Jesus's Crucifixion, Death, and Burial

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 19:1) Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him.

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus having been brought before Pilate to receive a sentence of death, Pilate had told the people he had found no fault in Jesus.  However, the people clamored for Jesus's crucifixion, so Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped.  It's difficult to understand Pilate's heart.  At the very least, I find him to be a very weak man.  He found no fault in Jesus, yet he let the people drive him, the Roman governor, to scourge an innocent man and deliver Him to be crucified.  John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible, suggested that he might have delivered Jesus to be scourged so that they would be satisfied with that punishment and then he could release Jesus.  This might have some basis in truth as Pilate continued to say that he found no fault in Jesus (v. 4).  However, it was the custom to first scourge the criminals they condemned to be crucified.  Whatever his reasoning, he still was morally weak for having an innocent man scourged.

(2) And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. (3) And said, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands.

In derision, the soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus's head.  They also put a purple robe on Him and mocked Him as a king.  They also struck Him with their hands.

(4) Pilate therefore went forth again and said to them, "Behold, I bring Him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in Him."

Then Pilate went back out to the Jews to tell them he was bringing forth Jesus to show how He had been scourged and abused and to tell them again that he found no fault in Jesus.  He found no fault, yet he allowed this to be done to Jesus?  Perhaps his purpose was to show that since he had allowed so much to be done to Jesus, if he had found Him to be the least bit guilty, he would have had no problem crucifying Him.  However, he said he still found no fault in Jesus. 

(5) Then Jesus came forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!"

Then Pilate brought Jesus forth, and He was wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and was surely in a worse condition due to the scourging.  Pilate told the people to look at Jesus and see what had been done to Him, hoping this would satisfy the Jews.

(6) When the chief priests and officers therefore saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him."

However, not at all satisfied, the chief priests and officers cried out to crucify Jesus.  Pilate told them to take Jesus themselves and crucify Him if they thought they must, because he found no fault in Him.

(7) The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law, He ought to die because He made Himself the Son of God."

The charge of sedition was not working with Pilate, so the Jews told him that according to their Jewish law, Jesus ought to die because He had called Himself the Son of God, which they were calling blasphemy.  Their law called for stoning, but they had wanted the governor to sentence Jesus so that He would be crucified, a more horrible method of killing.

(8) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid.

When Pilate heard that, he was afraid.  He was convinced that Jesus was innocent as he could see more and more clearly the design of the Jews.  However, they now brought up a charge of which he did not have a full understanding.  He would bring their wrath if he denied them; however, as he saw Jesus as innocent, he probably wondered if He could truly be divine.

(9) And went again into the judgment hall and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.

Therefore Pilate went back in to try to get an answer from Jesus.  He asked Him where He was from, but Jesus did not answer him.  He was surely trying to determine if Jesus was indeed divine and not of this world.  Jesus had already told Pilate His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36), and Pilate already had enough information to determine Jesus was innocent, yet he had had Him scourged and ridiculed.  Pilate was a morally weak man refusing to do what his conscience knew to be the right thing, so probably nothing more Jesus could say would change his actions.

(10) Then Pilate said to Him, "You don't speak to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You and have power to release You?"

In arrogance, Pilate cautioned Jesus about not speaking to him, as he told Jesus in his puffed-up pride that he had the power to either crucify Jesus or release Him.

(11) Jesus answered, "You could have no power against Me, except it were given you from above; therefore he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

Jesus told Pilate that he had no power over Jesus except what had been given to him by God.  Once Jesus had been delivered to be crucified, it was definitely going to be carried out.  And then Jesus went on to answer the question about Pilate's guilt in this matter.  He said that the one who delivered Him to Pilate had the greater sin.  That indicates that Pilate had indeed sinned in scourging an innocent man, but Jesus held the sin of delivering Him in the first place the greater sin.

(12) And from then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."

After Jesus said that to Pilate, Pilate tried to release Him, being convinced of His innocence and probably desiring not to sin anymore against Him.  However, the Jews cried out against him, telling him he was no friend of Caesar's if he let Jesus go because Jesus had spoken of Himself as being king, so they saw that as against Caesar, returning to their charge of sedition.

