Book of John 18:24-40 March 11, 2023
- Before Annas John 18:12-14
- Before Caiaphas John 18:19-24
- Before the Sanhedrin Matthew 27:1, 2
Roman Trails:
- Before Pilate John 18:28-38
- Before Herod Luke 23:6-11
- Before Pilate John 18:39 - 19:16
Meanwhile,
the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
John 18:24 Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas
the high priest.
Matthew 26:57 And those
who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas
the high priest, where the scribes and the elders
were assembled. {judgment
hall next to the Temple area}
Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Jewish High Council, for the real trial in the appointed place. Sanhedrin, Jewish Tribunal and Ruling Body.
·
His real name was Joseph; he held office from
A.D.18-36.
·
According to Josephus and later rabbinic
writings, he had a reputation for intrigue, bribery and love of money
·
The sought False witnesses against Jesus
·
They had no death penalty authority because
Roman Law took it away
Matthew 26:59-60 Now the
chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought
false testimony against Jesus to
put Him to death, (60) but found none.
Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward
Matthew 26:61-63 and
said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to
build it in three days.' "
(62) And the high priest arose
and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify
against You?" (63) But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered
and said to Him, "I put You under oath by
the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"
The Oath
The only time Jesus speaks is when He is legally required
to under oath. “I adjure thee by the living God...” this puts Jesus under oath
Leviticus 5:1 'If a
person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of
the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
Matthew 26:64-65 Jesus
said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you
will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (65)
Then the high priest tore his clothes,
saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of
witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
Interesting comment, sitting at the right hand of the
Power, The Father
“Then the high priest rent his clothes”: A garment is
torn to pieces when there is no more use for it (Temple veil also!). The High
Priest violated the Law of God, which states that the High Priest must never tear his clothes.
Leviticus 21:10 'He who
is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil
was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not
uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
The High Priest understood that Jesus was claiming to be
God. The problem with this logic is that it is self-incrimination, which is
also in Jewish law that your own testimony could not be used against you.
Matthew 26:66-68 What do
you think?" They answered and said, "He is deserving of
death." (67) Then they spat
in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands,
(68) saying, "Prophesy to
us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?"
Peter Denies
Jesus Again, a 2nd time of 3 denials prophesied by Jesus
John 18:25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him,
"You are not also one of His disciples,
are you?" He denied it and said, "I am
not!"
For the third
time, Peter denied the Lord, as Jesus had said he would.
Peter had
boasted that he would remain true to the Lord to the end, do we also make
statements similar in our lives, things we will not do, but still do.
Jesus did
forgive Peter and we know Jesus can forgive us.
John 18:26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see
you in the garden with Him?"
No doubt the
servant relationship to Malchus drew attention to the man who cut his ear off,
and this enabled him to identify Peter.
John 18:27 Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.
Matthew 26:74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!" Immediately a
rooster crowed.
Matthew 27:1-2 Early in
the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how
to have Jesus executed. (2) So they bound him, led him away and handed
him over to Pilate the governor.
Before Pilate: John 18:28-38
Jesus Before
Pilate
John 18:28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to
the palace of the Roman governor,
and it was early morning. But they
themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Roman governor’s
official residence, probably the Fortress Antonia {hall of judgment} near the
temple. Early morning refers to the fourth watch of the night, from 3 to 6 A.M.
Form vs. substance…
Pilate
Pontius Pilate (cf. Caesarea inscription...), he was the Ruler
of Judea, A.D. 26-36. (In A.D. 36, he was deposed by Vitellius and sent to
Rome, tried, and probably executed under Caligula.) He ruled Judea in a
reckless and arbitrary fashion.
Josephus: Used temple funds to build an aqueduct. When
people protested, they were beaten by Roman soldiers, praetorium, the name of
the official residence of a Roman Governor.
(In Western Jerusalem? Antonia Fortress, just north of the Temple?)
John 18:29 Pilate then went out to them and said,
"What charges are you bring against this Man?"
Pilate was not
ignorant of the charges. He was merely requesting that it be formally stated.
Roman law required three things:
·
Specific indictment
·
Bringing accusers before the accused (Acts
23:28).
·
Liberty granted to the accused to answer for
himself (Acts 25:16).
“Pilate went out unto them”: His interest was piqued.
Their bluff was called
Luke 23:2-3 And they
began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment
of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king." (3) So
Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the
Jews?" "You have said so,"
Jesus replied.
John 18:30 They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have
delivered Him up to you."
