John 18:12-40 | What's happening (and who's involved)?

Finally being in the hands of the Jews, Jesus is brought to trial. Now get ready for this one because there is a lot of back and forth going on.

To begin, Jesus is brought before Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was High Priest that year. We are not given a whole lot of detail, but we see that Jesus is questioned concerning His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus' response was not received well and He was struck for it. Evidently, the environment was pretty hostile. Jesus retorts that He is being treated unjustly for having done no evil.

Passing the trial on, Jesus is sent to Caiaphas, the aforementioned High Priest. It is not mentioned how that went, but something becomes obvious as they take Jesus to the Praetorium, the governor's office. The Jewish leaders argue with Pilate for a minute before their intentions become clear. Pilate tells them to judge Jesus according to their own law, but they respond that they cannot put anyone to death lawfully. So they want to put Jesus to death but are unable to without the involvement of the Roman government. Pilate calls Jesus in and investigates him. The largest concern for a Roman governor would be some form of a coup or rebellion. So he presses Jesus on His authority and kingship. Jesus confesses Himself to be a king but that His kingdom is not of this world. Pilate returns to the crowd and tells them that he finds no fault. But he looks to honor a custom where he releases someone to them. They call for Barabbas, inevitably leaving Jesus to face judgment.

Now while all this is going on, there is the undertone of something else going on. It is not just Jesus that is being questioned. Peter is also facing scrutiny everywhere he goes. Out of fear or even shame, as Peter is questioned, he denies having any interaction with Jesus. He ends up denying Jesus three times before the rooster crows. We will talk more about the significance of that as the week goes on.

What observations are you making?