(1)
THE BETRAYAL AND APPREHENSION (John 18:1-11).
(2)
THE TRIALS BEFORE THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES (John 18:12-27);
(a)
Before Annas (John 18:12-23);
(b)
Before Caiaphas (John 18:24).
(c)
Denied by St. Peter (John 18:17; John 18:25; John 18:27).
(3)
THE TRIALS BEFORE THE ROMAN PRO CONSUL (John 18:28 to John 19:16);
(a)
The first examination. The kingdom of truth (John 18:28-40);
(b)
The second examination. The scourging and mock royalty (John 19:1-6);
(c)
The third examination. The power from above (John 18:7-11);
(d) The public trial and committal (John 18:12-16).
(4)
JESUS SUBMITS TO DEATH (John 19:17-42);
(a)
The Crucifixion (John 18:17-24);
(b)
The sayings on the Cross (John 18:25-30);
(c)
The proof of physical death (John 18:31-37);
(d)
The body in the Sepulchre (John 18:38-40).]
In this chapter we again come upon ground which is common to St. John and the earlier Gospels. Each of the Evangelists has given us a narrative of the trial and death of our Lord. The narrative of each naturally differs by greater or less fulness, or as each regarded the events from his own point of view, from that of all the others. It is only with that which is special to St. John that the notes on his narrative have to deal. The general facts and questions arising from them have already been treated in the notes on the parallel passages.
(1) He went forth with his disciples — i.e., He went forth from the city. (Comp. John 14:31.)
The brook Cedron. — The Greek words mean exactly “the winter torrent Kedron,” and occur again in the LXX. of 2 Samuel 15:23, and 2 Kings 15:13. The name is formed from a Hebrew word which means “black.” The torrent was the “Niger” of Judæa, and was so called from the colour of its turbid waters, or from the darkness of the chasm through which they flowed. The name seems to have been properly applied not so much to the torrent itself as to the ravine through which it flowed, on the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. Its sides are for the most part precipitous, but here and there paths cross it, and at the bottom are cultivated strips of land. Its depth varies, but in some places it is not less than 100 feet. (Comp. article, “Kidron,” in Kitto’s Biblical Cyclopœdia, vol. ii., p. 731; and for the reading see Excursus B: Some Variations in the Text of St. John’s Gospel.)
Where was a garden. — Comp. Matthew 26:36. St. John does not record the passion of Gethsemane, but this verse indicates its place in the narrative. (Comp. Note on John 12:27.)