Pulpit Commentary - John 18:1

Pulpit Commentary - John 18:1 - 18:40

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Pulpit Commentary - John 18:1 - 18:40

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

18:1 - 18:40

EXPOSITION

B. THE HOUR HAS COME.

Joh_18:1

Joh_19:42.—1. The outer glorification of Christ in his Passion.

Joh_18:1-11

(1) The betrayal, the majesty of his bearing, accompanied by hints of the bitter cup.

Joh_18:1

When Jesus had spoken these words—i.e. had offered the prayer, and communed with his Father touching himself, his disciples, and his whole Church—he went forth with his disciples; i.e. from the resting-place chosen by him on his way from the "guest-chamber" to the valley of Kedron; it may have been from some corner of the vast temple area, or some sheltered spot under the shadow of its walls, where he uttered his wondrous discourse and intercession. He went over the ravine—or, strictly speaking, winter-torrent—of Kedron. ^£ The stream rises north of Jerusalem, and separates the city on its eastern side from Scopas and the Mount of Olives. It reaches its deepest depression at the point where it joins the valley of Hinnom near the well of Rogel, contributing to the peculiar physical conformation of the city. The stream is in summer dry to its bed, and Robinson, Grove, and Warren conjecture, in agreement with an old tradition, that there is, below the present surface of its bed, a subterraneous watercourse, whose waters may be heard flowing. The stream takes a sudden bend to the southeast at En-Rogel, and makes its way, by the convent of Saba, to the Dead Sea. It is not without interest that this note of place given by St. John alone—for the three other evangelists simply speak of "the Mount of Olives"—brings the narrative into relation with the story of David's flight from Absalom by the same route, and also the Jewish expectation (Joe_3:2), and Mohammedan prediction, that here will take place the final judgment (Smith's 'Dictionary,' art. "Kedron," by Grove; 'Pictorial Palestine,' vol. 1.; Robinson, 'Bib. Res.,' 1:269: Winer's 'B. Realworterbuch,' art. "Kedron;" Dean Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine;' 'The Recovery of Jerusalem,' by Capt. Warren and Capt. Wilson, Joh_1:1-51. and 5.). Where was a garden. This reference is in agreement with the synoptic description of the χωρίον , "parcel of ground," small farm, or olive yard, enclosed from the rest of the hillside, and called "Gethsemane" (gath-shammi, press for oil). The traditional site of the garden dates back to the time of Constantine, and may be the true scene of the agony described by the synoptists. There are still remaining "the eight aged olive trees," which carry back the associations to the hour of the great travail. It is certain that the general features of the scene still closely correspond with what was visible on the awful night ('Pictorial Palestine,' 1.86, 98). Patristic and mediaeval writers, with Hengstenberg and Wordsworth, see parallels between the garden of Eden lost by man's sin, and the garden of Gethsemane where the second Adam met the prince of this world, and bore the weight of human transgression and shame, and regained for man the paradise which Adam lost. It is still more interesting to notice a further touch recorded by John: Into which—into the quiet retreat and partial concealment of which—he (Jesus) entered himself, and his disciples. We know from the other Gospels that they were separated—eight remained on watch near the entrance, and Peter and James and John went further into the recesses of the garden, and again, "about a stone's cast," in the depth of the olive-shade, our blessed Lord retired to "pray."

Joh_18:2

Now Judas also, who was betraying him (notice present tense in contrast with ὁ παράδους of Matt, Joh_10:4), knew the place: because oftentimes Jesus resorted (literally, was assembled there) thither with his disciples. Luke tells us that during this very week (Luk_21:37) they had passed their nights ( ηὐλίζετο ) on the "Mount of Olives," and it is most likely that Judas conjectured that they had gone thither again to pass the night. The fact here mentioned by John, that Judas knew the place, disposes of the ignorant and vulgar taunt of Celsus, that our Lord sought to escape from his enemies after having challenged them (see Orig., 'Contra Cel.,' Joh_2:9. 10). Keim, with perversity, declares that John only represented the place as known to Judas, in order to enhance the voluntary nature of the sacrifice. Some explanation may thus be given of the fact that the eleven disciples, having reached an accustomed place of repose, all slumbered and slept, and were not able to watch one hour. The choice of this particular garden for the purpose cannot be unraveled. Dean Plumptre suggests that it was the property of Lazarus, who was no other than the rich young man, who sold his all and gave to the poor, all but one solitary garment, and that he himself was keeping this one possession for the uses of his Lord on that very night, and that when in danger of arrest he it was that fled away naked. This is pure conjecture.

