OUR FATHER WHOSE SON WAS UNJUSTLY STRUCK

The book of John chapter 18 verses 19 - 24 records the high priest named Annas questioning Jesus about His followers and His doctrine and it was at this time that  Jesus commented on the absurdity of the situation by saying that He has always taught at the temple alongside the religious leaders and that the open and public venue was the appropriate location to have the discussions on doctrine that the priest was now trying to have at five  in the morning. 

19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.

20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?”

23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”

24 Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

The detail captured in this passage was that Jesus was struck by an officer for asking the chief priest why they were having a secret tribunal on His doctrine when all His teachings were always presented publically to the world. 

Jesus had not spoken anything false and yet the protocols enforced by the priest allowed for Him to be unjusty struck.

The high priest then sent Jesus to Caiaphas who was the chief priest who had articulated the principle that it was ˋexpedient for one man to die to save the whole nationˋ as the justification for capturing and killing Jesus.

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 OUR FATHER WHOSE SINLESS SON WAS SUBJECTED TO AN UNJUST TRIAL

The book of John Chapter 18 verses 15 - 18 picks up the movements of two disciples who followed Jesus after His arrest and as the procedings at Annasˋ house unfolded, a disciple ( likey the  apostle John, the writer of this book ), was able to get into the courtyard of the high priest because John was known to the household and he was able to secure access for Peter to 

As Peter entered the complex, the lady who administered access through the compound gate, recognised him to be one of the followers of Jesus and when she mentioned it, Peter denied it.

15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16 But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. 17 Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”

18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

In the cold morning, the soldiers who had been charged with arresting and holding Jesus, made a fire by which to keep warm as they stood waiting for the matters to conclude at Annasˋhouse so that they could take Jesus to Caiaphasˋ residence where the next tribunal would be held.

Peter stood among the men and warmed himself.

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OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON TO DIE FOR A NATION AND INDEED THE WHOLE WORLD

The book of John chapter 18 verses 12 - 14 

12 Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. 13 And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. 14 Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

The high priest at that time was Caiaphas and it was he who had pronounced the determination that it was necessary to sacrifice the life of one man to save the whole nation. This triggered the plot to capture Jesus and it culminated in Jesusˋ arrest in the garden of Gethsemene.

Jesus was handcuffed and likely roughed up by the soldiers ( if the reading from Psalm 17 verse 11; They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground. could be ascribed to this point in time)  and taken to Annasˋ house ( the father-in-law to Caiaphas ) where He was held in custody and questioned by Annas.

The mis-treatment of Jesus continued at Annasˋ house when He was struck by an officer during questioning which began the deterioration of Jesusˋ condition at the hands of the religious establishment and then the Romans.

As the early morning broke, Jesus was taken Ciaphasˋ house.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON LOVED HIM TO THE POINT OF OBEDIENCE UNTO DEATH

The book of John chapter 18 verses 1 - 11 records Jesusˋ arrest at the garden of Gethsemene this way;

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. 2 And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. 3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 

4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”

5 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

8 Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,” 9 that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”

10 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.

11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”

Judas, knowing that Jesus often met with His disciples at the garden of Gethsemene, led a contigent of officers and soldiers  to that location.

When the authorities arrived at the garden, Jesus identified Himself to them and they, surprised by His sudden proximity to them, fell to the ground.

He told them again that He was the one they were looking for and that they should let His companions go so that the scripture would be fulfilled that had prophesied that He would lose none of His men.

Peter, in a passionate move to protect His Lord, struck one of the members of the arresting party with a sword he was carrying and cut off an ear.

Jesus responded to Peter by telling him to stand-down because He ( Jesus ) was willingly going to drink the cup that His Father gave Him.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO IS KNOWN BY JESUS

The book of John chapter 17 verses 20 - 26 records Jesus' tender prayer to the Father on behalf of all the believers of that time and all those who would come subsequently.

Jesus told His Father that He wanted those who believed in Him to be with Him where He was so that they may see the Glory He Had before the creation of the world. 

Jesus also prayed that His people would stand out from the rest of the world because of the unity and love that they carried as they reflected Him.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

The Lord Jesus prayed to His Father saying that He has let His followers know about Him and would continue to do so in order that the same love the Father had for Jesus would be upon those who followed Him and that Jesus Himself would be in them.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO KEEPS HIS PEOPLE THROUGH HIS NAME

The book John chapter 17 verses 6 -  19, the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples starting with the revelation that the men were originally the Fathertˋs and that the Father gave the to Jesus and they responded the words that Jesus gave to them by receiving them and believing that Jesus came from the Father.

The Lord Jesus then said that the men were both His and of the Father and that Jesus was glorified in them (reflecting how the Father was glorified in Jesus  mentioned in verse 4; I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ). 

Jesus then spoke of the hatred His followers would recieve from the world in the way that Jesus was hated by the world.

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

The Lord Jesus, before his Father, asked that His followers be kept from the evil one and that they be sancitfied by the Fatherˋs Word which is the Truth. Jesus then said that even as the Father send His into the world, He (Jesus) was sending His followers into the world in a symetric reflection of the first step of the redemption enterprise.

Jesus said that He santified ( or set Himself apart ) for the the sake of the people who would follow Him. This seems to be part of what the followers would need to do for the sake of the ones who would come after them.

Amen.

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