FIRST SECTION: 18:1-11. THE ARREST OF JESUS. John omits here the account of the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane; but he clearly assigns to this fact its place by these words of John 18:1: _where there_ _was a garden into which he entered._ In reading these words, no Christian, in possession of the firs... [ Continue Reading ]
FOURTH PART: THE PASSION. 18:1-19:42. The intention of the evangelist, in the following narrative, is certainly not to give a narration as complete as possible of the Passion, as if no narrative of this event existed side by side with his own. The most pronounced adversaries of the authenticity of o... [ Continue Reading ]
The arrival of the band. “ _After having said these things, Jesus went out with his disciples beyond the brook Cedron_, _where there was a garden, into which he entered as well as his disciples._ 2. _Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew this place, because Jesus had often met there with his discip... [ Continue Reading ]
The meeting of Jesus with the band. “ _Jesus therefore_, _knowing all that which was to come upon him, went forth and says to them:Whom are you seeking for?_ 5. _They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus says to_ _them, I am he. Now Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing among them._ 6. _When... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter's attempt at defence. “ _Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high-priest's servant and cut off his right ear.The servant was named Malchus._ 11. _Jesus therefore said to Peter, Put up the sword into the sheath; shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given me to drin... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The cohort and the tribune and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus, therefore, and bound him_, 13, _and they led him first to Annas; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high-priest of that year._ 14. _Caiaphas was he who had given this counsel to the Jews: that it was expedient that o... [ Continue Reading ]
I. THE TRIAL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM: 18:12-27. The following section contains the account of an appearance of Jesus in the house of Annas, the ex-high-priest, an account with which that of the denial of St. Peter is, as it were, interlaced. But this appearance is not mentioned in the Synoptics. On th... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Now Simon Peter followed Jesus, as well as another disciple, and that disciple was known to the high-priest, and he entered in with Jesus into the court of the high-priest._ 16. _And Peter was standing without at the door; the other disciple, who was known to the high-priest_, _went out therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The high-priest therefore asked Jesus concerning his disciples and his doctrine._ 20. _Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in open synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together, and I have said nothing in secret._ 21. _Why askest thou me?Ask... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _When he had said this, one of the officers, who was at his side, struck him with a rod, saying, Answerest thou the high-priest so?_ 23. _Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if I have spoken well, why dost thou smite me?_ ” The answer of Jesus certainly contai... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 24. “ _Annas therefore sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high- priest._ ” This verse has always perplexed those who have held that at John 18:15 Jesus was led to the house of Caiaphas, and that the session which John has just described is the great session of the Sanhedrim, which is related by th... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied and said, I am not._ 26. _One of the servants of the high-priest, a kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off, says to him, Did I not see thee in the garden with him?_ 27.... [ Continue Reading ]
II. THE TRIAL BEFORE PILATE: 18:28-19:16. Had the Romans, in making Judea a province of the empire, taken away from the Jews the right of capital punishment? Our narrative affirms this positively by putting in the mouths of the latter the words (John 18:31): “ _It is not permitted us to put any one... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 28. “ _They lead Jesus therefore from Caiaphas to the Praetorium. Now it was early. And they did not themselves enter into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover._ ” The _Praetorium_ was at Rome the place where the praetor sat when he administered j... [ Continue Reading ]
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. Vv. 28-40. The bearing of John 18:28 on the question as to whether Jesus died on the 14th or the 15th of the month Nisan, and, in connection with this, whether the Lord's Supper was instituted on the evening of the Jewish Passover supper, is dependent on whet... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Pilate therefore went out to them and said_, _What accusation do you bring against this man?_ 30. _They answered him, saying, If he were not an evil doer_, _we should not have delivered him to thee._ 31. _Pilate therefore said to them, Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law. Whe... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Pilate entered again therefore into the Praetorium, and he called Jesus and said to him, Art thou the king of the Jews?_ 34. _Jesus answered him:Sayest thou this of thyself_, _or did others tell it thee of me?_ 35. _Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivere... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence._ 37. _Thereupon Pilate said to him, Art thou a king, then? Jesus answered him, Thou sayest it; I am a k... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 38. “ _Pilate says to him, What is truth? And after he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and says to them, As for me, I find no crime in him._ ” Pilate's exclamation is neither the expression of a soul eager for the truth (the Fathers), nor that of a heart in despair, which has long... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But you have a custom that I should release unto you a prisoner at the Passover feast. Will you therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews?_ 40. _They all cried out therefore again_, _saying, Not this man, but Barabbas! Now Barabbas was a robber._ ” In the very brief narrative of John... [ Continue Reading ]