The Trial of Jesus

RIVERSIDE INDONESIAN FELLOWSHIP
Go to content

The Trial of Jesus

Riverside Indonesian Fellowship
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2022 · 13 March 2022
Open your Bible now to John 18 to study the drama of our Lord on the day of His execution. We can cover that amount of text because it is a straightforward narrative. I don’t want to expand this text. I want to give it to you the way the Lord has designed it, because it is an unusual format. Here we have Jesus’ trial and Peter’s denial juxtaposed against each other.

They are two significant events, happening at exactly the same time. And so we see Jesus in His glory and Peter in His iniquity. It is a text, showing the glory of Christ as always, and that’s John’s intention. But it shines against the backdrop of the utter failure of his most noble and self-confident follower Peter. In fact, it shows us the kind of sin for which our Lord is headed to the cross.

In John 18 He is moving directly to His arrest. John 18:4 says, “Knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, Jesus went forth.” He went right to the garden of Gethsemane where He would go very often. Judas knew He would be there, and Jesus knew Judas knew He would be there, and so Jesus knew that Judas would lead the force that would come to arrest Him; that was the place.

There are Roman soldiers, there are temple police and there are scribes and chief priests and dignitaries. Even some of the servants were there, such as one named Malchus, whose ear Peter chopped off in an attempt to defend his Lord. Our Lord does His last miracle there, creating a new ear for that man. But in spite of the divine power in the collapse of all of them, they arrest Him.

He was going to die on that Passover as God’s true Passover Lamb. It is a small army that confronts Jesus, and He takes the occasion to display His glory to them, to the eleven, and to all who will ever read the account of His arrival in the garden and His arrest. He turns their well-planned maneuvers into a display of His own glory. He caused them to fall to the ground by the word of His mouth.

Jesus demonstrates that He is securing the disciples by having them say that they only have a right to take Him; so they cannot arrest the disciples. That would be more than their faith could bear. He creates an ear, and then He rescues Peter from a stupid act that could have cost Peter his life. And Jesus upheld capital punishment which is ordained by God back in Genesis 9:6.

Jesus said, “Put away your sword, Peter. If you live by the sword you will die by the sword.” If you take a life, they have a right to take your life. He is now in the garden confronted by this crowd that is going to arrest Him. Matthew adds that Jesus said, “Do you not think that I cannot ask My Father and He will even now send Me more than twelve legions of angels?”

Verse 12 tells us, “Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.” John Calvin said, “The body of the Son of God was bound so that our souls might be loosed from the cords of sin and Satan.” And then as the passage unfolds, we see four scenes pulling together these two different dramas – the drama of the trial and the drama of the denial.

Why? This is how it happened. They were going on simultaneously. John is showing us, at the point our Lord is going to die, He is paying for the sins that are being committed by the one who would be considered to be the best follower He had. It paints a dark picture to display the light and glory of God’s grace. Jesus on the way to the cross is going to die for the sins of Peter and all of us.

And this is why it must be His time, and why He must die to pay for these sins and all sins like them. Verse 13, “After He was bound, they led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Verse 14, Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.”

They’re glad that it’s night and out of the city. They’re on the Mount of Olives in an obscure, isolated garden. So here they are, blinded by Satan to the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. So the commander and those who are with him, arrest Jesus. At this point, Matthew tells us, the disciples flee. They are fulfilling the prophecy of the Old Testament that the sheep will scatter.

So here is Christ, God’s Lamb, being bound and prepared for that final offering of Himself. So they led Him to Annas first. And this is important because you need to know that there were six aspects of His trials. There were three religious trials and three civil trials. The three religious trials went first to Annas, and that was a preliminary. That didn’t work, so Annas sends Him to Caiaphas.

And then to the Sanhedrin, which is the Jewish Supreme Court. They have a mock trial in the darkness of night, which is illegal, and they’ve already made up their mind. In order to give it the appearance of legality, they meet with Caiaphas after daybreak, and that final third stage is the public stage in front of the Sanhedrin. So from Annas to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, the three parts of the religious trial.

After that, there were three parts of the civil trial. They sent Him to Pilate, Pilate sent Him to Herod, Herod sent Him back to Pilate, so six different trials. Now, this is the first trial in front of Annas who is, in verse 19, the high priest. But in verse 13, it says Caiaphas was high priest that year. This was no problem in the Jewish world, because according to Numbers 35, a high priest was a high priest for life.

So they would always think of Annas as the high priest. However, the Romans didn’t like that, because that gave one man too much power. And so they always wanted to remove the high priest and replace him. However, the subsequent high priests to Annas were five of his sons and one of his grandsons, which meant that he, as the father and grandfather, was always the high priest behind the scenes.

Now the Romans appointed Caiaphas who is Annas’ son-in-law. The Jews feared that the Romans would become their enemies; so to appease the Romans, the priestly family basically did what they wanted. They allowed the establishment of a Roman taxation system. They corrupted worship. So that our Lord, at the beginning and the end of His ministry, cleaned it out and called it a den of thieves.