(13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

When Pilate realized the Jews might make accusations of his treachery against Caesar, he feared more for his own position than he did of condemning an innocent man, and he brought Jesus before the judgment seat, and he sat down as the judge in the place called Gabbatha in Hebrew, the Pavement.  The Greek word translated as "pavement" was "lithostrotos," meaning stoned or mosaic pavement.  "Gabbatha" meant "elevated" or "platform."  The Pavement was evidently an elevated stone or mosaic platform probably where judgments were pronounced.

(14) And it was the Preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"

It was the Preparation Day of the Passover at about noon.  The Jews counted their hours beginning at dawn or six in the morning.  The time was getting short before Passover would begin at sundown, so I suppose Pilate decided it was time to get this deed done.  He told the Jews to behold their king.

(15) But they cried out, "Away with Him! Away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."

However, the Jews cried out to crucify Jesus, to which Pilate asked if they wanted him to crucify their king.  The chief priests answered that they had no king but Caesar.  They rejected their King Messiah, but also denied God as their king, calling Caesar their only king.

(16) Then he delivered Him therefore to them to be crucified. And they took and led Jesus away.

So the weak governor Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews, knowing what they were about to do.  They took Jesus and led Him away.

(17) And He, bearing His cross, went forth to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, (18) Where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side and Jesus in the middle.

Jesus bore His own cross and was led to a place called the Place of the Skull, or Golgotha in Hebrew, which means "skull."  It was so called because of the bones of criminals who had been executed that lay there.  That is where Jesus was crucified with two others, one on either side of Him, He being in between them.

(19) And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Pilate had made an inscription on the cross above Jesus, as the other Gospels put it, saying, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."  The latter part of the inscription was meant to be the accusation against Him according to the account in Matthew, but it was a true assertion of who Jesus really was.

(20) This title then read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Many Jews had the opportunity to read the inscription because Jesus was crucified close to Jerusalem.  Pilate had written the inscription in three different languages, which probably accounts for the slight varying interpretations of all the Gospels.  Matthew had said it read, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Mark said simply, THE KING OF THE JEWS, however, he did indicate that was the accusation, so he may have been commenting only on that part of the inscription.  Luke said it read, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

(21) Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but that He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'"

The chief priests of the Jews objected to Pilate writing that Jesus was the King of the Jews.  They told him to write it as Jesus had said that He was King of the Jews, not that it was a fact.

(22) Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

However, Pilate answered that what he had written was to stand.  Neither he nor the chief priests realized that it was undoubtedly the will of God that it be written that way.

(23) Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also His robe. Now His robe was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

The soldiers who had raised Jesus up on the cross, apparently four of them, took Jesus's garments and divided them into four parts among them.  However, Jesus's robe or tunic, His outer garment, was made without seams and not easily divided.

(24) They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the scripture might be fulfilled which says, "They parted My garments among them, and for My vesture they cast lots." These things therefore the soldiers did.

The soldiers did not want to tear the robe, but agreed to cast lots for it, not knowing they were fulfilling the scripture in Psalm 22:18, "They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture," His outer garment.  The soldiers had indeed divided his garments among them and cast lots for His robe.

(25) Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

Jesus's mother and Mary Magdalene stood by the cross of Jesus.  It's unclear if Mary's sister and Mary the wife of Cleophas were two different women, or one and the same.  It's doubtful that Jesus's mother would have had a sister named the same as her, however, she could be Jesus's mother Mary's sister-in-law, who would have been called her sister.  Matthew and Mark, in their accounts, spoke of a Mary, the mother of James and Joses.  Mark said specifically she was the mother of James the Little and Joses.  James the Little was one of Jesus's twelve apostles, the son of Alphaeus, who is the same as Cleophas (Alphaeus being Greek and Cleophas, Hebrew).  If Cleophas was Joseph's brother (the husband of Jesus's mother), then Mary his wife would be called Jesus's mother Mary's sister; however, we are not told that.  But we are given one more clue when in Mark 6:3, neighbors asked about Jesus's family, specifically His brothers James and Joses.  This would suggest a very close relationship, if not Jesus's brothers from the same immediate family, probably His first cousins, sons of his earthly father Joseph's brother Cleophas, or Alphaeus.  By the way, this Cleophas is probably not the same person Cleopas in Luke 24:18 as Cleopas is a Greek name short for Cleopater, whereas Cleophas in the Greek is Alphaeus.

