I. A CONTRAST. What religion is there that can bear the light of day as Christianity can? The false needs to be arranged and beautified and kept ever in one particular light. Jesus could expose everything if necessary. What a contrast to the life in the temple at Jerusalem! There was not a priest who could afford to have all his doings brought out and set before men. This ought to be part of our power when we are dealing with false religions. The more they are searched into, the more their abominations are exposed. The more Christianity is searched into, the more transparent and attractive it becomes. Not that everything is clear to the intellect, not that there is absence of mysteries; but these mysteries, whatever they are, lie open for everybody to contemplate them and be the better for them. The mysteries of heathendom are only priestcraft when one gets in behind them. Christianity is symbolized by the contents of the ark. That ark was sacred, not to be touched with heedless hands; but once it was opened, nothing lay there but the commandments, every one of which uttered forth the condemnation of everything false.

II. AN EXAMPLE. That openness which was in Jesus must be in all his followers. All true Christian assemblies are perfectly open places, except when, in charity and kindness to individuals, the door is closed; and even then the closing of the door is known to all, and why it is so. Those entrusted with the propagation of Christianity have nothing to conceal. Their aim is the good of men; their method is by persuasion and appeal; they draw all their topics and their teaching from a book which is as open to others as to themselves. None of the first apostles needed to conceal anything; there was no false step, no dubious word of their Master to gloss over or keep in the background; and similarly we have nothing to apologize for. We need not to proclaim a mere ideal for the acceptance of men. Our real is better than the best ideal our imagination can fancy.

III. A CAUSE FOR GLORYING. Difficulty is taken out of our way. We feel that since all is open and clear and satisfactory now, it always will be so. We find nothing to be ashamed of, nothing contradictory, in our experience of Christ in time. And similar surely will be our experience in eternity. "Whatever record leap to light," Christ will be the same. Whatever testimonies be unearthed, there will be nothing awkward to get over. - Y.

I. A CONVENTIONAL JUDGE. Note —

1. His officiousness. If he had been in possession of judicial power at this time, he had no right whatever to ask the prisoner concerning His disciples and doctrine. His business was with Christ's personal conduct? Was He guilty of crime? But in all probability Annas was not in possession of judicial authority, and so his officiousness was indecent and offensive.

2. Craftiness. The question was evidently designed to entrap Christ into statements that might be used against Him. Craftiness is despicable everywhere, but nowhere more than when it is most prominent, viz., in law courts. It is forsooth regarded as a qualification for judicial work.

3. Heartlessness. It might have been supposed that an old man brought up in the religion of the patriarchs, and long before Christ was born occupied the highest position, would have been touched at seeing this innocent and beneficent young man bound with chains. But no, his old heart is callous. The atmosphere of his high office had frozen all the fountains of humanity. Alas! Annas is not without successors. Quench love in the soul, and what is called justice becomes statutory rigourousness.

II. AN INSOLENT SYCOPHANT (ver. 22). Here is an act of —

1. Sycophancy. This man was one of those mean, craven souls who are ever ready to flatter superiors. He wished Annas to think that he saw in Christ's reply the want of respect due to so high a dignitary, and the miserable lacquey counted on the dignitary's approval. Such a spirit is —(1) Despicable, because it lacks all manly independence.(2) Pernicious, for it degrades the possessor, deceives others, and impedes progress.(3) Sadly prevalent. Parasites abound.

2. Insolence. He "struck Jesus," &c. — an innocent man who stood before him bound, and more than that, incarnate Divinity. The lowest natures are always the most insolent. The sycophant can have no self-respect, and consequently neither the desire nor qualification to respect others.

III. AN UNIQUE PRISONER. Mark His reply —

1. To the conventional judge (ver. 21). Note here(1) Manly independency. There is no bowing down before this venerable official. Christ pays no respect for mere office. Nowadays office of itself is thought to have a just claim to honour. This is a huge fallacy. Legislative, administrative, regal offices are contemptible if not occupied by morally worthy men. Ignorance and depravity are bad everywhere, especially in high places. Mere office is an abstraction; it is the man who makes it worthy or unworthy. Christ has no respect for this man as a man, and therefore none for him as a judge.(2) Conscious honesty (ver. 21). Christ's referring the question to His disciples shows that He had nothing to be ashamed of. "I am no conspirator; what I have said and done has been in the face of all the world." It was this that made Him fearless and invincible.(3) Faith in humanity. No one had such a sense of men's depravity, yet He was prepared to trust to their verdict. This is the effect of conscious honesty. Treat every man as a rogue till you find him honest is the world's maxim. Christ acted on the opposite. The greatest rogues are ever the most suspicious.

