John 18-Wednesday-3-10-10

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John 18:37

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered,“You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

-John’s theological message is that despite the darkness of the hour, this is in fact the hour of glory. Jesus will not be crucified, he will be “lifted up”. He is not a victim, but a king assuming his throne...

-The Passion story of John is indeed a story of tragedy, but it is not Jesus’ tragedy; it is a human tragedy as we witness the futile and tragic efforts of people blinded by darkness, unable to see the true king in their midst.

-If God could transform this “hour” with glory, so too he can transform any hour.

John 18-19:16 (focusing on verses 12-27)

1 WHEN HE HAD finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.

3 So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, 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. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)

6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again 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.”

9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

10 Then 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.)

11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him

13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.

15 Simon 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,

16 but 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.”

18 It 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.

19 Meanwhile, 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.

21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

22 When 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?”

24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.

25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

26 One 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?”

27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

30“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected.

32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

35“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

38“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe

3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face.

4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7 The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,

9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

10“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).

14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Jesus, Peter, and Annas
ACCORDING TO JOHN'S rendition, Jesus is then taken to Annas, where he is interrogated and simultaneously Peter is questioned in the courtyard. The literary interlocking of these parallel stories invites us to contrast them and reflect on their symbolic value.

Under full armed arrest (note that both Roman and Jewish troops continue working together), Jesus is brought to meet Annas, Caiaphas’s father-in-law. From the Kidron Valley they walk west across the city, climbing its western hill where archaeologists have recently discovered the wealthy “upper city” of Jerusalem, where Annas likely resided.

Annas is well known even though he appears second to Caiaphas in the New Testament. Josephus indicates that he was appointed in A.D. 6 but was removed from office in A.D. 15 by Valerius Gratus, Pilate’s predecessor. He continued to enjoy enormous influence, however, and considerable popular support since Judaism resented how the Romans controlled the high priesthood (his festival vestments were kept, for instance, in the Antonia Fortress). Five of Annas’s sons became high priests as well as his son-in-law Caiaphas. Thus Annas enjoyed great power and was the patriarch of an influential priestly family, well known for its wealth, power, and greed.

That John refers to Annas as “high priest” should not confuse since he clearly understands Caiaphas to be the ruling high priest and Jerusalem can only have one. Judaism understood that appointment to this position was permanent, so that when Rome removed such men, the continued use of this title became a courtesy. The Mishnah supports the ongoing holiness of such deposed high priests, and Luke follows this practice when he mentions Annas in his Gospel.

That Jesus is sent first to Annas is plausible if he is the de facto power behind Caiaphas. This meeting may have been arranged in advance if Caiaphas (who originally determined that Jesus should die) is seeking to broaden his base of support vis-à-vis Rome. Since Jesus remains with Annas until 18:24, we should assume that all generic references to the “high priest” until then refer to Annas. Thus the interrogation in 18:19 – 24 represents the gist of Annas’s questioning. Some interpreters wonder if perhaps Caiaphas and Annas are together during this interrogation (thus making the references to “high priest” refer to Caiaphas), but this view struggles with what to do with 18:24.

Each of the four Gospels record Peter’s denials of Jesus during his interrogation by the Jewish authorities. On one level Jesus has predicted this and so his foreknowledge includes not simply the events of the arrest, but the responses of his followers. Nevertheless it is a tragedy since throughout the story (both in John and the Synoptics) Peter figures prominently and the denials represent Jesus’ apparent loss of a major follower.

Peter is accompanied, however, by “another disciple,” who remains unnamed. This is curious since John has been careful to name people carefully (Annas, Caiaphas, Simon Peter, Malchus). Is this the Beloved Disciple, who figures elsewhere in the Gospel and is commonly identified with John son of Zebedee (a not unreasonable position)? Many scholars object, wondering how a Galilean fisherman could be “known to the high priest”, enter his guarded courtyard, converse with the maid, and bring Peter in. Perhaps this is an anonymous Jerusalem disciple. Or, as one interpreter unconvincingly suggests, maybe this is Judas (who would be well known to the authorities by this time).

Yet the view that this is the Beloved Disciple has a great deal to commend it. Throughout the gospel the Beloved Disciple frequently appears alongside Peter, a portrait also common in the Synoptics. The Beloved Disciple faithfully follows Jesus even to the site of the cross, where Jesus talks to him . His presence at the arrest shows his profound loyalty to Jesus so characteristic throughout the Gospel. We also must be careful not to stereotype fishermen and think of them as poor, uneducated, and socially marginalized — and thus unable to know Jerusalem’s leaders. John’s father, Zebedee, had hired servants. Brown makes the interesting (and compelling) argument that John (of Zebedee) may have been related to Jesus, which also explains the Beloved Disciple’s responsibility in 19:26 – 27 to take care of Jesus’ mother. If Jesus and John are cousins, then Mary’s priestly connections in Jerusalem may well have connected John with Jerusalem too.