(26) When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son."

Jesus looked upon His mother Mary and also saw His beloved disciple John standing by her.  He told His mother to behold her adopted son who would care for her in the absence of her son Jesus.  Adam Clarke in his Commentary on the Bible pointed out that John was the only disciple who did not die a premature unnatural death.  It seems God protected and preserved him for the care of Jesus's earthly mother.

(27) Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother." And from that hour that disciple took her into his own.

Jesus also told John to behold his mother, and he did indeed care for her as his mother, taking her into his own home.  Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible wrote that tradition said that Mary lived with John until her death about fifteen years later.

(28) After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst."

This is really an amazing verse.  Jesus was thirsty, but He could have certainly borne that without complaint, but so that the scripture would be fulfilled, and that all who witnessed it would have further proof that He was the Messiah fulfilling every last detail that was written about Him by the prophets,  Jesus said He was thirsty.

(29) Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to His mouth.

The Roman soldiers dipped a sponge in vinegar and put it on a hyssop branch and then lifted that up to Jesus's mouth.  That indeed fulfilled the scripture in Psalm 69:21 which read, "...in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."

(30) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished," and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.

Jesus was in complete control the entire time.  He asked for the drink to fulfill prophesy, and when that was done, He declared that His work culminating in dying on the cross was finished.  He then proactively gave up the ghost.  He chose to die at that point.  Everything that happened to Jesus was all within His will.  He could have stopped it at any point, but because of His love for us sinners, He chose to go through it all for us.

(31) The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath Day (for that Sabbath Day was a high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and they might be taken away.

It was the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, and it was a special high one in that the Feast of the Passover commenced on the Sabbath in that year.  It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when Jesus died (Matthew 27:46) and that was the time the Jews started making preparation for their Sabbath.  Jewish law ordered that the bodies of criminals should not hang all night (Deuteronomy 21:23), and because they were anxious to start preparing for their high Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to break the crucified men's legs so that they would die quickly and could be taken away.  To be able to keep breathing when hanging on a cross, one would lift his body up with his legs, so once his legs were broken, he could no longer lift himself to breathe and would die.

(32) Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

The soldiers did indeed break the legs of the two criminals who were hanging on either side of Jesus.

(33) But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they did not break His legs.  

The chief priests of the Jews would have surely liked to see Jesus's legs broken as an added cruelty, but because Jesus laid down His life of His own accord, He was not to be killed by the breaking of His legs.  

(34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side and immediately blood and water came out.

One of the soldiers, just to make sure Jesus was indeed dead, pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water spewed forth.  It is a consensus belief among commentators that the soldier had pierced the pericardium that surrounds the heart and that is where the water flowed from.  By piercing the heart, the soldier would guarantee that Jesus was dead or would have been immediately killed by his action.  The blood and the water would have proved that, but additionally may have been symbolic of water baptism and blood atonement.

(35) And he who saw it bore record and his record is true, and he knows that he says truth that you might believe.

This sounds like it was probably John himself who saw the soldier pierce Jesus's side and probably His heart, proving that Jesus was indeed dead so that there could be no claims of His having just fainted when He was later found to not be in His tomb.  John desired to make it a certain truth by an eyewitness that Jesus had indeed died.

(36) For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled, "A bone of Him shall not be broken."

Even after Jesus had died, the things that were done to Him fulfilled scripture.  Psalm 34:20 reads, "He keeps all His bones; not one of them is broken."

(37) And again, another scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

Additionally, the scripture in Zechariah 12:10 was fulfilled which reads in part, "...and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced..."

(38) And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus.

Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a secret disciple of Jesus, following Him secretly because he feared the Jews, asked Pilate if he might be permitted to take the body of Jesus.  Pilate indeed gave him permission and he took Jesus's body.

