John 18:1-18

Three

John gives us a little different account of things from the other gospel writers. This does not mean that they are in conflict but simply that they have different accounts as would any number of people witnessing the same event, especially at night. Here are three things John brings to light that I find interesting.

When the soldiers came for Jesus they didn’t have to search for Him. Jesus went out to them and asked, “Who are you looking for?” You can almost hear the sneer in their voices as they reply, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus simply says, “I am he.” John reports that at this the soldiers fell to the ground. What a moment! When He asks the same question again they give the same answer but this time you can almost hear the trepidation in their voices. In this way Jesus both demonstrated His power and insured the safety of His followers.

Ah, but Peter didn’t feel that quite enough had been done. God’s followers seem to often have this problem. He didn’t do enough so they have to fix it for Him. (Sarcasm alert!) As we know, Peter cut off a man’s ear. Luke (the doctor) lets us know that Jesus healed the man. John tells us the man’s name. He was Malchus. Why would John mention his name? If he was an important official it seems the others might have mentioned it. If he was simply known to John (who was known to the high priest) that still isn’t a good reason to mention his name. But if he was known to the believers to whom this last gospel was written... I believe that Malchus very likely was known to the church - as a brother. After all, Jesus did a miraculous healing for him at a most unlikely time.

John is the only one who tells us of Peter being spoken to at the door as he went in to the high priest’s courtyard. All the others pick up after Peter was around the fire, but John had actually brought Peter in so he knew what happened at the door. You can almost hear the scorn in the girl’s voice as she says, “You aren’t stupid enough to be one of His disciples, too, are you?” You can almost hear the slight pause before Peter casually replies, “Of course not.” It was done. There was not big challenge. That would come later. But the die was cast with an unexpected simple derisive question followed by an almost thoughtless reply. It’s that just the way it so often happens?