jesus or been let into the courtyard, Jesus’ prediction would not have happened. In the part of our passage we just finished reading, Peter denied Jesus one time, and before John tells us about Peter’s other denials, he shifts focus to describe the pretrial questioning that took place.

Continuing in verse 19, John tells us that:

¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.” ²² When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” ²⁴ So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Pausing our reading again, from the way John described this part of Jesus questioning, I am a little intrigued about how John frames this portion of the night.

While the first part of this passage describes Jesus being brought first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest, in verse 19, during the time Jesus was with Annas, John describes the high priest questioning Jesus: “The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.” This is also reemphasized in verse 22, when an officer standing near Jesus struck Him and said, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”

From the way this event is described, we can reach one of two conclusions. The first conclusion we could reach, which is more likely to be the case, is that Annas was the former high priest, and many people still saw him in this role, even if he wasn’t officially the one who held the title. With this logic, he was still considered the high priest because of his past, even though there was a new high priest serving in that role.

The second conclusion we could reach, which is less likely but interesting to consider, is that Caiaphas questioned Jesus while he was with Annas, and this questioning was to discover information that would ultimately be used to condemn Jesus. Because this wasn’t the official trial, Caiaphas would have been a significant questioner, but this happened outside of Caiaphas’ courtroom because they wanted a clear charge to bring against Jesus before they went into court where Caiaphas would sit as judge.

While the first conclusion is more likely, it is fascinating to look at the second conclusion, because it holds a strong parallel. In Jesus’ trial, the prosecuting attorney, and the judge condemning Jesus were the high priest. In our defense trial against the challenges of Satan and the sin in our lives, our Judge and defense lawyer is Jesus. Jesus was tried in a very similar way that He defends us, and with the Judge and best Attorney on our side, nothing Satan can bring our way can break through Jesus’ defense.

However, when the questioning doesn’t amount to much, they move to the official trial. Before moving to focus on the trial, John transitions back to the courtyard to tell us about Peter. Continuing in verse 25, John tells us:

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

At the conclusion of our passage, we find Peter’s big regret. While Peter had promised Jesus he would never deny Him, we find Jesus’ prediction happen exactly like Jesus described.

However, while this was Peter’s big failure, and one that he would likely never forget, Peter’s story is far from over. Instead, through Peter’s story, we discover a powerful truth that Jesus came to redeem us, and that even when we fail Jesus, He never gives up on or fails us.

But this is jumping ahead in the story. Jesus is our Redeemer, and in a future episode, we will focus on how Peter is personally redeemed from this monumental failure.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life, and choose to let Jesus be your Judge, your Defense Attorney, and especially your Redeemer.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to intentionally and purposefully grow closer to God each and every day. Through a personal relationship with God that is built on prayer and Bible study, discover who God is, what He is like, and the redemption and future He has promised for all of His people!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!