Although we rightly think that we are not worthy of receiving anything good from God, His grace gives us so much which we do not deserve. Jesus prayed specifically that we should have the right to be with Him in heaven, and be allowed to see the fullness of His glory.
To say that we ‘know’ somebody implies a variety of relationships. The person might be somebody we occasionally meet, or a colleague, friend or family member. Even within families there are different levels or intensity of relationship. The closest should be between spouses, and between parents and children. But Jesus prayed to His Father in an astonishingly intimate way about His very close relationships with people who believed in Him. That closeness was contrasted with the distance of people in the world – people who had rejected Him and did not want to know Him.
Jesus’ prayer in John Chapter 17 completed John’s account of the Last Supper (Chapters 13-17). Today’s passage takes us from the seclusion and peace of the Upper Room to Gethsemane. It was a quiet garden outside the city wall, east of Jerusalem.
Judas the betrayer had guided soldiers and temple officials to capture Jesus. However He was not going to run away; He was ready to be taken. The cross was an essential part of His mission, and Satan’s worst schemes would only bring Him greater glory. The passage shows that Jesus was fully in command of the situation. He was not taken by surprise at all. However Jesus’ evil captors were not prepared to meet the holiness of God in the darkness. They were afraid to grasp Him and fell backwards.
As Jesus faced His captors and Judas the traitor, there was a real sense that evil could not touch Him. The soldiers had fallen to the ground when He spoke and were reluctant even to touch Him. The holiness of Jesus was like a wall of protection which evil could not penetrate (John 18:2-9). But then, Peter decided to save His Saviour and, lifting up his sword, struck out at the High Priest’s servant. It was a badly landed blow to the head; instead of killing the man, Peter merely sliced off his ear.
Jesus, the Creator of the world, the King of kings and God the Son was taken away bound with ropes, making sure He could not escape. What foolishness! It was only possible because Jesus gave Himself into their custody in order to fulfil God’s great salvation-plan.
Peter was proud. He had boasted, “Even if all fall away, I will not." But Jesus said "I tell you the truth, today — yes, tonight — before the cock crows twice you yourself will disown me three times." But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same (Mark 14:29-31). He thought he could save Jesus. So he sat in the courtyard, still convinced that somehow he could change the course of history.
At last, the religious officials thought, they had captured Jesus and could interrogate Him in private. But Jesus taught the crowds in public, consistently telling them the truth from God. What more could His interrogators learn? But when Jesus told them to find evidence against Him they took offence, hitting Him in the face.
Peter had already denied that he knew Jesus (John 18:15-18). He had proved his weakness even though he had boasted about his strength (John 13:37-38). But instead of moving away from temptation, he was still in the courtyard of the High Priest’s house. Why? Perhaps he thought that he could still be strong for Jesus and somehow protect his Master. If so, that foolish pride was about to be unmasked again.
Jesus was led, by His religious accusers, to the Roman Governor’s residence. As it was the Passover feast day, they were not allowed any contact with anything unclean – so they would not go into the palace but stayed outside with Jesus. The strange thing was that they had previously accused Jesus of being a blasphemer (John 10:36) and demon possessed (Matthew 12:24); so He should have been declared unclean!
