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The evangelist did not say “Jesus prayed in this way,” but “having said this.” For the preceding speech was not a prayer, but a conversation, and was for the comfort of the disciples.
Jesus and His disciples went out beyond the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which He and His disciples entered.
Jesus walks in the middle of the night, crosses the river and hurries to come to the place known to His betrayer. He reveals Himself to the murderers in order to show that He goes to suffer voluntarily, and frees the Jews from the labor of looking for Him. So that they do not have difficulty moving here and there and looking for Him, He Himself goes to them, He Himself gives Himself into their hands; for in the garden they find Him, as if in some kind of prison.
The garden in which our salvation began can be compared to paradise. For in the garden we fell from paradise; In the garden, we see, the saving suffering of Christ begins and corrects all previous disasters.
John 18:2. Judas, His betrayer, also knew this place,
So that you do not think that Jesus retired to the garden to hide, the evangelist adds that Judas also knew this place. Therefore, Jesus goes to this place with the intention of being revealed rather than hidden.
because Jesus often met there with His disciples.
Judas knows this place because Jesus often went there. For the Lord loved to go to empty places and quiet havens, especially when he conveyed something mysterious.
Why did Judas know that Jesus was currently in the garden and not think to find Him sleeping in the house? He knew that the Lord spent many nights outside the city and home, and therefore even then he went out. And otherwise: he knew that during the holiday the Lord especially had the custom of teaching his disciples something higher. And, as we said, He taught His disciples mysterious things and in mysterious places. And since there was a holiday then, Judas guessed that Jesus was there, and, according to custom, was reasoning with His disciples regarding the holiday.
John 18:3. So Judas, having taken a detachment of soldiers and ministers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
They persuade a detachment of warriors to help themselves for money; for warriors are such that they can be bribed with gold. Many of them come because they are afraid of the followers of Jesus, who are attached to Him for the sake of His teachings and miracles.
they come there with lanterns and lamps and weapons.
They carry lanterns and lamps with them so that Jesus, hiding in the darkness, does not run away from them. And He did not need to escape so much that He Himself came out to them and gave Himself away.
John 18:4. Jesus, knowing everything that would happen to Him, went out and said to them: Whom are you looking for?
The Lord does not ask them because he needed to know; the evangelist says that He knew “everything that would happen to Him.” And how He knew what would happen to Him, He asks not out of the need to know, but in order to show that even then, when He was present, they did not see Him and did not recognize Him.
John 18:5. They answered him: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them: It is I. And Judas, His betrayer, stood with them.
He asks how the other person is, and neither the others nor Judas himself recognizes Him by his voice. And that they did not recognize Him not because of the darkness is evident from the fact that, according to the evangelist, they came with lanterns. If we assume that they did not recognize Him because of the darkness, then they should have recognized Him by his voice. So, the Lord asks, as we said, to show that we did not recognize Him either by appearance or by voice. So, it means that His power was inexpressible, that they could not have crucified Him if He Himself had not surrendered voluntarily.
John 18:6. And when he said to them, “It is I,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
The Lord not only blinded their eyes, but also threw them to the ground with just one question. The fact that those who came to Jesus fell was a sign of the general fall of this people, which befell them later, after the death of Christ, just as Jeremiah predicted: “The house of Israel has fallen, and there is no one who restores.” And so all those who resist the word of God fall.
The Lord cast them to the ground in order to show both His power and the fact that He goes to suffer voluntarily. On top of this, He arranges something else. Lest anyone say that the Jews did not sin at all, for He Himself surrendered into their hands and appeared to them, that is why He shows this miracle over them, and it was enough to admonish them. But when even after this miracle they remained in their malice, then He gives Himself into their hands.
John 18:7. Again he asked them: Who are you looking for? They said: Jesus of Nazareth.
John 18:8. Jesus answered: I told you that it is I; So, if you are looking for Me, leave them, let them go,
Look how the Lord does not abandon his love for his disciples until the last hour. “If,” he says, “you are looking for Me, leave them, let them go.”
John 18:9. May the word He spoke be fulfilled: Of those whom You gave Me, I have not destroyed any.