2. To the insolent sycophant (ver. 23). Though a base minion Christ treats him as a man, and if he had a soul the rebuke must have shaken every fibre. An unique prisoner this! In truth, the judge and the sycophant were the prisoners: He was the Judge.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

I. OUR LORD WAS A HABITUAL ATTENDANT UPON THE SERVICES OF THE SYNAGOGUE. There are fifteen distinct references to this.

1. Notice one or two of the laws of habit.(1) Youth is the period during which the habits of manhood ordinarily develop themselves into fixedness. Reading between the lines of Luke 4:16, he must be blind who cannot discern that one of the factors in the childhood training of our Lord is His attendance upon the place of public worship.(2) It is a law of habit that the peculiar custom should assert itself at all times and places. In the life of Jesus the habit of attendance upon the synagogue constantly asserts itself. Matthew corroborates the text (Matthew 4:23), and Mark and Luke confirm this testimony. Thus the being of Jesus, as He grew from a babe to a man, twined about the synagogue just as the growing vine twines about the support of its tendrils. His maturity centres about the synagogue just as the efforts of the workman centre about the tool with which he performs his task.

2. Humanly speaking, everything was against the formation of this habit. No reader of the Gospels will find it difficult to ascertain Christ's estimate of the synagogue services of His day. In those who gave alms at the door of the synagogue, and in those who loved to pray standing in the synagogue, He saw the hypocrite. In those who filled its chief seats He beheld the incarnations of wicked ambition, who taught for the doctrines of God the commandments of men. Indeed, the Sermon on the Mount was spoken to correct the errors which found a home there. He designated the great mass of those who crowded the synagogue by such titles as pretenders, children of hell, blind guides, whited sepulchres, serpents, generation of vipers. Yet it was the habit of Jesus to be one in such congregations. But He went to the synagogue not to be seen of men; His sole purpose was to meet God. He never permitted the abuse of an institution of God to interfere with His proper use of it. Can we, therefore, ignore that which was essential to the performance of the work of the Son of God in our behalf? When the minister notices the absence of the children of professing parents, he can but observe that the training which Joseph and Mary gave the child Jesus tells a different story, for they brought Him up to go to the synagogue. Besides, if the child Jesus was accustomed to church-going, how can parents bring up their children for God without training them in the church-going habit?

3. Our Lord was a stranger in many places during His earthly career, but we have read of no place in which He was a stranger to the synagogue. The history shows that wherever the Sabbath day found Him He found the synagogue, and doubtless He never neglected the Monday and Thursday services. So that our presence in the house of God in the community where we may spend our summer vacation, &c., is but an exhibition of the high example of Christ.

4. The synagogues which our Lord attended abounded in that, both in the way of preaching and practice, which merited His outspoken rebuke. If this, then, was no bar to His attendance, what right have we to allow what we do not like to interfere with ours? Grant that the preaching is as poor as that which fell on the ears of the Model Preacher; that our religious assemblies are as full of inconsistent church members, to stay away is to be unlike Christ. Francis Ridley Havergal was marking the example of Christ when she said, "An avoidable absence from the house of God is an infallible sign of spiritual decay. Disciples first follow Christ at a distance, and then, like Peter, do not know Him."

II. THE SYNAGOGUE WAS THE PLACE, ABOVE ALL OTHERS, WHICH OUR LORD CHOSE FOR THE EXERCISE OF HIS MINISTRY.

1. He did not disregard the Temple convocations, yet those were limited, to one locality, while the synagogue was found in every community. True, He did preach on the mountain, the lake, at the well, by the wayside, but other things being equal, He always chose the synagogue. And did He not fill the synagogue with the glory of His miracles?

2. So the work of our church buildings is to reproduce the facts of the synagogue history of our Lord. Indeed, they only do their work as they become such synagogues, for it is where two or three or more gather together (synagogue) in the name of Jesus that He manifests Himself to-day. The hymns of our religious assemblies must be an all hail to the power of His Name. Our prayers must find the reason of their presentation in His Name. Our preaching must have as its authority the seal of His Name. Our hearing must be with the attentive reverence which is due to His Name. And thus in our churches our Lord will preach the gospel to the poor, heal the broken-hearted, &c. The Son of God will manifest Himself to destroy the works of the devil. The Doer of Miracles will fill withered human nature with the power of God.

