Unshaken: Chapter a Day

John 18 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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Lanterns, weapons, and a single voice that stills the night. We walk through John 18 as Jesus steps forward in Gethsemane, declares “I am,” and the arresting party reels. From there the story tightens: a healed ear, a sheathed sword, and a quiet resolve to drink the cup the Father has given. We explore why Judas is named and re-named as the betrayer, how Peter’s zeal turns to denial, and what Jesus’ calm authority tells us about true power.

We also dig into Pilate’s uneasy conscience. History paints him as brutal, yet here he hesitates, finding no guilt and bargaining with a crowd that prefers Barabbas. What drives a governor to fold? What moves a mob to trade the true Son for a counterfeit “son of the father”? Our conversation traces the psychology of fear, the pull of self-preservation, and the way manipulated crowds can drown out reason and justice. Along the way, we unpack the Greek nuance around Peter’s sword and why Jesus’ healing in the chaos is more than a footnote—it’s a manifesto of the kingdom.

“My kingdom is not from this world” doesn’t license retreat; it locates the source of authority. We talk about how heaven’s origin should shape earthly action—truth-telling, neighbor-love, and courage that refuses cruelty. The practical takeaways are simple and hard: confess the fear of man, pursue a calm presence under fire, and let Scripture give you the clarity Jesus shows under pressure. If you’re wrestling with courage, politics, or purpose, this chapter offers a path that doesn’t need a sword to win.

If this landed with you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves deep dives in Scripture, and leave a review to tell us which moment shifted your perspective.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter today. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Pleck. That's Pastor Holland. And we are talking John 18. We're going to uh outline it. We're going to find some observations, get into some interpretation, finally land the plane with some application that you could take along your day as you say all that God has commanded you to do today. All right. So we're going to be in John 18. It starts verses 1 through 11 is the betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane, which is sort of an awkward moment where Judas is just standing there and then everyone falls over, which I just truly appreciate that. Then you got verses 12 through 24, where you've got Peter's first denial, and then you've got Jesus before Annas. And then the trial in verses 25 through 27 before Caiaphas, along with Peter's denials. And then finally, we got Jesus before Pilate in verses 28 through 40. And Pilate can't find any guilt but yields to the crowd's demand for Barabbas' release and Jesus' crucifixion. Now let's get into some observations. Um, first one that I see here is Jesus isn't afraid. He turns he turns himself over, and I just love the part where he goes, I am he and they all fall over. What in the world is going on with everyone falling down?

Pastor Holland:

So I am he. If you look at the little footnote, your Bible probably has a footnote. Yeah. Go down there, and it just says Greek, I am. Ego, I mean ego am I. Yeah, exactly. So we we already talked about the seven I am statements. Well, here he he delivers another one, not you know, with uh a metaphor attached to it, but he just says, I am, and they know exactly what he's saying. He's claiming to be God. That's why they fall down. Um But do you think that is like a supernatural falling?

Pastor Plek:

Like they, I mean, for them to fall, it seems like every you know knee will bow kind of a moment when he says I am, and they're just in awe. Uh I don't know, is there you think there's like some supernatural divine revelation there, or do you just think they're just taking aback?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, it says they drew back, and then it says they fell to the ground. It seems to be like a voluntary, like, whoa, you know, like kind of reaction by them rather than like I am like aura shoots out of him.

Pastor Plek:

I thought it was more of the aura thing. It might, I mean, it might I like that. That's way cooler. Yeah, I do think. And then they're like, uh, I guess we get up now. I don't know. Right. All right. Yeah. Okay, cool. All right. Then uh what about Judas?

Pastor Holland:

It says two times Judas who betrayed him. Yeah. Verse two, and then in verse five, Judas who betrayed him. It's just like boom, boom.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, they want to make sure everyone knows which Judas this was. I bet you the other Judas was like, Can you make sure it's the one who betrayed, and so nobody thinks it's me? Yeah, because you do not want to be named Judas after these guys.