Joh_18:3

Judas therefore, because he knew the place, was able treacherously to use his knowledge. Having received the cohort, Ἡ σπεῖρα is used for the lemon or portion of the legion of soldiers, who, under the direction of the Roman procurator, garrisoned the Tower of Antonia, which dominated the north-east temple courts. The article ( τὴν ) is probably used because the χιλίαρχος , military tribune, chief captain, or commander of the thousand men, had (Joh_18:12) accompanied the detachment. "The word σπεῖρα , is used by Polybius for the Latin manipulus, not cohors (Polyb., 11.23), consisting of about two hundred men, the third part of a cohort" (Westcott). It should, however, be observed that the word is used of the Roman garrison of the tower (Act_10:1; Act_21:31; Act_27:1; Josephus, 'Ant.,' 20.4. 3; ' Bell. Jud.,' 5.5. 8). Χιλίαρχος was the proper name for the commander of a cohors, equivalent to one-sixth of a legion, i.e. a thousand men and a hundred and twenty horsemen. The strength of the cohort differed according to circumstances and need. Josephus ('Bell. Jud.,' 3.4. 2) says that some σπείραι consisted of a thousand, some of six hundred, men. It is not rational to suppose that the whole cohort were visibly present, but they were-present in close proximity. Though John alone mentions the Roman soldiers, yet cf. Mat_26:53, Mat_26:54, where our Lord says, "Thinkest thou not that I could pray ( παρεκαλέσαι ) my Father, and he would henceforth furnish me with more than twelve legions of angels?"—a legion of angels for each one of the little group. The presence of this band of Roman soldiers with the Jewish police gives very great force and impressiveness to this scene of Israel's degradation and of the world's assault upon the Divine Savior. The other hints given by the synoptists of the presence of weapons in the "band," is Peter's use of the sword. Judas brought with him, not only the drilled and armed Roman soldiers, but the officers from the chief priests and of the ^£ Pharisees; i.e. a detachment of the Jewish guard of the temple, under direction of the Sanhedrin. The chief priests would have small difficulty in securing the aid of a detachment of the Roman garrison to prevent popular outbreak at the time of the feast. These ὑπηρέται , under the direction of the chief priests and Pharisees, have been mentioned in Joh_7:32 and Joh_7:45, and the same name is given to the ὑπηρέται in Act_5:22, Act_5:26, where the high priests and Sadducees are spoken of as their masters. In Luk_22:4, Luk_22:52 the commandants of the temple are spoken of in the plural, στρατηγοῖς τοῦ ἱεροῦ . The Jewish guard was under the custody of one officer, ὁ στρατηγός , and he was a man of high rank and dignity (Josephus, ' Ant.,' 20.6. 2; ' Bell. Jud.,' 2.17.2)—not two, but one; the reference to more than one must therefore point to the Roman military official as well, thus unconsciously sustaining the more definite information given by John. Judas with his band cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons; for, though it was the Paschal full moon, they were intent on finding an individual, whom Judas would identify for them, amid the depths of the olive shades. ( Λαμπάς is in its primary sense a torch, or even meteoric light, but it is used for a lamp or lantern; and φανός also is used for "torch" primarily, with secondary meaning of "lantern.") Matthew and Mark mention "swords" and "staves," but say nothing of the flaring torches which so arrested the eve of John. Thoma sees a reference to the frequent declaration of Christ, that he was the "Light of the world," and to the contrast between that light and the power of darkness.

Joh_18:4

Jesus then—the οὖν implies that our Lord discerned the approach of the hostile band—knowing all the things that were coming upon him—in full consciousness of his position, and in voluntary sacrifice of himself to the will of God and the purpose of his mission—went forth;^£ i.e. from the garden enclosure—see Joh_18:1—(say Meyer and Godet); from the recesses of the garden or the garden-house (say others); partly in consequence of the language of the kinsman of Maichus," Did I not see thee in the garden?" But this is perfectly compatible with the obvious fact that the eight disciples and the favored three should have shrunk behind our Lord when he calmly emerged from the entrance to the garden, and that their position would be thus sufficiently indicated. It is remarkable that John, who has been accused of personal malice to Judas (i.e. by those who, like Renan, admit, to a certain extent, the Johan-nine authorship), does not refer to the traitor's kiss. This well-attested and traditionally sustained incident is not excluded by the narrative before us—indeed, the second reference to Judas seems to imply something special in his conduct, which is needed to account for it. We can hardly suppose that it could have taken place before the Lord Jesus had uttered his solemn word, but it may easily have occurred as the first answer to his summons. And saith unto them, Whom seek ye?

Joh_18:5, Joh_18:6

They answered him, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. Then, in all probability, the miscreant, the son of perdition, said," Hail, Master!" and kissed him; and there followed before and after his act the sublime replies given, "Companion, wherefore art thou come?" and "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" John, however, overwhelmed with the majesty and spontaneous self-devotion of the Lord, calls attention to the language he addressed to the "baud" which surrounded him. In some royal emphasis of tone he said, "I am (he)," and the same kind of effect followed as on various occasions had proved how powerless, without his permission, the machinations of his foes really were. In the temple courts, and on the precipice of Nazareth, the murderous Jews and Galilaeans were foiled by the moral grandeur of his bearing; and when he said, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground ( χαμαί for χαμάζε ). Whether this was a supernatural event, or allied to the sublime force of moral greatness flashing in his eye or echoing in the tone of his voice, we cannot say, but associating it with other events in his history, the supernatural in his case becomes perfectly natural. It was so that he whose "I am he" had hushed the waves and cast out the devil, and before whose glance and word John and Paul fell to the earth, as if struck with lightning, did perhaps allow his very captors (prepared by Judas for some display of his might) to feel how powerless they were against him. It is remarkable that our narrative should place between the "I am he" and its effect, the tautologous remark if there be nothing to explain it, Now Judas also, who was Betraying him, was standing with them. This implies that Judas had taken some step equivalent to that described in the synoptic narrative. There is some momentary consolation in the thought that the traitor fell to the ground with his gang, and for an instant saw the transcendent crime he had committed in betraying the innocent blood with the kiss of treachery and shame. Thoma sees in the approximation of Judas the approach of the prophetic Beast to the true King, and endeavors out of the letters of his name to read the number 666! It is true that Joh_13:27 represents Satan as having entered into Judas. He stood there, he fell there, with the powers of darkness. What a moment: The devil may have tempted Christ to blast his emissaries with the breath of his nostrils; but, true to his sublime mission, he is occupied only with the safety and future work of those who knew that he had come out from God.

