Cross Examining the Narrative

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So He asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He. So, if you seek Me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that He had spoken: “Of those whom you gave Me I have lost not one.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given Me?”

So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. First they led Him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them; they know what I said.” When He had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how You answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike Me?” Annas then sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

John 18:1-27

Have you ever seen the skill of a talented litigator at work? Earlier in my career, I spent many a day in federal courtrooms across the country. Federal courts are serious places; judges have enormous power to interpret and enforce the law, and they do so by hearing arguments and evidence put forward by top-rate lawyers. It’s the lawyer's job to advocate for their clients’ positions; good ones are brilliant, skillful, and usually possess the quickest of wits to be able to respond to a probing question from the judge or a counterpoint from opposing counsel. Fundamentally, great litigators control the narrative in the courtroom.

Controlling the narrative is not simple; lawyers comb through every shred of information, good and bad. They gather the facts and apply them with veracity. Carefully, meticulously, they prepare themselves and their clients for the days in court, because when the trial starts, everything pertinent will see the light of day. The old adage “sunshine is the best disinfectant” is aptly applied.

The trial in John 18 was no normal event. Annas and the Jewish leaders weren’t concerned with the truth. In a trial in the middle of the night, racing to convict so they could crucify before the Sabbath, the Light Himself stood by to let the darkness cover Him. It’s no small symbolism that the trial was literally surrounded by the darkness of night. What John wants us to understand is that despite all worldly appearances, the Lord Jesus Christ was glorified in the darkness. It is in the darkness of His worldly mortification that we get some of the clearest indications of the majesty of His power and grace.

To be sure, Jesus, wholly God and wholly man, both allowed this event to transpire as God incarnate, and also experienced its wretchedness as fully man. The Light of the world willingly entered into this darkness for us, experiencing the anguish of humiliation, knowing exactly what was to come next. While Annas and Caiaphas assumed they were maintaining their control over the Jewish people through Judas’ betrayal, they weren’t in control in the slightest. Jesus controlled the narrative then, just as He does today.

The narrative was so immaculately sure that Peter even saw it in real time. Jesus set the stage in John 13, foretelling Peter’s threefold denial. Later, in John 18, as Jesus was questioned and humiliated inside the kangaroo court, Peter stood outside, warming himself by the fire, denying the same Man that just hours earlier he begged, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for You” (John 13:37).

Aren’t we all Peter? Loving Jesus with our hearts, denying Him with our actions? We can be so quickly overcome by the things of this world. We hold dearly to our daily lives and what we think we can control, only to realize it’s actually the darkness we are clinging to.

But as we recognize the limits of our control and begin to hate our sin, Jesus means to teach us something incredible. That though we have such limited ability to control, we have an endless capacity for grace. We can come to Him with a renewed understanding of who we are in Christ and experience His limitless grace for us. We can control so precious little, but we can receive from Him so much in surrender.

We can know, as John recites in the opening of his Gospel, that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Jesus reigns on the throne of glory right now and is in total control of everything. Just as He did when He allowed the events of Good Friday to unfold, Jesus controls the narrative of our lives. Hallelujah, what a Savior.