Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00024A
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00:19 Hello, friends, and welcome back
00:20 to this program "Books of the Book." 00:22 My name is Deyvy Rodriguez and I'm so happy 00:24 that you are taking this time to join us in this Bible study. 00:28 And we are studying the Gospel of John 00:30 and that today we are picking up on Chapter 18 00:33 and we are talking about the cross. 00:35 So if you have a Bible near you, 00:37 I invite you to open it to Chapter 18 00:39 and join us in this Bible study. 00:41 And I have been blessed to know that, 00:45 as I read more and more that there is a deeper message 00:48 that God wants us to learn. 00:50 And with us is Dr. Jon Paulien, 00:52 he is a Bible scholar, he is the Dean 00:54 of the School Religion in Loma Linda University 00:57 to join us in this study and I keep telling him 01:00 that I have been blessed again. 01:02 And the more I study, the more I learned. 01:04 And, Dr. Paulien, you know the last program 01:07 we talked about Chapter 17 which is the prayer of Jesus 01:13 and He is talking about, He is praying for His disciples, 01:16 He is praying for Himself and He is also praying 01:19 for is what you call the second generation or you and I. 01:23 Now, let me ask you a question as we go into Chapter 18. 01:28 Is the cross the only revelation of God's character 01:34 or is how does God reveal Himself 01:37 to us other than a cross if so. 01:40 Okay, that's a good question, you want to be clear on that. 01:44 I'm not in any way suggesting the cross 01:46 is the only revelation of God. 01:49 God reveals Himself in many ways. 01:51 He reveals Himself through prophecy. 01:55 He reveals Himself through history. 01:58 He reveals Himself through nature. 02:01 Jesus even says, "Inasmuch as you've done 02:04 it to one of the least of these my brethren, 02:06 you've done it onto Me." 02:07 In other words we can see glimpses of Jesus 02:10 even in the behavior of others. 02:12 Certainly the life of Jesus is a very important revelation 02:16 of what God is like in the Gospel of John. 02:19 But, what John is saying is that the cross is the clearest, 02:23 that's where the glory is seen. 02:25 The name, the character of God 02:27 is most clearly seen there on the cross, 02:31 So let's keep the focus there, it's not only on the cross 02:35 but the cross does it perhaps more clearly than anywhere else. 02:40 Okay, and so today we are now studying Chapter 18. 02:43 Now, we are moving to the cross. 02:45 We are moving to the cross. 02:47 So tell us the setting here. 02:48 Where are we at that this point? 02:50 Okay. Well, in the Gospel of John, 02:52 the cross is in both Chapters 18 and 19 02:55 and because there is so much in there, 02:58 we are going to divide those up into two programs. 03:01 So today we are focusing primarily on Chapter 18. 03:05 And the story begins in a garden and it ends in a garden. 03:10 That's interesting. 03:12 We spoke earlier in the series 03:14 about the Hollywood version of Jesus. 03:17 How we pick and choose from all the gospels 03:19 and create a composite picture. 03:22 That is excellent for people to understand and to follow, 03:26 but it sometimes blinds us to some of the interesting details. 03:30 And that is that Jesus agony happened in Gethsemane 03:35 but it doesn't say in Matthew, 03:36 Mark and Luke that it was a garden. 03:38 John doesn't mention Gethsemane, but he does tell us it happens 03:42 in a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives you see. 03:45 So we know where it is, we know the name of the place. 03:50 We know what it was like but we piece that together 03:53 from three different gospels. 03:55 So John seem to want to make the point 03:58 that the cross starts in the garden 04:00 and it ends in the garden. 04:01 The tomb Jesus was buried in is in a garden. 04:06 Now, the story is broken into three parts 04:08 in Chapters 18 and 19 and they don't divide 04:11 neatly at the chapter line. 04:14 Verse 1 to 27 of Chapter 18, now the first part 04:17 where you have the arrest of Jesus, 04:20 His Indictment before the Jewish priest 04:24 and then in Chapter 18:28 through 19:16 04:28 we have His trial before the Romans, 04:31 preside over by the governor, a judge named Pilate. 04:36 And then in 19:16 through the end of 19, 04:39 you have the crucifixion itself and then the death of Jesus, 04:44 the verification of that death and His burial. 04:47 So it's sort of a fairly neat division 04:51 into three fairly equal parts. 04:54 We'll look at the first part in this program 04:56 and as far into the trial before Pilate as time allows. 05:03 This is the section. 