Joh_18:7, Joh_18:8

Again then ( οὖν , regarding all the conditions, the cup, the cross, the blood-baptism, the supreme will, all are at stake) he asked them, Whom seek ye? Then, restored from their fright and spasm of conscience, produced by the presence of One whom no fetters, not even those of death itself, could bind, and reassured now by the same voice (cf. Dan_10:10; Rev_1:17), they reply, Jesus the Nazarene. He thus compels them to limit their design, and to single himself out for the malice and devilish plot of their masters. I told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, suffer these to depart. There is much in this that lies beneath the surface.

(1) There is an explanation of the miraculous blast which had a few moments before rolled them at his feet. They will not dare to disobey him. What may he not do, if they proceed to arrest the disciples?

(2) The disciples are discharged from the immediate function of suffering and death. They were in imminent danger, as is conspicuous from the fleeing youth, and from the language of the bystanders subsequently to Peter; but their hour was not yet come.

(3) He would tread the winepress alone. They were none who could go with him into this terrible conflict (of. "Ye shall leave me alone; yet not alone").

Joh_18:9

But John found

(4) a deeper reason still. He said this in order that the word which he spake an hour or two before might be fulfilled, not finally exhausted in its unfathomable depth, but gloriously illustrated, Concerning those whom thou hast given me, not one of them I lost. This is a proof, as recognized by De Wette and others, that the evangelist was quoting exact words of the Master, not words which he had theologically attributed to him. The temporal safety of the disciples was a means on that dread night of saving their souls from death, as well as their bodies from torture or destruction. "Christ," says Calvin, "continually bears with our weakness when he puts himself forward to repel so many attacks of Satan and wicked men, because he sees that we are not yet able or prepared for them. In short, he never brings his people into the field of battle till they have been fully trained, so that in perishing they do not perish, because there is gain provided for them both in death and in life." The reference of the apostle to Joh_17:12 is, moreover, also one of the numerous proofs which the Gospel itself supplies, that great, Heaven-taught as the apostle was, he stands, with all his inspiration, far below, at least on a different plane, from that occupied by the Lord. His occasional interjections and explanations of his Master's words calmer be put on the same level with the words themselves. Even Reuss finds here a reason for holding the authenticity of many at least of the sayings themselves, while refusing to accept the genuineness of the Gospel as a whole ('Theologic Johannique,' in loco).

Joh_18:10

Then Simon Peter. The other evangelists simply tell us that one of the number of the disciples performed the following act. The οὖν here is introduced between Simon and Peter, as if to imply that it was not merely Simon son of Jonas, but Simon the Rock, the man of mighty impulsive passion, ready, as he said a few hours since, to go with his Master to prison and to death. The name and identification of Peter with the brave man who struck at least one blow for his Master, is a proof, not of John's animosity against Peter, or any desire to humble him, but rather to exalt him. The extraordinary concomitance of this act with all the other delineations of Peter's character is another undesigned hint of the authenticity of the narrative. Simon Peter, then, having a sword. Here we see the unintentional agreement with the synoptic narrative (Luk_22:38). Nothing would be less likely than that Peter should have a sword at his disposal; i.e. judging from the Johannine narrative. The Gospel of Luke explains it. Having a sword, he drew it, and smote the slave (not one of the ὑπηρέται , but the δοῦλος , body-servant) of the high priest, and eat off his right ear.^£ The slave, in receiving such a wound, must have been in fearful danger of his life. The reference to the right ear, mentioned also by Luke (Luk_22:50), is noteworthy. Now the name of the slave was Malchus. Here the eye-witness, not the theologian, nor the dramatist, reveals his hand. Thoma sees, however, the fulfillment of prophetic outline, and a reference to the kings and chief captains, the Malchuses and chiliarchs, that are ultimately to flee before him. The subsequently mentioned circumstance (verse 15) that the evangelist was "known to the high priest," explains this recovery of an otherwise valueless name. The instant when Peter cried, "Shall we smite with the sword?" was most opportune. For the moment Peter felt that the whole band could be discomfited by a bold stroke. Christ with his word, the brave-hearted apostle with his weapon, could scatter all the foes of the Lord. As on so many other occasions, Peter gives advice to the Master, only to find himself in grievous mistake.

Joh_18:11

In Christ's reply there is no mention made of the miracle which followed, and yet the narrative is incomplete without it. Something must have restrained the baud and the high priest's own temple-watch from at once arresting Peter, if not the entire group. The characteristic touch, descriptive of our Lord's most Divine compassion, is in itself valuable, but it also accounts for the immunity of Peter. The solemn rebuke of Peter is full of Divine meaning, and is another link with the synoptic narrative of the agony. "Put up," or more literally, Cast the ^{£ sword into its sheath; or into its hiding-place; bury it away (
τόπος
is used in Matthew). Matthew adds a memorable saying, but is silent as to the deep Divine reason of the submission of our Lord to his fate. The cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? This imagery recalls the Passion, through which we learn from the synoptists that our Lord had passed into a Divine patience and submission to the will of God (Mat_20:22; Mat_26:39). The use of this most remarkable phraseology recalls that which John too had heard from his lips in the sweat of his agony, and of which he and Peter were the principal witnesses. The supplementary character of the Gospel, though by no means sufficient to account for all the omissions and additions of this narrative, yet does explain very much. "Jesus is now of his own accord at the disposal of his enemies; his words have put a stop to all further steps taken for his defense" (Moulton).