(39) And there came also Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

Nicodemus, another secret follower of Christ, who had first come to Jesus in the middle of the night so as not to be seen, brought a large quantity of myrrh and aloes, a hundred pounds, to perfume Jesus's body in honor and respect for Him.  John Wesley, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out that while Jesus's apostles had apparently all left Him dead hanging on the cross, these two followers who had formerly only followed Jesus in secret, now came out publicly to care for His body.

(40) Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus's body and wrapped it in linen with the spices as was the custom of the Jews to bury someone.

(41) Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre in which was never a man yet laid.

Near the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden in which was a new sepulchre that had never been used.  Matthew 27:60 told us it was Joseph's own new tomb that he had hewn out of rock.  

(42) There they laid Jesus because of the Jews' Preparation, for the sepulchre was near at hand.

Had they had more time, they may have prepared a different place for Jesus to be buried in His own tomb, but because it was near the end of Preparation Day and the Sabbath was fast approaching, they buried Him in Joseph's tomb as it was nearby.  This fulfilled another prophetic scripture in Isaiah 53:9, "And He made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death..."  Jesus had died among wicked criminals and was buried in a rich man's tomb, as Joseph was said to be a rich man.  Matthew told us in chapter 27:57 that Joseph was a rich man and a disciple of Jesus.  Mark 15:43 stated he was also a respected member of the council of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking for the kingdom of God.  Luke 23:50 added that he had not agreed to the council's decision regarding Jesus.  He was a good and just man who cared for Jesus's body and gave Him his own new tomb.  

Jesus's Arrest and Peter's Denial of Him

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 18:1) When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the Brook Kidron where was a garden which He and His disciples entered.

In the last chapter, Jesus had prayed a beautiful and sublime prayer.  After that, He and His disciples crossed over the Brook Kidron which was a small stream that flowed to the east of Jerusalem and divided the city from the Mount of Olives.  They went into a garden which was called Gethsemane according to Matthew 26:36.

(2) And Judas also, who betrayed Him, knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples.

Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus also knew about the garden as Jesus often met with His disciples there.  Jesus was not trying to hide from His fate.  He went straight into the lion's den, so to speak, knowing that Judas would come there.

(3) Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Indeed, Judas came there with a band of men and officers that had been given to him by the chief priests and Pharisees.  The men came carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.  The lanterns and torches were probably to search Jesus out as if He would be hiding in the place He knew that Judas knew.  And as if they would need an army and weapons to take Jesus!

(4) Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forth and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?"

Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to Him, went straight to His captors and asked whom they were seeking.

(5) They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I AM." And Judas also, who betrayed Him, stood with them. (6) As soon then as He had said to them, "I AM," they went backward and fell to the ground.

They answered that they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth and Judas stood with them.  Practically all of the Bible translations read that Jesus said, "I am He," but they indicate that they added "He" for better understanding.  Jesus did not say, "I am He."  He simply said, "I AM," and that is what made the men fall backward to the ground.  The power of that name and Jesus's very own infinite power knocked His captors down, proving that they could not take Him by their power, but that Jesus willingly let them take Him.  It's amazing that after being knocked down by sheer words, that some of the band didn't retreat.

(7) Then He asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." (8) Jesus answered, "I have told you I AM. Therefore if you seek Me, let these go their way."

Jesus asked them again whom they were seeking.  When they said again, "Jesus of Nazareth," Jesus answered that He had told them already that was Him, so if they were seeking Him, He asked that they let His disciples go.  There were probably only Peter, James, and John with Him according to Matthew 26:37.

(9) That the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of them whom You gave Me, I have lost none."

Jesus asked that His disciples go free which fulfilled what He had said in His prayer in chapter 17, that He had lost none of the ones His Father had given Him.  He protected them to His very end.

(10) Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

At this point, Peter drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant, Malchus, and cut off his right ear.  

(11) Then Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"

Jesus told Peter to put his sword back into its sheath, and He asked him if He shouldn't do what His Father had willed be done.  Luke 22:51 told us that Jesus then healed the man's ear.

(12) Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound Him, (13) And led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas who was the high priest that same year.

The band of soldiers and their captain and officers then took Jesus and bound Him and led Him away to Annas, who according to Luke 3:2 was himself a high priest, but at this point is mentioned as Caiaphas's father-in-law, Caiaphas being the high priest that year.