(G. W. F. Birch.)

Annas, Barabbas, Caiaphas, Jesus, Judas, Malchus, Peter, Pilate, SimonJerusalem, Kidron, NazarethAlways, Assemble, Continually, Freely, Jews, Meet, Nothing, Openly, Replied, Resort, Secret, Secretly, Spake, Spoke, Spoken, Synagogue, Synagogues, Taught, Teach, Teaching, Temple, Whither, Wont1. Judas betrays Jesus.
6. The officers fall to the ground.
10. Peter cuts off Malchus' ear.
12. Jesus is taken, and led unto Annas and Caiaphas.
15. Peter's denial.
19. Jesus examined before Caiaphas.
25. Peter's second and third denial.
28. Jesus arraigned before Pilate.
36. His kingdom.
40. The Jews prefer Barabbas.

John 18:20

     5941   secrecy
     7456   synagogue
     7469   temple, Herod's
     7505   Jews, the

John 18:16-27

     2060   Christ, patience of
     5879   humiliation

John 18:19-24

     2585   Christ, trial

March 24 Evening
God hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.--I THES. 2:12. My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, . . . but now is my kingdom not from hence.--Expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.--Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.--I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 23 Evening
My kingdom is not of this world.--JOHN 18:36. This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies may be made his footstool.--Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.--He raised him from the dead, and set …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Jesus Before Caiaphas
'And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this Man's disciples? He saith, I am not. And the servants and officers stood there, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Art Thou a King?
'Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this Man? They answered and said unto him, If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye Him, and judge Him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Christ and his Captors
'As soon then as He had said unto them, I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked He them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am He: if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way: That the saying might he fulfilled, which He spake, Of them which Thou gayest Me have I lost none.'--JOHN xviii. 6-9. This remarkable incident is narrated by John only. It fits in with the purpose which he himself tells us governed his selection …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Calvary: victory. Matthew 26:47-27:61. Mark 14: 43-15:47. Luke 22:47-23:56. John 18:1-19:42.
Yielding to Arrest: the betrayal--protecting the disciples--checking Peter's violence--the arrest--the disciples forsake Him--except two, John 18:15, 16. The Real Jewish Ruler: Annas the intriguer--an unrebuked insult--the case settled at once--before Caiaphas--difficulty in fixing a charge--the dramatic question and solemn answer--second condemnation--gross insults. Held Steady by Great Love: Peter gains entrance through John, John 18:16.--the stammering denial--the bolder--with oaths and …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Kingship.
Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king! To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth: every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.--John xviii. 37. Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king. The question is called forth by what the Lord had just said concerning his kingdom, closing with the statement that it was not of this world. He now answers Pilate that he is a king indeed, but shows him that his kingdom …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

First Stage of Jewish Trial. Examination by Annas.
(Friday Before Dawn.) ^D John XVIII. 12-14, 19-23. ^d 12 So the band and the chief captain, and the officers of the Jews, seized Jesus and bound him, 13 and led him to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. [For confusion in the priesthood, etc., see pp. 64 and 528.] 14 Now Caiaphas was he that gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. [See p. 528. John restates this fact to remind the reader that Jesus was about …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Thursday Night - Before Annas and Caiaphas - Peter and Jesus.
IT was not a long way that they led the bound Christ. Probably through the same gate by which He had gone forth with His disciples after the Paschal Supper, up to where, on the slope between the Upper City and the Tyropoeon, stood the well-known Palace of Annas. There were no idle saunterers in the streets of Jerusalem at that late hour, and the tramp of the Roman guard must have been too often heard to startle sleepers, or to lead to the inquiry why that glare of lamps and torches, and Who was the …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Shadow of Death
196. Of the garden of Gethsemane it is only known that it was across the Kidron, on the slope of the Mount of Olives. Tradition has long pointed to an enclosure some fifty yards beyond the bridge that crosses the ravine on the road leading eastward from St. Stephen's gate. Most students feel that this is too near the city and the highway for the place of retreat chosen by Jesus. Archaeologically and sentimentally the identification of places connected with the life of Jesus is of great interest. …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

A Review and a Challenge
The Social Principles of Jesus Demand Personal Allegiance and Social Action DAILY READINGS First Day: The Social Mission of Christians Ye are the salt of the earth.... Ye are the light of the world.--Matt. 5:13, 14. "Jesus speaks here with the consciousness of an historic mission to the whole of humanity. Yet it was a Nazarene carpenter speaking to a group of Galilean peasants and fishermen. Under the circumstances, and at the time, it was an utterance of the most daring faith--faith in himself, …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