Joh_18:12-27

(2) The preliminary examination before Annas, interwoven with the weakness and treachery of Peter. This passage describes the first steps taken by the enemies of our Lord to conduct the examination which was to issue in a judicial murder, and therefore to provide the basis on which the charge might be laid before Pilate and that Roman court, which alone could carry into execution the malicious conclusion on which they had already resolved. Moreover, tiffs passage is interwoven with the melancholy record of the fall of Peter. There are grave difficulties in the passage, which have led to harsh judgment on the narrative itself and on its general truthful ness. Keim almost angrily dismisses it, and Strauss endeavors to show that it is incompatible with the synoptic narrative; while Renan, on the other hand, sees in it numerous lifelike touches and great circumstantial value. The prima facie objection is that John describes a preliminary examination before Annas, whom he confounds with the high priest, and says nothing of the judicial trial before the Sanhedrin under the presidency of Caiaphas. Baur and Strauss supposed that the author did this in order to exaggerate the guilt of the Jews by doubling their unbelief, and aggravating their offence by making two high priests rather than one condemn their Messiah. In reply to this we have simply to say that John, though he shows the animus of both these notorious men, does not mention the judicial condemnation pronounced by either (see Weiss, 3.334, Eng. trans.). The omission of the sublime answer of our Lord to the challenge of Caiaphas and others is surely profoundly contradictory to the supposed theological purpose of the writer; and we can only account for its omission on the ground that the synoptic tradition had made it widely known, and that that tradition still needed correction by the record of important supplementary matter. Some harmonists have endeavored to transpose verse 24 into close proximity with verse 13, or to give, as the Authorized version does, a pluperfect meaning to
ἀπέστειλε
of verse 24, the effect of which is to make the two examinations virtually one, but one from which John leaves out the most striking features. This is supposed to be necessitated by the verses 19-23, where the "high priest" is said to have interrogated Jesus. Moreover, the supposition of there being a considerable space in the city between the house of Annas and the palace of the high priest Caiaphas renders the harmony of the narratives touching the denials of Peter inextricably confused, seeing that, according to the synoptic narrative, they occurred in the court of Caiaphas, while in John they apparently were made in the court of Annas. This difficulty is entirely met by the natural suppositions arising out of the relations of these two men. Annas (Hanan, Ananias, Ananus) was a man of great capacity and exclusiveness, charged with fiery passions and bitter hatred of the Pharisaic party. He was appointed high priest in A.D. 7, by Quirinus, Governor of Syria; in A.D. 14 he was compelled to retire in favor of his son Ishmael. After him followed Eleazar, and in A.D. 25 Joseph Caiaphas, his son-in-law, was appointed, and this man held the office till A.D. 37. Three other sons of Annas held the like position, and it was during the high priesthood of one bearing his father's name (Ananus) that James the Just was cruelly murdered (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 20:8. 1). The influence of the old priest throughout the entire period covered by New Testament narrative was very great. Luke (Luk_3:2) speaks of Annas and Caiaphas as high priests, and Annas is again in Act_4:6 spoken of as high priest. John never speaks of him as "high priest," unless he must be held to do so in this passage. Our most thoughtful commentators differ on the point whether John does not so designate him (verse 19), adopting the well-known usage of Luke, which gave him the title of high priest. The evangelic narrative reveals, however, quite enough to explain that he may have been at the heart of the antagonism to Jesus, have aided Caiaphas with his suggestions, and consented to conduct a preliminary midnight investigation which would give at least a semblance of legal sanction to the condemnation, which, between them, they would be able to secure as soon as the day dawned. In tract 'Sanhedrin,' Mishna, Joh_4:1 and Joh_5:5, we learn that, though an acquittal of a prisoner or accused person might be pronounced on the day of trial, yet a capital sentence must be delayed till the following day. As this trial must be brought at once to a termination, such an investigation as that which John describes would furnish the necessary validity. Moreover, some hours must have elapsed before the Sanhedrim under the legal superintendence of Caiaphas, could have assembled. Now, the domestic relation of Annas and Caiaphas would make it highly probable that the hall of the Sanhedrin and the house of Annas were on different sides of the same great court of the palace, and that one court,
αὐλή
, sufficed for both. With these preliminaries, let us proceed with the narrative as given by John. The frivolous supposition of Thoma, that the author of this Gospel was playing upon the idea of the beast (Judas) and the false prophet, and on the five brothers of the rich man of Luke's parable, is allowed to disfigure this writer's treatment of the introduction of the part taken by Hanan, or Annas, in the Passion-tragedy.

Joh_18:12-14

Οὖν
, Therefore—i.e. since no further resistance was made by Jesus—the band (or cohort), which here takes the lead, and the captain of it, and the officers of the Jews in association with each other, took Jesus, and bound him, as sign that he was their prisoner, and to prevent escape until he should be in safe keeping. It is probable that the binding process was repeated by Annas and again by Caiaphas (Joh_18:24 and Mat_27:2), implying that during judicial examination the cordage was taken off, and reimposed when the accused was sent from one court to another; or else that additional bonds were placed upon him, for the sake either of greater security or of inflicting indignity. Christ, by accepting the indignity publicly, yielded his holy will, confessing the supreme ordinance of the Father as to the method in which he would now glorify him. And they led (him)^£ to Annas first. The mention of the word "first" shows that John discriminated between the two legal processes, the first being a preliminary examination of the accused, with the view of extracting from him some matter which should furnish the priests with definite charges, and to make a show of partial conformity with the customs of their own jurisprudence. He was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that same year. John's reiteration of this statement (see Joh_11:49 and note) shows that he was in no ignorance of the custom and principle of high-priestly succession, which the Romans had treated so arbitrarily. "That same year" was the awful year in which the Christ was sacrificed to the willful ignorance, malice, and unbelief of the Jews. Now Caiaphas was he who counseled the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die^{£ for the people (see Joh_11:50, Joh_11:51); and while John leaves no doubt who is the virtual high priest, he calls attention to the fact that Jesus had no justice or mercy to expect from the decision of his judge, and also reminds his readers once more of the significance of every step in this tragedy.