(14) Now Caiaphas was he who gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

Caiaphas was the one in John 11:50 who gave counsel to the chief priests and Pharisees that it was expedient that one man should die for the people that the whole nation not perish.  He had spoken more Godly truth than he realized, as it was indeed expedient for Christ alone to die for the salvation of the world.

(15) And Simon Peter followed Jesus and another disciple; that disciple was known to the high priest and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

Peter followed Jesus and another disciple who was also following Jesus.  Many commentators have assumed that the other disciple was the gospel author himself, John, as John often spoke of himself in the third person, only he most often referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Nonnus, a 5th century Greek poet who wrote a paraphrase of the Gospel of John, said that John was known to the high priest because he carried fish to his house and sold it to him.  However, others say it is not likely that the seller of fish would have any sort of close relationship with the high priest.  They assume it was another disciple, apart from the twelve, who was better known by the high priest than any of the twelve.  That disciple went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.  The high priest that year was Caiaphas, so although the soldiers had taken Jesus to Annas first, he had evidently sent Him immediately to Caiaphas.  Both disciples continued to follow Jesus there.

(16) But Peter stood at the door outside. Then that other disciple who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door and brought in Peter.

Peter did not enter the palace when Jesus and the other disciple did; he stood outside the door.  However, the other disciple went and spoke to the doorkeeper who let the disciple bring Peter inside.

(17) Then said the damsel who kept the door to Peter, "Are you not also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "I am not."

The girl who was the doorkeeper asked Peter if he was one of Jesus's disciples.  He denied it.  By this, it seems unlikely that the other disciple was John, as she would have surely also recognized him as one of Jesus's disciples, too.

(18) And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals for it was cold, and they warmed themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

The servants and the officers stood in that area of the palace.  They made a fire because it was cold, and they stood by the fire warming themselves.  Peter stood with them, also warming himself.

(19) The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.

The high priest Caiaphas asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.  The council wanted to prove sedition or rebellion against Caesar, so I'm sure they wanted to show that He had many disciples forming a dangerous faction.  He wanted to know about Jesus's teaching, as well.

(20) Jesus answered him, "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple where the Jews always meet, and in secret, I have said nothing."

Jesus told Caiaphas that He had always spoken openly to the world.  He was constantly in the synagogues and in the temple at Jerusalem speaking openly to the Jews that always met there.  He had no secret agenda; what Caiaphas and his council had heard of what Jesus said, was all there was.  If He had been guilty of sedition, He would have preferred meeting in secret, planning an overthrow of the government, so as He most often spoke publicly with great crowds, they could see and hear that He was not planning a secret takeover.

(21) "Why do you ask Me? Ask them who heard Me what I have said to them; behold, they know what I said."

Jesus asked Caiaphas why he asked Him.  He would not have believed what Jesus said anyway.  He should ask the people who had heard Him, which were certainly at least some of them who stood there with Him.  Jesus had nothing to hide; He urged Caiaphas to ask them what He had said.

(22) And when He had thus spoken, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do You answer the high priest so?"

After Jesus had asked why Caiaphas asked Him, one of the officers who stood by them, slapped Jesus with the palm of his hand and rebuked Him for speaking to the high priest in that manner.

(23) Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why do you strike Me?"

Jesus answered that if He had spoken anything evil or falsely, the officer should point that out and let Him receive fair punishment, but if He had said nothing untoward, then he had no reason to strike Him.  

(24) Now Annas had sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

This is where John explains that Annas had sent Jesus on to Caiaphas, and that was why He was now before him.

(25) And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore to him, "Aren't you also one of His disciples?" He denied it, and said, "I am not."

So there in the palace of the high priest Caiaphas, Peter stood and warmed himself by the fire among the servants and the officers.  They suspected that he was one of Jesus's disciples, but Peter denied it a second time.

(26) One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"

However, one of the high priest's servants, who had apparently been with the band of soldiers who came and took Jesus from the garden and had seen him cut the ear off the soldier who was a kinsman of his, asked if it was true that he had seen him in the garden with Jesus.

