John Chapter 18
I think review is really important, so just read along and enjoy the pages of review that are typed, answering questions as we go along. This will be several pages in length, because we will review and use all 4 Gospel accounts to walk through a more detailed picture of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.Tomorrow, we will do the same thing as we experience His crucifixion and burial. I pray you take your time and really enjoy this as the Lord has led me to prepare it for you.
In John 17, Jesus has just prayed for His 11 disciples and for all those who will believe in Him because of the words of the disciples passed down, which includes those of us who believe today! (John 17:20)
In summary that we would be "kept in God's Word" and that others would believe in Jesus also because of the glory within us, the Word within us, God's Name keeping us, and our love for God and one another because of this. After He has prayed this for the 11 at that time, He and His 11 went forth over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a GARDEN they all entered into. (John 18:1) John's Gospel account does not give details about the time in the Garden, but we need to have some insight from the other's accounts of this.
Jesus was in such agony, that Luke's account says that His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. Jesus did not pray this ONE time only, but He prayed this PRAYER to His Father THREE times! As He prayed, He NEEDED His disciples to pray for Him also, to support Him, but they could not stay awake!
Read the moving account of this in Matthew 26:36-46.
Jesus had them all sit while He went a little farther to kneel and pray.
Who are the two sons of Zebedee? (We know from our readings this is James and John).Therefore Peter, James, and John go in a closer distance to Jesus than the other eight at this time.
What did Jesus say to these three men? (vs.38
Then Jesus went a little beyond these and He fell on His face and what did He pray? (vs.39)
After this, He came back to these three and did He find them 'watching and praying' with Him?
What did He find them doing?
What did He say to Peter? (vs.40)
He just needed an hour of prayer from them! And now He bids them wake up, keep watching and praying so they don't enter into temptation!
According to Matthew 26:42, Jesus went to PRAY a SECOND time.
Jesus told them the 'same' thing 'again'. He left and PRAYED a THIRD time.
He told them "Behold, the HOUR is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"
Another note on His prayers in Gethsemane....
Luke had spoken of His sweat being as blood dropping and also that He was so weak that an angel came to minister to Him.It is believed by many that His agony was so intense that blood vessels broke in His face and blood streamed down with His sweat and tears. This was an agonizing prayer time for our Lord - get the sweet picture of Him kneeling on the rock so calmy out of your mind!
In fact, take a look at Hebrews 5:7-10. Read it and answer these questions:
Jesus offered both prayers and supplications in the days of His flesh.
What kind of prayer?
What kind of CRYING?
He prayed this to the One who was able to SAVE Him from death. Yes, He could have been saved from this hour, but He said in John "Should I ask the Father to save Me from this hour? For this purpose I came - to this hour!"
Jesus was HEARD by the Father and although He was a SON,How did He learn OBEDIENCE? Hebrews 5:8 -
How do we learn obedience according to Hebrews Chapter 12?
Read Hebrews, Chapter 12:1-11.
Hebrews 5:9 - And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation"
It is so important to see how much Jesus agonized in the Garden before He was betrayed, arrested, and taken to the cross to die. He struggled with the fact that He would be separated for the first time in all eternity from His Father when the sins of the world would be laid on His sinless, perfect body.If there was any other way that He could not be forsaken from His Father, if He could avoid the hours of darkness that were going to come upon Him when He had to take on the sins of human beings and pay for their transgressions, He longed to know, and yet He really knew that this was the only way, and He submitted to the WILL OF THE FATHER. We know the will of the Father from John 3:16 - "For God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.". Jesus paid it all, for you and for me. And the journey of His suffering has just begun......
THE BETRAYAL
Let's look at Matthew's account in Matthew 26:47-56. Read this passage and answer these questions.While Jesus was speaking to the disciples about their need to keep watching and praying that they would not enter into temptation and that His betrayer was at hand, Judas Iscariot (one of the 12), came up.
Who was with him and what were they carrying with them?(vs.47)
What did Judas 'do' to show them who Jesus was? (vs.48-49)
What did Jesus say to Judas? (vs.50)
They will arrest Him, but look at John's account to see what happens first!
Read John 18:3 -
Jesus, knowing these things were coming upon Him, said to them "Who do you seek?"
Jesus said "I AM" (He is in italics because it is not written in the original text).
They were standing on holy ground. God Himself was before them. They couldn't continue to stand in His presence! He asked them again and they told Him. He said "If therefore you seek Me, let these go their way".
Before they left the side of Jesus - what did Peter just have to do?(vs.10)cut off a servants ear ( the servants name was Malchus)
Let's look at the other Gospels and fill in some details as well.