Joh_18:15

Now. After the first dispersion of all the disciples, two of them gathered up their courage. Simon Peter was following Jesus "afar off" (say all the synoptists), "even up to"
εὤς
, the court of the high priest". The account of Matthew implies that, having come up to the door, he went
ἔσω
, and sat down to see the end; he does not say how he was admitted, though, by the use of the two prepositions, he implies there was a cause. And also another^£ disciple: but that disciple was known to the high priest, and therefore to the officials, and went fix with Jesus into (
εἰς τὴν
, right within) the court of the high priest; for he was well known to be, and from the first did not pretend to be anything else than, one of the disciples of Jesus. From the known habit of the evangelist in other places, the vast majority of commentators at once conclude that the writer designates himself by this reference. Godet and Watkins are disposed to question it, and imagine that it may have been the author's brother James. With the absence of the article before
ἄλλος
, the matter is left in doubt. But by this supposition much of the justification is lost, which the writer of the Gospel quietly supplies, touching his own ability to describe what otherwise would never have entered into the evangelic narrative. The supposition we have made above, that Annas and Caiaphas occupied the same palace, or different portions of the same edifice, solves the chief difficulty. Annas held his preliminary unofficial inquiry in his department of the building. The difficult question arises whether Annas was assisted or not by the reigning "high priest" in conducting this examination (see verse 19).

Joh_18:16, Joh_18:17

But Peter was standing at the door without. Up to this moment Peter had only pressed as far as to the outer door; the other disciple had gone bravely in. The hum of voices was now deadened by the closed door dividing Peter from his Lord. The height, the cold, the strange blighting of all his expectations, the necessary conviction forced upon him that he had implicated himself by the assault he had delivered on the servant of the high priest, combined to induce a new and desponding mood. All hope had fled. Then John bethought him of the condition of his friend, and so we read that the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, therefore went out to the entrance-door, and finding Peter there, spake to her who kept the door (cf. Act_12:13). His appeal may easily be supplied—and he brought in Peter. The other evangelists imply that before Peter was challenged the fire of coals had been lighted, and that the apostle, with the servants and with the rest of the group who had apprehended Jesus gathered round it. He placed himself as if he were an unconcerned spectator, identified himself, as it were, rather with the captors than with the Lord; nor is the narrative of John inconsistent with the synoptic statement. In verse 18 the incident is certainly introduced by the writer after he mentioned the challenge. Still, he states it as a condition of the denial rather than as a subsequent event. Matthew describes his position as "without, in the court," not in the audience-chamber, but in a court opening "upon" it or "above" it, as Mark (Mar_14:66) implies. Luke tells us he was "sitting m the midst of the court," with the glow of the burning charcoal on his face, "he was
πρὸς τὸ φῶς
," where the maiden might see him more attentively than when she hurriedly admitted him. "The other disciple" had moved swiftly on to some corner where he could see and hear all that was happening to the Master. But Peter's first step downwards had been already inwardly taken. Before he had verbally denied his Lord, he had acted as though he were indifferent to the result (see Hanna's 'Last Day of our Lord's Passion,' Joh_2:1-25.). Matthew's and Mark's accounts represent Peter's first and other denials as taking place after the mockery of Jesus that followed upon his great confession of Messiahship. Luke places them all three together before the formal examination or confession, and before the judicial condemnation. John's account throws much needed light upon the synoptic narrative, which is more inconsistent with itself than with that of the Fourth Gospel. Matthew's method of putting together into connected concurrent groups miracles, events, sayings, or parables which are allied to each other, will explain the substantially identical report contained in his and Mark's Gospels. There are with all differences some remarkable coincidences.

(1) All four accounts describe our Lord's prediction of Peter's denial.

(2) All four evangelists agree to represent the first temptation as proceeding from "a certain maiden," "one of the maids of the high priest," or "a damsel." John's Gospel explains the point by saying, the maid who kept the door (
ἡ θυρωρός
) said therefore, seeing she had admitted him, not in the rush of the other servants, but at the request of "the other disciple"—considerable meaning is thus put into her words, which is lost in the synoptists by lack of the hint already given By John—Art thou, as well as my acquaintance yonder, also one of this Man's disciples? He saith, I am not. The other evangelists amplify this negative in various ways. Mark, the reporter of Peter's own preaching, aggravates throughout the heinousness of Peter's fall, adding, "He denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest." His position was sufficiently taken, and he thought to have established for himself a perfect incognito.

Joh_18:18

The
εἰστήκεισαν δὲ
implies the conditions under which the first fearful fall of Peter was accomplished. Now the servants and the officers were standing^£ (imperfect tense), having made (
πεποιηκότες
, perfect participle) a fire of coals (
ἀνθρακιάν
), congeries prunarum ardentium (cf. Joh_21:9; Ecc_11:1-10 :32, "a glowing fire;" Aquila, Psa_120:4), because it was cold: and Peter ^£ was standing with them, standing and warming himself. The whole construction of the sentence implies that this was how matters stood while the examination was going on to which John then reverts. The synoptists know or say nothing of this first examination, which bears upon it strong marks of authenticity.