Caiaphas, who was high priest that year said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that this is a simple problem. It is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish. All we have to do is kill one man. He did not believe in the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. He did not believe in the doctrine of imputation of righteousness.

Caiaphas had no idea what he was saying. John 11:51 says: “Now he didn’t say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.” God prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and verse 52, “and not for the nation only, but in order that He might gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad in the world.”

The statement is made by an ignorant high priest, but he prophesies the truth. But from his vantage point was verse 53, “From that day on they planned to kill Him.” They were immensely rich, ruthless, and greedy and they were afraid to lose their power. Annas was furious with Jesus when He went in and threw everybody out of the temple again; and Caiaphas was also furious with Jesus.

Now we go from the trial to Peter’s denial. Matthew 26:56 says, “All the disciples fled.” Verse 15 says, And Simon Peter and another disciple found their way back. They couldn’t take the separation and we see Peter following Jesus. Mark 14:54 says, “He followed from far off.” He’s following Jesus, but he doesn’t want anybody to know it. He is following in a cowardly way, so he hides to watch.

Remember when Jesus talked about His death Peter said, “I’ll die for you in John 13:37. All that self-confidence is now called into question as he sneaks around in the darkness. He’s not alone. Verse 15 says there was another disciple. Who’s that? It’s John, although he appears all throughout his gospel, he never mentions his own name. He calls himself ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’.

John is known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest. He goes right in with Jesus, because the high priest knows John. Peter is outside, so he went out, spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. Then the slave girl who kept the door, she is not someone to fear, right? She says, “You’re not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” and he said, “I am not.”

Now that was the first lie to a slave girl. The shock of the question launched that answer that was about self-preservation. It was casual and insignificant, but he was already prepared to lie to save his himself. And that’s how temptation comes, doesn’t it? When we’re not expecting it, it catches us off guard. It’s those sudden blows that hit us blindside, that extract our weaknesses.

Verse 18, “Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.” This indicates that it’s deep into the night, because Jewish trials were not allowed to be held at night. Verse 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His doctrine.

This is to be a legal arraignment. But there is nothing legal about it. They had already decided they wanted Him dead. It was Jewish law that a prisoner must be asked no question which by answering would be an admission of guilt. If you’re going to find someone guilty, there has to be evidence. Our Fifth Amendment law is drawn from Jewish justice patterns.

So the high priest, who is the judge, says to Jesus, “Tell me about Your disciples and Your teaching.” He has no right to ask Him any question at all. So he asked Jesus, “Where are Your disciples?” He’s trying to put together just how widespread this insurrection may be. “And what about Your teaching? What are you teaching? What are your heresies?”

Verse 20, And Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews come together, and I spoke nothing in secret. 21 Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.” Bring the witnesses. Do this legally. You can determine who is a disciple of Mine.”

He says in John 15:25, “They hate Me without a cause.” Verse 22, “And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?” This is the first blow inflicted against His body, received from a Jew. That fulfills Micah 5:1, “They shall strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.”

Even in this, Christ is proving to be the judge of Israel. Here He is in a court and there is a judge, but He is the true judge of Israel who is hit in the face with a rod. He is fulfilling prophecy. Calmly Jesus responds in verse 23, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?” You’re asking Me about My disciples and My teaching. Where is the testimony here?

True justice has to release Him, because there are no witnesses, there is no indictment. But instead, verse 24, “Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.” Now, the Sanhedrin is assembled with Caiaphas in the dead of night. This is illegal. They bring in false witnesses. They accuse Him of blasphemy, and then they say He’s trying to overthrow Caesar because He claimed to be a king.

But as the scene closes with Him being delivered to Caiaphas, switching back to Peter’s denial. Verse 25, “Simon Peter is still standing and warming himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” Verse 26, “One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?”

27 “Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.” The other writers tell us “and he swore, cursed, and immediately a rooster crowed.” Rooster crows at 3:00 AM. In the black darkness, he just keeps denying, even if no one is threatening his life. Turn to Luke 22:60, “Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’” Then this, powerful moment, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter.”

That was the second phase of His religious trial. The next was to come after dawn. The difference between Peter and Judas, Judas went out and hanged himself. No remorse that turned to repentance, just remorse that turned to suicide. With Peter it as remorse that turned to repentance. He wept bitterly. Judas hated Jesus Christ, Peter loved Him. And on that basis, the Lord restored Peter.

The reality of this passage is, here is a disciple sinning greatly. And this sin, on all accounts, would be enough to say Peter is nothing more than another Judas. Instead, he becomes the great gospel preacher on the Day of Pentecost and through the first half of the book of Acts. This is the people for whom Christ died. And while He’s actually going to the cross, they’re sinning against Him. Let us pray.



JOIN OUR MAILING LIST:

© 2017 Ferdy Gunawan
ADDRESS:

2401 Alcott St.
Denver, CO 80211
WEEKLY PROGRAMS

Service 5:00 - 6:30 PM
Children 5:30 - 6:30 PM
Fellowship 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Bible Study (Fridays) 7:00 PM
Phone (720) 338-2434
Email Address: Click here
Back to content