John 18

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¹After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. ✦ ²Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. ✦ ³The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. ✦ ⁴Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. ✦ ⁵“Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I Am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ✦ ⁶As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! ✦ ⁷Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” ✦ ⁸“I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” ✦ ⁹He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.” ✦ ¹⁰Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. ✦ ¹¹But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” ✦ ¹²So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. ✦ ¹³First they took him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time. ✦ ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.” ✦ ¹⁵Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. ✦ ¹⁶Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. ✦ ¹⁷The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” ✦ ¹⁸Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself. ✦ ¹⁹Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. ✦ ²⁰Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret. ✦ ²¹Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.” ✦ ²²Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded. ✦ ²³Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” ✦ ²⁴Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest. ✦ ²⁵Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.” ✦ ²⁶But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” ✦ ²⁷Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed. ✦ ²⁸Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. ✦ ²⁹So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” ✦ ³⁰“We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. ✦ ³¹“Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. ✦ ³²(This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.) ✦ ³³Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. ✦ ³⁴Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” ✦ ³⁶Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” ✦ ³⁷Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” ✦ ³⁸“What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. ✦ ³⁹But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?” ✦ ⁴⁰But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.) ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Where this chapter connects

Matt 26 ·32 John 18 ·23 Luke 22 ·23 Mark 14 ·23 John 19 ·17 Matt 27 ·13 Mark 15 ·11 Luke 23 ·10

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 18YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 18David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 18Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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