John 18

Much has been written about the first six verses of this chapter, prompted by the question, "What could prompt a group of soldiers armed with torches, lanterns, and weapons to draw back and fall to the ground in fear at the apparently simple utterance of a few words?"  I'll summarize my opinion here: As the crowd approaches, John mentions that Jesus knew all that was going to happen to him, so He asks the crowd, "Who is it you want?"  They reply, "Jesus of Nazareth," and Jesus response, as recorded in Greek, was "Ego eimi."  The NIV translates this "I am he," which is not a bad translation, but perhaps a more straightforward translation is simply: "I am."  I believe that this phrase has a clear connection to Exodus 3:14, where Moses is given God's very personal name.  Biblical scholars who don't think that Jesus' use of "Ego eimi" in John is a clear reference to Exodus 3:14 will trace it back to Isaiah 43:10, which also refers to the Name of God.  Either way, in His answer to the crowd, Jesus is telling His audience that He is the Lord.  Then either because the crowd (sent from the chief priests) knew what He was saying or because the veil was pulled back and Jesus' divine nature was revealed even just for a moment, they drew back and fell down.

For 18:10-11, see the comment on Mark 14:43-72.  Since I made that comment, someone pointed out to me that Perhaps Peter did mean to cut off this man's ear, which would have rendered him unable to serve in the temple without killing him.  I don't know what to do with that exactly, but perhaps I've been giving Peter too little credit for his skill with a sword assuming that he hit an ear instead of someplace more crucial.  But I'm not sure it is a huge deal for the story.  

In verse 18, there is an interesting detail about a fire by which Peter is warming himself.  The Greek word is anthrakia.  It is not a common Greek word, and as far as I can find, it is used only twice in the New Testament.  This is the first time.  More on this later--for now, just remember that John links this word with Peter's denial of Jesus (oh the suspense!).

Look at verses 37 and 38.  Pilate asks Jesus a question: "What is truth?"  And walks away.  Considering that Jesus' self-stated purpose for coming into the world was to "testify to the truth," Pilate asked the most pertinent question ever to the best authority on the subject ever and walked away from the answer.  In what way did Pilate ask the question?  We really don't know.  The impression most people get is that he asked his question rhetorically and perhaps sarcastically, and that fits, but the bottom line is that we just don't know.