Servant Girl

Servant girl at the door

JOHN 18 BIBLE STUDY ◄
John 18:13-16 Annas and Caiaphas

John 18:17-24 Servant Girl

JOHN 18:17-18 17 Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

What did the servant girl ask Peter?
“You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” (John 18:17)

Where was Peter when the servant girl asked him this question?
He had been "brought ... in" (John 18:16) to the high priest's house by John (see Annas and Caiaphas) and was warming himself by a fire "in the courtyard" (Mark 14:22).

Why did the servant girl ask Peter that question after letting him inside?
She is unlikely to have been among those who had gone to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus (see Judas Iscariot), which means she wouldn't have recognized Peter on her own. It is more likely that when the fire lit up Peter's face in the courtyard, at least one person who had been at the garden thought they recognized Peter, and had tried to confirm that with the servant girl, "who kept the door" (John 18:17) and had let him inside, and the girl in turn came to Peter to confirm, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” (John 18:17)

JOHN 18:19-21 19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

Did Annas hold a trial above?
It sounds more like a semi-private (see below), fact-finding interrogation.

What is Annas interested in?
The accomplices and the ideology of the threat to his power: "The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine" (John 18:19).

How does Jesus respond?
He reminds Annas that his own cronies - “the Jews” (John 18:20) - know the answers, so he should ask them.

JOHN 18:22-23 22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”

How did "one of the officers" (John 18:22) of the temple guards hit Him?
He slapped Him: "struck Jesus with the palm of his hand" (John 18:22).

For what perceived reason?
Insolence.

What is ironic about that?
He slapped God for insolence.

JOHN 18:24 24 Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Where did Annas send Jesus?
To a different wing of the house (see Annas and Caiaphas), which was built around a "courtyard" (Mark 14:22), to a hall where Caiaphas was waiting with "the chief priests, the elders, and all the council" (Matthew 26:59).