Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Eighteen

                                                                                                                                              Verses 10-11

Peter then foolishly drew his sword and fought back, cutting off the ear of one of the high priest's servants. By doing that, Peter demonstrated that he really did not understand Jesus' mission to the world when He prophesied about His death, burial, and resurrection. Peter must still have had some idea that Jesus would liberate the Jews from the Romans. Nevertheless, Peter and the other disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, believed that Jesus was God, and so they followed Him and loved Him. That was all the faith they needed to be saved by grace. Matthew 16:13-18; John 16:29-30; Galatians 5:6. Peter demonstrated that he was still under the influence of the Devil by trying to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. Matthew 16:21-23.

At that time, the Devil must have been in quite a quandary. If the Devil could prevent Jesus from going to the cross, then the Devil could retain his evil power in the world, at least for a long time, but he would lose his opportunity to murder God and assume complete control over God's universe. Isaiah 14:12-17. On the other hand, if the Devil sent a mob to arrest Jesus and cause Him to be crucified, then the Devil would have his chance to murder God, hold the Spirit of Jesus in Hell forever, and take over God's universe. But the Devil did not know that God had complete control over Jesus' mission to the world. God knew that the Devil would take his chance to murder God on a cross and get rid of Him.

Jesus told Peter to put up his sword. Jesus did not come to do violence. He came to save the world through violence done to Him. Jesus told Peter that He came to the world to complete His Father's mission. The Devil lost his battle with Jesus on the cross. Jesus endured the sins, evil, and spiritual deaths of the entire, living human race that He created in His image and whom He loves. But He did not become exhausted and sin which meant His Spirit could leave behind in Hell all of the sins, and evil, and the spiritual deaths of all living humans not saved by grace so that His Spirit could rise immaculate from the regions of death to reanimate the perfect body of Jesus so that He could rise from the dead as a victorious human being over all sins, evil, spiritual death, and the Devil himself. Since a human had caused the fall of mankind, then only a perfect human would be able to save mankind. I Corinthians 15:21. Christ has provided a higher and a lesser form of salvation for the entire, living human race because He came to completely defeat the Devil and all of his evil works. Luke 23:46; Acts 2:25-31; Psalm 16:9-10; Luke 3:6; John 12:31-32; I John 3:8; Hebrews 2:9-17; Revelation 1:17-18; Matthew 28:18; Genesis 3:15.

When the prophet David wrote that God "will not leave my soul in Hell," he spoke about his own soul. But when he wrote "neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption," he realized, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that he would be saved from Hell because of the incorruptible Holiness of God who would also rise from the dead. King David was saved by grace, but he had little idea what that meant. He therefore assumed that God would raise him from Hell in the general resurrection that all faithful Jews believed in because God is Holy and a God of Love. Psalm 16:9-10; Isaiah 66:22-24; Daniel 12:1-3. Daniel was also saved by grace, but not knowing what that meant, he also assumed that God would raise him from the dead in the general resurrection in the end of the world. John 5:28-29.