John 18

In every account of the death of Christ given to us in the gospels, the fact of the betrayal of our Lord is central. When we consider the Lord’s suffering for us, we are supposed to remember that it was not outsiders who turned Jesus over to those who would kill Him, but a particular insider, who knew His habits and plans, and thus knew where Jesus could be found that night. He did what He did by using the weapons of civil power that were in the hands of religious authorities in Jerusalem. The Romans allowed these religionists to have a band of soldiers at their direction. Judas went to the chief priests and the Pharisees so that this kind of force could be used against the King of kings, as if they would have the power, and Jesus would be taken against His will.

This plot, and the events that were about to transpire, were known to Jesus. We are reminded that He willingly went to His death, as Isaiah 53 had revealed many centuries before. He understood the necessity of His death for us, He understood the role of the various parties involved in that death, and He understood that all of this would be a fulfillment of the Scriptures and of His own earlier words. His behavior from this moment on is an exhibition of settled trust and clarity of determined purpose as He willingly humbles Himself for our salvation. The behavior of everyone else is very different from this. How are we even to understand what the soldiers are doing here? They have weapons, and they have their target in view, and He is identifying Himself and apparently surrendering to them immediately. Is this so unusual a thing that they need to draw back and fall to the ground? They do not appear to be in control at this point. Yet we are reminded that the words that Jesus uses to identify Himself, “I-AM,” are the same words that God used to identify Himself to Moses. While the soldiers may not have understood that, they are obviously affected by something that we cannot entirely see. The calm determination of Jesus shines forth in stark contrast to this unexpected terror on the part of those who were sent to take a man into custody who is willingly surrendering to them.

This calm resignation to be the Lamb of God exhibited by Jesus is also quite different than what we see from Simon Peter. He has to be corrected immediately by His Lord as He enters into battle against the soldiers, injuring one of them. Jesus is ready to drink the cup of God’s wrath for us. Peter puts His sword away, and Jesus is taken as a bound prisoner to the religious authorities. Jesus will willingly die for the people of God. Peter does not know what to do. Joined apparently by the gospel writer, the apostle follows the action almost as if he were some kind of undercover spy. He denies that He is a disciple of Jesus when he could have easily said nothing. Jesus seems content to say almost nothing, despite great provocation. Once again, though He is the prisoner, He is in charge, and He is in control of Himself. What He has done during these three years has been done publicly, and He has done nothing wrong. There is no need for spies. Jesus is not a terrorist. Nonetheless He is struck by an officer. Now He has not only been bound, He has been beaten, and there is much more to come.

Peter is again overwhelmed by the inquiries of those who seem to recognize Him as a disciple. For the second and third times, He denies it, and the rooster crows, fulfilling the earlier prediction of the Lord. Peter has now lied and denied His Savior three times. Jesus, on the other hand, will not lie at all. He is soon brought before the civil authorities, and is even interviewed by Pilate, the Roman governor, as this religious mob, trying to stay ceremonially clean, is clearly determined to see an innocent man put to death. As the Jewish Messiah is questioned directly by Pilate, Jesus will not defend Himself. He does admit that He is King, but tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. Everything that Jesus is doing is about the kingdom of God. This is why He was born, this is why He taught what He taught, and this is why He would die. He is establishing a kingdom from God, a kingdom from heaven, a kingdom that will last long after the fall of the Roman Empire. This kingdom is a gathering of those who listen to His voice, a gathering of those who are of the truth. This is the testimony of Jesus, but not a word of it is designed to avoid the cross.

Pilate is not willing to consider the truth claims of Jesus and His kingdom at that moment, but He does make this important statement of the truth: “I find no guilt in Him.” Pilate perhaps meant only that Jesus was not guilty of breaking any civil law that would even remotely justify His execution. More than this can be plainly said. There was no guilt in Jesus of any kind. Even the secret sins of our hearts that show us to be deficient in our love for God and for others, even these secret sins were completely absent in His soul. He had no guilt. That sinless perfection was necessary in order for Him to be the Lamb of God for us.

This is truth. We are guilty men, like the robber Barabbas, but the sinless Son of God has taken away our horrible guilt, and has paid our overwhelming debt. Yet the crowd preferred a Barabbas to God the Son, the true King of the Jews. This is betrayal. Yet it will do us no good to condemn Judas, the soldiers, Peter, the chief priests, the Pharisees, the crowd, and Pilate, unless we are also willing to see our own guilt. He stood condemned in our place. He sealed our pardon with His blood. We were the guilty ones. We may have even been insiders to His circle of followers when we spoke against Him and sinned against Him. We certainly have denied Him. Yet He has accomplished what only He could do. He is our effectual Savior. He was sovereign over His own suffering, and it was His will to give us eternal life through His blood.