Pastor Holland:

Do you know anybody named Judas? Well, okay, so Jesus' brother, Jude, same name. Same name. We get a book of the Bible, Jude. So everyone just had to specify, like, if you were named Jude, it had to be like, not that Jude, not that Judas, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What else you got? That's kind of wild. Um, Peter had a sword. I think that's awesome. He just carried a sword with him. And Jesus wasn't like, get rid of a sword. He just says, put it back in your sheath. He tells him to keep the sword. What do you think about that?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, I I think this is the okay. So remember, he told them to make sure they had swords. Right. Uh, and so but then he's like, but don't use it. Like, what is that all about?

Pastor Holland:

I mean, he doesn't say don't use it ever. He doesn't, he doesn't rebuke Peter for having one. He does, you know, tell him, um, he says, put your sword into its sheath, and then he says, Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? So this his his rebuke of Peter here, soft rebuke even, um, is specifically about what's happening with Jesus going to the cross. That's the cup that he's gonna drink, is the wrath of God on the cross, this, you know, the suffering for our sin. And so he's telling Peter, don't try to stop the plan of God for the salvation of the world.

Pastor Plek:

You know? Yeah, I like it. Okay. Uh I just couldn't stop thinking about the Judas name for a second. And then I thought about, I don't know if you're ever familiar with the there's a band from like the in the 70s through the 90s called Judas Priest. Yeah. And they were like kind of they they sold like 50 million albums, but they are like all about like the rebellious spirit. Just in case you're wondering, people do name things Judas today within after the bad one. Uh-huh. Okay, good. I'm glad you pointed that out. That's true. I'm sorry. I was like, I know somebody has names. Sorry, I I got us way off. No, that's important. You know, I'm sorry about that. Okay. How about Peter was impulsive? Um, but he also followed to his own demise. Like, what do you mean, his own demise? Well, like, where's Thomas right here? Is Thomas following? No. Thomas went home. Thomas was like, you know what, we're gonna call it a day. Where is Andrew? Is Andrew there? No, Andrew's not there. Where is Bartholomew? Where are they at? They're not there. Yeah. But there's Peter. He's he's hanging around, he's tired, he's already fallen asleep. He couldn't, you know, face the temptation of just staying awake. Yeah. Now he can't take the temptation of you know a 12-year-old chick who is telling him, you know, hey, do you know Jesus? And he follows Jesus, but he doesn't have the courage to actually say, Yeah, I'm with him. Right. Like he's he's freaked out. It kind of reminds me of Jesus walking on water. Yeah. Because he had enough faith to get out of the boat, but once he got out of the boat, though he just got off focus and started focusing not on Jesus and but on the wind of the waves. This, this, so I like that.

Pastor Holland:

I would rather have someone who's motivated and um, you know, and then screws up than trying to motivate someone, you know, who doesn't ever do anything wrong, but you know, you can't get him to ever kind of take a risk, take it, you know you know what I mean? I appreciate that about Peter. He was he he had he had issues, you know, he had fears, he had sins, all all this stuff, but man, he was like um he was always going for it at least.

Pastor Plek:

I mean, yeah, he's bold. That's why he's the rock, you know. I appreciate that.

Pastor Holland:

Um, okay. Uh what about also side note on the sword thing. Yeah, he might have been trying to kill the guy. Do you think he just has bad aim? Perhaps, because you know, that it it's he likely didn't have like a long sword, you know, like a big old broad sword. He likely had a, you know, the typical kind of Roman short sword for uh stabbing. And he might have tried to been like stab the guy. Stab him in the face? Like we don't know, but um they were like stabbing swords, right? Not slicing swords.

Pastor Plek:

I mean, it's still yeah, there you could have the 18-inch sword, which is the stabbing sword, which is still it's like the butcher knife, right? Yeah. Uh and so you could kind of make a hack at the guy, yeah. You know, um, or it could be a broad sword where you're going, um, but yeah, I don't know. I I wish you know, there is a way to find out. We could find out what the translation for sword is there.

