_JUDAS BETRAYETH JESUS. THE OFFICERS FALL TO THE GROUND. PETER SMITETH OFF MALCHUS'S EAR. JESUS IS TAKEN AND LED UNTO ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS. PETER'S DENIAL. JESUS EXAMINED BEFORE CAIAPHAS: HIS ARRAIGNMENT BEFORE PILATE: HIS KINGDOM. THE JEWS ASK BARABBAS TO BE LET LOOSE._ _Anno Domini 33._... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WENT FORTH WITH HIS DISCIPLES— When the intercessory prayer was ended, Jesus and his disciples came down from the mount of Olives into a field below, called _Gethsemane._ Through this field the brook Cedron ran, and in it, on the other side of the brook, was a garden, commonly called by the name... [ Continue Reading ]
A BAND OF MEN— This _band_ consisted of Roman soldiers; for both its name, σπειρα, a _cohort,_ and the title of its commander, χιλιαρχος, (John 18:12.) _Chiliarch,_ answering to our _colonel,_ are Roman military terms. The word rendered _officers,_ υπηρετας, properly signifies _servants._ They carri... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS KNOWING ALL THINGS THAT SHOULD COME, &C.— _That were coming._ Our Lord not only knew in general, that he should suffer death, but of course, as the God-man, was acquainted with all the particular circumstances of ignominy and horror that should attend his sufferings; which accordingly he large... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WENT BACKWARD, AND FELL TO THE GROUND.— As there were scribes and priests among them, they must have read of the destruction of those companies, which came to seize the prophet Elijah, Exodus 1:10; 2 Kings 1:12.—a fact, which bore so great a resemblance to the present, that it is an amazing ins... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THEREFORE YE SEEK ME,— This was not a _request,_ which would have been but little attended to by an inveterate multitude, but a _command;_ for the same divine power which struck them to the ground, John 18:6 withheld their hands from seizing the disciples, even after Peter had assaulted _Malchus.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SIMON PETER, &C.— See the introductory note to this gospel.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE BAND, &C. _TOOK JESUS_— See on John 18:3. There was a Roman guard and commanding officer, who attended near the temple during the great festivals, to prevent any sedition of the Jews; and these appear to be the _band_ and _captain_ here mentioned. See Acts 21:32 and Luke 22:52. They _bound_... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LED HIM AWAY TO ANNAS FIRST,— See the note on Matthew 26:57. Caiaphas seems to have enjoyed the sacerdotal dignity during the whole course of Pilate's government in Judea; for he was advanced to it by Valerius Gratus, Pilate's predecessor, and was divested of it by Vitellius, governor of Syria,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SO DID ANOTHER DISCIPLE:— This, as we have before observed, is supposed to have been St. John himself. See on Matthew 26:69 and Luke 22:54. Grotius however is of opinion, that this disciple was not one of the twelve, but rather an inhabitant of Jerusalem; possibly the person at whose house our L... [ Continue Reading ]
ART NOT THOU ALSO ONE, &C.— It seems the damsel, after having admitted Peter, followed him to the fire, and spake to him there in an angry tone, having been informed that it was he who had cut off her fellow-servant's ear. See John 18:26 and the parallel places.... [ Continue Reading ]
A FIRE OF COALS; FOR IT WAS COLD— See the note on Jeremiah 36:22. Fires in winter are used but for a little while at Aleppo, which is considerably further to the north than Jerusalem; and some there make use of none at all. The fires they then use in their lodging-rooms are of charcoal, in pans; whi... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HIGH PRIEST THEN ASKED JESUS— The court being duly constituted, and the prisoner placed at the bar, the trial began about break of day. See Luke 22. 66. The high priest asked our Lord, what his disciples were? for what end he had gathered them? whether it was to make himself a king? and what the... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE OF THE OFFICERS—STRUCK JESUS— As the word ραπισμα is supposed by many etymologists to be derived from ραβδος, a _staff,_ or _stick,_ Beza would therefore render the passage, _he smote Jesus with a staff._ But the word is apparently used for any blow, and would most literally be rendered, _gave J... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW ANNAS HAD SENT HIM BOUND, &C.— This verse is to be read in a parenthesis, as referring to John 18:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IMMEDIATELY THE COCK CREW.— See the note on Matthew 26:73 and the _Inferences_ on this chapter.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN LED THEY JESUS—UNTO THE HALL OF JUDGMENT:— When the evangelist says _it was early,_ he points out to us the great hurry and eagerness of the Jews to have this mystery of iniquity accomplished; for it was not customary with them to judge any man before the ninth hour. See on Luke 22:66. By the l... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT ACCUSATION BRING YE AGAINST THIS MAN?— This was the most natural question imaginable for a judge to ask on such an occasion; nevertheless the priests thought themselves affronted by it. It seems they knew the governor's sentiments concerning the prisoner, and understood his question as carrying... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE YE HIM, AND JUDGE HIM— By making this offer to them, the governor told them plainly, that, in his opinion, the crime which they laid to the prisoner's charge, was not of a capital nature; and that such punishments as they were permitted by Caesar to inflict, might be adequate to any misdemeanou... [ Continue Reading ]
SIGNIFYING WHAT DEATH HE SHOULD DIE.— According to the Jewish law, Leviticus 24:16 he would have been _stoned,_ as his servant Stephen afterwards was, having been impiously adjudged by them to have deserved death as a blasphemer. _Crucifixion_ was a Roman punishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN PILATE ENTERED, &C.— The expression used by the Jews in their accusation of our Lord, Luke 23:2. _Saying, that he himself is Christ a King,_ may no doubt refer to the acknowledgment which Jesus made before the council of his being the Messiah. Nevertheless, to account for Pilate's asking our Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYEST THOU THIS THING OF THYSELF,— "Dost thou ask this question of thine own accord, because thou thinkest I have affected regal power; or dost thou ask it according to the information of the priests, who affirm that I have acknowledged myself to be a king?" Of course the omniscient God-man knew wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SAYEST THAT I AM A KING.— Some would read this, _Thou sayest_ [the truth]: _For I am a king._ "I came into the world for this end; that by explaining and proving the truth in general, and this great and fundamental branch of it in particular, Imight impress it upon men's consciences, and make t... [ Continue Reading ]
PILATE SAITH,—WHAT IS TRUTH?— "What is this truth which you refer to, and which you so solemnly speak of, as your business to attest?" And when he had said this, as Jesus made a pause and did not immediately make him any answer, his hurry would not allow him to wait for it: so he went out again to t... [ Continue Reading ]