CHAPTER XVIII. _Jesus passes the brook Cedron, and goes to the garden of_ _Gethsemane_, 1. _Judas, having betrayed him, comes to the place with a troop of_ _men to take him_, 2, 3. _Jesus addresses them, and they fall to the ground_, 4-6. _He addresses them again, and Peter smites Malchus_, 7-... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:2. _JUDAS - KNEW THE PLACE_] As many had come from different quarters to celebrate the passover at Jerusalem, it could not be an easy matter to find lodging in the city: Jesus therefore chose to pass the night in the garden with his disciples which, from this verse, and from Luke 22:39... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:3. _A BAND_] την σπειραν, _The band_ or _troop_. Some think that the _spira_ was the same as the Roman _cohort_, and was the _tenth_ part of a _legion_, which consisted sometimes of 4200, and sometimes of 5000 foot. But _Raphelius_, on Matthew 27:27, has clearly proved, from _Polybius... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:4. _JESUS KNOWING ALL THINGS_, c.] He had gone through all his preaching, working of miracles, and passion, and had nothing to do now but to offer up himself on the cross he therefore went forth to meet them, to deliver himself up to death.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:5. _JESUS OF NAZARETH._] They did not say this till after Judas kissed Christ, which was the sign which he had agreed with the soldiers, c., to give them, that they might know whom they were to seize: see Matthew 26:48. Though some harmonists place the _kiss_ after what is spoken in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:6. _THEY WENT BACKWARD, AND FELL TO THE GROUND._] None of the other evangelists mentions this very important circumstance. Our Lord chose to give them this proof of _his_ infinite power, that they might know that _their_ power could not prevail against him if he chose to exert his migh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:8. _LET THESE GO THEIR WAY_] These words are rather words of _authority_, than words of _entreaty_. I _voluntarily_ give myself up to you, but you must not molest one of these my disciples. At your peril injure them. Let them go about their business. I have already given you a suffici... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:10. _HAVING A SWORD_] Luke 22:36, Luke 22:36. _CUT OFF HIS RIGHT EAR._] He probably designed to have cloven his scull in two, but God turned it aside, and only permitted the ear to be taken off; and this he would not have suffered, but only that he might have the opportunity of giving... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:11. _THE CUP WHICH MY FATHER HATH GIVEN ME_] The cup signifies, sometimes the lot of life, whether prosperous or adverse: here it signifies the final sufferings of Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:12. _THE CAPTAIN_] χιλιαρχος, The _chiliarch_, or _chief_ _over one thousand men_-answering nearly to a _colonel_ with us. Luke 22:4, Luke 22:4. He was probably the prefect or captain of the temple guard.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:13. _TO ANNAS_] This man must have had great authority in his nation: 1. Because he had been a long time high priest; 2. Because he had no less than five sons who successively enjoyed the dignity of the high priesthood; and, 3. Because his son-in-law _Caiaphas_ was at this time in p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:14. _CAIAPHAS WAS HE WHICH GAVE COUNSEL_, c.] Therefore he was an improper person to sit in judgment on Christ, whom he had _prejudged_ and _precondemned_: see on John 11:50-43. But Christ must not be treated according to the rules of _justice_: if he had, he could not have been put to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:15. _AND - ANOTHER DISCIPLE_] Not THAT _other disciple_, for the article is omitted by AD, _two_ others; some _editions; Syriac,_ _Persic, Gothic_, and _Nonnus_. So the _Vulgate_ is to be understood. There are many conjectures who this disciple was: _Jerome,_ _Chrysostom, Theophylact,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:17. _THE DAMSEL THAT KEPT THE DOOR_] _Caezarius_, a writer quoted by Calmet, says this portress was named _Ballila_. It is worthy of remark that _women_, especially _old women_, were employed by the ancients as _porters_. In 2Sa 4:6, both the Septuagint and Vulgate make a _woman_ porte... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:18. _SERVANTS AND OFFICERS_] These belonged to the chief priests, c. the Roman soldiers had probably been dismissed after having conducted Christ to Annas.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:19. _ASKED JESUS OF HIS DISCIPLES, AND OF HIS DOCTRINE._] He probably asked him by what authority, or in virtue of what right, he collected disciples, formed a different sect, preached a new doctrine, and set himself up for a public reformer? As religion was interested in these things... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:20. _I SPAKE OPENLY TO THE WORLD_] To every person in the land indiscriminately-to the people at large: the τω κοσμω, here, is tantamount to the French _tout le monde_, all the world, i.e. every person within reach. This is another proof that St. John uses the term _world_ to mean the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _ONE OF THE OFFICERS - STRUCK JESUS_] This was an outrage to all justice: for a prisoner, before he is condemned, is ever considered to be under the especial protection of justice; nor has any one a right to touch him, but according to the direction of the law. But it has been observed bef... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _NOW ANNAS HAD SENT HIM_, c.] It has been observed before that the proper place of this verse is immediately after the 13th and, if it be allowed to stand here, it should be read in a parenthesis, and considered as a recapitulation of what had been before done.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _AND - THE COCK CREW._] Peter denied our Lord _three_ times: - Peter's _first_ denial. I. This took place, when he was _without_, or _beneath_, in the hall of Caiaphas's house. He was not in the _higher_ part where Christ stood before the high priest; but _without_ that division of the h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _THE HALL OF JUDGMENT_] εις το πραιτωριος, _To the_ _praetorium_. This was the house where Pilate lodged; hence called in our margin, _Pilate's house_. The praetorium is so called from being the dwelling-place of the _praetor_, or chief of the province. It was also the place where he held... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _PILATE THEN WENT OUT_] This was an act of condescension; but, as the Romans had confirmed to the Jews the free use of all their rites and ceremonies, the governor could not do less than comply with them in this matter. He went out to them, that they might not be obliged to come into the h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _IF HE WERE NOT A MALEFACTOR_] So they did not wish to make Pilate the judge, but the executor of the sentence which they had already illegally passed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR US TO PUT ANY MAN TO DEATH_] They might have judged Jesus according to their law, as Pilate bade them do; but they could only _excommunicate_ or _scourge_ him. They might have voted him worthy of death; but they could not put him to death, if any thing of a secular n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _THAT THE SAYING OF JESUS MIGHT BE FULFILLED_] Or, _thus_ _the word was fulfilled_. God permitted the Jews to lose the power of life and death, in the sense before stated, that according to the Roman laws, which punished sedition, c., with the cross, Christ might be crucified, according to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _ART THOU THE KING OF THE JEWS?_] St. Luke says, expressly, Luke 23:2, that when the Jews brought him to Pilate they began to accuse him as a rebel, who said he was king of the Jews, and forbade the people to pay tribute to Caesar. It was in consequence of this accusation that Pilate asked... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _SAYEST THOU THIS THING OF THYSELF_] That is, Is it because my _enemies_ thus accuse me, or because _thou_ hast any suspicion of me, that thou askest this question?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _AM I A JEW?_] That is, I am not a Jew, and cannot judge whether thou art what is called the _Christ_, the _king of the Jews_. It is thy own countrymen, and their spiritual rulers, who delivered thee up to me with the above accusation. _WHAT HAST THOU DONE?_] If thou dost not profess thys... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD_] It is purely spiritual and Divine. If it had been of a _secular_ nature, then my servants would have contended-they would have opposed force with force, as the kingdoms of this world do in their wars; but as my kingdom as not of this world, therefore no r... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _THOU SAYEST_] A common form of expression for, yes, it is so. I was born into the world that I might set up and maintain a spiritual government: but this government is established in and by truth. All that love truth, hear my voice and attend to the spiritual doctrines I preach. It is by... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:38. _WHAT IS TRUTH_] Among the sages of that time there were many opinions concerning _truth_; and some had even supposed that it was a thing utterly out of the reach of men. Pilate perhaps might have asked the question in a mocking way; and his not staying to get an answer indicated t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:39. _BUT YE HAVE A CUSTOM_] Nothing relative to the origin or reason of this custom is known. Commentators have swam in an ocean of conjecture on this point. They have lost their labour, and made nothing out: see the notes on Matthew 27:15; Luke 23:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 18:40. _BARABBAS WAS A ROBBER_] See Matthew 27:16. The later _Syriac_ has in the margin, αρχιληστης, a _chief robber_, a _captain of banditti_, and it is probable that this was the case. He was not only a person who lived by plunder, but shed the blood of many of those whom he and his _... [ Continue Reading ]