Pastor Holland:

We need to know because okay, I I love that you know, Jesus' response, put your sword in its sheath. You know, it's it's not like have you lost your freaking mind? Yeah, like what, Peter? What? You just tried to stab, you sliced his ear off, ma'am.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, okay. So the word is Makiron, it's a small sword as distinguished from a large sword. Uh, it's a curved sword for a cutting stroke. Um uh so cutting like slicing? Yeah. Oh, okay. But it's a it's way maybe better use known for a large knife used for killing animals and cutting up the flesh. There you go. You know, I don't know how important that is, but someone needed to know that. There was somebody out there listening, going, like, what kind of sword was that? It's also cool that Jesus heals the guy's ear. Yeah. And why don't at that point, why don't they just go, you know what? Never mind.

Pastor Holland:

Right. Yeah, that guy has to be feeling conflicted a little bit now. Like, you just healed my ear. Like, you're you're something. And he, like, you know, he's got his hearing back.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, probably a lot of tinnitus he was worried about. Bam, that's gone. All right. How about Pilate um as just a really he looks weak here? And the thing you don't know about Pilate, if you're not, you know, familiar with ancient Near Eastern history, is he was a murderous dude. Like, uh, I think it was in Luke where he uh, you know, he he murdered some Galileans and mixed their blood in with the sacrifices. Like he was not like, oh, no worries, guys. No, he would murder people like it was his job. Uh, and he came in out of brute force with would have like his own soldiers dressed up in plain clothes and just start stabbing people. Like he was a monster. So for him to be this conflicted over Jesus, because for him to kill somebody is nothing. Why is he so conflicted?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. Uh he, I mean, he says it like I don't see any guilt in him. Um, but it's like, you know, does he really why does he even care that much? Like, why not just be like, cool, let's kill him?

Pastor Plek:

Like, is it maybe he just wants to stick it to the Jews any way he possibly can, and this is a good way to do it? Like, oh, you don't like him. I want to see if I can get it.

Pastor Holland:

It may be that he's afraid of, you know, like that which you want to kill, you're really afraid of. Well, like, um, if Jesus really is, you know, he's he's asking him, like, are you a king? Like, if I kill you, are people gonna come for me? You know, like if I kill you, or if you really are the son of God, what's gonna happen to me if I kill you?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, he's very selfishly motivated. And like, he hasn't had the revelation, he's got the stories. Clearly, he's not completely clueless to the guy that draws thousands of people, raises the dead. I mean, the story is gonna get to Pilate, but what is his fear that that the that the hype around Jesus is greater than who he actually is, and he's afraid that that will come back and get him. And then he looks at him, he's like, I don't see any guilt in this guy. I want to get off the hook so no one is coming after me. Right. Yeah. Um how about just the fact that the Jewish leaders could manipulate a mob? Now, do you think these are the same people that were there for Palm Sunday? Or did they just happen to get a different crowd?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, it might be a different at this point. You know, the crowds, it's like it's crazy to believe how much uh the tide could turn in one week, but it's possible. Um and uh, or it may just be hey, these are you know, Jesus is has two crowds that have been following him the crowd who wants to hear his teaching and the crowd who wants to kill him.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, and this is you know they're like, hey, and they knew who they could get. It's kind of like you rally your base, they rallied the base to be there, and so it looked like everybody was against Jesus. All right, let's get into some truth about the nature of man. How about man is prone to betrayal and self-preservation? I I think that's just like so simple. I don't understand. Judas uh does he sell out for silver? Is that the motivation? I mean, it says that he used to help himself to the treasury, and so money was his thing, but then whenever he um uh in Matthew, anyway, he he when he Jesus is condemned, he throws the money back at the the priests and says, I betrayed innocent blood. And he's like, What's that to us? Beat it. Right. Um and so I think there is like, I don't know, there's a part of it that thinks that Judas wanted Jesus to behave in his way. You know, we we'll never know. But like, hey, if you're the Messiah, which I'm down for you being the Messiah, but you should be doing things like this to take care of the Romans, not to capitulate to the Romans.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, I also um I like Jesus' response here, you know, when they they strike him. Um is that how you answer the high priest? And he he says, if what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong. But if what I said is right, why do you strike me? He like he appeals to the fact that like they're not um, they don't even care about right or wrong anymore, you know? And so like this just shows about you know human character here, like this argument, this is not about logic, this is not about reason, this is about you know, you you are corrupt and you're manipulating something right now.

