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Book: John
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John 18:10
I. "Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it."
A. There is something about Simon Peter that causes me to love him
in spite of his blunders.
1. Yes he made mistakes, but the person who doesn't make
any mistakes is the person who doe's nothing.
2. Here we see him ready to face all the odds of the
soldiers and those who came to arrest Jesus to defend
His Lord.
a. He had declared to Jesus that he was ready to
die for Him, and now he is about to prove it.
b. It is interesting to me that he is ready to
take on the whole band who have come out to
arrest Jesus, yet in just a little while
before the little maid, he will be denying his
Lord.
c. Sometimes it is easier to die for Christ than
to live for Him.
B. "And he smote the high priests servant and cut off his right
ear."
1. I believe that he was intending to cut off his head,
but divine pressure diverted the sword so that he only
got the right ear.
2. The servant of the high priest was probably the first
one to lay a hand upon Jesus.
3. John tells us that his name was Malchus.
4. The other gospels tell us that Jesus put the ear back
on.
5. It is interesting to me that the last miracle of Jesus
before His crucifixion was to cover for the mistaken
action of His disciple.
a. I wonder how many other miracles He has had to
perform to cover for the blunders of His
disciples.
b. I am thankful for the many times He has covered
for me.
C. Jesus then told him to put his sword into it's sheath, for He
said, "The cup that the Father hath given Me, shall I not drink
it?"
1. He had just been praying about this cup. His cup of
suffering and death. In ICo.10:6 Paul said, the cup of
blessing that we bless, is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ.
a. He had asked the Father that if it were
possible to let the cup pass from Him,
nevertheless, not His will but the will of the
Father be done.
b. He had submitted to the will of the Father,
and was now ready to die for our sins. To drink
the cup, to bear the shame from the mocking
crowd.
2. Back at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus when He
was at Ceasarea Phillipi with His disciples, and had
asked them whom the people thought He was. When He
asked, "Who do you say that I am?" It was Peter who
said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
When Jesus then revealed to the disciples that He was
going to be given to the hands of the Gentiles to be
crucified and slain, it was Peter who said, "Be that
far from you." He was objecting to the idea of the
cross then and is still determined to keep Jesus from
the cross.
a. This shows to me what a difficult thing it is
to change our attitudes.
b. Peter was determined that Jesus would not die.
3. Matthew's gospel tells us that Jesus said that He
could pray to the Father and He would immediately give
Him more than twelve legions of angels to deliver Him.
a. He did not need the help of Peter.
II. "Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and
bound Him."
A. I think how foolish this actually is. Jesus could so easily
have broken those bonds.
1. What amazing condescension this was on the part of
Jesus, to let them bind Him and lead Him away as a
prisoner.
2. Psalm 22 prophetically declared;
PSA 22:12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong [bulls] of Bashan have
beset me round.
PSA 22:13 They gaped upon me [with] their mouths, [as] a ravening and a
roaring lion.
PSA 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have
enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
B. Issac was an type of Christ, and we remember that Abraham
first bound him before he went to offer him as a sacrifice.
C. This they also did with the animals that were to be
sacrificed. Psalm 118:27, "Bind the sacrifice with cords unto
the horns of the altar.
D. He was bound that we might be set free.
E. Do not think that the cords bound Jesus. It was His love for
the Father and His desire to submit to the will of the Father
that held Jesus as a captive to the will of the high priest.
Love had bound Him.
III. They led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father in law to
Caiaphas, which was the high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was
he which gave counsel to the Jews that is was expedient that one
man should die for the people.
A. At that time they had a peculiar situation in which there were
actually two high priests. Annas was high priest by birthright
and was recognized by the Jews. He had come into disfavor with
Rome who appointed his son in law Caiaphas as the high priest,
and was recognized by Rome.
B. The religious trial was held before Annas who could not really
bring the case to Rome for the death penalty.
1. Thus Jesus had to be tried the second time before
Caiaphas, in order that he might bring the case to the
Roman court.
2. In an earlier session the religious council under
Caiaphas had assembled to determine what they might do
to stop the growing popularity of Jesus, this same
Caiaphas had said, "Do you know nothing at all, don't
you realize that it is expedient for us that one man
should die for the people, that the whole nation perish
not?
3. Caiaphas was a politician, and his motives were purely
political he would destroy Jesus to save his own
position.
4. John said that the statement was actually a prophecy,
he was predicting that Jesus must die for the people.
5. Imagine how fair a trial Jesus could have before a
judge who had already in a public pronouncement had
declared that it was necessary for Him to die to save
their political skins.
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