December 15

Jesus has just finished the part of John that we call the high priestly prayer, ending in John 17. They are in the Garden of Gethsemane (Gethsemane = “olive press”). John’s wording makes it clear that he has no love whatsoever for Judas Iscariot as he arrives with a squadron of religious leaders determined to have Jesus dead and buried before the next sunset. Also entering the garden are 500+ Roman soldiers pulled in to certify the arrest and make it impossible to escape . . . as if Jesus was trying to run. The size of the posse arresting Jesus tells us about the manic attitude and fears of the “upper” eschalon in Jerusalem. Reaching and finding Jesus didn’t require weapons, threats, strength, nor violence.    It’s interesting that Jesus’ admission blasts the crowd to the ground like Jesus’ voice were a hurricane!   Peter lunges forward in great zeal and slices off the ear of the High Priest’s servant.  That is a bold gesture of “commitment to the death” that Peter is showing for Jesus.  So Peter is committed, right?  The penalty for physically attacking the High Priest or his own was death.

His inquisition by the High Priest reveals that the trial of Jesus is a bungled process.  Jewish law was violated repeatedly in Jesus’ arrest and trial and crucifixion.  The leaders know they are not being true to principle and therefore are a conflicted nest of scheming hound-dogs.  And they know it.  So the trial goes along bumpy; passing Jesus to leader after leader hoping any or either of the others will drop the gavel on Jesus’ execution. But no one will.  Meanwhile Peter is trying to stay close to Jesus, yet not too close.  His prophetic word from Jesus comes true as he denies knowing Jesus three times.  It is a revelation that brought tremendous anxiety and grief for Peter as he realizes a new layer of his commitment/noncommitment; the shady and selfish nature of his own heart and the perfect trueness of Jesus’ character.  Jesus knew…all along, He always knew Peter’s heart. So this event started a great transformation for Peter. From here on Peter knew he couldn’t rely on himself. He also learned that He could rely on Jesus and he did so from Pentecost to his death in Rome 35 or so years later. And lest anyone criticize Peter for his panicky denial, know that in this century, the rules were when a self-proclaimed messiah was identified and found to be false, he was executed and all his followers were executed too. In Peter’s mind, denying Christ kept him from being crucified at dawn along with Jesus.

The perfunctory “trial” before Pontius Pilate is as off-kilter as it is illicit.  Notice the interaction again as Jesus’ hired accusers hand Him over to Pilate, though they won’t enter Pilate’s compound. It’s obvious Pilate doesn’t agree with the hollering hoards who end up wanting Jesus executed.  If you remember “The Passion of the Christ” 2004, Mel Gibson’s production did a very true rendition of Pilate’s dilemma as he pondered his options and sorted it out through the tensions of his day.  He certainly was living at the the center of a vortex where passions ran deep and emotional anger was given far more credence than prudence was.    It turns out that no leader has enough “reverse fortitude” to condemn an innocent man -a man that all the religious leaders are afraid of.  So they convince the mob to call for Jesus’ death.  And as happens throughout theological history – as in our own lives, a guilty man goes free while an innocent man is convicted to pay the price.  This was God’s plan from the forming of the world. [heavy sigh]