John 18:25-27

25As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not." 26One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with Him in the olive grove?" 27Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

The synoptic gospels record Peter’s denials getting more and more harsh each time, even leading to his swearing that he didn’t know Jesus. John doesn’t go there, but it’s appropriate to see how that downward spiral or slippery slope comes on quickly and is hard to avoid after that first slip.

Peter lost his joy and fellowship with the Lord. He wasn’t cast out nor did he cease to be a child of God, but he lost the victory of discipleship. And more than that, I think Peter thought that his Christian life was over. You don’t hear anymore of Peter for awhile. The next time you see Peter he’s back up in Galilee. And what is he doing? He’s fishing. All night he’s fishing and catches nothing. As though Peter is saying, “I’ve miserably failed as a disciple, and I’m going back to do something I know something about.” And God doesn’t even give him one solitary fish, because He’s not done with teaching Peter this lesson—because there’s no way back. Notice three things:

First, Peter fell even though he had been warned beforehand. It is one thing to fall, but it’s another to fall when you’ve been told beforehand that it is going to happen. And not that it’s going to happen three years from now and you’ve forgotten about it; it’s going to happen that night. That’s the wickedness of our hearts; that’s the measure of our unbelief. Second, notice how far Christians can fall. Christians are capable of committing the most heinous of sins. I’m not trying to make light of Christian profession. I’m not advocating an easy-believism, but Noah can be drunk and David can commit adultery, and Peter can deny his Lord three times within Jesus’ hearing, and, according to Luke, within Jesus’ sight. And there go I, but for the grace of God. And thirdly, notice the difference between Judas and Peter. There is no difference. There will come a difference, but it’s not recorded here. At this point, there is no difference between what Judas did and what Peter did. Do you see what John is saying? He’s saying that the assurance of our salvation does not lie in our sin; it lies in our repentance. Although we are capable of committing the most heinous of sins – and God, for His own purpose, allows us to fall into those sins – the assurance of our salvation lies in repentance. Every morning when Peter awoke and heard the rooster crow, it would remind him of the grace of God and the love of Jesus and the unrelenting determination of God not to lose any of His own.

In the midst of this unjust trial and undeserved shame and mockery, Jesus is likewise dealt the bitter blow of denial from His own beloved disciple, one of those for whom He was suffering this reproach. Oh, how deep is Jesus’ love! Knowing how we would turn our backs on Him, in our weakness, even after having known the depths of His love and free favor, He was still resolute to die in our place. When we denied Him, He still loved us, and gave Himself for us – for we too, just as Peter, have at times trusted in our own strength and turned our back on our Lord. But Jesus, unchanging forever, loves us nonetheless, but rather hastens to restore us and bring us back to Him. How faithful is our Great Shepherd, and how safe in His care may we foolish sheep rest!

John 18:15-24

¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, ¹⁶but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. ¹⁷"You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter.
He replied, "I am not." ¹⁸It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. ¹⁹Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. ²⁰"I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. ²¹Why question Me? Ask those who heard Me. Surely they know what I said." ²²When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck Him in the face. "Is this the way You answer the high priest?" he demanded. ²³"If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike Me?" ²⁴Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest [Or Now, having sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas...].

First here, the other disciple is often thought to be John himself, but John was a mere fisherman, not a man with political connections, so in all likelihood, this disciple is not one of the Twelve, but rather a more secret follower of Jesus (Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus?). Anyway, that unnamed disciple realizes that Peter didn’t get in with him, so he goes back and gets the servant girl to let Peter in as well. And as Peter walks through the door, the girl asks him (but not the unnamed disciple) the question that makes his heart drop. He was hoping to avoid trouble, but he wanted to see what happened to Jesus. Isn’t it interesting that as soon as Peter denies Jesus for the first time, John recalls that it was cold? And Peter tried to get warm, but his trial was just beginning. He would remain miserably cold for a time.

