“But 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?’” (John 18:11 NLT)

John 18 tells the story of Jesus’ arrest. Keep in mind that John was writing his Gospel decades after the other three were written. The events in the garden and the trials that followed already had been covered in detail by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And those details were well known in John’s day. That may explain why John doesn’t offer as many specifics in his account.

The fact that Jesus’ enemies brought armed soldiers to arrest Him showed that, despite their years of plotting against Him, they still didn’t understand Him. He refused every effort to make Him king. He had no political aspirations. He never encouraged rebellion among His followers. And He wasn’t a fugitive.

He frequently taught in the temple, where the religious leaders spent most of their time. They could have arrested Him without incident any time they wanted. (Theoretically, of course. The reality is that they couldn’t have arrested Him outside of God’s timetable, not until Jesus’ “time had come”—which it had, in the garden.) And if anyone were prone to violence, it was the religious leaders, who several times picked up rocks to stone Jesus because they refused to believe the truth of His words.

It may not have appeared that way in the confusion of the moment, but Jesus was in control of the situation. As His enemies approached, He stepped forward to identify Himself so that none of the disciples would be harmed. And that should have been the end of it.

But Peter failed to read the room. He boldly drew his sword to “save” Jesus and . . . cut off the right ear of an unarmed slave. Oops. Jesus told Peter to put away his sword and reminded him that what was happening was God’s plan.

In Matthew’s version of the story, Jesus said, “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” (Matthew 26:53 NLT). Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested because it set in motion the events that would lead to salvation.

There was nothing just about Jesus’ trials. The verdict was a foregone conclusion. The high priest Caiaphas had already decided that Jesus needed to die for the people—that is, so the Roman government wouldn’t crack down on Jewish religious practices (see John 11:49–53).

John was the disciple who accompanied Peter to the high priest’s residence, where Jesus was being tried. Since John knew the high priest, he was able to get past the gate and into the courtyard. But then he had to convince the woman watching the gate to let Peter in too. “The woman asked Peter, ‘You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?’

“‘No,’ he said, ‘I am not’” (verse 17 NLT).

Inside the courtyard, Peter warmed himself by a fire. Twice more, he was asked if he was Jesus’ disciple. Twice more, he said no. This was a total of three denials, just as Jesus had predicted hours earlier.

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