Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Eighteen

                                                                                                                                              Verses 19-23

The high priest asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine, but the high priest was not interested in Jesus' doctrine. He only desired that Jesus would say something that he could use to charge Jesus with blasphemy. The high priest could not turn Jesus over to the Romans until he could find Jesus guilty of some crime worthy of death in the eyes of the people.

Jesus did not try to defend Himself because He did not want to try to get out of doing His Father's Will. Jesus asked the high priest to call the witnesses of what He had preached and taught in the synagogue and in the Temple. But Jesus knew that the high priest would call no witnesses in His defense. Jesus knew that the high priest would not be able to bring any true charge against Him because Jesus had only preached and taught about God's Love and the love that people should have for each other. At times, Jesus had criticized the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, but He had never advocated any form of rebellion against them. In fact, Jesus sometimes told the people to obey the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 23:1-3.

Some critics of the Bible (KJB) have claimed that a contradiction exists between Jesus' answer to the high priest and a prophecy in Isaiah. Isaiah 53:7, But the New Testament clearly reveals that Isaiah's prophecy that Jesus would not open His mouth was fulfilled in the fact that Jesus would say nothing to defend Himself against accusations brought against Him by the high priest. Mark 15:3-5; Matthew 26:62-63. Jesus did not defend Himself because to do so would cause Him to attempt to get out of doing His Father's Will that He should go to the cross. Besides, the high priest and Pilate and all humans who have ever heard or read the gospels know that Jesus was not guilty of any sin. The fact that the high priest called false witnesses against Jesus and would call no witnesses to defend Jesus proved that he had already determined that he would find Jesus guilty of something for which he could put Him to death. Jesus went to the cross as a wholly innocent human being.

An officer that stood by slapped Jesus in the face. He claimed that Jesus had shown disrespect for the high priest, but actually, he simply slapped Jesus because he hated Him. Jesus challenged the officer to witness to the court what evil Jesus had said that warranted that slap, and if he could not, then he should not have hit Jesus. The officer offered no answer to Jesus' exact reasoning. That officer symbolized the attitude of the whole world toward Jesus. The evil nature of the world hates Jesus without a cause. John 15:25.