Reflective Bible Study

As we move through John’s gospel, and specifically focusing closely at how John describes the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, I am amazed by an event that John seems to skip over. While describing Jesus’ questioning before Annas in the last passage, following the questioning, John tells us Jesus is then taken to Caiaphas.

However, while the other gospels include a trial in front of Caiaphas, John skips over this event, possibly because he was not present for it, or perhaps because John wanted to emphasize more details about Jesus’ time with Pilate.

This leads us to our passage for this episode, which focuses in on Jesus’ time with Pilate while the Jewish leaders are pressing for Jesus’ death. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 28, John tells us:

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.

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.

In this passage, I am amazed by a slight twist in perspective. This prompts me to wonder if there were more Jews present than simply the religious leaders. I suspect this was the case, otherwise Pilate’s actions would not make sense.

This perspective twist is found in the last portion of verse 38 and in verse 39. In these verses, John tells us that after questioning Jesus, Pilate “went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him. 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”?’”

This statement does not make logical sense. If Pilate does not find a basis for any charge against Jesus, then Jesus would be unjustly arrested, and He would deserve freedom regardless of any custom present in the region.

However, as soon as Pilate has finished declaring Jesus’ innocence in his eyes, He offers to free Jesus as a prisoner. The only way this makes sense is if Pilate believed that the Jews present were there independent of the religious leaders, and not part of the same group. The religious leaders had brought Jesus to him because they wanted Jesus dead, and because of this, it makes no rational sense that Pilate would ask these same religious leaders if they wanted Jesus freed after declaring Jesus’ innocence.

I suspect that Pilate believed the crowd of Jews present were Jesus’ allies and not hand-picked leaders from the surrounding regions. Since this was Passover weekend, the chief priest and religious leaders in Jerusalem would have a crowd of synagogue leaders present from all over the region, and with the influx of people visiting Jerusalem for this festival, they could easily pull a crowd of anonymous looking Jews who were all opposed to Jesus.

However, in Pilate’s conclusion, He subtly shifts focus from assuming Jesus’ innocence into assuming Jesus’ guilt. From what John describes mixed with what other gospels share about this event, I suspect that Pilate was surprised with the response the crowd of Jews gave him.

This leads us to a powerful truth we can learn from this event. When the crowd shouts back that they don’t want Jesus, but that they instead want Barabbas, they are picking their picture of who the messiah would be over the Messiah God ultimately sent. Barabbas had taken part in an uprising, and he was slated to face the cross that weekend, but Jesus’ arrest and condemnation gave Barabbas a second chance at freedom.

In a powerful, while somewhat ironic way, Jesus takes the punishment of the messiah the Jews chose, and Barabbas represents the worst in humanity. Jesus took the punishment of a criminal onto Himself when He did not deserve it, and since we have all broken God’s law, we are all criminals based on God’s standards. While we all deserve death, Jesus stepped into history to take our place, dying a death He did not deserve, so that we could have the promise and assurance of eternal life, a gift we don’t deserve, because God loves us that much!

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 accept the gift Jesus offers to each of us by repenting from sin, which is the spiritual way of saying that we turn away from living sinful lives and place our focus on Jesus. Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and in His sacrifice to cover your sins, and be sure to say Thank You to God by living each day moving forward for Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to discover what God and Jesus are like. Through the pages of the Bible, discover how much God loves you, and what Jesus was willing to face in order to give you the opportunity of a new life with God. When we prayerfully focus on Jesus, we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, and we intentionally move closer to Jesus and closer to God.

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!

As we continue our journey through Mark’s gospel and through many of the key events this gospel includes, we come to the beginning of what might be among the darkest events in this gospel, specifically the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.

However, while many gospels include the details of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest on the night before His crucifixion, only Mark’s gospel includes two verses describing something that might be a little shocking to some people.

With this forewarning, let’s read this passage, and uncover some things we can learn from what happened, and from what Mark chose to include in his gospel that none of the other gospel writers included.

Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 43, Mark describes Jesus’ betrayal by saying:

⁴³ And immediately, even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders. ⁴⁴ The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. Then you can take him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ As soon as they arrived, Judas walked up to Jesus. “Rabbi!” he exclaimed, and gave him the kiss.

⁴⁶ Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷ But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

⁴⁸ Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? ⁴⁹ Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”

⁵⁰ Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away. ⁵¹ One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt. When the mob tried to grab him, ⁵² he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.

In these last two verses, we read about one of Jesus’ lesser-known followers running away naked. This detail that is only found in Mark’s gospel is both interesting and very unique. This has led some Bible scholars and commentators to conclude that Mark, the author of this gospel, was that young man who ran away naked. This young man is not described as a disciple, and I believe this lack of a detail or description also supports the theory this was Mark.

I don’t have any reason to doubt this conclusion as it seems plausible, but I do also find it a little humorous that if you are going to include yourself in the details of a significant event, this might not be the best way to do so. Imagine your claim to fame as being the follower of Jesus who escaped the garden naked. While this might make this gospel less believable, in some peoples’ eyes, this type of detail aids to this being a record of history, specifically what actually happened, and not some fiction or summary that is edited to only include the good details.

However, Mark’s inclusion of this detail also tells us something else. Because Mark included this detail, we can know that the mob, while being primarily interested in arresting Jesus, was also interested in arresting everyone else present in Jesus’ group of followers. Knowing that every one of Jesus’ followers had an arrest warrant out on them helps frame why they were extra nervous in Jerusalem over that weekend, and why they spent most of their time behind locked doors.

When we place the detail that the mob likely wanted to arrest every one of Jesus’ followers, and place it next to the verses describing Jesus’ followers deserting Him and this young man escaping naked, we discover that even while Jesus appeared to be losing, God was still present. Even when evil seemed to have the upper hand, God was in control and God was protecting those present.

Another gospel writer includes the detail that Jesus tells the mob to let Jesus’ followers go. However, while Jesus makes this command, this statement is attributed to fulfilling a prophecy more than being a command that would have been expected to be obeyed. However, it is amazing that Jesus giving a command like this that is actually obeyed by His enemies is testament enough that Jesus is extraordinary.

Nothing in this event suggests that the mob would have even been interested in following through with Jesus’ command to let His followers go. The most logical action to crush a movement is to arrest and kill the leader and all the followers unwilling to give up their beliefs. Arresting the leader and letting the followers escape is illogical at best.

However, because all of Jesus’ followers escaped, we can know that God was with them during Jesus’ arrest, and we can know today that regardless of what we face in this life that comes against our faith, God is with us and He is in control.

When we face challenges in our lives and challenges against our faith, remember that God is with us and that even when evil appears to have the upper hand, God is in control. While not all of us might escape with our clothing intact, we can trust that God is still with us. In the challenges that we face in this world, we might even face death, but whenever death comes our way, we can know and trust that God is ready and willing to resurrect His followers who have endured to the end (as one of our previous podcast episode’s focused in on). And God is more than willing to give us a new body, new clothing, and a new home together with Him in heaven when we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus!

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 and purposefully seek God first in your life and trust Him regardless of what Satan, culture, or the world wants to pressure us into doing or giving up. Know that the rewards God offers will easily outlast the reward the world offers us and the rewards of sin. Remember and trust that when evil looks like it has the upper hand, God is still in control, God is still with us, and God will see us through these challenges. Remember that for followers of Jesus, death is merely a pit stop on the path leading into eternity.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day. Don’t let other people filter the Bible for you. Choose to study it for yourself and make up your own mind about it. While skeptics may challenge you to do this, they expect you to reject the Bible because that is what they think you should do. Study and make up your own mind about the Bible after trying God’s way out for yourself. You may be surprised to find what skeptics are missing in the pages of God’s Word and His truth.

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 abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!