John 18:1-27

The Central Idea of the Text is that Jesus is betrayed by Judas and brought before Jewish authorities for trial.  Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane knowing Judas would come there with Jewish and Roman soldiers to arrest Him and take Him to the Jewish officials to be tried (John 18:1-16). Annas—the high priest—questioned Jesus about His disciples as well as His teaching (John 18:19), perhaps to learn how many disciples He had and if there were any secret teachings he did not know about. Jesus declared He’d spoken openly and requested His captors question those who’d heard His messages (John 18:20-21). A Jewish officer struck Jesus because of the way He answered the high priest (John 18:22), and Jesus challenged his right to strike Him (John 18:23). Jesus was then sent to Caiaphas for further questioning (John 18:24). It was during the trial that Peter denied the Lord three times (John 18:17-18; 25-27). John did not reveal Peter’s curses (Matt. 26:74), Jesus’ look (Luke 22:61), or Peter’s bitter weeping (Matt. 26:75).