NIV Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 65
page 1841
18:11
uMt 20:22
18:12
vver 3
18:13
wver 24; Mt 26:3
18:14
11:4951
xJn
18:15
26:3
26:58; Mk 14:54;
Lk 22:54
yMt
zMt
18:17
25
aver
18:18
bJn 21:9
cMk 14:54,67
18:20
4:23
26:55
fJn 7:26
dMt
eMt
18:22
gver 3
hMt 16:21; Jn 19:3
18:23
iMt 5:39; Ac 23:25
18:24
13; Mt 26:3
jver
•
J ohn 1 8 : 2 4
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant,
cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your s
word away! S
hall I not d
rink the cup u the Father
has given me?”
Annas Questions Jesus (225 )
12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials v arrest
ed Jesus. They bound him 13and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of
Caiaphas, w the high priest that year. 14Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish
leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. x
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was
known to the high p
riest, y he went with J esus into the high p
riest’s courtyard, z 16but Peter
had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was k
nown to the high p
riest,
came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.” a
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials s
tood a
round a fire b they had made to
keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. c
19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20“I have spoken openly to the w
orld,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues d
or at the temple, e where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. f 21Why ques
tion me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials g nearby slapped him in the face. h “Is this
the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I
spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” i 24Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas j
the high priest.
18:10-11 Trying to protect Jesus, Peter pulled out a sword and wounded
the high priest’s servant. But Jesus told Peter to put away his sword and
allow God’s plan to unfold. When we face dangerous times, we can be
tempted to take matters into our own hands, to force the issue. Such
moves are not what God desires for us. Instead, we must trust God to
work out his plan. Think of it—if Peter had had his way, Jesus would not
have gone to the cross, and God’s plan of redemption would have been
thwarted. Luke records that Jesus touched the man’s ear and healed
him (Luke 22:51).
18:11 “The cup” refers to the suffering, isolation, and death that Jesus
would have to endure in order to atone for the sins of the world. In the
Old Testament, the image of a cup referred to the outpouring of God’s
wrath (see Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:18). The Father gave
Jesus this cup—not Judas, nor the Jewish leaders, nor the Romans. It
was part of his plan.
18:12-13 Jesus was immediately taken to the high priest’s residence,
even though it was the middle of the night. This gathering was illegal
and against Jewish protocol. The religious leaders were in a hurry—they
wanted to complete the execution before the Sabbath and get on with
the Passover celebration. This residence was a palace whose outer walls
enclosed a courtyard where servants and soldiers could warm themselves
around a fire.
18:13 Both Annas and Caiaphas had been high priests. Annas was Israel’s
high priest from AD 6 to 15, when he was deposed by Roman rulers.
Caiaphas, Annas’s s on-in-law, was appointed high priest from AD 18
to 36 or 37. According to Jewish law, the office of high priest was held
for life. Many Jews, therefore, still considered Annas the high priest and
still called him by that title. But although Annas retained much authority
among the Jews, Caiaphas made the final decisions.
Both Caiaphas and Annas cared more about their political ambitions
than about their responsibility to lead the people to God. Though they
were religious leaders, they had become evil. As the nation’s spiritual leaders, they should have been sensitive to God’s revelation. They should have
known that Jesus was the Messiah about whom the Scriptures spoke, and
they should have pointed the people to him. But when deceitful men and
women pursue evil plans, they want to eliminate all opposition. Instead of
honestly evaluating Jesus’ claims based on their knowledge of Scripture,
these religious leaders sought to further their own selfish ambitions and
were even willing to kill God’s Son, if that’s what it took, to do it.
18:15-16 The other disciple is probably John, the author of this Gospel.
He knew the high priest and identified himself to the girl at the door.
Because of his connections, John got himself and Peter into the courtyard.
But Peter refused to identify himself as Jesus’ follower. Peter’s experiences
in the next few hours would change his life. (For more information about
Peter, see his profile on page 1649.)
18:19-24 During the night, Jesus had a pretrial hearing before Annas
prior to being taken to Caiaphas and the entire Sanhedrin (Mark 14:53-65).
The religious leaders knew they had no grounds for charging Jesus, so
they tried to build evidence against him by using false witnesses (Mark
14:55-59).
18:22-27 We can easily blame the Sanhedrin for their injustice in condemning Jesus, but we must remember that Peter and the rest of the
disciples also contributed to Jesus’ pain by deserting and disowning him
(Matthew 26:56, 75). While most of us are not like the religious leaders,
we are all like the disciples, for all of us have been guilty of denying that
Jesus is Lord in vital areas of our lives or of keeping secret our identity
as believers in times of pressure. Don’t excuse yourself by pointing at
others whose sins seem worse than yours. Instead, come to Jesus for
forgiveness and healing.