(27) Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crowed.

Peter again denied that he had been with Jesus.  The account in Matthew said that he even cursed and swore.  Immediately after he said it, the rooster crowed.  It was just as Jesus had said, that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed in the morning.  That account in Matthew said that Peter then remembered the words of Jesus and went out and wept bitterly.

(28) Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment, and it was early; and they themselves did not go into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

The council of Jews and the soldiers then led Jesus away from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment, or the Praetorium, as it was called, where the Roman governor heard and tried cases.  It was very early in the morning.  The Jews would not enter the house of a Gentile or they would be considered unclean and unable to eat of the Passover, so they did not go in, only the Roman soldiers.

(29) Pilate then went out to them, and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"

Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor at that time, therefore went out to talk to the Jews and asked them what it was that they had accused Jesus of doing.

(30) They answered and said to him, "If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to you."

The Jews told Pilate if Jesus had not been a criminal, they would not have brought Him to him.  I believe their point was that they had no need for Pilate to try Jesus as they had already found Him guilty.  They brought Jesus to the Roman governor because he was the only one who could order Jesus executed.

(31) Then Pilate said to them, "Take Him and judge Him according to your law." The Jews therefore said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."

If they hadn't brought Jesus to him to be tried, then Pilate told them to take Jesus back and judge Him according to their law as they saw fit.  However, they told him that it was not legal for them to put anyone to death, which was what they desired for Jesus.

(32) That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spoke, signifying what death He should die.

They had to have Jesus condemned to death by the Roman governor.  That would fulfill Jesus's prophetic words that He would be crucified (Matthew 20:19), as only the Roman government crucified men.

(33) Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the king of the Jews?"

So Pilate went back into the judgment hall where Jesus was being held, and he asked Him if He was indeed king of the Jews.  According to the account in Luke, the Jews had accused Jesus to Pilate of being a rebel and forbidding the people to pay tribute to Caesar, which was of course, a lie.  They told him that Jesus had said He was the king of the Jews.

(34) Jesus answered him, "Do you say this thing of yourself or did others tell you this of Me?"

Jesus replied, asking Pilate if that was a question he wanted an answer to himself, or had he asked it only because others had said that about Jesus.  I believe His point was, had Pilate seen anything in Jesus to make him suspicious that the things the Jews had said about Him were true with respect to Him being a seditious rebel trying to overthrow the Roman government.

(35) Pilate asked, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"

Pilate asked Jesus if Pilate himself was a Jew, meaning to ask why he would have cause to suggest that Jesus was king of the Jews.  He told Him that His own Jewish nation and the chief priests had been the ones to deliver Jesus to him, so he wondered what Jesus had done to make them do that.

(36) Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now My kingdom is not from here."

Jesus did not deny that He was the king of the Jews, but told Pilate that His kingdom was not a worldly one.  If His kingdom was of the world, then His servants would have risen up to save Him from being delivered to the Jews.  Actually, Jesus Himself could have prevented His being delivered to them.  However, His kingdom was not of the world.  It was a spiritual one, and He was choosing to be delivered up in order to save His people from the world.

(37) Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. To this end I was born and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Since Jesus had said He had a kingdom, Pilate surmised He must be a king then.  Jesus answered that he had said rightly that He was indeed a king.  His purpose for being born into this world was to bear witness to the truth of God.  He added that everyone who was of the truth could hear and receive Him and His words.

(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 in Him no fault."

Pilate asked Jesus what he must have considered a rhetorical question, as he didn't wait for an answer, "What is truth?"  I believe he must have felt that it was not worth giving His life for, and he went out to the Jews and told them he had found no fault in Him.  He found Jesus to be an innocent man.

(39) "But you have a custom that I should release to you one at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews?"

Pilate had found no fault in Jesus, and besides, the Jews had a custom that Pilate should release one prisoner at Passover, so he assumed they would want him to release Jesus.

(40) Then they all cried again, saying, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber.