Jesus the king
Earlier in this chapter I outlined the literary structure of Jesus’ conversation with Pilate in order to show that John’s construction of the story is designed to focus on a central turning point located at 19:1 – 3. While the word “king” appears throughout the seven inverted sections, this central section could be deemed the “coronation” of Jesus, as ironically, Jesus is now given his robe and crown. Note how the lines “mirror” one another.

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head,
3 They clothed him in a purple robe;
2' went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
1' And they struck him in the face.

This structure is a clue to us to look deeply at what is really going on within the narrative. John’s Passion story is like a symphony, which seems to pursue one theme: the sorrow of Jesus’ departure, his rejection by many, the dismay of the disciples, the betrayal of Judas, the denials of Peter, Jesus’ immanent death — each of these are a part of the “hour” that beats its way through virtually every chapter of the Gospel. Particularly for readers who know the Synoptic version, this theme has all the makings of a tragedy.

But then there is a counterpoint, a secondary theme that works its way to the surface and makes itself known confidently but unobtrusively, a theme that could be missed if you were not watching for it. This is not the tragedy we think; this is not a moment for panic; there is something hopeful happening, something we didn’t see at first glance: This scene, this hour does not belong to Pilate or Caiaphas, it belongs to Jesus. Jesus is in control of the situation. John 18:4 reminds us at the outset that nothing will take Jesus by surprise. He asks the questions, he takes the lead, he steps forward and presents his captors with queries that make them stumble. It isn’t just the guards who fall to the ground in Gethsemane, but Annas and Pilate discover themselves plunging head-over-heel, made captive to questions they cannot answer.

John’s story reads like a medieval drama, where the true king of a tortured land, whose rightful rule has been temporarily overthrown, moves among the masses and is known only to a select few. He wears no crown, but the leather and wool of the commoner. But we who watch the play know that the usurpers are doomed. Even if the true king is captured and threatened with destruction, there will be some intervention (Merlin?!) that will reverse these events and win the day. Jesus is the true king, the hidden king, whose victory is about to be cheered.

A simple exercise brings the counterpoint to light. Take a pencil and circle every reference to “king” (or kingdom, kingship) in the story and watch what happens. Jesus is Israel’s king, despite what his enemies are doing to him; Jesus is the true king, despite their refusal to recognize him. Perhaps when we see this, we see the greatest “misunderstanding” of the gospel. The spiritual irony John enjoys most is when people only apprehend the surface of Jesus’ identity or message. A woman at a well thinks he may show her a river; a rabbi on a Jerusalem night thinks he offers a return to the womb.

But John delights in accounts of men and women betraying their ignorance, but also by their words disclosing the truths that even they do not see. Of course in 9:40 the Pharisees are not blind — but then again, yes, they are. Of course in 6:15 Jesus is not a king, hailed by an unruly mob — but then again, yes, he is. Of course Jesus must be crucified as a pretender to the throne — but then again, yes, the throne is his!

John’s theological message is that despite the darkness of the hour, this is in fact the hour of glory. Jesus will not be crucified, he will be “lifted up”. He is not a victim, but a king assuming his throne, transforming death into a passage, a return, a celebration of his resumption of heavenly position. And no matter what the world may think about or do to this glory, this regal glory cannot be suppressed. People who least recognize the work of God inevitably pay homage to his presence, acknowledging that he is there. They intuit truth they try to suppress, but inevitably, the truth about God becomes known. This means, with Paul, that “they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened”.

The Passion story of John is indeed a story of tragedy, but it is not Jesus’ tragedy; it is a human tragedy as we witness the futile and tragic efforts of people blinded by darkness, unable to see the true king in their midst. Nevertheless, their reflexes (unknown to them) and their instincts still work. They are religious. They have spiritual fears and questions. “Where do you come from?” Pilate asks. But their life in the darkness has made them only intuit the light, not see it, recognize it, or submit to it.

Therefore John’s story says that God will accomplish his purposes, revealing his glory despite what is happening in the world. No human being can stop it. No person is capable of stifling the glory of God if God intends for that glory to be shown. God is in control of history, even this hostile, seemingly darkened chapter of history that offers little hope. If he is sovereign in places like this Passover during this particular year in Jerusalem, if he can manifest glory and accomplish his purposes when to the observer everything seems like defeat and disaster, our history can be no different. If God could transform this “hour” with glory, so too he can transform any hour.