We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

The parallel passages are Mark 14:43-72 and Luke 22:54-65. Mark alone mentions the young man who had followed Jesus and His disciples to the Garden from a distance, and stayed just close enough to watch the whole thing. When the arresting party led Jesus away, someone spotted the young man and tried to grab him. It turns out the fellow was wrapped only in a bedsheet, and when the troops tried to grab him, all they got was the sheet; he fled naked. The common speculation is that this was Mark himself, since anyone who knew about this particular incident was almost certainly the victim.

Let's take a moment to review the context. The Maccabean Period saw the High Priest rise in political authority in Judea; the Maccabees were priests. Once the royal family got entangled with the Edomite Herodians, the High Priest still had enough independent power that Rome demanded veto power over who could hold that office. When Rome deposed Archelaus, it was convenient to let the High Priest carry on some royal duties. The Roman Legate at that time chose Annas (AD 6). The next Roman Legate removed Annas from office nine years later, but could not take away his potent influence. Consider that Annas was originally vested at age 27 or so, so he lived quite a while longer.

Another man served briefly, then a son of Annas, followed by another man; these came and went quickly through the office. Things were unstable as several priestly families competed for power, until Annas' son-in-law Caiaphas was vested in AD 18. He got along quite well with Rome, so remained in office until AD 36. He was followed by four more sons of Annas, with a couple of other men interspersed.

So it should surprise no one that Annas was the ghost of power behind Caiaphas, and frequently called "high priest" since the Roman control wasn't recognized in private. Under Moses, the High Priest served until death. It's almost guaranteed that Annas remained president of the Sanhedrin the whole time.

But it was John alone who mentions that Jesus was led initially to face Annas, whose palace was closer to the Garden of Gethsemane. Legally, this was no more than an informal interview, given the hour and his official position. Only after this did Jesus face Caiaphas. We are reminded that Caiaphas as High Priest, despite his political corruption, was still used of God to prophesy that Jesus was going to die for the sake of His nation.

The palace of the High Priest was built on a steep hillside. The servants' entrance was on the low side, while there was an official entrance on the main street above. Since this whole arrest and prosecution was contrary to the Law of Moses, Jesus was led into this back entrance and into the open court at the back of the palace.

It's a little fuzzy at this point. John interrupts that narrative to keep track of what happened to Peter during this time, since John himself was also there. Matthew puts this part later in his narrative, as do Mark and Luke. John spaces it out differently than they do.

John knew the gatekeeper from previous business and got himself and Peter into the lower courtyard where a large number of servants on call were hanging out. It was cold enough to warrant having a fire for them. The gatekeeper remarked that Peter was easily recognizable as one of the Twelve, since he was the largest, eldest and most outspoken, and likely had unique facial features. Peter denied being associated with Jesus, just an interested bystander who warmed himself by the same fire as some of the arresting party.

(How did the arresting party not recognize the big guy who swung a big knife at one of their number in the Garden of Gethsemane?)

Meanwhile, Annas asked Jesus about His closest associates and a summary of His teachings. Given this was not a lawful Sanhedrin assembly, Jesus was justified in His tart response. However, the legal issue was that Annas was trying to get Jesus to say something that would condemn Himself under the oral traditions (AKA the Talmud, the law of the Kingdom of Judea). Jesus pretended this was a valid legal proceeding, and suggested Annas could easily find witnesses who were there to hear what He had taught.

It was wholly illegal for the guard standing near Him to strike Jesus in that fashion. This explains the tone of Jesus' rebuke. Annas saw no reason to push things further at this point and had Jesus marched over to the official High Priest.

Jesus was stood before the Caiaphas and some members of the Sanhedrin in yet another legally informal hearing. We believe there was an open plaza at the back of the palace, at or near the level of the palace floor, where Caiaphas and some of the Sanhedrin and judges questioned Jesus at length. None of this was legal; it was a kangaroo court. Some of those sitting on this council had certainly witnessed His teachings. Yet, for some reason, the Sanhedrin never found anyone capable of offering a legally valid testimony against Him. There were plenty who could be suborned to perjury, but nothing that was consistent between any two witnesses.

