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I. "THEN SIMON PETER HAVING A SWORD DREW IT."
A. There is something about Simon Peter that causes me to love him in spite of his blunders.
1. Yes, he made mistakes, but the person who doesn't make any mistakes is the person who does nothing.
2. Here we see him ready to face all the odds of the soldiers and those who came to arrest Jesus to defend His Lord.
a. He had declared to Jesus that he was ready to die for Him, and now he is about to prove it.
b. It is interesting to me that he is ready to take on the whole band who have come out to arrest Jesus, yet in just a little while before the little maid, he will be denying his Lord.
c. Sometimes it is easier to die for Christ than to live for Him.
B. "And he smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear."
1. I believe that he was intending to cut off his head, but divine pressure diverted the sword so that he only got the right ear.
2. The servant of the high priest was probably the first one to lay a hand upon Jesus.
3. John tells us that his name was Malchus.
4. The other gospels tell us that Jesus put the ear back on.
5. It is interesting to me that the last miracle of Jesus before His crucifixion was to cover for the mistaken action of His disciple.
a. I wonder how many other miracles He has had to perform to cover for the blunders of His disciples.
b. I am thankful for the many times He has covered for me.
C. Jesus then told him to put his sword into its sheath, for He said, "The cup that the Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?"
1. He had just been praying about this cup. His cup of suffering and death. In ICo.10:6, Paul said, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ.
a. He had asked the Father that if it were possible to let the cup pass from Him, nevertheless, not His will but the will of the Father be done.
b. He had submitted to the will of the Father, and was now ready to die for our sins. To drink the cup, to bear the shame from the mocking crowd.
2. Back at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus when He was at Ceasarea Phillipi with His disciples, and had asked them whom the people thought He was. When He asked, "Who do you say that I am?" It was Peter who said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." When Jesus then revealed to the disciples that He was going to be given to the hands of the Gentiles to be crucified and slain, it was Peter who said, "Be that far from you." He was objecting to the idea of the cross then and is still determined to keep Jesus from the cross.
a. This shows to me what a difficult thing it is to change our attitudes.
b. Peter was determined that Jesus would not die.
3. Matthew's gospel tells us that Jesus said that He could pray to the Father and He would immediately give Him more than twelve legions of angels to deliver Him.
a. He did not need the help of Peter.
II. "THEN THE BAND AND THE CAPTAIN AND OFFICERS OF THE JEWS TOOK JESUS AND BOUND HIM."
A. I think how foolish this actually is. Jesus could so easily have broken those bonds.
1. What amazing condescension this was on the part of Jesus, to let them bind Him and lead Him away as a prisoner.
PSA 22:12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round.
PSA 22:13 They gaped upon me [with] their mouths, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.
PSA 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
B. Issac was a type of Christ, and we remember that Abraham first bound him before he went to offer him as a sacrifice.
C. This they also did with the animals that were to be sacrificed.
Psalm 118:27, "Bind the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the altar."
D. He was bound that we might be set free.
E. Do not think that the cords bound Jesus. It was His love for the Father and His desire to submit to the will of the Father that held Jesus as a captive to the will of the high priest. Love had bound Him.
III. THEY LED HIM AWAY TO ANNAS FIRST, FOR HE WAS THE FATHER-IN-LAW TO CAIAPHAS, WHICH WAS THE 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.
A. At that time they had a peculiar situation in which there were actually two high priests. Annas was high priest by birthright and was recognized by the Jews. He had come in to disfavor with Rome who appointed his son-in-law Caiaphas as the high priest, and was recognized by Rome.
B. The religious trial was held before Annas who could not really bring the case to Rome for the death penalty.
1. Thus Jesus had to be tried the second time before Caiaphas, in order that he might bring the case to the Roman court.
2. In an earlier session, the religious council under Caiaphas had assembled to determine what they might do to stop the growing popularity of Jesus. This same Caiaphas had said, "Do you know nothing at all, don't you realize that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, that the whole nation perish not?
3. Caiaphas was a politician, and his motives were purely political. He would destroy Jesus to save his own position.
4. John said that the statement was actually a prophecy. He was predicting that Jesus must die for the people.
5. Imagine how fair a trial Jesus could have before a judge who had already in a public pronouncement had declared that it was necessary for Him to die to save their political skins.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
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