There are several features that distinguish John's account of Jesus' passion from the ones in the Synoptic Gospels. First, the Romans feature slightly more prominently in John's Gospel, but they do not constitute such a large presence that they overpower the other characters who opposed Jesus. Second, John pictured Jesus as more obviously in control of His destiny. For example, John did not record Jesus' agony in Gethsemane. This is in harmony with His emphasis on Jesus as God's divine Son. Third, John included material that the Synoptics omitted. This, too, reflects emphases that John wanted to make in view of his purposes for writing. What these emphases were will become clearer as we consider what he included.
"Man will do his worst, and God will respond with His very best. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound' (Rom. 5:20)."530
18:1 "These words"evidently refer to all of what Jesus had said in chapters 13-17 all of which He probably spoke in the upper room. The Kidron Valley formed the eastern boundary of Jerusalem. The Kidron was also a wadior dry stream bed that contained water only when it rained hard. The Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane lay across the Kidron to the east. John only mentioned Gethsemane as the site of Jesus' arrest. He did not record Jesus' praying there (cf. Matt. 26:30, 36-46; Mark 14:26, 32-42; Luke 22:39-46). The verbs that John used to describe Jesus entering and leaving Gethsemane suggest that it may have been a walled garden (cf. v. 13).531
18:2 John apparently recorded this detail because it shows that Jesus was not trying to avoid arrest. Instead He deliberately went to a place where Judas evidently anticipated that He would go (cf. Luke 21:37; 22:39).
"This probably means that he and the disciples used to bivouac, sleeping in the open air, and probably in this very garden."532
18:3 Only John mentioned the presence of Roman soldiers. A Roman cohort (Lat. cohors) normally consisted of 600 soldiers. However sometimes the Greek word speira, translated "cohort"or "detachment,"referred to a smaller group of only 200 men.533John did not use a precise term to describe the number of soldiers that Judas brought, and it is possible that less than 200 soldiers were present. The Romans stationed troops in the Fortress of Antonia during the Jewish feasts. It stood just north of the temple. Normally these troops resided in Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast, the Roman provincial capital.
The officers of the Jewish temple police accompanied the Roman soldiers. Thus John presented both Gentiles and Jews as playing a part in Jesus' arrest. They carried lanterns and torches to find Jesus. Apparently they thought that He might try to hide. Passover always took place when the moon was full. They also had weapons to restrain anyone who might oppose their plan to arrest Jesus. Judas served as their guide. He had no authority over them.
18:4 John noted that when Jesus approached the leaders of the soldiers He knew their intentions (cf. 10:14, 17-18). He consistently presented Jesus' death as a voluntary self-sacrifice. Earlier in His ministry Jesus had withdrawn from conflict with officials because His hour had not yet come (10:40; 11:54), but now His hour had arrived (17:1).
18:5-6 Perhaps John chose not to record the fact that Judas identified Jesus by kissing Him to strengthen the force of Jesus' question. He mentioned Judas' presence nonetheless since He was a primary figure in Jesus' arrest. John stressed Jesus' complete control of the situation.
Jesus responded with the clause, "It is I"(Gr. ego eimi). As we have noted elsewhere, this was a claim to deity when Jesus uttered it in certain situations (e.g., 8:24, 28, 58). However it was also a normal way to answer the soldiers here (cf. 9:9). Some interpreters have concluded that John's description of the soldiers' response to Jesus' identification of Himself indicates that they viewed His words as a claim to being God (cf. Ps. 27:2). However on other occasions when Jesus' hearers understood that He was claiming to be God they tried to stone Him. Here they momentarily fell backward, stood up again, and proceeded to arrest Him. Perhaps John was hinting to his readers that the soldiers responded better than they knew by falling backwards. However, it seems unlikely that they took Jesus' words to be a claim to deity in this context. They probably fell back because they could not believe that the man they had come out expecting to have to hunt for was virtually surrendering to them. Rather than having to hunt down a fleeing peasant they found a commanding figure who confronted them boldly.
"It may well be that in verses 5-6 John recorded an incident in which the opponents of Jesus recoiled from surprise or abhorrence of what they perceived to be blasphemy. But for the reader of the gospel, who already knows who Jesus is and that His claim to identification with God is true, the reaction of the enemies is highly ironic. The betrayer Judas himself fell down at Jesus' feet before the soldiers led Him away to His trial and crucifixion"534
18:7-9 Jesus seems to have been more intent on protecting His disciples than on making a claim to be God. He made sure that His disciples would be safe before He allowed His captors to lead Him away (17:12; cf. 6:38-39; 10:28). This was a preview of His work for them on the cross.
18:10 All the Gospels record this incident, but John is the only one that names Peter and Malchus. The mention of their names makes the story more concrete. John was an eyewitness of Jesus' sufferings so it is not unusual that He would mention these names. The small sword (Gr. machaira) that Peter used was probably little more than a dagger. His action was foolish, but it illustrates his courage and commitment to Jesus (cf. 13:37).
18:11 Jesus' response, as John recorded it, focuses the reader's attention on Jesus. The Cross was necessary, and Jesus had committed Himself to enduring it. Peter's brave though misdirected act showed that He still failed to realize that Jesus' death was necessary. Zeal without knowledge is dangerous. Therefore Jesus rebuked Peter even though this disciple showed remarkable loyalty to His teacher. The cup to which He referred was the symbol of His lot in life (cf. Matt. 20:22-23), which in this case involved bearing God's wrath (cf. Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15; Ezek. 23:31-33; Matt. 26:42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; Rev. 14:10; 16:19).
