Courage for Life Study of John Chapter 18

[Music] welcome to the study of John I'm an white and today we're going to be talking about chapter 18 in the Gospel of John over the last several lessons we've seen Jesus as he's prepared his disciple for this very moment I want us to take a quick look at what we're gonna see today in this amazing chapter it's a very somber look into the trial of Jesus and so when we first see him we've seen him in this last chapter that we studied which was chapter 17 the amazing prayer final prayer of Jesus before heading to the cross so he's just come from this prayer of the Father and then we're gonna see in this very first verse he's going to cross over with his disciples into the olive grove the Garden of Gethsemane where he will be arrested but let's take a look at the overall structure of this chapter because just like every other chapter we've seen in John John puts everything kind of in a nice neat order so that we can see the account and understand it very clearly and simply in the first fourteen verses we're gonna see that Jesus is betrayed arrested and then taken to the house of Anna's then we're gonna see a couple of sections John's gonna go back and forth but the first time Peter denies Jesus will be just right after that so well that's in 15 verses 15 through 18 and then again a few verses later we're gonna see Peter deny him the other two times which had been predicted by Christ back at the Last Supper then in verses 19 through 24 we're gonna see Jesus as then questioned by Anna's and then taken to the high priest Caiaphas and then in the very last few verses of this chapter we're gonna see Jesus's trial before the Roman governor Pilate so let's dig in and let's get started so this very first first after saying these things Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered into a grove of olive trees and we know through other Gospel accounts that this was called the Garden of Gethsemane so we know where Jesus was on that evening then Judas along with Roman soldiers and temple guards come with blazing torches into that olive grove and then in verse four we see Jesus fully realized everything that was going to happen Jesus knew exactly what was going to take place and so what John has accounted here is that he knew this was gonna happen he was fully aware now is the time now is the hour and what does he do he steps forward and he says who are you looking for and they replied Jesus the Nazarene he says I am he he doesn't deny it he steps up and he says I am he I'm who you're looking for John's account tells us that they all draw back and they fall to the ground when Jesus proclaims that he is I am then again he says who are you looking for and they replied Jesus the Nazarene and he says I told you that I am he verse 8 and since I am the one you want let these others go verse 9 John tells us that the reason that he did this and he said I'm the one you won't take me let these others go this was to fulfill what he said back in chapter 17 verse 12 he did this to fulfill that I did not lose a single one of those you have given me father so Jesus says take me leave these alone and it also fulfills what we learned about the Good Shepherd because remember Jesus teaching about the Good Shepherd told us that the Good Shepherd lays his life down for his sheep and he protects them from the wolves and so that's what he's doing right here he's giving them an example of his protection of them while he's still around so then we move on over we do see Peters gonna step up in verse 10 and Peters gonna step up with his sword he's gonna slice the ear off of one of the guards named Malka and he is one of the high priests slaves when he does that here's how Jesus replies Jesus says to Peter put your sword away shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the father has given me you know Jesus came to do the work of the Father he's told us all throughout this gospel account that I came to do the Father's will and now is the time now is the hour he's stepping up and completely taking responsibility for this particular event that's going to happen he knows exactly what's to come and he's telling Peter should I not do the will of the father absolutely I must do the will of the Father so the soldiers temple guards they arrest Jesus they time up and they take him to Anna's house which is the father-in-law of the high priest Caiaphas and so that ends our first section of this chapter and now the scene switches over a little bit and as they're taking him away there are two disciples it appears that follow Jesus in verse 15 we find out that Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus now most scholars believe that the disciple that followed with Simon Peter was the Apostle John and I'll tell you why in just a second because if you go on and read down through this chapter what we learn is that they get to the outer courtyard of the house of Anna's and at that courtyard the other disciple is allowed in because he has a relationship with the high priest now the reason that most scholars believe this is John is because his background his historical background is related and he's associated with the high priestly order and has some connection there so he would have likely been allowed into that courtyard whereas Peter would not have been and so he's at the gate and then as they're getting ready to let him in through the gate they're getting ready to let Peter in a woman asks Peter you're not than one of the man's disciples are you and here's his first denial Peter says no I am NOT think about why Peter did this you know often we're quick to judge we judged Judas we judge many other and we're judging Peter probably right here because he denies Christ but in a lot of ways and we'll see this reconciliation between Peter and crisis we close out this amazing Gospel in chapter 21 but in a lot of ways many of us can relate to Peter when push comes to shove when the a moment comes and we are in front of people who are not believers and we are in front of people who would judge us or criticize us or reject us because we believe we're quick to deny and so that time may come in your life and in my life where we have to stand up and willingly boldly admit yes I am a follower of Jesus Christ he is my Lord and Savior and the one who saves my life saved my life and I will not deny him so Peter this is his first denial and he goes on into the courtyard and he warms himself by the fire now the scene switches back and John takes us back to the scene where Jesus is inside being