Arrest & Trial
Didn’t See That Coming, Pt. 3
Every time we gather as a group, these are some ways we ensure the best group discussion:
We make the circle safe by staying honest and transparent - leave the masks at the door.
We keep it inside the circle. Each person’s story is theirs alone to share.
We look to the Bible for wisdom and truth, and work together to let it shape how we see the world.
We don’t try to fix each other in front of each other or give unsolicited advice. We lovingly save hard conversations for private moments.
We respect each others’ time by starting and ending when we say we will.
We believe that in Jesus Christ, there is hope for everyone.
Timeline of Jesus’ Last Week
Sunday: Triumphal Entry
Monday: Flipping over tables
Tuesday: Last Supper / washing feet / communion
Wednesday:
After midnight - Betrayed and Arrested
2 AM -Tried and Denied
5 AM - Sent and Mocked
8 AM - Pilate
Jesus and Pilate
John 18:28 - 19:16
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
JOHN 19
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
What we can know
Jesus wasn’t caught off guard
Jesus’ kingdom isn’t of this world
Jesus is truth
Jesus knew who was in charge of this night
Colossians 1:19-20
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
An innocent Jesus takes the place of the guilty
What do YOU do with Jesus?
Start with M.U.D.
Memorable + Understandable + Doable
What was the most memorable part of the message or service this weekend for you personally? Why?
Did anything you heard challenge or influence how you think about God or your life?
How can what you learned influence or change how you live in everyday life? What tangible steps would it take to make that change a reality?
Additional Questions
Jesus’ last week is surprisingly easy to relate to: publicly humiliated, immense grief, betrayed by a friend, unfairly questioned and tried, mocked, lied about, and more. He experiences the worst pains of human life.
Why is it so important for us to relate to Jesus on such a personal and visceral level?
Do you normally relate to Jesus personally like that, or does he normally feel “other-than” and far away?
As Jesus is betrayed and arrested, Peter immediately pulls out his sword and starts to fight. Jesus stops Peter and later tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
Do you ever find yourself fighting like Peter to “protect Jesus” when he didn’t ask for protection with “the sword”? Where might Jesus tell you to put down your sword?
Jesus knew who was in charge of this night, even when everything seems to be spiraling downward into chaos. Jesus wasn’t caught off-guard, so he could approach his darkest moment with conviction.
Things spiral out of control for us too - how can WE be caught less off-guard like Jesus? What would have to change about how you understand God and how he works for you to approach dark moments with conviction and peace?
Mike mentioned briefly that “when power and reputation are at stake, breaking God’s rules becomes easy to justify.” Everything that the chief priests were doing to Jesus was wrong by even their own normal standards, but they pushed those aside to silence Jesus.
Where in your life could this danger exist for you? When do you get self-protective at the cost of others?
What would it look like for you to proactively protect yourself from this danger? How can we detach from the pull of hanging onto power and reputation at all costs?
Jesus was chained so ours could be broken, wounded so we could be healed, separated from God so we didn’t have to be. God sent his very best for us. An innocent Jesus took the place of the guilty ones.
Mike left us all with the big question: what do you do with Jesus? Honestly looking at your own life, are you missing out on the fullness of a relationship with Jesus?
What’s one step toward Jesus that you could take this week that would build your faith and deepen your connection with God?
