Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, March 30, 2014 Read John 18:1-40 As we begin chapter 18 it is important that we notice that we have once again merged with the storyline we find in the synoptic gospels. The events recited and the order in which they are listed is strikingly similar. John and the synoptic gospels are following the exact same traditions. Only the inner details vary from one another but the storyline is nearly exact. Before we examine each piece of the story it is helpful for us to lay out the storyline and note the minor variances. We have noted already that the stories merge at the foot of the Mount of Olives. John knows the place only as a garden – a place where Jesus and his disciples have gathered often. The synoptic gospels do not mention that there was a garden but do call the place Gethsemane. It is clear that all four gospels have the same place in mind. We have also noted that Mark, Matthew, and Luke tell of Jesus praying in Gethsemane. His prayer is one of sheer agony as Jesus struggles to find and do God’s will in the face of the looming cross before him. The struggle is a genuine one for Jesus. The outcome of his whole mission hangs in the balance. John does not tell us about Jesus praying in the garden. We have already speculated about the possibility that John’s prayer of Jesus in the context of the meal scene may really be his acknowledgment of a prayer by Jesus in the context of the garden. As we have noted, the prayer that Jesus prays in John’s gospel is nothing like that of the synoptic gospels at Gethsemane. There is no struggle and no agonizing in John’s prayer. We have also noted that if there is a place where the events of Gethsemane may have a connection with John’s gospel it would be at John 12:27 where Jesus speaks of his troubled heart and asks the question of whether or not he should ask the Father to spare him from this hour. Jesus will not make that request because he knows it is precisely for this hour that he has been sent by God. The question that Jesus refuses to consider is exactly the question that he agonizes over in the synoptic accounts at Gethsemane. So even though John omits the prayer in the garden, he may well have been aware of it. Once the prayer has ended all four gospels tell the story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. In all four he comes with soldiers and gives them the sign that the one he kisses is Jesus. All four gospels tell of the subsequent arrest by the soldiers. And all four include a peculiar detail that unfolds in light of the arrest. The ear of a slave is cut off and then restored by Jesus. Only John provides the identity of the slave – he is Malchus, the slave of the high priest. Only John tells us that it was Peter who cut off the ear. It is striking that only John ends the arrest scene with the words, “Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me” (John 18:11). John has not spoken of a cup – the synoptic writers did in the prayer of Jesus at Gethsemane – perhaps this is a bit more evidence that John is aware of an agonizing prayer in the garden but he chooses to omit it. At this point the synoptic gospels tell us that the disciples all fled in fear. Only Mark identifies one of those who fled as a young man who leaves naked when his garment – in Mark’s story it is a shroud – is pulled off his body as he flees. John does not tell of the flight of the disciples but rather tells of Jesus concern for them and his request that they be allowed to leave. Apparently his request is honored. The next event to happen is that Jesus is brought before the high priest for a hearing. All four gospel writers tell of this event. In the process of telling of this hearing all four gospel writers tell of Peter’s following at a distance. All four gospel writers tell of Peter’s threefold denial though the order is somewhat different. John skillfully moves back and forth between the questioning of Jesus before the high priest and Peter’s denial. The synoptic gospels tell the story of Peter’s denial as one piece. At the conclusion of Peter’s denial, only Luke tells of the mocking and abusing of Jesus by the soldiers. At this point the synoptic gospels describe a much more detailed trial of Jesus before the council. It is during this trial that Jesus will respond to the high priest’s question about whether or not he is the Messiah, the Son of God with the response, “I am” which is the very same claim that John has repeatedly put on Jesus lips throughout his gospel. John describes what might be called a hearing and it is only before the high priests – the council is never mentioned by John. In actuality John has already described a trial scene before the council. At the time of the raising of Lazarus John tells of a gathering of the council in which they as much as pass judgment on Jesus in his absence (John 11:45-53). It is at this time that the high priest made his declaration that it is necessary for one man to die instead of having the whole nation destroyed. At this point during the hearing John refers to this comment by the high priest reminding his readers of the previous “trial” (John 18:14). In the synoptic gospels it is after the trial of Jesus that the threefold denial by Peter is reported. John has placed some of that denial in the midst of the hearing before the high priests. All four gospels tell the story of the cock crowing. All had told the story of Jesus’ prediction to Peter that this would happen. All four gospels now tell of a trial before Pilate. John’s trial before Pilate is far more detailed and is the main trial scene in his gospel. For the synoptic gospels the trial before the council is the main trial with the trial before Pilate more a matter of expedience to get Jesus sentenced to crucifixion. In the midst of the trial before Pilate, only Luke tells of a further hearing of Jesus before Herod. Once that hearing is completed in Luke’s gospel the scene moves back to the trial before Pilate. At the conclusion of the trial before Pilate, only Matthew tells the story of Judas’ attempted repentance and ultimate suicide. All four gospels tell the story of Pilate’s attempt to release Jesus and of the crowd’s desire that Barabbas be released instead of Jesus. Actually in John’s gospel it is the “Jews” who ask for the release of Barabbas. The crowd plays no role in John’s gospel. What this analysis shows is that all four gospels tell essentially the same story in the same order. This reality has led many readers of the gospels to suspect that there was an early “Passion Narrative” the preceded all of the gospels. It was the first thing written about Jesus. Such a speculation is likely correct. Having traced the main sequence of events we can return now to look at each event more closely.