Pastor Plek:

And Jesus kind of if he is wrong, he should be struck. Um corporal punishment is what he's advocating.

Pastor Holland:

Well, no, he said if what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong, you know. I'm just saying, I'm just basically wrong, but you don't even care. You're just gonna spend me because you don't like the way I my tone.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, I like man craves autonomy. Like we want to do what we want over the truth. The crowd rejected Jesus' kingdom for the revolutionary guy that they knew, Barabbas, which I think is always so wild to me. Like, I want I don't want Jesus the son of God. I want Jesus the son of the father. Barabbas means son of the father. Uh, and like we know he's a murderer. He know he's like, now, granted, maybe he's doing the very thing that they wanted Jesus to do, which is throw off the Romans. And so give us the guy that actually takes some action, doesn't just heal people, feed people, do miracles and such and drive out demons. We want someone's gonna take out Romans. Is that what I don't know? I wish I could figure out what their deal was of their loyalty to Barabbas versus Jesus, other than just crowd frenzy.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. I mean, I don't I don't think they care about Barabbas at all. They just want Jesus, whatever situation will get Jesus dead. That's what they're for.

Pastor Plek:

Okay. Let's get into some uh truths about the character of God. Uh, how about God is sovereign over suffering? Jesus suffers on purpose. I think, is it verse nine that says uh yeah, he's like, hey, I'm the one that you're looking for. Let these other dudes go. You're not supposed to hurt them. I'm supposed to be intentionally suffering on their behalf, uh, which is fulfilling. I and is it true that the word that he's fulfilling is from John 17? Yeah, right. Where it quotes, like he's it's not like it's the word that he had spoken of whom you gave me, I've lost no not one. That's from John 17, correct? Yeah.

Pastor Holland:

So yeah, I was fulfilling his own prayer from the previous chapter.

Pastor Plek:

Right. Yeah. So sometimes your prayers can be answered within the course of hours.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Um what about other things for the character of God? Uh, my kingdom is not of this world. A lot, a lot of times people quote this in a way that's saying, like, hey, um stay out of politics and government, and you know, Christians have nothing to do with um kind of like worldly politics and government because God's kingdom is not of this world. But they're taking this really this is a misinterpretation of this text, taking it the wrong way. He says um uh later in verse 36, my kingdom is not from the world. And so when he says it's not of the world, um, not from the world, he's saying that the origin of his kingdom is not, you know, something of just merely a human nation or something like that, but rather it comes from heaven. That's the origin of God's kingdom.

Pastor Plek:

So Christians should be advocating for Christian things to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Pastor Holland:

Absolutely. That's exactly how he teaches us to pray, right? And so my kingdom is not of this world, doesn't mean don't get involved in politics, civil government, anything like that. Rather, it's it's like the opposite.

Pastor Plek:

It's saying that if you want the good of the city, you're gonna do Christian things.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. You're gonna advocate for Christian things. Exactly. You should seek to like, you know, you should be praying like Jesus said, on earth as it is in heaven. Um, the way that God's kingdom operates should inform the way that we do politics and government and society here.

Pastor Plek:

Love that. Um, all right. How about this? I just love that Jesus, even though he's before Pilate, even though he has legions of angels at his side, he just submits to the process and allows himself to be guilty. And that's on purpose to fulfill Isaiah 53. He was crushed for our iniquities, he was the chastisement upon him uh for our transgressions. Like that's the he takes on our sin. He knew he who knew no sin became sin on our behalf that we might be the righteousness of God, and he's taking on the guilt that we deserve, and he's doing it even before human beings who are guilty themselves. Um, how about let's get into some application. Uh, a sin to confess or void, a promise to claim, an example to follow, a command to obey, or a knowledge to believe. Uh, what you got?

