The Arrest & Trial of Jesus

Series: The Gospel of John Year-Long Series

AtonementThe Works of Christ

The Arrest & Trial of Jesus

46 min

Series: The Gospel of John Year-Long Series

AtonementThe Works of Christ

The Arrest & Trial of Jesus

46 min

When a band of soldiers arrive at the garden of Gethsemane seeking to arrest Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus turns to them and says, “I am he.” In fact, this short phrase appears three times during this part of the narrative, which means that John is placing special emphasis on these words. So why are they significant, and what effect do they end up having upon the hearers? On this episode the hosts arrive at chapter 18 in their continuing study of the Gospel of John as Jesus is arrested and placed on trial by Israel’s chief priests.


SHOW QUOTE

A lot of people will say Jesus never claimed to be God and that’s one of the things we see over and over again in the Gospel of John. It’s not just that he says, “I am God.” It’s that he says, “I am Yahweh. I’m the Lord, the covenant god.” And so he goes even further.

Adriel Sanchez

TERM TO LEARN

“Drama of Redemption”

We are to view the historical events recounted in Scripture as ingredients in a unified story ordered by God’s providence. There is no square inch of human history that is outside the mission fields of Son and Spirit. The biblical authors are witnesses to a coherent series of events ultimately authored by God. This series of events involves both divine words and divine deeds and, as such, is both revelatory and redemptive.

The Old Testament testifies to the same drama of redemption as the New Testament, hence the church rightly reads both testaments together, two parts of a single authoritative script. What unifies the canon is Divine Providence and this in two senses: formally, the Bible is the product of divine authorship; materially, the subject matter of the Bible is the history of God’s covenant faithfulness. It is the story of how God keeps his word: to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and so on. It follows that the Old and New Testaments are connected at a profound level, for the one story of God’s faithfulness to his covenant promise is told in two parts. The typological connections that link the two testaments are grounded on God’s acting consistently through time.

(Adapted from Kevin Vanhoozer, “Ten Theses on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture,” Modern Reformation July/August 2010, pp. 17–18)

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Adriel Sanchez is the pastor of North Park Presbyterian Church (PCA) in San Diego, CA. He received his theological training from Westminster Seminary California and serves as host of Core Christianity. Adriel is the author of Praying with Jesus and, most recently, Why We Worship: Experiencing Heaven on Earth at Church. He and his wife, Ysabel, have six children.

Bob Hiller is the Senior Pastor of Community Lutheran Church in Escondido/San Marcos, California. He is the author of Finding Christ in the Straw and the content editor for The Craft of Preaching (1517).

Shane Rosenthal is executive producer of The White Horse Inn national radio broadcast which can be heard online at whitehorseinn.org.

Series • 52 Episodes

The Gospel of John Year-Long Series

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A Sneak Peek at our New Series on the Gospel of John

On this program, Michael Horton talks with producer Shane Rosenthal about the plans they have in store for the coming year. In particular, they’ll introduce the new year-long series that they are planning for 2019 on The Gospel of John. This new series will focus on reading this gospel in its original first century Jewish […]

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Eyewitness Testimony in the Gospel of John

If you pay close attention to the details of the fourth Gospel, you’ll notice that words such as testimony, witness, judgment, and truth appear quite frequently throughout this text. And this has led various scholars to conclude that the basic underlying structure of this Gospel is actually that of trial narrative. Though Jesus was rejected […]

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Richard Bauckham on the Reliability of John

Scholars frequently claim that John is the latest and most idealized of all the Gospels. Its picture of Jesus, they say, represents the beliefs of late first century Christians, rather than actual historical events. But is this view consistent with the evidence? What if it could be demonstrated that the author of this text was […]

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In the Beginning Was the Word

Why does the Gospel of John begin with this strange concept of the Word of God who was “with God” and yet somehow also “was God”? Some have tried to argue that the author of this text attempted to borrow concepts from Greek philosophy in order to appeal to his largely Gentile readers. Others push […]

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The Jewishness of John’s Gospel

There was a time in which Judaism & Christianity had many more beliefs in common. As it turns out, many ancient Jews before the time of Christ actually expected the coming of a divine messiah who would appear in bodily form in order to atone for sin and accomplish redemption. In fact, some Jews even […]

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The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us

On this edition of the program we’re continuing our discussion of John’s opening prologue and will unpack the significance of verse 14, as the Word becomes flesh and “pitches his tent” among us. Just as God’s glory resided in Israel’s ancient tabernacle, so too John witnesses the glory of the incarnate Word who dwells in […]

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The Lamb of God

If the Gospel of John is seen as a kind of “trial narrative,” then John the Baptist is the first witness who is called to testify on Christ’s behalf. And John’s declaration is perhaps a little different from what many today might expect. For example, he doesn’t point to Jesus saying, “Behold your best friend […]

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Climbing Jacob’s Ladder?

If you ask people today what they think the Bible is about, you’ll probably be told that it’s a collection of morality tales that encourages people to behave. Even many of those raised in Christian homes tend to think of Scripture primarily as a helpful guide that tries to steer us in the right direction. […]

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Water into Wine

On this episode in our series on the Gospel of John, we find ourselves at the wedding of Cana as Jesus turns water into wine. Though some have attempted to argue that Jesus actually turned water into grape juice, the implications of this passage are unmistakably clear. So what is the point being made here […]

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An Interview with D.A. Carson

Was the Fourth Gospel written by John the Apostle, or a mysterious figure known as John the Elder? And was this text penned before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., or some time later? Is there a conservative trend in the world of New Testament scholarship? On this edition of the program, Shane Rosenthal […]

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