If this had happened to a young believer, we, in our own away-from-the-battle-courage, might be able to understand it. But Peter had been a disciple of Jesus for 3 years; he had heard all the words that Jesus had preached and taught and words that aren’t even recorded in the Scriptures. He’d sat and listened to the Sermon on the Mount. Peter had seen Jesus perform mighty miracles – healing the sick, the blind, and the lame. He sees, on one occasion, where they break through the roof of the house and lower someone down for Jesus to heal. He’d seen a dead man come to life again after being dead for 3 or 4 days. He’d been taken up to a mountain with two other disciples, including John, and there he had seen things that we can’t imagine. These are Peter’s own words, “We were eye witnesses of His majesty.” He’d seen Jesus’ glory. And yet it happens. Would it happen to us? Really?

The high priest questions Jesus in regard to His doctrinal teaching. The reality was that Jesus had said nothing that remained secretive or conspiring. Jesus spoke the same words to everyone – words of repentance and justice and mercy. Thus Jesus responds, claiming that His own defense is unnecessary and that a better testimony, for the purposes of this mock trial, would come from those who heard Him teach. And then we read that a nearby official, apparently disgusted with Jesus’ reply, struck Him in the face. This event, notably with no recorded rebuke from the high priest, shows how brutishly the trial was conducted.

Jesus responds appropriately to being struck by claiming innocence and demanding evidence against Him. No one is able to testify of any evil that Jesus has done, even though all people know the words He has said and the works He has performed, for He has taught openly, and has not changed any of His doctrine since the beginning of His public ministry. But without any legitimate reason, and, no doubt, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 69:4, “They hated Me without a cause,” the court dealt an unwarranted blow to an uncondemned Man (a similar thing happened to Paul). Then, having previously (note the verb tense) sent Him to Caiaphas, the assembly now sends Him to Pilate (John 18:28-40; 19:1-16), the Roman Proconsul, so that they can gain for Him the death sentence. A cursory reading of the synoptic gospels reveals a multitude of further ways in which Jesus’ trial was against the law and certainly against justice – but so it had to be, for, if He would be a spotless Lamb and a satisfactory sacrifice, there must be no cause of death found in Him; rather, every cause for His death should be sought in us sinners, even as every cause of our life is found in this unjustly condemned man alone!

John 18:10-14

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) ¹¹Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?" ¹²Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound Him ¹³and brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.

I love what Calvin says here: “Boldly and courageously, indeed, Peter incurs great risk on Christ’s account; but as he does not consider what his calling demands, and what God permits, his action is so far from deserving praise, that he is severely blamed by Christ. But let us learn that, in the person of Peter, Christ condemns every thing that men dare to attempt out of their own fancy. This doctrine is eminently worthy of attention; for nothing is more common than to defend, under the cloak of zeal, every thing that we do, as if it were of no importance whether God approved, or not, what men suppose to be right, whose prudence is nothing else than mere vanity… Warned by so striking an example, let us learn to keep our zeal within proper bounds; and as the wantonness of our flesh is always eager to attempt more than God commands, let us learn that our zeal will succeed ill, whenever we venture to undertake any thing contrary to the word of God. It will sometimes happen that the commencement gives us flattering promises, but we shall at length be punished for our rashness. Let obedience, therefore, be the foundation of all that we undertake. We are also reminded, that those who have resolved to plead the cause of Christ do not always conduct themselves so skilfully as not to commit some fault; and, therefore, we ought the more earnestly to entreat the Lord to guide us in every action by the spirit of prudence.”

Jesus healed this man, as another Gospel declares, but the focus is on Jesus’ words to Peter. This is not the place to fight, for “he who strikes with the sword shall die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). The time has come for the Son of Man to be delivered over to His enemies for death. Nothing will stand in the way of that coming to pass, as it is the cup the Father has given Jesus to drink. See Isaiah 51, which notably comes right before chapters 52-53. Jesus is determined to die in this way.

Now, Jesus, who beforehand had slain these men with His word and now yields to their heinous will, is taken to Annas, the father-in-law to Caiaphas, the high priest. It is interesting to note that Annas was “the peoples’” high priest. Rome had come down and replaced him with Caiaphas, who was not overly popular with the people. There were also sons and relatives who had taken turns in the high priestly role, but in the minds and hearts of the people, Annas was still the authority in religious matters. Caiaphas was merely the Roman-appointed high priest. Thus Annas gets to see Jesus first, as this is a religious trial before it turns into a civil trial. And as we’ll see, the issue is one of truth. Jesus spoke the truth, and the Jews denied it, thinking they had a grasp on the truth that Jesus could not have obtained.

And then, once again, we are reminded that, as wicked and ill-motivated as the actions of these men were, they were still carrying out God’s purpose; for this Caiaphas is the one who unwittingly prophesied that Jesus would give His life for the sins of the people (John 11:49-53). John sees the doctrine of substitution. John sees the very heart of the gospel itself; that it is necessary for one man to die in the place of you and me, and he sees it as we do, in a way that unbelievers cannot comprehend (1 Corinthians 2:14).

John 18:4-9

⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?" ⁵"Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.
⁶"I am He," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again He asked them, "Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." ⁸"I told you that I am He," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for Me, then let these men go." ⁹This happened so that the words He had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those You gave Me" [John 6:39].

Instead of Jesus’ agony, John chooses to record for us Jesus’ mighty, divine power, even in this moment of greatest weakness. He depicts that reality by pointing out that Jesus knew all that was going to happen to Him. And He picks the fight, so to speak. Jesus went out, approaching the oncoming brigade in the night, and asked whom they wanted. All the might of Rome, all the rage of the Jewish leaders, and all the bitter deceit of treachery come out against this lone and deeply distressed Man – and yet, with a simple word, “I am” (the “He” is added in English but is not present in the original), all that ferocious power melts away into terror and helplessness. Isn’t it amazing that they all fall down when Jesus says, “I am.” I wonder if He said it in a surprisingly loud or deep tone. The point is that His voice is powerful. He is the Word of God, and it is by His word that we are regenerated unto eternal life. His powerful word can be deadening or gentle, and He speaks to us gently so often that we may forget the terror that can likewise be found in His words (Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8). These men received just a taste of His power; it didn’t stop them from doing what they came to do. But it wasn’t intended to do that, for Jesus came here to die. Nevertheless, this taste of His power, perhaps, may be for their benefit, so that after this episode, they may have all the more reason to repent and believe in Him.

In a sense, Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the Jews all crucified Jesus; but ultimately, it was God alone who could have done this thing. No mere creature can lift his hand against the almighty God unless it is by God’s very decree (Acts 2:24; 4:27-28). Ultimately, this was nothing other than Jesus’ own self-sacrifice. This is God Himself willingly offering up His own eternal life for His miserable creatures. No one takes the Son’s life from Him – He lays it down of His own accord (John 10:17-18; Psalm 27).

How great is the contrast between Jesus and all mankind at this point: Jesus displays infinite power and infinite humility, which work together to accomplish an infinite victory – but when we look elsewhere, we see only the Jews, full of pride and rage against God, whom they profess to serve; we see the Roman soldiers, cruel and proud, refusing even to acknowledge the existence of the true God; we see the apostate Judas, with a heart full of the most vile treachery; we see impetuous Peter (v10-11), lashing out in kind against the enemies of Christ and reliant on his own strength, which will soon fail him and leave him so powerless that he despicably denies – not once, but three times – the Lord whom he loves. And if we do not see ourselves as one of these men, either a hypocritical professor still under the authority of Satan; a blaspheming pagan; a treacherous apostate; or a true Christian whose own strength is too weak to perform the slightest good, then we are certainly self-deceived. And perhaps that’s why John wraps up this segment in v9 with his own commentary, reminding us of Jesus’ power to do the work assigned to Him by the Father – to lose none of those given to Him. How good is that news!