The Arrest.
"When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Kidron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, Himself and His disciples. Now Judas also, which betrayed Him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with His disciples. Judas then, having received the band of soldiers, and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II

Peter's Denial and Repentance.
"So the band and the chief captain, and the officers of the Jews, seized Jesus and bound Him, and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known unto the high priest, and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest; but Peter was standing …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II

Jesus Before Pilate.
"They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the palace: and it was early; and they themselves entered not into the palace, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Pilate therefore went out unto them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If this man were not an evil-doer, we should not have delivered Him up unto thee. Pilate therefore said unto them, Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law. The Jews said unto him, …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II

Comparison Between the False Church and the True.
1. Recapitulation of the matters treated in the previous chapter. Substance of the present chapter--viz. Where lying and falsehood prevail, no Church exists. There is falsehood wherever the pure doctrine of Christ is not in vigour. 2. This falsehood prevails under the Papacy. Hence the Papacy is not a Church. Still the Papists extol their own Church, and charge those who dissent from it with heresy and schism. They attempt to defend their vaunting by the name of personal succession. A succession …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Arrest of Jesus
Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.--Now he that betrayed him …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

The Betrayal.
Leaving the Upper Room, Jesus and his disciples went out into the moonlit night, for there was full moon at the passover, and took their way through the streets out of the eastern gate, across the Kedron, to the garden of Gethsemane, about a half mile from the city walls, near the western base of Mt. Olivet. The Garden, or orchard, takes its name from a word meaning oil press, and doubtless was shaded by the olive trees, from which the hill takes its designation. Still the traveler meets on this …
B.W. Johnson—The New Testament Commentary Vol. III: John

The Trial Before the High Priest.
"Reading the Gospels side by side, we will, with care and study, see how all they tell us falls accurately into its proper position in the general narrative, and shows us a six-fold trial, a quadruple decision, a triple acquittal, a twice repeated condemnation of Christ our Lord. We soon perceive that of the three successive trials which our Lord underwent at the hands of the Jews, the first only--that before Annas--is related to us by John; the second--that before Caiaphas--by Matthew and Mark; …
B.W. Johnson—The New Testament Commentary Vol. III: John

Christ Before Pilate.
John only gives the detailed account of the private examinations of Jesus by Pilate during the civil trial recorded in 18:33-37. He probably went within Pilate's palace as he would not be deterred by the scruples of the Jews, having eaten his passover, and he was therefore a personal witness. His account aids much in explaining Pilate's language to the Jews and to Christ, which is recorded in the other Gospels. The trial before Pilate divides itself into the following acts: 1. Without the Prætorium. …
B.W. Johnson—The New Testament Commentary Vol. III: John

Messiah Despised, and Rejected of Men
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief. T he heathen moralists, ignorant of the character and perfections of God, the true dignity and immorality of the soul, and the root and extent of human depravity, had no better foundation, for what they call virtue, than pride; no higher aim in their regulations, than the interests of society, and the conduct of civil life. They expressed, indeed, occasionally, some sentiments of a superior kind; but these, however just …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Messiah Rising from the Dead
For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. T hat the Gospel is a divine revelation may be summarily proved from the character of its Author. If an infidel was so far divested of prejudice and prepossession, as to read the history of Jesus Christ, recorded by the Evangelists, with attention, and in order to form his judgment of it, simply and candidly, as evidence should appear; I think he must observe many particulars in his spirit and conduct, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Greatest Trial on Record
Brethren, as the Lord gave commandment concerning even the ashes and offal of the sacrifices, we ought to think no matter trivial which stands in connection with our great burnt offering. My admonition is, "Gather up the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost." As goldsmiths sweep their shops, to save even the filings of the gold, so every word of Jesus should be treasured up as very precious. But, indeed, the narrative to which I invite you is not unimportant. Things which were purposed of …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 9: 1863

Of the Matters to be Considered in the Councils.
Let us now consider the matters which should be treated in the councils, and with which popes, cardinals, bishops, and all learned men should occupy themselves day and night, if they loved Christ and His Church. But if they do not do so, the people at large and the temporal powers must do so, without considering the thunders of their excommunications. For an unjust excommunication is better than ten just absolutions, and an unjust absolution is worse than ten just excommunications. Therefore let …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

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