May the word spoken by Him be fulfilled: “Of those whom You gave Me, I have not destroyed any” (John 17:12). The Lord speaks of spiritual destruction, which none of His disciples suffered, and the evangelist understood this also about bodily destruction.
It is wonderful how the soldiers did not take the apostles with Him and did not kill them even when Peter irritated them. Obviously, this was accomplished by the power of Him who was taken by them, and by the saying that He had previously spoken, that none of them perished (John 17:12). That the disciples remained unharmed by the power of the Lord’s saying, the Evangelist teaches us this when he says, “That the word He spoke might be fulfilled, that I did not destroy any of them.” Because of their weakness, he places them outside temptations.
This is how He arranges it even now with us, although we are not aware. Therefore, if temptation comes to you, believe that if the Lord did not know that you could overcome it, He would not have allowed it to come to you, as He did then to the disciples.
John 18:10. Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
Peter saw that the Lord had thrown them to the ground; the words of the Lord “leave them, let them go” filled him with courage, and he thought that it was time to take revenge, took out his sword and struck the slave. If you ask why the one who is commanded not to have “neither bag nor two coats” (Matthew 10:10) has a sword, then know that he needed it to slaughter the lamb, and carried it with him even after the supper; or - that he, fearing an attack, had already prepared a sword for this case. If you are perplexed how one who was not commanded to strike on the cheek (Matthew 5:39) was ready to commit murder, then listen to the fact that Peter in particular took revenge not for himself, but for the Teacher. Moreover, they were not yet completely perfect. For later I ask you to look at Peter: he suffers extremely and rejoices. And now, indignant at the injustice to the Teacher, he makes an attempt on the head itself and, without beheading it, at least cuts off the ear. Jesus applies and heals the ear, and by this miracle again restrains the mad Jews from their zeal for murder.
And since the miracle above the ear was great, the evangelist notes the name of the slave, so that those reading, in case of doubt, can find and investigate whether it really was so.
I ask you to notice that cutting off the right ear of the high priest's servant was a sign of their disobedience. For blindness came upon Israel, so that those who heard would not hear, because of their wickedness against the Savior, which was especially strong in the high priests, which is why the sign - the removal of an ear - was on the servant of the high priest. The restoration of the ear points to the future restoration of the understanding of the Israelites, which they have now lost. For Elijah will come and lead them to Christ, and he will unite them, the fathers, with us, the sons, as Malachi prophesied (Mal. 4:6).
John 18:11. But Jesus said to Peter, Sheathe your sword; Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?
The Lord restrains Peter and says threateningly: “Put your sword in its sheath.” At the same time, he consoles, saying: “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” For this shows that suffering does not depend on their strength, but on His will, and that He is not an opponent of God, but fulfills the will of the Father even to death. Calling suffering a “cup” makes it clear that death for the salvation of man is pleasant and desirable.
John 18:12. Then the soldiers and the captain and the officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him,
When the Lord did everything that could tame them, but they did not understand, then He allowed Him to lead them.
John 18:13. And they took Him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
They tie Him up and take Him to Anna, with some kind of triumph on this occasion and boasting, as if they had won a great victory.
John 18:14. It was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was better for one man to die for the people.
The Evangelist recalls the prophecy of Caiaphas (John 11:49–52) in order to show that this was accomplished for the salvation of the world, and that this truth is so important that even the enemies themselves predicted it. So, so that you would not be embarrassed when you hear about the bonds, he reminds you of the prophecy, that is, that both bonds and death were saving, and for this reason the Lord tolerated them.
John 18:15. Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus;
Who was this other student? The same one who wrote about this, but he hides himself out of humility. Because he wants to show perfection, that he followed Jesus, while others fled: therefore he hides himself and puts Peter in front of himself. “Jesus,” he says, “followed Simon Peter,” then adds: “and another disciple.”
So, out of humility, he hides himself. And if he mentioned himself, he mentioned it so that we would know that he talks more thoroughly than others about the events in the bishop’s courtyard, since he himself was inside the courtyard.
This disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.
Look again how he pushes away praise. Lest you, having heard that John went with Jesus, think anything great about him, he says that he “was known to the high priest.” “I,” he says, “went in with Him, not because I was more courageous than the others, but because I was known to the high priest.”