This parade of nonsense carried on for hours. It was during this time that Peter was twice more asked about whether he was a disciple of Jesus. He got more and more animated about denying it, even to the point of swearing like the sailor he was. Then a rooster crowed. Here, Jesus turned where He stood before the Sanhedrin and glanced down at Peter in the lower courtyard. Peter broke down and left the courtyard.

Finally they found a couple of witnesses who were able to quote something Jesus said about destroying the Temple and raising it back up in three days. Even then, too many details differed and it should have been ruled inadmissible. Still, it was as good as the Sanhedrin could get, and the High Priest raised the question with Jesus. The condemned stood mute.

In a fit of rage, Caiaphas placed Jesus under an oath and demanded He state clearly whether He was the Son of God. To this Jesus replied that He was indeed, and they would some day see Him coming in the clouds of glory. It was all they needed under the Talmud; Jesus had committed blasphemy in their eyes.

There is every reason to believe that Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin were working a secret deal with Pilate. They needed to come up with something that condemned Jesus under Judean law (the Talmud) and then something that would stand under Roman law, as well. They retired inside the palace proper and left Jesus standing out on the open space with the arresting guards. This was their cue to entertain themselves with Jesus. Again, totally illegal, but they assaulted Jesus repeatedly, demanding that He prophesy as to who struck Him.

This ruling council still had to wait until Pilate was ready to hold court for them, sometime after dawn.

We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

Parallel passages can be found in Mark 14:26-52 and Luke 22:39-52. We come to the part in the narrative when we need to refer to all three synoptic accounts to get the full picture.

Matthew and Mark, with almost identical words, give us the context for John's mention that Peter would deny Jesus. The original comment was that they would all be scattered according to the prophesy in Zechariah 13:7. The disciples seemed to have missed the statement that upon His resurrection, they should meet Him in Galilee. Instead, Peter as the presumed second-in-command insisted that he would never panic. But Jesus solemnly warned that Peter would do it not once, but three times before the last guard rotation of that very night began (called "cock-crowing" in those days). Peter insisted that he would die before denying Him, and the others in chorus asserted the same.

Again, Matthew and Mark record the same details in very similar language. Luke has a rather different report that adds a few details. Jesus leads His entourage to the Garden of Gethsemane, a place where people came to hang out at night for typically nefarious purposes, but which Jesus had customarily used as a prayer chapel. He asked the main group to stay in one place to pray with Him, then went farther into the garden with His inner circle of three: Peter, James and John.

In this more restricted company, He began to show His emotional distress. They had no clue, but Jesus knew His arrest, trial and crucifixion was at hand. Like any other man, Jesus wasn't looking forward to that experience. He stepped away from the trio still farther and began to pray, lying face down. Luke tells us that an angel appeared to Him to encourage Him as He struggled with His flesh in prayer. He was so distressed that He sweat blood.

We know that He asked His Father to let Him skip this coming event, but was willing to obey and endure it. He came back once to find the trio asleep. Granted, it was late at night in a sheltered space and they were all full from the meal. They didn't understand that there even was a threat, much less what it was. Jesus warned them that testing was coming and they needed to be focused and alert to face the temptation, but it went in one ear and out the other.

This same scenario happened two more times. On His third time returning to them, He said it was over, both the prayer and their sleep. The time had come and the traitor had brought an arresting force. Judas knew where to find Jesus during these prayer meetings. This was a mixed group of soldiers bearing swords (Judean, not Romans), Temple Guards, and various others with clubs, easily the size of a full company of troops.

Judas had prepared a signal with the commander, that whomever he gave the respectful public greeting, kissing on both sides of the face, and calling Him "Rabbi" was the one they were to arrest. He wasted no time in picking out Jesus, marking Him with this elaborate greeting.

The sequence of events at this point is a little confused between the three synoptic narratives. Apparently Jesus responded to this greeting with some sarcasm aimed at Judas. Why was he really there? And why would he choose to identify Jesus in this particular fashion? Just how fake was he?

John's parallel passage in 18:1-12 adds something very interesting, and most people have no idea what to make of it. Jesus turns to address the crowd and makes a legal query: Who are you here to arrest? The answer was clear: Jesus of Nazareth. To this Jesus declared, "I am." In John's schoolboy Greek grammar, it was a rough translation of God's name, "Jehovah" (English; Hebrew is Yahweh). By a miracle of God's power, they were all forced backward and prostrated on the ground before Him. When they had recovered, He asked the same question again, but this time made it obvious their response meant His disciples were not under arrest. John says this fulfills His promise in the previous chapter, having lost none of them except Judas.

