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In John 18
● notice that Jesus’ chapters-long discourse and prayer are over and that Jesus enters the garden with John offering three-fold emphasis that he is in company with “his disciples” (1, 1, 2),
● notice the stretching out of the list of what the “band” (3) brings in readiness for their wretched duty: “lanterns and torches and weapons” (3),
● notice that Jesus, continuing to control events, takes charge of the torch-lit encounter in garden by speaking first, by repeatedly affirming “I am he” (5, 6, 8), by isolating himself as the target (8), and by controlling the potential for violence initiated by Peter (10-11),
● see how Jesus’ control in part rests on his “knowing all that would happen to him” (4) and especially on his full assurance that he should “drink the cup that the Father has given” (11),
● trace the progression of Jesus’ encounters with the band, then with Annas, then with Caiaphas, and finally with Pilate,
● note the relatively large expenditure of words on Peter’s denials, the presence of odd details like the temperature and the Jews’ determination to avoid defilement, and the presence of a disciple who goes beyond Peter’s place yet remains unnamed (15, 16), pondering their significance,
● register the reminder that Caiaphas had earlier and ironically said that it was “expedient for one man to die for the people” (14),
● notice Jesus calling attention to the contrast between his public teaching (20, 21) and the Jews’ conspiracy in the dark, and
● consider how the Jews maneuver with Pilate and how Pilate maneuvers with Jesus before the stark contrast between Jesus’ declared purpose to “bear witness to the truth” (37) and Pilate’s dismissive and modern sounding “What is truth?” (38).
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson