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18
The soldiers grabbed Jesus
1 After Jesus talked to his father, he and his special workers left the house. They went across the creek called Kidron, and they went to a garden. 2 Judas wasn’t with them because, before this time, he turned against Jesus, and that night he went to the Jewish leaders to help them grab him. He knew that Jesus and his special workers went to that garden lots of times. 3 So Judas went to that garden with some soldiers to show them where Jesus was. He got those soldiers from the bosses of the Jewish ceremonies and the Pharisee mob. And there were some Roman soldiers with him too. They had fire sticks, and spears, and long knives with them.
4 Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, but he went to meet them anyway. Then Jesus said to that mob, “Who are you looking for?”
5-6 They said, “We are looking for Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
Jesus said, “I am Jesus.” As soon as Jesus said that, all the soldiers moved backwards and fell down to the ground. And Judas, the man that turned against Jesus, was there with them.
7 Again, Jesus asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
And they said, “Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
8 And Jesus said to them, “I already told you that I am Jesus. I am the man you are looking for, so let these other men here go free.”
9 So the soldiers didn’t grab any of Jesus’s followers. You know, before that time, Jesus said to God, “I didn’t lose any of the people that you gave me.” And it happened just like Jesus said.
10 Then Peter got his long knife, and he hit one of those men with it, and he cut off that man’s ear. That man’s name was Malkus, and he worked for the big boss of the Jewish ceremonies.
11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put that knife away. My father sent me here to go through this hard time. I can’t say to him, ‘No, I will not do it.’ ”* Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42
They took Jesus to the bosses of the Jewish ceremonies
12 Then that mob of soldiers grabbed Jesus and tied his hands together. They were the soldiers of the Jewish leaders, and the Roman soldiers and their leader. 13 At first, they took Jesus to Annas. He was a boss of the Jewish ceremonies. His son-in-law, Cayafas, was the big boss of the Jewish ceremonies that year. 14 (Before that time, Cayafas told the Jewish Leaders Council that it is a lot better for this man to die, instead of the people.* John 11:49-50)
Peter said that he was not Jesus’s follower
15-16 When the soldiers took Jesus there, Peter and another follower of Jesus followed along behind them. Then they all got to the house that belonged to Annas. He was a boss of the Jewish ceremonies. That other follower went into the yard of that house with the rest of the mob. You see, that other follower knew that ceremony boss, so the girl that looked after the gate let him go in, but Peter had to wait outside. Then that other follower went back to the gate, and he talked to the girl, so she let Peter go in too. 17 Then that girl said to Peter, “Wait, are you also a follower of that man Jesus?”
Peter said, “No, I am not.”
18 It was a cold night, and the soldiers and workers stood around a fire to keep warm. So Peter went and stood with them.
Annas asked Jesus a lot of questions
19 Inside the house, the boss of the Jewish ceremonies asked Jesus a lot of questions about his followers, and about the things he taught people.
20 Jesus said, “I always talked to people in places where everybody can hear me. I talked in our meeting houses, and in God’s ceremony house in Jerusalem, the places where all of us Jewish people meet. I didn’t keep my message secret. 21 So why are you asking me all these questions? You should ask the people that listened to me. They know the things I said.”
22 Then one of the soldiers hit Jesus and said, “You can’t talk to the boss of our ceremonies like that.”
23 Jesus said, “Tell me if I said something wrong. But if I told the true story, why did you hit me?”
24 Then Annas sent him to Cayafas, the big boss of the Jewish ceremonies. Jesus still had his hands tied up.
Peter kept on saying that he was not Jesus’s follower
25 Outside, in the yard, Peter stood next to the fire to keep warm. And somebody said to him, “Are you one of Jesus’s followers too?”
Peter said, “No, I am not.”
26 One of the other people near the fire was a work-man for the big boss of the Jewish ceremonies, and he was a relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off. He looked at Peter and said, “Hey, you are one of Jesus’s followers. I saw you in the garden with him, right?”
27 Again, Peter said, “No, that wasn’t me. I am not his follower.” Then straight away, a chook yelled out.
They took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman boss
28 It was early in the morning, and they took Jesus from Cayafas’s house to the house of the government boss in Jerusalem. His name was Pilate.
It was the time of the Passover ceremony, so the Jewish leaders wouldn’t go into that house. You see, in their Jewish culture, if they went into a house that belonged to somebody that wasn’t Jewish, it was like they became dirty, and then they couldn’t eat the Passover food. 29 So the Jewish leaders stayed outside, and Pilate went out to talk to them. He said, “Why did you bring this man here? What bad thing did he do?”
30 The Jewish leaders said, “He did really bad things. That’s the reason why we brought him to you.”
31 Pilate said to them, “Take him away and judge him by your own laws.”
The Jewish leaders said, “Your Roman laws will not let us kill anyone to punish them.” 32 You see, they had to say that because Jesus said that he was going to die on a cross, and that’s how the Romans punished people.* John 3:14; 12:32
33 Pilate went back into his house, and he called Jesus to come to him. Then he asked Jesus, “Are you the big boss over the Jewish nation?”
34 Jesus said, “Did you think of that question yourself, or did somebody else tell you about me?”
35 Pilate said, “I am not a Jew, so I don’t know anything about you mob. But your own people, and the bosses of your ceremonies, they brought you here. What did you do?”
36 Jesus said, “I am a big boss, but I am not the big boss over a nation here in this world. That is the reason why my followers didn’t fight to stop the Jewish leaders from grabbing me.”
37 Then Pilate said, “So it is true that you are a big boss?”
Jesus said, “Yes, you said that I am a big boss, and you are right. And I was born into this world so that I can tell everyone God’s true message. If anyone really wants to know the true message, they take notice of the things I say.”
38 Pilate said, “Do you think you know the true message? Nobody knows that.”
Then Pilate went outside again, to talk to the Jewish leaders. He said, “I asked this man a lot of questions, and I don’t think he did anything wrong. 39 You know, every year at your Passover time, I let one prisoner go free for you Jewish people. Do you want me to let this man, your big boss, go free?”
40 All the Jewish leaders shouted back, “No, not him. Let Barabbas go free.” Barabbas was a man that was in jail because he used to fight against the Romans.

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*18:11 Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42

*18:14 John 11:49-50

*18:32 John 3:14; 12:32

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