Verse 2. And Judas betrayed His place... [998] The Evangelist goes on to say how Judas knew this.

Verse 2... As Jesus gathered together with His disciples in multiplicity... [999] often spent nights there.

Verse 3. Wherefore, O Judas, receive the spira and the servants of the bishops and Pharisees, and come there with the luminaries, and the lights, and the weapons. [1000] They resorted to arms for fear of the followers of Jesus Christ. For the same reason, they came late at night. This is said in the explanation of the words of the twenty-sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (v. 47): And again I say to Him, Behold, Judas, one of the Two, has come. Everything that had happened before that, John omitted as told by other evangelists, which he does very often.

Verses 4–6. And Jesus, knowing all that was coming to Nan, went out and said to them, "Whom are you seeking? And he answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am. And Judas, who had betrayed Him, stood with them. And when he said unto them, I am, I have gone backwards, and have fallen to the ground. [1001] Knowing as God all that would happen to Him, Jesus Christ went out and calmly asked them as a Man. The traitor also stood there with those who came, but he could not recognize Jesus Christ either by appearance or by voice. In this way, Jesus Christ showed that against His will not only could they not take Him, but even see Him. The above-mentioned chapter speaks of this as well.

Verses 7–8. Wherefore ask them (Jesus), Whom are ye seeking? And they decided: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, "I am unto you, for I am..." [1002] Jesus Christ reveals Himself, thereby teaching His disciples not to resort to lying in times of danger, and convincing them that He voluntarily gives Himself to murderers.

Verses 8–9... If ye seek Me, leave these things to come: that the word may be fulfilled, as Thou hast given Me them, and destroy none by them. [1003] Let the word be fulfilled — this is what the evangelist speaks for himself. Turning to God the Father, Jesus Christ said before this: "Whom thou hast given me, keep them, and none shall perish by them, but the son of perdition" (John 17:12). Consequently, "To destroy no one by them" means the same as: "No one will perish by them." None of them, says Jesus Christ, perished through My fault, or none of them I lost through My own fault.

Verse 10. And Simon Peter, having a knife, took it out, and struck the bishop's servant, and cut off his right ear: and the servant's name was Malchus. [1004] This is also spoken of in the above-mentioned chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: "And behold, one of them that are with Jesus, he stretched forth his hand, and drew out his knife" (26:51). (And John indicated both the name of the servant whom Peter struck and the part of the body on which he struck, for greater clarity of the matter, not only because Jesus Christ immediately healed the servant, as we know from the Gospel of Luke (22:51), but also because this servant struck Jesus Christ a little later, as Chrysostom explained).

Verse 11. Wherefore Jesus said to Peter, thrust the knife into the scissor: The cup which the Father hath given me, shall thou not drink it? [1005] By the cup is meant death. Thus, Jesus Christ says: Shall I not suffer the death to which My Father was pleased to suffer? this is the meaning of the word "dade," but on the contrary, I will endure it, because I desire the same thing that the Father also desires. The above-mentioned chapter is about this as well.

Verses 12–13. And Spira, and the thousand men, and the servants of Judaism, took Jesus, and bound him, and brought him to Anna first: for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the bishop of that year. [1006] (For joy they boasted of this deed, as if they were presenting some kind of trophy, and took Him to Annas first, since Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, revered him as a father, on account of such family ties). Read also the explanation in the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew's Gospel of the words: "And Jesus was led to Caiaphas by the bishops" (v. 57).

Verse 14. And Caiaphas gave advice to the Jews, that it is not for one man to die for men. [1007] In order that anyone who would not be confused when he heard that Jesus Christ was bound, the Evangelist reminds him of the prophesied saying of Caiaphas, showing that Jesus Christ died for the benefit of the people, i.e., for the salvation of people, as Caiaphas put it.

Verse 15. And Simon Peter and the other disciple walked after Jesus... [1008] The other disciple is John himself. See the explanation of the words: "And Peter walked after Him from afar to the court of the bishop" (Matt. 26:58). [1009]

Verses 15–16... And that disciple knew the bishops, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the bishops. And Peter stood at the door outside... [1010] Pay attention to the humility and brotherly love of the evangelist. In order that no one should praise him for having entered with Jesus Christ, nor reproach Peter for remaining outside the door, John said that he, as an acquaintance of the high priest, was allowed to enter, but Peter, as a stranger, was not allowed, but still remained at the door, which was rather a praise to Peter.

Verses 16–17... For the disciple came out, whom the bishops knew, and spoke to the door, and brought Peter in. And the servant's door said to Peter, "Food, and thou art a disciple of this man; He said: "Carry it." [1011] Read the explanation of the sayings from the Gospel of Matthew: "And when he went in, he sat down with the servants, he saw the end" (26, 58),[1012] and also: "Peter is outside sitting in the courtyard." And come unto him, one handmaid (v. 69),[1013] all of which are necessary to the understanding of this verse.

Verse 18. And the servants and servants stood and made fire like winter, and warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them and warmed himself. [1014] The Evangelist shows that he, being with the Master in the inner court, saw and heard everything, but Peter did not know any of this, since he was in the outer court.