They did not
wish to make Pilate the judge, but the executor of the death sentence which
they had already illegally passed. They
expected Pilate to take their word for it and condemn Him unheard before the
Roman Court.
John 18:31 Then Pilate said to them, "You
take Him and judge Him according to your
law." Therefore the Jews
said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,"
your law”: Jewish or Moses law
The accusations
did not warrant a trial before Pilate. It is not lawful: The Romans did
not allow the Jews to impose capital punishment. These Jewish leaders had no
interest in a just trial; they simply wanted permission from Rome to have Jesus
executed.
Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a
lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh
comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
This term “sceptre” refers to their tribal identity and the right to
apply and enforce Moses Laws and decides on capital offenses:
The term “Shiloh” was understood by the early rabbis and Talmudic
authorities as referring to the Messiah
The Hebrew word Shiloh
should be rendered “whose it is,” that is, the scepter
will not depart from Judah until He comes to whom it belongs.
The Scepter Departs
Herod Archelaus was replaced by a Roman procurator named
Caponius. The legal power of the Sanhedrin was immediately restricted and the
adjudication of capital cases was lost. This was normal Roman policy.
“When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves
deprived of their right over life and death, a depression took possession of
them: they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth,
exclaiming: ‘Woe unto us for the scepter has departed from Judah and the
Messiah has not come.’”
They actually thought that the Torah, the Word of God,
had failed! They should have known
better. There was a young carpenter’s
son growing up in Nazareth.
John 18:32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
The Jewish
method of execution was stoning. However, Jesus had already indicated that He
would die, being crucified by the Gentiles. Jesus will be lifted up on an
execution-stake, a cross, which was a Roman mode of execution, not a Jewish,
method of capital punishment.
John 12:32-33 And I, when
I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself."
(33) He said this to show the kind of death
he was going to die. {also John
3:14, John 8:28, Mat 20:19}
John is
pointing out that the Jewish leaders’ inability to impose capital
punishment themselves fulfilled Jesus’ prediction describing His death
My Kingdom
Is Not of This World
John 18:33 So Pilate went back into the governor's
headquarters {judgment hall}, summoned Jesus,
and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
The Jews
charged that Jesus claimed to be their king. From their standpoint, this was
the most damaging accusation possible because it would be regarded by the
Romans as treason and would be punishable by death.
Luke 23:2 They began to
accuse him, "We found this man corrupting
our nation, forbidding us to pay
taxes to Caesar, and saying that
he is the Messiah, a king."
Pay taxes to
Caesar, false slanders that could be invented.
Luke 23:3 Then Pilate
asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered him
and said, "It is as you say."
Jesus just told Pilate that He is a King.
John 18:34 Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about
this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"
Notice, there was no violent protest of innocence nor
defiant answer. Jesus politely but
directly asked this question.
The term king is important question, political sense
{Roman concern} or purely religious king {Jewish concern}
John 18:35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and
the chief priests have delivered You to
me. What have You done?"
Pilate was
asking, “Is it likely that I, a Roman governor, would have
any interest in a Jewish question? What
have you done to desire your death.
John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this
world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews;
but now My kingdom is not from here."
Jesus pointed
out that though He was a king, he was no threat to Rome because His kingdom
would not come by a worldly revolution
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered,
"You say rightly that I am a king.
For this cause I was born, and for
this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of
the truth hears My voice."
Jesus just said to Pilate that He is a King.
Pilate formally recognizes Jesus as King with the
inscription put on the cross! (Jn 19:19-22). No sarcasm or disdain what Pilate
asked.
This is
a very good example to follow Paul tells us about good confession
1 Timothy 6:13 I urge you
in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who
witnessed the good confession before Pontius
Pilate,
John 18:38 Pilate said to Him, "What is
truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said
to them, "I find no fault in Him at all. What
is Truth?”
John 14:6 Jesus said to
him, "I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
No fault is a legal term meaning that there were no
grounds for a criminal charge. Teaching the truth was not against the law. Pilate pronounced Him innocent: he
should have released Him! According to Roman Law, everything following is
illegal. Now Pilate sending Him to
Herod, and the abuse (Lk 23:5-18).
John 18:39 "But you have a custom that I should release someone to
you at the Passover. Do you
therefore want me to release to you the King of
the Jews?"
Pilate jumped
at the possible compromise. By promising to release Jesus on account of the custom rather
than by proclaiming Him innocent, Pilate would avoid insulting the Jewish
leaders, who had already pronounced Him guilty.
John 18:40 Then they all cried again, saying,
"Not this Man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber.
Mark 15:7 And there was
one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed
murder in the rebellion.
