Wednesday in the Word...John 18:25-32...The two realms revealed again

We venture into Peter's second and third denials today.  A sin left unconfessed grows on purpose.  As the weight gets heavier, we will either run to the One who can relieve us or run away from Him seeking distance and the comfort of others who are doing the same.  Maybe we can identify with Peter who ran away for a time from Jesus but ended running back to the One he called Master.  He ran away from Jesus after the third denial out into the night but later we will see this same Peter at the break of the day that Resurrection Sunday morning running to the tomb to find it empty.  

Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 18 and verses 25 through 32.

v.25-27 - Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.  So they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"  He denied it, and said, "I am not."  One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"  Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

Jesus is now into His second trial or the first trial if the first one was just a pre-trial to the trial.  He is now before Caiaphas, the real high priest at the time and this one will go through the night which is against their own rules.  Last time Peter denied Jesus the first time to a slave girl and now we have number 2 and number 3.  Number 2 comes from the others warming themselves around the fire and number 3 comes from a relative of the once "one ear man" of the garden thanks to Peter and fully restored thanks to Jesus.  This relative saw Peter or someone who looked like him in the garden and probably had the story first hand from Malchus, "the one ear guy."  

The pressure is getting deeper into the facts and that's what happens when we sin and try to cover it up rather than confess it.  This is an area where we see man's response but also God's sovereignty.  Jesus told Peter he was going to do this before it ever happened but Peter actually said the words of denial.  On a higher plane, a heavenly plane, God knows and on a lower plan, an earthly plane, man will respond.  Peter responded negatively as Jesus had said just as Peter will respond again positively when Jesus said that when he comes back around to encourage his brothers.  It is interesting that this proclamation from Jesus is prior to the proclamation of Peter's denials.  Luke 22:32 says,

"...but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

Then a few verses later Jesus speaks of Peter's denials.  Be so thankful for Jesus' sustaining prayers for us and His instruction on what we are to do when we fall and get back up.

v.28 - Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.

The Praetorium was the headquarters of the Roman military commander or governor which would be Pilate at the time.  Pilate is in town because the Passover Festival is happening and it could be a time of unrest among the Jews against the Romans.  Make note that it was early, before sunrise, and that the accusers would not enter the Gentile space so they would not be defiled.  This defiling would prohibit them from celebrating the Passover Meal.  They would be unclean for seven days.  This law they kept while they violated the law about trials only to be done during the day.  Their hypocrisy is evident and in the open as it is with us evidently if we keep playing the "religious" game. 

v.29, 30 - Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you."

"What is the charge?" is the question from Pilate to the Sanhedrin. The answer is a weak one.  "Take our word for it."  No evidence is presented so Pilate needs to go into his own investigation so we enter the third trial of Jesus and the first before the Gentiles.  With really no solid answer given to him, Pilate pushes back because he can tell that this Man is being dumped on him.  He doesn't have time for this.  He is a busy man.

v.31, 32 - So Pilate said to them, "Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law."  The Jews said to him, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death," to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.

There are two things going on here simultaneously.  On the earthly level, it is so that the Jews had lost their ability to administer capital punishment.  In 6 A.D. the Romans began to rule Judea through a governor and so the stoning stopped (the preferred option for the Jews) and the crucifixions began (the Romans way of doing things).  On the heavenly level, it is playing out what Jesus had already said.  He would not only be betrayed and killed but He would be handed over from the Jews to the Gentiles so that His death would be by "hanging on a tree."  The earthly circumstances can be mentioned but the heavenly facts always dictate them.  

John chapter 3 and verse 14 says,

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;..."

John chapter 8 and verse 28 says,

So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me."

John chapter 12 and verses 32 and 33 say,

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."  But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was going to die.

The story was not written here but rather in heaven above.  It unfolds here with human characters but a heavenly Father who loves provided not only the Sacrifice for our sins so that we might be righteous before Him by faith in His One and Only but also, at times, the story line ahead of time so we can see that He is in control.

Adam