John 18:16. And Peter stood outside the doors.
He declares about Peter that he followed Jesus out of love for Him, and stopped outside the courtyard because he was not familiar.
Then another disciple, who was known to the high priest, came out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.
That Peter would have entered if he had been allowed is clear from the fact that when John went out and told the gatekeeper to bring him in, Peter immediately entered.
Why didn’t John introduce it himself, but ordered the woman to do it? Because he held fast to Christ, followed Him relentlessly and did not want to be separated from Him.
John 18:17. Then the servant servant said to Peter: “Are you not one of this Man’s disciples?”
The woman asks Peter without insolence, without rudeness, but very meekly. For she did not say “and are you not one of the disciples of this deceiver,” but “This Man,” and these, rather, were words of regret and imbued with love for the person. She said “are you not one of the disciples” because John was inside the courtyard. This woman spoke so meekly, but he did not notice any of this, and missed the prediction of Christ.
Human nature itself is so weak when it is abandoned by God. Some, in vain wanting to please Peter, say that Peter denied not because he was afraid, but because he constantly desired to be with Christ and follow Him; and he knew that if he declared himself a disciple of Jesus, he would be excommunicated from Him, and he would not be able to follow Him and see his beloved. Therefore, he renounced, saying that he was not a disciple.
John 18:18. Meanwhile, the slaves and servants, having lit a fire because it was cold, stood and warmed themselves. Peter also stood with them and warmed himself.
He warmed himself with the same thought. For for the sake of appearance, he did the same as the servants, as one of them, so that they would not expose him by the change in his face, would not be driven out from among themselves as a disciple of Christ, and would not be deprived of the opportunity to see Him.
John 18:19. The high priest asked Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.
The High Priest asks Jesus about the disciples, perhaps like this: “Where are they, who are they, for what purpose did He gather them, and what is His purpose?” He wanted to expose Him as some kind of innovator or troublemaker.
He also asks about the teaching: what is it, does it differ from the Law, is it not contrary to Moses, so that in the teaching he can find a reason to kill Him as an opponent of God.
John 18:20. Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and I did not say anything secretly.
What about the Lord? He answers his suspicions. “I,” he says, “didn’t say anything secretly.” You suspect that I am some kind of rebel, secretly plotting some kind of conspiracy; but I tell you that secretly I did not say anything, that is, nothing outrageous and, as you think, I am not introducing anything new, and with a cunning and secret intention I did not say anything of My own.
If we understand these words of the Lord not in accordance with the suspicion of the high priest, then He will appear to be speaking a lie. For He spoke many things in secret, precisely those things that exceeded the understanding of the common people.
Christ, having said “I spoke nothing in secret,” recalls the prophecy that says: “I did not speak in secret, not in a dark place of the earth” (Is. 45:19).
John 18:21. Why are you asking Me? ask those who heard what I said to them; behold, they know that I have spoken.
“Why are you asking Me? ask those who heard.” These are not the words of an arrogant man, but one who is confident in the truth of his words. “Ask,” he says, “these enemies, these haters, these servants who bound Me.” For this is the most indubitable proof of the truth when someone brings his enemies as witnesses to his words. And these same ministers had previously responded like this: “Never did a man speak like this Man” (John 7:46).
John 18:22. When He had said this, one of the servants standing close struck Jesus on the cheek, saying, “Is this the answer you give to the high priest?”
And after such an answer they are not surprised at Him, but strike Him on the cheek! What could be more impudent than this? But the One who can shake and destroy everything does not do anything like that, but utters words that can tame all brutality.
John 18:23. Jesus answered him: If I said something bad, show me what is bad; What if it’s good that you beat Me?
“If,” he says, “you can blame what I said, then prove that I said something bad; If you can’t, then why do you beat Me?” Or so. “If I spoke evil,” that is, if I taught evil when I taught in the synagogues, then come now and testify to this evil teaching of Mine and deliver full information to the high priest, who is now asking Me about My teaching. If I taught well, and you ministers marveled at Me, then why are you now beating Me, at whom you marveled before?