Matthew records the words of Jesus before the disciples scattered and after Peter has used his sword and cut off the ear of the salve of the high priest:
Matthew 26:52-56 - "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot APPEAL TO MY FATHER, AND HE WILL AT ONCE PUT AT MY DISPOSAL MORE THAN 12 LEGIONS (a legion equals 6,000 troops) OF ANGELS?"
...."How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it MUST happen THIS WAY....."
At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me. BUT all this has taken place that THE SCRIPTURES OF THE PROPHETS may be fulfilled."
Luke shows us these words that Jesus spoke:
Luke 22:53 - "While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but THIS HOUR and the POWER OF DARKNESS are yours."
No man could take Jesus before His "hour" had come.
Even now, they have bowed before Him to prove that He is God Almighty, and that the only reason He hasn't called the legions of angels to rescue Him is because He has set His heart at obeying the Will of the Father.The Will of the Father is to give these men and the devil himself this "hour" of "darkness"...... for us!
What is it going to ultimately accomplish?
What does I John 3:8 tell us?
Write it out:
How was Jesus able to endure what He was going to face?
He had prayed and sweat drops of blood and cried loudly to His father and was heard. In this suffering, He had to FIX his eyes on something far greater that lied ahead of Him.
We saw His prayer to the Father in John 17 that He prayed in the presence of His diciples for them and for us, and He prayed this:
John 17:4-5 - "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was."
Jesus laid aside His rights as God and became flesh and blood for us to give us an example to follow!
Do we pray fervently?
Do we strive against sin?
Are we willing as Jesus was to submit to the Father's will whatever the cost?
Do we want temporal blessings more than eternal glory?
If so, then it will be much harder to endure the suffering.
Jesus has spent intimate time with His own disciples to prepare them for the suffering that lies ahead of them. The world will hate them and persecute them. But He has taught them about prayer and they have seen Him travail in prayer. He has taught them how the Holy Spirit will come inside them and be their HELPER, just as He was full of the Holy Spirit and was able to endure the sufferings.
Read it slowly and carefully and don't take any one Scripture out of context from the passage.
What have we been called to do as a follower of Christ?
While reviled - How did He react?
While suffering - What did He do?
He "kept" entrusting Himself - it is "continuous" - He trusted the judgments and character of God, the righteous Judge.
Verse 24 is so powerful!
Where did Jesus bear our sins?
Therefore what we to die to?
What are we to live to?
How can we?
What were we healed from by this action on the cross?
We were 'continually' straying like sheep, but now where will we return? (vs.25)
Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, what are we to do according to 1 Peter 4:1-6? (summarize your thoughts)
As He taught His disciples and prayed for them and you as well......."Let your heart not be troubled....the Holy Spirit, the Helper....will come...He is there to help you live the life that glorifies the Father and the Son!"
Back to.................
THE ARREST
What did Jesus do about the ear that Peter had cut off? (See Luke 22:51)
Who arrested Jesus? John 18:12 -
Where was He first taken? (vs.13) -
Why?
This was the house of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas.
Jesus will be under trial and questioned there throughout the night. Simon Peter and another disciple (John 18:15) were following Jesus.
(This is believed to be John himself - who is the author of the Gospel we are reading) So John was inside the court....Peter was standing outside. John spoke to the doorkeeper and got Peter inside as well. There was a slave-girl who kept the door and she said to Peter "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?"
Peter stood with the slaves and the officers warming his hand over a fire because it was cold. They asked him "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"
Then, one of the slaves of the high priest (a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off) said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"
What did Peter do again? (vs.27)
What immediately happened? (vs.27)
What did Jesus tell Peter at the foot washing in John 13:37-38?
To get a really precious bird's eye view of this account, look at Luke's recording of the event.
Peter remembered the words He had spoken to him that this would happen.
What kind of things did Jesus endure while in this house arrest under the high priest of the Jews overnight?
Write out the list from these passages:
Luke 22:63-65-
Matthew 26:57-68 (especially facts from vs.67,68
Mark 14:53-65 (especially facts from vs.64,65)
Part 3 of These combined lessons of John 18 & 19 will cover more suffering that Jesus endured from the Romans the morning after this night of being betrayed and being denied as well as being persecuted by those He came to save.
We will also look at the crucifixion and burial of our Lord.
He is the good shepherd who laid His life down for the sheep - for you.
Write out your summary to this point and your prayer:
Jesus has just been BETRAYED by one of his 12 disciples, Judas Iscariot, ARRESTED by an army of people carrying swords and clubs, taken to the house of Caiphas (the high priest of the Jews) and spent the night standing before false accusations; being blind-folded, beaten in the face with fists, spit in the face, blasphemed, and mocked.