Joh_18:19

The
οὖν
connects the following incident with the thirteenth and fourteenth verses. The high priest. Hengstenberg, Godet, and Westcott here say that the high priest is Caiaphas, present i.e. at the examination over which Annas presides as the older man; but Renan, Meyer, Lange, Steinmeyer ('Passion and Resurrection History'), and Moulton, with many others, say Annas was here the high priest in question. Tholuck dismisses the idea of Annas altogether, and, by inverting the place of Joh_18:24 or treating the
ἀπεστείλε
as pluperfect, suppose that Annas had sent the Lord to Caiaphas (so Calvin, De Wette, Hase, and others), who thus commenced his interrogatory. But the text of Joh_18:24, now recovered, will not admit of this rendering. We find it far more satisfactory to accept this less formal examination, under the presidency of Annas, at which an attempt is made to put the Lord, if possible, to a test which will incriminate him. Keim says, "If Caiaphas were the acting high priest, and at the same time the soul of the movement against Jesus, it was for him and not for his father-in-law to take knowledge of the matter and report to the Sanhedrin." We must choose between two difficulties:

(1) Caiaphas is first spoken of as "high priest," who, as we know from the synoptists, conducted the examination-in-chief, and then that Annas, as conducting a preliminary examination, is also styled "high priest" without any explanation;

(2) or we must admit the supposition that after Caiaphas had asked these incriminating questions, Annas (who was not
ἀρχιερεὺς
), sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas the high priest. The former hypothesis is the easier. The high priest then asked Jesus concerning his disciples, the extent of his following, the number of his accomplices, the ramifications of the society or kingdom he professed to have founded, and concerning his doctrine, the secret teachings that held his followers together. He evidently knows the claims of Jesus well enough; his spies and officers have continually been dogging the steps of Jesus, and hitherto he has failed to gain evidence positively incriminating him. And as his representatives a few days ago were utterly foiled, notwithstanding their clever design, he hopes by his own ingenuity to entrap the Lord in his talk. Our Lord, anxious not to endanger his disciples, points to the publicity of his ministry, and appeals to all and sundry who have heard him.

Joh_18:20

Jesus answered him, I have frankly (so Meyer, Lange; not "openly," but boldly, with freedom of speech) spoken ^£ to the world. Without reserving any of the essentials of my teaching, always I taught in ^{£ synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort and come together; and in secret spake I nothing, which they were not bidden to proclaim upon the housetops. Christ here repudiates esoteric teaching distinct from his abundant public ministry. It is true he explained his parables to his disciples, and he had within the last few hours poured forth the depth of his feelings upon them; still, he had said the same things virtually in the synagogues, on the hillside, in the temple, in the hearing of Greek as well as Jew. Much of that which he had just said in the upper chamber, hundreds and thousands had already heard. This great utterance accounts for the fact that St. Paul had received, long before the Fourth Gospel was written, truth allied to the teaching of the upper chamber.

Joh_18:21

Why askest thou me? If thou wantest evidence touching my design, my disciples, or my teaching, ask, interrogate, ^{£ those who have heard me, what I have said to them. Lo, these (pointing to numbers in the angry crowd around him) know what I spake unto them (the
ἐγώ
at the end of this sentence is very emphatic). Christ thus rebukes the craftiness and hypocritical endeavor of his enemies to induce him to inculpate his disciples, or to give his prosecutors matter against him. To false witnesses he preserved an invincible silence, and before Caiaphas and Pilate he answered to many of their queries not a single word, insomuch that these governors marveled greatly. However, the case was altered when Caiaphas, in full Sanhedrin, officially challenged him to say whether he was the Christ, and adjured him to declare whether he was the Son of God. Then, on the most public scale, knowing well the issues of his declaration, and of his oath-bound word, he did not hesitate to confess that he was the Son of God, and would come in the glory of his Father, and that he was no less than the Christ of God. On the present occasion, when Annas was seeking to justify his own craft, and to utilize the disgraceful betrayal which he had diplomatically and cruelly contrived, Jesus refused to incriminate either himself or his disciples. Renan has the temerity to say that this great announcement was quite superfluous, and probably was never made. Any conclusion whatever may be derived from historical documents, if such liberties may be taken with impunity.

Joh_18:22

And when he had said these things, one ^£ of the officers standing by, anxious to win with his officious zeal the approval of his master, gave Jesus a
ῥάπισμα
. (Meyer says it cannot be settled whether this word means a stroke with a rod (as Godet, Bengel) or a blow on the cheek or ear, which was the current punishment for a word supposed to be insolent; but
δέρεις
of Joh_18:23, which means "to flay," implies a more severe punishment than a blow on the face with the hand.) This is the beginning of the coarse and terrible mockery which was the lot of the sublime Sufferer through the remaining hours of the awful day which is now dawning on him. Saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?

Joh_18:23

Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, come forward as a witness of the evil which thou hast heard. Thus he took no notice of the charge brought against him. But if I have spoken well, why smitest thou me? A quiet appeal to the conscience of the wretched upstart who dared to insult the Lord of glory. It is thus that the Lord explained the spirit of his own injunction, "Whosoever shall smite thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also" (Mat_5:39). Nothing was gained by this private interrogatory except an appeal to the outside world of his hearers, and a call for testimony; and no decision could be legally taken against him without incriminating evidence. Dr. Farrar ('Life of Christ') has pointed out with great force that the chief priests and Pharisees, from their intestine animosities, had great difficulty in formulating any specific charge. The Pharisaic ratty, if they made a point of his doctrine and practice concerning the sabbath, would have been foiled by the Sadducean latitudinarians; and the priests did not dare to call in question his imperial cleansing of the temple, knowing that the Pharisees would immediately have justified the act. Consequently, Arums limited his inquiries to the supposed esoteric character of some private teachings to his initiated disciples—a charge that was refuted by the continual publicity and openness of all his teaching.