This minister struck the Lord in order to get rid of a great crime. Since Jesus called those present as witnesses, saying: “Behold, they know what I said”; Then this servant, wanting to divert from himself the suspicion that he was one of those who marveled at Jesus, struck Him.
John 18:24. Annas sent Him bound to the high priest Caiaphas.
Since they did not find any guilt in Him, they took Him to Caiaphas, perhaps hoping that he, as the more cunning one, would find something against Jesus worthy of death, either by convicting Him of an answer, or by convicting Him of some action.
John 18:25. Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Then they said to him, “Aren’t you also one of His disciples?” He denied and said: no.
John 18:26. One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said: Didn't I see you with Him in the garden?
John 18:27. Peter denied again; and immediately the rooster crowed.
And Peter, an ardent lover, is obsessed with such insensibility that the Teacher has already been led away, but he still does not move from his place and warms himself, so they ask him again, and he denies, and not only for the second time, but also for the third.
Why did all the evangelists write about Peter in agreement? Not in order to condemn our fellow disciple, but to teach us how bad it is not to turn to God in everything, but to rely on ourselves.
One must also be amazed at the Lord’s philanthropy. He's tied up; He is taken from place to place; however, He did not abandon care for His disciple, but, turning, looked at Peter, as another evangelist notes (Luke 22:61), and with this look he reproached him for weakness and aroused repentance and tears in him.
What happened to Peter then is what many of us are experiencing now, as you can see. The Word of God existing in us is bound and, as it were, taken captive, enslaved either by sorrow or by pleasure. For we are bound by both and are led into captivity, either by worldly pleasures or by sorrows, forgetting God. Then the Word is condemned, and dumbness wins, and the slave strikes the Master, for such is the revolt of the passions. Our mind, like another Peter, often hopes for itself that it will not renounce the Word, and therefore it stands and warms itself. “Stands” because he does not bow down, does not humble himself, but equally and stubbornly remains self-confident. “He’s warming himself” because he hurts with self-confidence, with ardor and arrogance. But he is convicted by a “slave,” some small and relaxing pleasure, and he immediately renounces the Word and submits to wordlessness. Or he is convicted by some sorrowful temptation, just as Peter was convicted by the “slave” then, and then his powerlessness is revealed.
But let us pray that Jesus, the Word of God, will look at us and move us to repentance and tears when we leave the court of the prince of this world, this high priest who crucifies the Lord. For when we come out of this world, which is the court of the prince of the world, then we will only rise up for sincere repentance, as the Apostle Paul says: “Let us go out to Him outside the camp, that is, this world, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13).
John 18:28. They took Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
The Lord is taken to many courts, thinking that they will dishonor Him; and the truth, on the contrary, was revealed even more through the consideration of the case by many courts. For the Lord came out from all of them unaccused and received unquestionable power.
They take Him to the praetorium because they themselves did not have the power to kill, since they were under the rule of the Romans. At the same time, they were afraid that they would subsequently be subjected to trial and punishment for having killed without trial.
“It was morning” says so that you know that Caiaphas interrogated the Lord at midnight, for He was taken to Caiaphas before the rooster crowed. This evangelist kept silent about what he asked the Lord, but others said. When the night had passed in these interrogations, the next morning they took Him to Pilate.
and they did not enter the praetorium, lest they become defiled,
What madness! When people kill unjustly, they do not think that they are being defiled. And they consider it a desecration for themselves to enter the judgment seat.
but so that you can eat Easter.
The Lord performed it on the first day of unleavened bread (Mark 14:12). Therefore, by Easter we must understand either the entire seven-day holiday, or understand it in such a way that this time they had to eat Easter on Friday evening, and He celebrated it one day earlier in order to keep the sacrifice of Himself on Friday, when the Old Testament Passover was also celebrated.
John 18:29. Pilate came out to them and said: What do you accuse this Man of?
Pilate acts somewhat more justly. He comes out himself. And although he saw the Lord bound, he did not consider this sufficient to accuse Christ, but asked why He was bound.
John 18:30 . They answered him: If He had not been an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.
And they, having nothing to say, say: “If He had not been a villain, we would not have betrayed Him to you.” You see how they avoid evidence everywhere. Anna asked and found nothing, so he sent him to Caiaphas. This one, after judging a few times, refers to Pilate. Then Pilate asks again: “What do you accuse this Man of?” They can’t say anything here either.
