Joh 18:22-23 | KingComments | STEP | While Peter has denied the Lord and is standing with His enemies warming up, the Lord Jesus is questioned by Caiaphas about His disciples, and about His teaching. First, He is asked about His disciples and then about His teaching. What someone teaches is reflected in His disciples. What should He have answered when asked about His disciples, one of whom betrayed Him, another of whom was in the process of denying Him, while all the others fled from Him? The Lord does not answer the question about His disciples. The reason is not that He would be ashamed of them. He brought them to His Father in the previous chapter as those who believed Him and kept the Father’s word. He does not answer that question because, as we have seen at the time of the capture, He said to the crowd: “Let these go their way.” He does answer the question about His teaching. His answer is exalted and clearly addressed to the conscience in order to convince the high priest of the sin he is in the process of committing. He places him in the full light by His answer. His answer, therefore, is not a defense. He has no reason to defend Himself, because everything He has said and done is completely public and transparent. He is a Man Who really has nothing to hide. His answer is a counter-question. This question proves the inadequacy of the high priest’s question. In doing so, He expresses His disapproval of the authority and validity of the inquiry. He does this not in a formal way, but peacefully and in an exalted manner. If the high priest wants to know anything about His disciples and His teaching, he should just go and ask the people who heard Him speak. They know what He said. The meek and just answer leads an overzealous servant of the high priest to slap Him in the face. There is no one to stop or punish this servant. Godlessness and mercilessness are the motives behind this trial. What a process! Nor does the Lord stop the hand of the servant. What a Lord! The servant believes he must strike Him because of His answer to the high priest. He is part of an ungodly system that lacks any sense of what is right before God. He feels that the Prisoner is answering the highest authority in the religious field brutally and that a slap in His face will call Him to order, their order. The Lord Jesus does not need to apologize. He knows that He has done nothing wrong or let Himself go somewhere. Later, when His great servant Paul finds himself in a similar situation, he does have to apologize ( ). The Son is perfect in all circumstances. He is unjustly struck. Yet He does not threaten, but rebukes with impressive dignity and perfect calm as He endures the insult. He does not acknowledge the high priest in any respect, though at the same time He does not oppose him. He leaves him to his own depraved incompetence and incapacity. The Son here is perfect in dignity and exaltation. What a huge contrast to the failing Peter. He then asks to testify to the wrong He has spoken. From His entire life, can they cite even one example of a wrong statement? On the contrary, it was testified of Him by the officers who wished to take Him captive that never a man spoke like this Man ( ). Not only is there a witness missing to testify to the wrong, but there are witnesses enough to testify to the good that He has spoken. And then, if He has spoken rightly, the question of why the slave strikes Him is also legitimate. It is a probing question to which there is no answer. Since the Lord Jesus is brought to Annas ( ), but the questioning takes place by Caiaphas, John mentions that the Lord has now been transferred from Annas to Caiaphas. He does so only after the interrogation by Caiaphas in order to determine to his readers that Annas is the actual leader of this whole action.

‏ John 18:22-23

The Lord Jesus Before Caiaphas

While Peter has denied the Lord and is standing with His enemies warming up, the Lord Jesus is questioned by Caiaphas about His disciples, and about His teaching. First, He is asked about His disciples and then about His teaching. What someone teaches is reflected in His disciples. What should He have answered when asked about His disciples, one of whom betrayed Him, another of whom was in the process of denying Him, while all the others fled from Him?

The Lord does not answer the question about His disciples. The reason is not that He would be ashamed of them. He brought them to His Father in the previous chapter as those who believed Him and kept the Father’s word. He does not answer that question because, as we have seen at the time of the capture, He said to the crowd: “Let these go their way.”

He does answer the question about His teaching. His answer is exalted and clearly addressed to the conscience in order to convince the high priest of the sin he is in the process of committing. He places him in the full light by His answer. His answer, therefore, is not a defense. He has no reason to defend Himself, because everything He has said and done is completely public and transparent. He is a Man Who really has nothing to hide.

His answer is a counter-question. This question proves the inadequacy of the high priest’s question. In doing so, He expresses His disapproval of the authority and validity of the inquiry. He does this not in a formal way, but peacefully and in an exalted manner. If the high priest wants to know anything about His disciples and His teaching, he should just go and ask the people who heard Him speak. They know what He said.

The meek and just answer leads an overzealous servant of the high priest to slap Him in the face. There is no one to stop or punish this servant. Godlessness and mercilessness are the motives behind this trial. What a process! Nor does the Lord stop the hand of the servant. What a Lord!

The servant believes he must strike Him because of His answer to the high priest. He is part of an ungodly system that lacks any sense of what is right before God. He feels that the Prisoner is answering the highest authority in the religious field brutally and that a slap in His face will call Him to order, their order.

The Lord Jesus does not need to apologize. He knows that He has done nothing wrong or let Himself go somewhere. Later, when His great servant Paul finds himself in a similar situation, he does have to apologize (Acts 23:5). The Son is perfect in all circumstances. He is unjustly struck. Yet He does not threaten, but rebukes with impressive dignity and perfect calm as He endures the insult. He does not acknowledge the high priest in any respect, though at the same time He does not oppose him. He leaves him to his own depraved incompetence and incapacity.

The Son here is perfect in dignity and exaltation. What a huge contrast to the failing Peter. He then asks to testify to the wrong He has spoken. From His entire life, can they cite even one example of a wrong statement? On the contrary, it was testified of Him by the officers who wished to take Him captive that never a man spoke like this Man (Jn 7:46). Not only is there a witness missing to testify to the wrong, but there are witnesses enough to testify to the good that He has spoken. And then, if He has spoken rightly, the question of why the slave strikes Him is also legitimate. It is a probing question to which there is no answer.

Since the Lord Jesus is brought to Annas (Jn 18:13), but the questioning takes place by Caiaphas, John mentions that the Lord has now been transferred from Annas to Caiaphas. He does so only after the interrogation by Caiaphas in order to determine to his readers that Annas is the actual leader of this whole action.