Joh_18:24

The
οὖν ^£ is quite in John's style, and the verse should read, Annas therefore sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest; i.e. to the full court of the Sanhedrin, under the presidency of Caiaphas, now got together for the judicial sifting and verdict. If John had intended a pluperfect sense to be given to the verb, why not use that tense? The relative clauses, where the aorist is used for the pluperfect, are not relevant here (Meyer). In other cases the context clearly reveals the occasion of such a sense (see Mat_16:5; Mat_26:48). John is not unaware of the momentous consequences of this act of Annas, seeing that he refers to them, nor of the fact of the accusation made by the false witnesses, nor of the judicial condemnation which followed Christ's own claim to be the Son of God. The subsequent narrative implies such condemnation (verses 29, 30, 35; Joh_19:11). The author of this narrative does not ignore the fact of the appearance before Caiaphas, nor the issue; but in consequence of the wide diffusion of the synoptic Gospels, he merely called attention to the facts which they had omitted so far as they bore directly on the human character of the Lord. The theological bias with which the evangelist is credited by some would be strangely subserved both by the omission of the scene before Caiaphas, and by the faithful record of this purely human and beautiful trait in the personal character of Jesus. The fact that the fourth evangelist should have recorded facts of which he was eye-witness, and omitted others which would have forcibly sustained his main thesis, is an invincible evidence of historicity.

Joh_18:25

Ἠν δέ
. In startling contrast to this scene, and while Annas had completed his bad-hearted but foiled inquisition, possibly even while our Lord was being transferred from the one court to the other—an event which provided an opportunity for the searching, loving, compassionate glance which broke Peter's heart—the second and third denials of Peter were also being enacted. Now Simon Peter, who had been challenged by the doorkeeper, was standing and warming himself (a form of verbal construction of auxiliary verb with participle to which John is addicted, and especially in those portions of his Gospel which represent his personal composition; Joh_1:6, Joh_1:9, Joh_1:24, Joh_1:27; Joh_3:24, Joh_3:27)—"standing," not "sitting," as Luke describes his position at the first denial, having, we might suppose, impetuously changed his position. They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of his disciples? This sentence of John really gathers up another moment of Peter's terrible fall, variously and even discrepantly put by the synoptic narrative, and is virtually accordant with them all three. According to Matthew "another maid," according to Mark "the maid" who had first challenged him, returned to the assault. Nothing more likely than that what was said by one woman should be eagerly taken up by another, and therefore that both statements are true. Luke, however, describes the event thus:
ἑτερος
, "another man" (perhaps "a different person") saw him and said, "Thou art one of them." John's statement embraces the substance of all three statements, "They said unto him." The general resemblance of the second charge brought against the apostle, as stated by all four evangelists, is remarkable. The different personages by whose lips the charge was urged can best be explained by the occurrence of simultaneous and widely spreading conviction, instead of an unnecessary multiplication of the denials themselves. Matthew and Mark represent Peter as overhearing the conversation of the maids with those who were there (
ἐκεῖ
), showing the obvious occasion for some eager
ἕτερος
to take up their statement as an accusation. The difficulty of place is not so easily resolved, for Matthew and Mark speak of the "gate,"
πυλών
, or
προαύλιον
, "porch," outer hall of the court, and John of the fire where Peter first sat in apparent unconcern. We do not know how near the fire was to the
πυλών
, whether it was not indeed between the
θύρα
and the
πυλών
, in the
προαύλιον
^£. According to Matthew he was moving towards the
πυλών
, probably in the stir of the procession from the house of Annas to the court of Caiaphas. The four evangelists agree in the declaration made by Peter. He denied, and said, I am not; i.e. I am not one of the disciples concerning whom Annas asks. "I do not know the Man."

Joh_18:26, Joh_18:27

Between the second and third denials some time elapsed. Thus according to Matthew and Mark "after a little while," according to Luke "about the space of one hour after," an effort was made to identify Peter by. some sign of his association with Jesus. All the synoptists re. present it as turning on his provincial, Galilaean, speech, but John gives a closer point of identification. There were thousands of Galilaeans in Jerusalem, and this was a feeble ground of proof, though it may have corroborated the suspicion of the maidens and others, that Peter was an accomplice of the hated Nazarene; but the charge came home in terrible earnest and verisimilitude as recorded by John. His account is far more lifelike, forcible, and circumstantial. The fourth evangelist says, One of the servants (
δουλῶν
) of the high priest, being a kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off, says, Did I not see thee in the garden with him? The historically attested fact gave the lie to Peter's previous assertions. Clearly he was seen and recognized and in imminent peril, and he is now more vehement than ever. Matthew and Mark tell, "tie began to curse and swear, saying, I do not know the Man." John, with less feeling of reproach, says, Peter therefore denied again. The intercessory prayer, the solemn warning, the agony in the garden, above all, the following of the sublime encouragements by this fearful failure, the ignominious binding and rude indignity offered to the Man who had claimed to be the vicegerent and Image and Glory of the Father, combined to shatter Peter's courage, though it did not annihilate his faith (see Steinmeyer and Weiss). The Lord had prayed that his faith should not fail. He was sifted as wheat, but the apostle knew, even in the depths of his shame, that he was a poltroon and coward, and that the Lord was everything he said he was. But meanwhile he denied again, tie kept up with his violence of language, his hypocritical denial of his own faith—and straightway the cock crew. Mark, who had made the prediction of our Lord cover a twofold cockcrowing, records the twofold fulfillment; John, who in Joh_13:38 had given the prediction "before the cock crow," here shows how Peter must have been reminded of his Lord's preternatural knowledge and forecast. So that, though John does not mention the repentance, he refers to the well-known occasion of it, and, moreover, shows more forcibly than either of the synoptists the extraordinary tenderness of the risen and reconciled Lord to his erring and cowardly disciple. Some extreme harmonists have spread out the fault of Peter into nine distinct acts of treachery; others have reduced them to seven or eight. M'Clellan, in a powerful note, urges that there were "twice three," or six distinct denials. Matthew and Mark report three denials while the trial before Caiaphas was going on; these are, according to M'Clellan, entirely distinct from John's "first denial," which preceded even the lighting of the fire. Nor does he allow that Luke's first denial, "sitting at the fire," can coincide with John's "second denial," which must also have preceded that which Luke gives as the first, and that John's "third denial" is distinct again from Matthew's third, Mark's third, and Luke's third. Thus he makes John's account entirely supplementary to the synoptists. Peter may have used a variety of expressions on each occasion, and each challenge may have been accompanied by some features not especially noted as to posture or place, but the arrangement adopted in the text represents a threefold assault upon the apostle, which had three crises of intensity and terrible result. Taking Matthew and Mark as virtually identical, Luke's account as a separate tradition with reference to the second denial, and agreeing with Matthew and Mark in the third, and in his first with John's second, we have three denials once more following the prediction. John's account, whether distinct or not from the other two records, bears the same relation to our Lord's previous announcement that the synoptists' do to theirs, and shows that in no quarter was there a general belief in more than three virtual acts of apostasy. Mark alone mentions a twofold warning from the cock, one after the first denial, and on Peter's going out to the
προαύλιον
, or the enclosure, i.e. between the
πυλών
and the
θύρα
, and again after the third denial. M'Clellan and others find a threefold denial before each crowing of the cock.