John 18:31. Pilate said to them: Take Him, and judge Him according to your law.
Since they do not bring any accusation, he says: “Take Him.” Since you assign judgment to yourself and boast that you would never act unjustly (for they say: “If He had not been an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you”), then take Him yourselves and judge Him. If you brought Him to me and give His case the appearance of a trial (legal form), then it is necessary to express what This Man is guilty of. So, judge Him, for I cannot be such a judge; If your law punishes without guilt, then judge for yourself.
The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,”
To this they say: “We are not allowed to put anyone to death.” They say this knowing that the Romans condemned the rebels to crucifixion. So that the Lord would be crucified, and His death would be more shameful, and He would be declared damned, for this they pretend to say that they are not allowed to kill anyone. How was Stephen stoned? But I said that they say this because they want the Lord to be crucified. They seemed to say: “We are not allowed to kill anyone on the cross, but we would like this one to be crucified.”
John 18:32. May the word of Jesus be fulfilled, which He spoke, indicating by what kind of death He would die.
“That the word of Jesus may be fulfilled” about His death, namely: either that He will be crucified (Matthew 20:18–19), or that He will be killed not by the Jews, but by the pagans (Mark 10:33). So, when the Jews said that they were not allowed to kill, then the pagans took Him and, according to their custom, crucified Him on the cross, and thus the word of Jesus comes true in both respects, in that He was handed over to the pagans, and in that He was crucified.
John 18:33. Then Pilate again entered the praetorium, and called Jesus, and said to Him: Are you the King of the Jews?
Pilate called Jesus in private. Since he had a high opinion of Him, he wanted to know everything more precisely, away from the confusion of the Jews. So, he asks Him, is He a king? What everyone said, that’s what he puts on display.
John 18:34. Jesus answered him: Are you saying this on your own, or have others told you about Me?
And Christ asks him whether he is saying this on his own behalf, or on behalf of others? Not because he doesn’t know, but because he wants to reveal the evil intent of the Jews so that Pilate would accuse them.
And otherwise. The Lord asks Pilate whether he is asking this on his own behalf, or at the suggestion of others, and thereby accuses him of unreasonableness and an unfair trial. He seems to be saying this to Pilate: “If you say this on your own, then indicate the signs of My rebellion; if others have informed you, then carry out an accurate investigation.”
John 18:35. Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Your people and the chief priests delivered You up to me; what have you done?
Therefore, Pilate correctly answers that His traitors are Jews, and deflects the blame from himself. Pilate does not say what he heard from others, but simply refers to the opinion of the people and says: “They handed you over to me; what have you done? These seem to be the words of someone who is sad and bitter. “For,” he says, “what have you done? »
John 18:36. Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world;
The Lord answers: “My kingdom is not of this world,” and with this answer he accomplishes two things: firstly, he leads Pilate to the knowledge that He is not a simple man and not one of earthly creatures, but God and the Son of God, and secondly, he destroys the suspicion of the theft of the supreme power. “My kingdom is not of this world”: therefore do not fear Me, supposedly a tyrant and rebel.
If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight for Me, so that I would not be betrayed to the Jews;
Here it also shows the weakness of our (earthly) kingdom, for it has strength in servants, but the Kingdom of the Highest is strong in itself and does not need anyone. And the Manichaeans find in these words an excuse to say that this world is alien to the good God. “For,” they say, “the Son of God says that My Kingdom is not from here.” But, O fools, first delve into this saying.
but now my kingdom is not from here.
He said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and again, “not from here,” but he did not say, “It is not in this world and not here.” He reigns in this world, provides for it and governs everything according to His will. But His kingdom is “not of this world,” but from above and before the ages and “not from here,” that is, it did not take place from the earth, although it has power and abides here, but is not from here, and does not consist of what is below, and does not fall. Then, how would it be necessary to understand the words “he came to his own” (John 1:11), if this world were not His own?