05:05 Chapters 18 and 19 are the section 05:07 of the Gospel of John where there is the most connections 05:11 with Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 05:12 So that the story of the cross is quite familiar 05:16 in those gospels as well but that makes this perhaps 05:20 the most fun part of Gospel of John 05:22 because we can see the things that John adds to the story, 05:27 like the garden piece and on the things 05:29 that he doesn't mention that are mentioned 05:32 in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 05:33 So the richness of the story is particularly in the fact 05:38 that we can see how he does it differently 05:42 than Matthew, Mark, and Luke too. 05:46 I think the particular emphasis in the story 05:48 is what I called the irony of Peter, Pilate and Jesus. 05:55 Because Jesus is contrasted with these other two. 05:58 One of them is a Jew, the other one is a Gentile 06:01 and both of them make some serious mistakes in the section. 06:06 Both of them are basically 06:08 looking at their own personal comfort. 06:12 They are seeking to avoid pain, embarrassment, loss of job, 06:17 loss of reputation so the behavior of Peter and Pilate 06:21 is motivated by the immediate situation. 06:25 The result is long term consequences 06:27 that are devastating. 06:29 Jesus on the other hand takes the long view 06:33 allowing Himself to be pinned on the cross. 06:36 There is nothing pleasant about it. 06:39 There is no immediate gratification whatsoever. 06:42 But He does that because of the long term results. 06:46 I think one of the big problems in politics today 06:49 is that the people want the leaders 06:52 to make short term decisions. 06:54 They complaint unemployment is up this month, 06:57 do something about it. 06:58 Well, anything you could do about it would probably 07:01 take two or three years to really kick in, you see. 07:03 So somehow we are all wired to this immediate 07:07 gratification thing, you know, 07:09 have it now, you know, have your cake now 07:11 and have the meal later kind of a thing. 07:13 And it is because Jesus and God take the long view 07:18 that the cross is a big piece of things. 07:21 So in John nowhere else is this contrast 07:26 between the way Jesus makes decisions 07:28 and the way Peter and Pilate do. 07:29 Pilate by the way is in a real sense 07:31 the other star of the story. 07:34 He plays a central role in the Gospel of John, 07:36 much less so in Matthew, Mark and Luke. 07:41 So let's go to that first section, verses 1 to 27. 07:46 Jesus is arrested in the garden 07:49 and then He is brought before Annas 07:52 who is one of the high priest. 07:55 Does have more to say about him a little bit. 07:58 Then there is a picture of Peter in the courtyard 07:59 along with a beloved disciple who only appears here 08:04 and then it goes back to the trial before the high priest 08:07 as it says and then it goes back to Peter 08:10 in the court yard of the high priest. 08:12 So you have this kind of a double stage back and forth 08:16 in much of the section. 08:20 In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the trial happens 08:23 before Caiaphas who is the high priest. 08:28 Only in John is the trial before Annas and John 08:32 makes clear that there is a trial before Caiaphas 08:36 but he only mentions it in passing. 08:38 He doesn't describe it, that's already done 08:40 in the other gospels but he zeros 08:44 in on this trial before Annas. 08:47 And there is a interesting background to this you see. 08:50 Annas was the high priest back at the beginning 08:54 of Tiberius reign but for whatever reason 08:57 he displeased the Romans, The Romans removed him 09:01 and put Caiaphas, his son in law I believe in his place. 09:07 The Jews never truly accepted this because for them 09:11 a high priest was to serve for life, 09:15 so when the Romans removed him, 09:18 Annas retained the moral authority before the Jews. 09:21 He was the real high priest. 09:23 Caiaphas never quite got that respect from the people 09:27 but Caiaphas had the power of Rome behind him. 09:30 So that meant the decision that Caiaphas 09:32 made had to be obeyed, Annas could only persuade. 09:36 Caiaphas was the one who really had the power 09:39 and so Annas is brought in here because 09:43 if he can persuade them to do away with Jesus, 09:46 then Caiaphas and Pilate can act on it. 09:49 So he still has the power of persuasion 09:52 but no longer has the position. 09:55 Yeah, and then I can image them both working together 09:59 because Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. 10:03 Yeah, assuming that got along well. 10:06 The fact that they hold the trial separately, 10:09 you might suggest that wasn't so. 10:12 That's a good observation. 10:13 Yeah. So unfortunately, 10:15 we won't be reading all of the verses today 10:18 because there is no time reading 10:19 such a long chapter but where are we reading? 10:23 Why don't we read the garden story in John 18:1-11. 