Last week we talked about the test of Peter’s faith. Tonight we’re going to talk about the trial of Jesus. The way that John writes this, he shows us clearly that both the testing of Peter and the trial of Jesus were happening at the same time. They were even largely happening in the same place. These were two things that were parallel to each other, they were running along together. Outside of the garden, Jesus was bound and arrested by the soldiers and the guards. Peter had tried to fight, but he had been rebuked by Jesus. Now in the courtyard of Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest, Jesus was accused, he was questioned, he was even abused while Peter was being asked a single question by a servant girl, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” Last week we saw that Peter’s heart was ready for that moment. He denied Jesus three times. Tonight we see Jesus’ heart. We see that he was prepared for what he faced, but also that he was submitted to the care and calling of his Father. Jesus did not respond any differently than he’d lived. In the pressure of the moment he didn’t change his message. He didn’t rethink his approach or even deviate from his path. Jesus defines what it means to be steadfast and unmovable, to always be abounding in the work of the Lord. In this the most intensive moment Jesus was faithful, he was consistent, he was himself. Maybe more than anything else, Jesus was righteous. In this week’s sermon, Pastor Abie Kulynych defines the righteousness of Jesus and how we should rightly respond.
“Righteousness Revealed,” John 18:12-14, 19-24