Certainly John has omitted the entire scene detailed by the synoptists in the hail of Caiaphas, viz. the calling of the witnesses; the lack of harmony in the false witnesses; the adjuration of Caiaphas; the wondrous confession of the persecuted and bound Sufferer; the verdict pronounced against him, on the part of all assembled, that he was guilty of death; the first cruel mockery; and the very early assembly of the entire Sanhedrin—all the chief priests (
πάντες οἱ

αρχιερείς
) and. elders of the people. The synoptists assure us that the object of this council—which was probably held in the celebrated chamber of the temple appropriated for the purpose—was to adopt the most suitable measures for immediately carrying their unanimous judgment into effect. As we shall see shortly, John is perfectly aware of such a measure having been taken (see not only verse 31, but Joh_11:47, etc.). Nevertheless, he passes on at once to the legal and civil trial before the Roman proprietor.

This is not the place to discuss the twofold trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Derembourg, Farrar, and Westcott suppose that the first demands of the high priest, as to whether he was the Christ, as given by Matthew and Mark, were different from the scene described by Luke, where he claimed
ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν
to be seated on the right hand of the power of God, and suppose that this last was the occasion, when the verdict was given by the Sanhedrin in full session, not in the palace of the high priest, but in the "Gazith," or possibly in the "Booths of Hanan," on the Mount of Olives. Luke clearly discriminates between
οἶκος τοῦ

ἀρχιερέως
(Luk_22:54), and the
συνέδριον αὐτῶν
of verse 66.

Joh_18:28

Joh_19:16.—(3) The Roman trial, presupposing the decision of the Sanhedrin.

Joh_18:28-32

(a) [Without the Praetorium.] Pilate extorts the malign intention of the Jews, and dares them to disobey Roman law.

Joh_18:28

Then they lead Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium—to the imperial palace of the Roman governor. The word is used primarily for the general's tent in the Roman camps, and for the legal residence of the chief of a province. Now, the ordinary residence of the Roman governors was at Caesarea, but at the time of the great feasts they were in the habit of going up to Jerusalem, and at a later time than this (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 2.14. 8; 15.5) the governors utilized for this purpose the former palace of Herod, a gorgeous residence in the upper city. It is, however, more probable that Pilate occupied the palace of the Castle of Antonia, overlooking the northwest corner of the temple area, and having means of direct communication with it. Edersheim inclines to the palace of Herod. From the high-priestly palace to the castle they led Jesus. And it was early. [In Mat_14:25 and Mar_13:35
πρωΐ́
is equivalent to the fourth watch of the night, between three and six o'clock. The breadth of the phrase would cover the period of the hurried council and the session of Pilate. The Roman judgments were often conducted in early morning (Seneca, 'De Ira,' 2.7)—prima luce.] The council having in their indecent haste conveyed Jesus to the Praetorium, while (and ^£) they themselves went not into the Praetorium,^£ lest they should be defiled (
μιαίνω
, the solemn word for "profane" in Plato, Sophocles, and the LXX.). This defilement by entrance into the house of a Gentile was not an enactment of the Law, but was a purely rabbinic observance; 'Zeitschrift fur die gesammte Luth. Theol.'). We find it operative in Act_10:28, and thus a hint given not merely of the author's knowledge of the inner life of Judaism, but of his quiet recognition of the stupendous spectacle of malicious ritualism, and of unscrupulous antagonism to the Holiest One, busying itself about attention to the letter of that which was only a rabbinic legislation. But^{£ might eat the Passover. Here in this passage we come once more face to face with the persistent puzzle occasioned by the divergent intimations of John and the synoptists as to the day of our Lord's death. In Mat_26:17 and Mar_14:12-14 this very phrase is used for the preparation of that Paschal supper which our Lord celebrated with his disciples. So that we have at any rate a discordant verbal usage, however the problem be solved. The day is breaking, which constitutes, according to John (prima facie), the 14th of Nisan, in the evening of which and commencement of the 15th the Passover would be killed. According to the synoptists, that Passover meal was already over, and the first great day of the feast had commenced—the day of convocation, with sabbatic functions and duties. The statements are apparently in hopeless variance. Many emphasize, exaggerate, and declare insoluble the contradiction, repudiating either the authority of John or that of the synoptists. Meyer and Lucke give their verdict with John, the eye-witness, as against the synoptic tradition. Strauss and Keim, who also hold the invincible discrepancy, lift the synoptic account to a comparatively high state of historic validity, and thereby discredit the authenticity of the Fourth Gospel. We have two methods of reconcili}}}}}