Pastor Holland:

Real quick before that, let me just point out one thing. Give me one more, one more. Says that Peter uh is warming himself by a charcoal fire. Okay, mentions it um in uh verse 18. That's why you only cook with gas. Just here, here's my just hang on to that one for a couple chapters. We'll come back to it. Just telling you right now, a little heads up, little preview. Hang on to this. Cool. Are you talking about John 21? Okay, we'll get there. Yeah, a couple chapters a week.

Pastor Plek:

That's all. All right, back to it. I like that verse in your Bible. We're coming back to it in John 21. Okay. That's right. All right, application. Application. Sin to avoid or confess. What you got?

Pastor Holland:

Um, okay. When Peter is asked three times, you know, do aren't you one of them? And he says, No. I think the sin to avoid here is the fear of man. Um, he is, and it's even, you know, it's a little girl that asks him the first time, right? And it's a servant girl. She has to be in middle school.

unknown:

Yeah, yeah.

Pastor Holland:

And it's like, uh he's just so, he doesn't know what this is gonna mean, what's gonna happen. So, you know, we're we're faced with situations like this sometimes where it's like, hey, are you gonna identify as a Christian? Are you gonna stand on God's word? Are you gonna hold to the truth or are you gonna cave? And so sin to avoid, fear of man.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, and there might be even a recent time where you caved, where you didn't say stand up for Jesus and you sort of shut the conversation down or didn't go, and maybe that's something you need to confess and repent right now. Yeah. And just ask the Lord for forgiveness and kind of move forward. Um, because I think we can be like Peter, we can be like Judas, or we could be like Pilate, where we don't want to follow Jesus because it's inconvenient. We don't want to follow Jesus what it's gonna cost us. We don't follow Jesus because we don't believe who he is, he says who he is, whatever that is. Um, that might be the thing that you need to confess today. Um, what about uh a promise to claim? Oh, example, follow command obey. What do you got out of those? Hmm. Uh how about just Jesus' example of being calm, even when he's getting punched in the face? Yeah. Uh I mean, and like it's such an awful trial. That what if you were accused of something that you are completely righteous in, and the people that are coming after you are vindictive, trying to hurt you. Do you trust God enough to know that he will vindicate you?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, I was thinking, you know, a similar example in the first part of the chapter when everyone's there with the lanterns and the weapons. You just you see in Jesus a calm, controlled presence. Nice where he's not intimidated, he's you know, he's confident. Um that's that's something that I'm just like that. Is like peak masculinity right there.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, like be like Jesus when you're under fire, stay calm. Nothing gets under someone's. Else's skin when you're calm when they're fired up. Not that you want to just get under their skin. However, all right. How about knowledge to believe? Uh how about to what you were saying earlier? God's kingdom transcends all earthly power.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

And we should be looking and to transform earth. Right. Yeah. So it transcends and transforms. We should be looking for God's power on earth as it is in heaven to be moving, and we might be a part of that power moving forward. Amen. Yeah. Um, yeah. All right. So anything else you want to add for uh an application for today?

Pastor Holland:

Um, I think the the last thing that I really just I like um uh the the scene with Peter and Jesus and the sword again and um uh Jesus' like calm response, but then he says, you know, shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? Jesus had this like really strong sense of his purpose and his destiny, of like this is he knew exactly what God had called him to do, and he was walking in that. I think that helps you to stay calm under pressure, to you know, be wise, to not just react emotionally. Like, you know, so example to follow, I guess, a final one is just like follow the example of Jesus who knew where he came from, where he was going, what he was doing. Like, let God's word really give you that kind of direction and confidence for your life. Wow. Thanks for joining us.

Pastor Plek:

We'll see you next time on a chapter a day.

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