And then, as the abusive night came to an end and the sun began to rise, a cock crowed. His beloved disciple, Peter, who said he would die for Him, had DENIED knowing Him 3 times.
The Lord looked at Peter when the cock crowed, Peter remembered the Lord had told him he would be this weak in his hour of temptation, and Peter left crying bitterly for what he had done.
What held Jesus through it all?
He had prayed and the Father gave Him the endurance to make it. The Scriptures must all be fulfilled and every Word of God would come to pass.
EARLY IN THE MORNING, He is taken ........
INTO THE PRAETORIUM (the Governor's official residence) and stands before PILATE, the Roman Governor. Pilate had to go 'out' to the JEWS and ask what accusation was brought against Jesus.
When we studied the FEASTS of the JEWS in an earlier lesson, we said that THE LAMB OF GOD would be crucified on the day that celebrated PASSOVER, and yes, this will be the day He is CRUCIFIED.
What accusation did the Jews give to Pilate for bringing Jesus to him? (John 18:30)
Why wouldn't they judge Jesus according to their own Jewish laws for this?John 18:31
Also in vs. 31, what is God's reason?
In Isaiah 53 and other Old Testament prophecies, the CRUCIFIXION had never been heard of or imagined; yet God's Word PROPHESIED exactly the way that the Messiah would take on the sins of the world and described the death by crucifixion clearly.
Take Time Now to Read Isaiah 53.
The Jews have this book in their scrolls and today in the Scriptures and yet they were BLIND as a nation to Jesus being their promised Messiah.
Every Word of the Scriptures were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.
One day, the nation of Israel will look upon Him whom they pierced, and they will weep for Him as for an only Son (Zechariah 12:10).
In John 19:37 - the apostle John quotes this Old Testament Scripture when he writes the account of the soldier piercing the side of Jesus with a spear.Also, write out this verse:
Revelation 1:7 -Look! He is coming inthe clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. Every tribe on earth will mourn because of him. this is true. Amen
Truly, He is the Alpha and Omega - the Beginning and the End. The plan of redemption was in the heart of God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) from the beginning of time and will be praised for all of eternity!
Back to John 18:33 - 38
Read and Answer:
When Pilate asked Jesus "Are You the King of the Jews?", Jesus wanted to know if others told him that, or if he wanted to know for himself. Pilate said "They have turned you over to me - what have You done?"
The Jews wanted Jesus to deliver the kingdom back to Israel away from Roman rule here and now and since He did not do that for them, they would not believe in His claims to be their Messiah. They (as a nation) could not see that Jesus must take the SINS OF THE WORLD upon Himself BEFORE He would come to earth to rule and reign as King of all the Earth, which according to Biblical prophecy, one day HE WILL DO!
Jesus went on to tell Pilate, "I am a king and came into the world for this reason....to bear witness to the truth."
How did Jesus say we would know who is of the truth? (vs.37)
When Pilate heard this, he went out to the Jews. What did he tell them?
What was that custom? (vs.39)
He asks them if they wanted the King of the Jews released at this time.
What was their answer? (vs.40)
Who did they want released?
What crime had that man committed?
According to Luke's record, what else was Barabbas in for? (Luke 23:18,19)
From all we know about our Lord Jesus Christ, what crime has He committed?
You and I are both a "Barabbas" - we are guilty of sin - and yet Jesus took the punishment we deserved, and we were set free.
Romans 3:23-26
"....for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being JUSTIFIED as a GIFT by His GRACE (unearned favor) through the REDEMPTION which is in CHRIST JESUS, Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation (substitution) in HIS BLOOD through FAITH.
This was to DEMONSTRATE His RIGHTEOUSNESS because in the forbearance of God HE "passed over" (i.e. Passover) the SINS previously committed; for the DEMONSTRATION, I say, of His RIGHTEOUSNESS at the PRESENT TIME, that He might be JUST and the JUSTIFIER of the one who has FAITH IN JESUS."
YOU ARE MADE RIGHTEOUS (in right standing with God) BY accepting that you are a sinner and cannot be accepted by God without the substitutionary death of His Son taking on your sins...It is by Faith that you believe that Jesus shed His righteous blood for You and that You accept the only way to the Father.
John 14:6 - Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me."
Have you believed?
Share your testimony with us if you would like to.
Your Summary and Prayer:
Created For RTB msn group by B. LeMoine, used by permission only. Please join us at www.read-the-bible.webs.com
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