At this point the disciples realized what was happening, and Peter pulled out his big fishing knife and tried to strike the man closest to him, likely one who was not even armed. Peter lacked the skill for fighting, because all he managed to do was slice off the man's right ear. Jesus rebuked him, noting that if this was the time to fight, Jesus could have gotten far better troops -- twelve legions of angels. Even if such an army were only humans, it would be enough to occupy the city and a large territory around it, but with angels, only a few would be enough to defeat any human force of any size. Then Jesus healed the man, reattaching the ear with no wound.

Speaking loudly to the apparent commander of this company, the Temple Guard captain, Jesus asked why this force was necessary. How often had Jesus stood before them within the Temple grounds, and they didn't even try to seize Him? But of course, this was all prophesied that the government would act on behalf of the Kingdom of Darkness.

It was then that the eleven disciples fled into the darkness as the armed company surrounded Jesus and officially took Him in custody.

The old band I used to do ministry with is playing tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 PM CST (2 PM EST), down in Alabama at a rather large 3-day music festival. They don't play out as often...maybe a few times a year...for various reasons. Just putting in a request for us to pray for them at some point before/during their set that they perform well and honor God with their performance. It would also be nice for them to be blessed financially, since it took some effort for them to get down there (they are based in CT) and sometimes merchandise sales at festivals are unpredictable.

Thanks, family

We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

It's Ed's Birthday today. While putting that announcement in the Praise forum is a bit inappropriate, I thought it would be a good opportunity to thank Ed for all he's done here, and everywhere else he's posted things.

We are truly blessed that John was able to recall so much of this conversation from Jesus' final hours with His disciples. He also recorded the audible prayer Jesus uttered in their company that night. It was important that they hear the words and how He addressed His Father. It was a High Priestly prayer offered very near the Temple grounds, yet from outside them.

None of what He says is new, but given how the disciples were still operating in their fleshly minds without the Holy Spirit, the repetition would serve the purpose of drumming into their minds the way Jesus looked upon this whole affair. It was a paradox: Both the suffering of the Cross and His Ascension to the Father were identified as His glory. And both are the glory of the Father.

Then Jesus speaks a lot about gifts. The true name of the Father was His gift to the disciples. The disciples themselves were gifts from the Father to His Son. These men had gained the awareness of all the gifts of truth the Father gave the Son, who in turn gave them to the disciples. Now, they truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus notes that those who truly embrace Him should have special treatment from the Father. All of this was wrapped up in the glory of the Father, the greatest gift He ever gave, for it held the power of making everyone united in the purpose of living.

Jesus was about to end living on this earth. The only one of the Twelve He lost in the process was the one prophesied to betray Him. The survivors would bear His joy at the memory of this prayer. This joy and teaching had lifted them from their conformity with the world. Now they were almost like Jesus in belonging to a different realm entirely. And it was not His intent to take them out of the world, but that they should learn how to stay out of Satan's grip over this world.

They were sent back into the world to liberate others by the same joy and teaching. Jesus was now committing Himself wholly to the task ahead, so that the truth would breathe a new life into their dead fleshly bodies.

Of course, this prayer also covered those who would eventually come to the same truth through the disciples' message. It was that same premise: The glory and love and joy of the Creator are what hold His people together. That glory is carried into this world by the loving sacrificial commitment they shared with Christ on His way to the Cross.

Some day, they would all face death, and Jesus prayed they would all gather with Him in the afterlife. There, they would see His glory face to face, the same glory that would carry them through life and death. Glorious love was the identity of the Father and Son and His entire Kingdom. The world never knew that joy and love and glory. Yet, it should be obvious that Jesus came into this world with it, and would leave it where they could find it, in their own hearts.

Finally, He prayed that they could in no wise forget any of this, even as He faced the Cross.

We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

Having Covid has left me in a miss. I am sometimes having panic attacks, fast heart rate and high blood pressure and not sleeping will. They have put me on a low dose of blood pressure pills it helps, but still not back to normal.