"Peter had a sword in his hand, but our Lord had a cup in His hand. Peter was resisting God's will but the Saviour was accepting God's will."535
John's account focuses on Jesus' presentation of Himself to His enemies. This was an essential step in His voluntary self-sacrifice for the sins of humankind. It was not a surrender as such since that word implies that the person surrendering is guilty. It was not a request for arrest either since that would have removed some of the guilt for His death from His captors.
John is the only evangelist who recorded Jesus' interrogation by Annas. It was preliminary to His appearance before Caiaphas and then before the Sanhedrin (v. 24).
John reported much more about Jesus' trial before Pilate than did any of the other Gospel writers. He omitted referring to Jesus' appearance before Herod Antipas, which only Luke recorded (Luke 23:6-12). He stressed Jesus' authority, particularly His authority as Israel's King (cf. v. 36; 19:11, 14). John seems to have assumed that his readers knew of the other Gospel accounts of Jesus' passion. This supposition supports the view that this was the last Gospel written. The other Gospels stress the legal aspects of this trial. John presented it more as an interview between Jesus and Pilate similar to His interviews with Nicodemus (ch. 3), the Samaritan woman (ch. 4), and the blind man (ch. 9).542It proceeded as Pilate asked four questions: "What accusation do you bring against this man?"(18:29), "Are you the King of the Jews?"(18:33), "Do you want me to release the King of the Jews?"(18:39), and "Where are you from?"(19:9).
The unique material in John's account of Jesus' crucifixion includes the controversy about the superscription over Jesus' cross (vv. 19-22) and several references to the fulfillment of prophecy (vv. 24, 28-29; cf. vv. 36-37). John was also the only Gospel writer to record Jesus' care for His mother (vv. 25-27) and His sixth cry before His death (v. 30).
John recorded two incidents that happened following Jesus' death and before His resurrection. They both deal with the treatment that His dead body received.
"If the Gospel of John were an ordinary biography, there would be no chapter 20. I am an incurable reader of biographies, and I notice that almost all of them conclude with the death and burial of the subject. I have yet to read one that describes the subject's resurrection from the dead! The fact that John continued his account and shared the excitement of the Resurrection miracle is proof that Jesus Christ is not like any other man. He is, indeed, the Son of God."617
John viewed Jesus' resurrection as part of His exaltation. Jesus' exaltation would have been incomplete without His resurrection. Because of John's viewpoint I have outlined the Resurrection as part of the passion ministry of Jesus even though in another sense Jesus' passion ended with His death.
"For John, as for all the early Christians, the resurrection of Jesus was the immutable fact upon which their faith was based; and their faith in large part depended on the testimony and transformed behaviour of those who had actually seen the resurrected Jesus. Their Master was not in God's eyes a condemned criminal; the resurrection proved that he was vindicated by God, and therefore none less than the Messiah, the Son of God he claimed to be [cf. 1 Cor. 15:14-17]."618
"In each of the following [resurrection appearances] we will discover a pattern with the following features: (1) The beneficiaries of the appearance are engulfed in a human emotion (Mary, grief; the disciples, fear; and Thomas, doubt). (2) The risen Christ appears to them in the midst of their condition. (3) As a result, their condition is transformed (Mary, mission; the disciples, gladness; Thomas, faith)."619
"With Mary, the emphasis is on love; with the ten, the emphasis is on hope; and with Thomas, the emphasis is on faith."620
John followed the climactic proof that Jesus is God's Son with an explanation of his purpose for writing this narrative of Jesus' ministry. This explanation constitutes a preliminary conclusion to the book.
20:30 "Therefore"ties this statement to what immediately precedes it. John wrote his Gospel because those who believe on Jesus without seeing Him in the flesh are acceptable to God. He wrote, therefore, that people may believe and so enjoy eternal life. There were many other evidences of Jesus' deity that John could have presented. However, he chose those that he recorded here to lead his readers to the type of faith that Thomas just articulated and that Jesus just commended. That was John's strategy in composing this Gospel under the Holy Spirit's inspiration.
What did John have in mind when he referred to other "signs?"Perhaps he meant the seven miracles that he featured, the significance of which Jesus usually explained in the context (chs. 2-12).
It seems more probable that John meant to include the Resurrection since it was the greatest of all the demonstrations of Jesus' deity. Jesus explained the significance of this miracle in the Upper Room Discourse (chs. 13-16).
20:31 This verse unites many of the most important themes in the fourth Gospel. John's purpose was clearly evangelistic. His Gospel is an excellent portion of Scripture to give to an unbeliever. It is probably the most effective evangelistic tool available. Its impact on the reader is strongest when one reads it through at one sitting, which takes less than two hours for most people. This document can also deepen and establish the faith of any believer. However that is more a comment on its result than its purpose.
The implication of this purpose is that John meant unbelievers when he wrote "you."Did he have a particular group of unbelievers in mind, or was he addressing any reader? Some commentators have tried to identify a particular audience from statements in the text. Yet it seems more probable that John wrote for a general audience since he did not identify his intended audience specifically. His presentation of Jesus as the divine Son of God certainly has universal application.
"There cannot be any doubt but that John conceived of Jesus as the very incarnation of God."660
John's purpose was not academic. It was not simply that people might believe intellectually that Jesus is the divine Messiah. It was rather that they might believe those foundational truths so they could possess and experience the life of God fully (cf. 10:10). This divine life affects the whole person, not just the intellect. Moreover it affects him or her forever, not just during that person's present lifetime.
John's clear purpose statement concludes the body of this Gospel.