The fact that the people cried out again must mean that this was not the first time he had asked the people what they would have him do with Jesus.  The account in Mark does include more back and forth dialogue between Pilate and the people.  John, as was his custom, greatly abbreviated the events that had already been covered by the other Gospel authors.  The people cried out for Barabbas to be released to them, a robber and also a murderer according to the other Gospel accounts.  This part of the story always gets to me.  How could people who had such a short time ago lauded Jesus with praise and honor as He came into Jerusalem on the donkey, now be so anxious to have Him crucified?  The account in Mark said that the chief priests had incited the people to call for His crucifixion.

Jesus's Prayer

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 17:1) These words Jesus spoke, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that Your Son also may glorify You."

In the last chapter, Jesus had been preparing His disciples for their future without Him.  He now lifted up His eyes to heaven and began to pray.  He said His hour had come when He would suffer and die, and He asked that the Father glorify Him by supporting Him and carrying Him through the coming greatest of trials so that His actions would in turn glorify and bless the Father.

This has been a difficult chapter for some to understand.  Was Jesus really God?  If so, was He praying to Himself?  And if not, does this prove that Jesus wasn't God?  Jesus is God; that was proven in scripture (John 1:1).  However, Jesus was that part of God's Self that He made man to be born into the world to provide a way for God's creation to be saved.  So He did in effect pray to that part of Himself in heaven that was wholly God and wholly holy wishing His actions on earth to have been according to God's plan and sufficient to save His creation.

(2) "And You have given Him power over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."

Jesus acknowledged that God had given Him power over all mankind that He could give eternal life to as many as God called to Him.  God had prepared that way for people to be saved from eternal damnation, and it was only through Jesus that men could receive eternal life.

(3) "And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

To have eternal life was to know God intimately, the only true God, and to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ which was the only way to know God.

(4) "I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work which You gave Me to do."

Jesus had done all He had done on earth to glorify God and to bring people to Him.  He had obediently finished the work God had sent Him to earth to do up to that point, and He was committed to follow through until it was completely finished. 

(5) "And now, O Father, glorify Me with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

Jesus asked that the Father return Him to His former glory as One with the Father as He had been since before the world was created.

(6) "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word."

Jesus had manifested His Father's name by making His nature, character, and will known to the men He had sent to Him from out of the world and its worldview.  Jesus acknowledged that they were God's creation, but He had given them to Jesus to bring them to eternal life through His plan.  Jesus assured Him they had received His word and had accepted Him and His gift of salvation.

(7) "Now they have known that all things whatever You have given Me are of You."

Jesus, in His prayer to God, said that the men He had sent to Him had been taught and now believed that everything He did and said was of God Himself.

(8) "For I have given to them the words which You gave Me, and they have received and have known surely that I came out from You, and they have believed that You sent Me."

The reason the disciples now knew God was because Jesus had taught them the doctrines of God that He had given them to know.  They had received those doctrines and knew that Jesus had come from God and had been sent for that purpose.

(9) "I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."

At this point in Jesus's prayer, He prayed for those whom God had given Him, those disciples who would preach God's plan for salvation throughout the world.  They had been brought through Christ to salvation and union with God; they belonged to God and Jesus prayed for them that they be strengthened and protected and blessed by God in their mission.

(10) "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."

As Jesus and His Father were One, all who had come to Jesus were God's, and all God's belonged to Jesus.  Jesus was glorified in them because they had come through Him to be with God, and they would continue to glorify Him as they preached His gospel to the world.

(11) "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We."

Jesus acknowledged that He was about to be no more in the world as He was about to go back to the Father in heaven.  However, His disciples would still be in the world, and He prayed that they be preserved in His name, in the knowledge of God.  He prayed that God defend and sustain them in obedience to Himself and His cause.  Jesus prayed that they be unified in love and purpose, as one Christian unit as God and Jesus were one.

(12) "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name; those whom You gave Me I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled."

Jesus said that He had kept or preserved all His disciples in God's name, in the knowledge and worship of Him.  He had preserved all His disciples God had sent Him, except Judas Iscariot, which of course, had been God's plan all along to use him to execute His will and fulfill scripture.  That's not to say that Judas never had a choice, but God chose him because He knew the choice he would make.  Jesus had not preserved him as a disciple because he was never meant to be one but had a different purpose.

(13) "And now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves."

It was now time for Jesus to return to the Father.  All the things Jesus had spoken while He was in the World, He asked to be for the benefit of His disciples that they might have Jesus's joy fulfilled in themselves.  That joy of a successful mission, that He had overcome the world!  That joy that came from knowing the truth about God's purpose in Jesus and that they possessed eternal life, and that they could pass that exciting good news to others.  

(14) "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

Jesus had given His disciples God's word and they had received it within their hearts.  For that reason, the world hated them because they were not of the world's sinful lusts.  They were not like the world, just as Jesus was not like it.

(15) "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil. (16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

Jesus didn't pray that His disciples should be taken out of the evil world, but rather that God protect them from the evil in the world.  Jesus had already told them that they would be persecuted and even killed (Matthew 24:9), so I believe what Jesus means by keeping them from evil is to protect and preserve them from the wiles of the devil who would seek to destroy their souls and their work.  The disciples were at that time not of the world and He prayed that they remain that way.

(17) "Sanctify them through Your truth; Your word is truth."

Jesus prayed that His disciples be made pure from their sins and made holy through God's word which was absolutely true.  All that had been prophesied and said by God and His word, the scriptures, and in His plan for salvation, would sanctify them as promised.

(18) "As You have sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world."

Just as God had sent Jesus into the world to proclaim His good news that the world could be saved, Jesus was sending His disciples into the world to spread the same good news.

(19) "And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."

Jesus had no need for sanctification because He had no sin, but by this He meant that He consecrated Himself exclusively for the service of God.  This was His example for His disciples that they might also be sanctified through the truth in God.

(20) "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe in Me through their word."

Jesus prayed these things not just for His disciples, but for all followers who would come to believe in Christ through the preaching of His disciples.

(21) "That they all may be one, as You, Father, in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

Jesus prayed that all His followers, including those who came through the teaching of His disciples, would be in unity, one unit of brotherhood in Christ.  They should be one in the same love and purpose of God and of Jesus, who was God's plan for the salvation of man, and that the world may come to believe that God had indeed sent Jesus to save the world.

(22) "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one."

The honor which the Father gave to Jesus on earth Jesus bestowed on His followers.  The glory of Jesus shines in the children of God.  By sending Jesus into the world, God provided a single way for His people to be cleansed of their sins and able to approach Him.  By this, they became one, a unified Christian bride of Christ.  There would be unity of faith and purpose in Jesus's followers as there was unity of purpose in God and Jesus.

(23) "I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me."

Jesus dwelled within His followers by His spirit and by His Word, and by His Gospel message and His sacrifice, they could be made perfect in the sight of God.  They would act as one Christian unit following Christ so that the world would know Jesus had been sent by God to make disciples of men, and that God loved them.  Jesus provided atonement for people to be able to approach God and be in His presence and be loved by Him in the way that Jesus in His perfection could be in God's presence and loved by Him.  

(24) "Father, I want that they also whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."

Jesus desired that His followers whom God had sent to Him to be made "perfect" by Jesus's sacrifice, be with Him in heaven, able to see Jesus as He truly is in all His glory.  Jesus, as God, always had that glory before the world was formed but His followers had only seen Jesus the man.  God would return Him to His glory in heaven and He desired that His followers be with Him there.

(25) "O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me. (26) And I have declared to them Your name and will declare, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

Jesus lamented that the world had not known the Father, but of course He knew Him intimately, and He had taught His followers by His words and His actions the nature of God, and He would continue to guide them by the Spirit of truth, that they might be united to God and loved by Him because of an indwelling Savior.

Jesus's beautiful prayer in this chapter is a perfect model for our prayers.  He shows the utmost reverence for God and the tenderest love for man.  I can't help but contrast it to the prayers of the name it and claim it Word of Faith bunch who belligerently declare that they know God's will and demand it.  The only one who ever truly knew God's will was Jesus, and see how humbly He prayed with great respect and reverence.  It's true that Jesus made a way for us to be able to approach God, but we should always remember how holy and almighty and perfect He is, and what an unbelievable and undeserving gift it is that we even be allowed to ask of Him.  But God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus so that we could commune with Him again.