questioned by Anna's and the high priest and they call aniseh high priest because he was a former high priest but he's the father-in-law of the current high priest Caiaphas so he asks Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them and jesus replied everyone knows what I teach I have preached regularly in the synagogues and in the temple where the people gather I have not spoken in secret in other words Jesus is I haven't hidden I've talked completely out here in public you everybody knows everybody's heard me and so as those have heard me they know what I've said and then one of the temple guards slept Jesus across the face and says is this a way that you answer the high priest but jesus replied in verse 23 and said if I said anything wrong you must prove it but I am speaking the truth so why are you beating me then Anna's bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas the high priest now the scene switches back and we're back in that courtyard with Peter and it says in verse 25 meanwhile as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself they asked him again you're not one of his disciples are you again he denied it saying no I am NOT but one of the household slaves verse 26 of the high priests a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off asked didn't I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus and again a third time Peter denied it and immediately the rooster crowed just as Jesus prophesied back in chapter 13 verse 38 so now we come to the final section of this particular chapter Jesus is on trial now before Pilate so it begins by telling us that transition verse 28 says Jesus's trial before Caiaphas ended early in the morning hour then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor now Pilate was the governor there and so he goes out to the people in verse 29 and he asked them what is your charge against this man and they say we would have handed him over to you if he was not a criminal Pilate says then take him and judge him by your own law if you say he's a criminal what are you bringing him to me for but they say no we want you to judge him because in verse 31 they tell Pilate only the Romans are permitted to execute someone they don't want Jesus just judged they don't want him punished they don't want him banished they want him executed verse 33 Pilate goes back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought before him and he starts asking him questions he said are you the King of the Jews because that's what has been told to him and what have you done why did they want you executed Jesus answers him in verse 36 my kingdom is not of this world and he repeats it again my kingdom is not of this world and then Pilate says to him in verse 37 so you are a king and Jesus responds you say I'm a king actually I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth and all who love the truth recognize that what I say is true and then Pilate agains asked him well what is the truth then he went out again to the people so Pilate says you know what's the truth let me go out and ask the people again so he goes out and tells the people first he's guilty of no crime but you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner to you every year at Passover now remember all of this took place on the week of Passover which is significant but listen how the people respond and they shout it verse 40 it doesn't tell us that they said no just give us Barnabas they shouted back no explanation point not this man they don't want Jesus back give us Barabbas and that concludes this portion of this account of Jesus's trial and his glorification that has begun these are the final hours the last 24 hours of Christ's life so now let's review and see what we've learned we started out this chapter by seeing Jesus retreating to the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples then he is betrayed by Judas there he is arrested and taken to the house with Anna's where he is questioned Peter denies him the first time and then he is taken to Caiaphas and put on trial by Caiaphas the high priest then because the Jews and Caiaphas cannot sentence someone to execution he's then turned over to the Roman governor Pilate who doesn't understand the charges tries to get the Jews to go back and and charge him himself and judge him by their laws and then he agrees the question any questions and comes out at the end of this chapter and says I find him not guilty I'll release him back to you this King of the Jews but no they say do not release him I want you to release Barabbas so as we do in every lesson that we have together we're gonna look to see what have we learned what is our timeless life lesson of this chapter and here's what I believe it is Jesus gave His life willingly he knew exactly what he was gonna do and he surrendered to the will of the Father we see people betray him Judas we see those deny him Peter and we see him be put on trial and driven toward execution by people who are out to destroy him simply because they don't believe so then my question to you is if Christ willingly gave his life for you and I if he became the sacrificial lamb for our sins do we believe are we willing to not betray him are we willing to not deny him when push comes to shove and so that's one of the two questions I have for you today the first question is will you deny Christ when the going gets tough or you will you stand up in all confidence and share the gospel boldly and willingly to encourage and inspire others to follow you instead of you following them and then last but not least do you honor Christ for the king of the earthly and the eternal Kingdom that we are a part of will you honor him as the king that he is in your life I pray that you will and I pray that you will join me as we continue to move forward from this somber difficult chapter into the next even more difficult chapter as Jesus is crucified buried and prepares to you resurrected god bless you and I hope you have a wonderful day [Music]

Channel: Courage For Life

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Keywords: Jesus the good shepherd, protection, bible studies, bible study, book of John, bible studies for women, follow Jesus, bible studies for beginners, bible studies for life, how to study the bible, Ann White, Courage for Life, women’s audio bible, free bible app, free download, st john, who is john in the bible, help for life, bible video, video lessons, do you believe

Id: MvUsjVCErzQ

Length: 15min 40sec (940 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 17 2019