John 18:37. Pilate said to Him: So are You a King? Jesus answered: You say that I am a King. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world, to testify to the truth;
When Pilate asked the Lord if He was a King, He answered: “I was born for this,” that is, to be a King. I have this in essence and by birth from the Father. For the very fact that I was born of a King testifies that I am a King. Therefore, when you hear that the Father gave the Son life, and judgment, and everything else (John 5:22, 26), then understand the word “gave” instead of “begotten” Him, so that He has life, judges, and all this comes from the Father to the Son by nature. “This is why I came into the world” to say this, and to teach, and to convince everyone that I am the King, the Master and the Lord.
Some understood in the words “For this purpose I was born” an indication not of an eternal birth from the Father, but of a recent birth from the Virgin. For this purpose I became a man and was born of Mary, in order to destroy lies and the devil and prove that the Divine nature reigns over everyone. So, the truth is that they should know Me and through this knowledge they should be saved. I came to tell people the true knowledge of God and to grant them salvation.
everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.
Wanting to attract Pilate’s attention and persuade him to listen to His words, he says: “Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Therefore, you too, Pilate, if you are a child of truth and love it, will listen to My voice and believe that I am a King, but not like the kings of this world, I have power not acquired, but natural, inherent in Me by my very birth from God and the King. He also makes a hint here that the Jews are not of the truth, because they do not want to listen to His voice; if they are not from the truth, then, without a doubt, they have invented everything falsely about Him, and He is truly not guilty of death.
John 18:38. Pilate said to Him: What is truth?
With these few words He captivated Pilate so much that Pilate asked about the truth, what it was. For she almost disappeared among people, and no one knew her, and everyone was already in disbelief.
And having said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them: I find no guilt in Him.
But since this issue required special time to resolve, and now it was necessary to save Jesus from the fury of the Jews, Pilate comes out to them and says: “I find no guilt in Him,” and he says this reasonably.
John 18:39. You have a custom that I give you one for Easter;
It is worthy of investigation as to why the custom arose among the Jews of releasing one prisoner for the sake of Passover. To this we can, firstly, say that those who teach “doctrines, the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7) introduced a lot from their own wisdom, but did not keep the commandments of God. So this too was introduced without any reasonable basis, while in other cases the rituals prescribed by law were left in place. Then, we can say that in Scripture there is a similar legal provision from which they could take the reason for introducing such vacations for convicted persons into the custom. For it is written about involuntary murder: “if someone, not out of enmity and without any special intention, causes harm to his neighbor, throws a vessel or a stone, and the fallen thing hits a passer-by, and that person dies; then such a killer is an involuntary one. The whole synagogue (assembly) will judge about this, and they will free him from death, for he did not kill maliciously, but they will place him in the city of refuge, that is, they will punish him with exile.”
From here, perhaps, as we guess, they took the occasion and introduced such a custom to release one of those convicted of murderous intent. The law prescribes that this matter should be conducted by the Jewish synagogue, but since the Jews were in the power of the Romans, they gave the right to release prisoners to the Roman commanders, as they now do to Pilate.
Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?
For he did not say, “although He sinned and is worthy of death, forgive Him for the sake of the holiday,” but first declared Him free from all guilt, and then offered them His release. Therefore, if Jesus is released, then He is not obliged to them at all: for they released the innocent. If they condemn Him, this will prove their wickedness, because they condemned an innocent person.
Смотри: и название «Царя Иудейского» имеет некоторый свой смысл. By this, Pilate obviously expresses that Jesus is not at all to blame, but that they are in vain accusing Him, as if He was coveting the kingdom. For anyone who pretends to be a king and rebels against the rule of the Romans, the Roman governor would not let go. Therefore, having said, “I will release the King of the Jews,” Pilate declares Jesus decisively innocent and mocks the Jews, saying, as it were: “Whom you slander, that He claims to be a king, Whom you call a rebel and a rebel, Him I deem necessary to release, obviously because He is not such.”
John 18:40 . Тогда опять закричали все, говоря: не Его, но Варавву. Barabbas was a robber. 2
Смотри, в каких размерах выказывается злоба иудеев. Варавву, известного разбойника, выпрашивают на свободу, а Господа предают.
This verse in Blessed Theophylact is assigned to the next, 19th chapter, and constitutes its beginning.