10:29 Okay, When Jesus had spoken these words, 10:33 he went out with his disciples over the brook Cedron, 10:36 where there was a garden, 10:37 which he and his disciples entered and Judas 10:40 who betrayed him also knew the place for Jesus 10:42 often met there with his disciples. 10:45 Then, Judas having received the detachment of troops 10:48 and the officers from the chief priests and Pharisees 10:51 came there with lanterns, torches and weapons. 10:54 Therefore, Jesus knowing all things that would come upon him, 10:58 went forward and said to them, Whom are you seeking. 11:02 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. 11:05 Jesus said to them, I am he. 11:06 And Judas who betrayed him also stood with him. 11:10 Now, when he said to them I'm he they drew back, 11:13 and fell to the ground. 11:14 Then he asked them again, whom are you seeking? 11:17 And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 11:19 Jesus answered I have told you that I am he therefore 11:23 if you seek me, let these go their way. 11:26 That the saying might be fulfilled, 11:27 which he spoke, of those who gave me I have lost none. 11:31 Then Simon and Peter having a sword drew it and struck 11:34 the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. 11:37 The servant's name was Malchus. 11:39 So, Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath, 11:45 Shall I now drink the cup which my Father has given me? 11:49 Okay, there is a lot about this story 11:53 that reminds us of the Gethsemane experience 11:56 in Matthew, Mark and Luke but it's quite different as well. 12:01 Let me share some of the differences here. 12:02 I wrote them down because there are so many. 12:05 First of all it's in a garden, Matthew and Mark say Gethsemane. 12:09 Luke simply says they went to the Mount of Olives 12:12 so all of that is true, but they each focus 12:17 on a different thing. 12:19 John tells us they went there often, 12:21 the others don't say that. 12:24 He tells us that Judas knew the place. 12:27 He mentions that there are detachments 12:29 of soldiers with the crowd, 12:31 the others just talk about a mob, 12:33 that comes in sort of a street riot. 12:35 And here you have Roman soldiers, 12:37 I mean this is an official gathering. 12:42 Notice there is no agony, no Gethsemane anguish. 12:46 You know, Jesus doesn't separate to pray. 12:48 John leaves out a lot of things that the others cover. 12:52 There is no kiss from Judas. 12:55 Judas just shows up with the army. 12:57 Notice that Jesus says, I am again, they go in me. 13:02 I'm the one you are looking for. 13:03 I'm Jesus of Nazareth you see. 13:07 Peter and Malchus are named here. 13:11 It only says in the others that there is a disciple 13:13 who strikes the high priest's servant cuts off the ear. 13:16 Notice Jesus doesn't heal it in the story. 13:20 And Jesus asks for the disciples release 13:24 so those are all details that Matthew, 13:27 Mark and Luke don't have. 13:29 What's the point? What's the difference? 13:31 Matthew, Mark and Luke emphasize 13:33 the anguish of Jesus in the garden. 13:37 John emphasizes almost the opposite. 13:40 He is in control. 13:42 Jesus is fully in control of the situation. 13:45 In a way I think it is John picking up on in Chapter 10:18, 13:50 where he says "I lay down my life of my own accord" 13:54 Jesus makes clear that it's a voluntary death 13:58 that He is allowing Himself to be taken. 14:02 He is allowing Himself to be tried. 14:04 He is allowing Himself to be nailed to the cross. 14:07 He is allowing Himself to be killed. 14:09 This is a voluntary act. 14:11 This is a deliberate choice on the part of God. 14:17 He is in full control of the situation. 14:19 It isn't Judas that controls the situation, 14:21 is not Judas' kiss that controls the situation. 14:27 But, Peter has the opposite view. 14:31 He thinks it's out of control and very actions 14:36 Peter takes to get it under control are actually a problem. 14:39 Because they undermine Jesus' argument 14:41 to Pilate later on as we will see. 14:44 So Jesus in trying to get control of the situation 14:48 and Peter in trying to get control of the situation 14:50 actually messes it up, makes it worse. 14:53 Ever happened in your life? 14:54 Ever feel like everything is out of control 14:58 and instead of sometimes giving ourselves to God 15:00 and letting Him be in control of the situation, 15:03 we try to fix it ourselves. 15:05 I think that's what many religions do. 15:08 They see problems and they try to fix the problems 15:10 rather than getting in line with God's purpose for the situation. 15:15 To God there is always a purpose, 15:18 there is always control. 15:20 But Jesus even going to the cross 15:23 is in control of the situation. 15:25 Well, friends we are studying the Gospel of John 15:28 and stay with us as we pick up on this Chapter 18. |
Revised 2014-12-17