A
Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon
#46
“The Arrest of Jesus”
John 18:1-11
In our last study of the book of John we
heard Jesus praying His great prayer in the presence of His disciples. But now the long
period of instruction in the Upper room has ended and His solemn prayer is concluded. Now
He and His disciples cross over the Kidron brook and head toward the Garden of Gethsemane.
“When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His
disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples
entered. (2) And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there
with His disciples.”
Remember it is the time of Passover, and all
the Passover lambs sacrificed at the Temple and the blood of all of those lambs (some
estimate as high as 250,000) was poured over the altar as an offering to God. A drain
directed the blood from the sacrifices into the brook Kidron. When Jesus crossed the brook
it would have literally being flowing blood, and surely as he crossed he thought of his
own imminent sacrifice as the once-for-all-time payment for the sins of mankind.
John is silent about the Lord’s agony in
the garden. The synoptic gospels had already said all that was necessary on the subject.
Each of the other gospels tells us that having selected Peter, James and John to go with
Him, Jesus withdrew from the others to a quiet place to pray. Luke reveals that He prayed
with such great emotion that “his sweat was, as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Lk 22:44). John confines himself almost exclusively to
the arrest of Jesus and in showing that at all times everything was under the control of
Jesus.
Verse three says, “Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers
from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.”
Pilate sends a detachment of soldiers along
with the Pharisees and temple police. The word translated “detachment”
is (speira) which is a military term used for a
Roman cohort, which was a tenth of a legion or 600 men. Of course a cohort was not always
at full strength, and the number would vary from time to time and from place to place. But
the term clearly means a lot of soldiers.
What happens when Jesus meets those who have
come to arrest him is a remarkable incident which is not reported in any of the other
Gospel accounts.
In verse four we read, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went
forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” The use of the present
tense of the verb, “knowing” implies that Jesus
had a very real and ongoing knowledge of all that is going one here. He was not taken by
surprise at the approach of the soldiers for he knew what was going to happen
to him.
It
is Jesus who is in control of the situation when He steps forward to meet the soldiers
asking the question in verse four, “Whom are you
seeking?” (5) They answered Him, “Jesus of
Nazareth.”
In his narrative the Apostle John gives three
details about the arrest of Jesus that the other gospel accounts do not give.
First, He Displays His Glory (18:5b-6)
“Jesus said to them, “I
am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. His
answer no doubt caught them off guard; it answered their question and more. His answer in
verse five emphasizes that he was more than they sought. They had gone forth with their
torches and their weapons to arrest an iterant preacher, who they expect to be hiding in
some dark corner and instead they are confronted by a commanding figure who steps forth
and demands what their business is.
When
Jesus says “I am He” it is literally in the Greek
(ego eimi – these are the very
Greek words used to translate Ex 3:14 in the Septuagint) which is used nine times is the book of
John (4:26, 6:20, 8:24, 28, 58, 13:19, 18:5, 6,
8). The “he”
is not in the Greek text and was added for clarity but it actually simply reads “I am” – “I am Jehovah” His words are a gracious warning to they
are in way over their heads!
The British pastor
Alexander Maclaren, who expresses this clearly when he wrote; “There was for a moment a little rending of the veil of his flesh,
and an emission of some flash of the brightness that always tabernacled within him; and
that, therefore, just as Isaiah, when he saw the King in his glory, said, 'Woe is me, for
I am undone!' and just as Moses could not look upon the Face, but could only see the back
parts, so here the one stray beam of manifest divinity that shot through the crevice, as
it were, for an instant, was enough to prostrate with a strange awe even those rude and
insensitive men.” [quoted
by James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985) p.
1228].
In verse six John does not say that the
soldiers momentary pause in their efforts to arrest Jesus but rather that they actually
stepped backwards and “fell to the ground.” When
He made his “I am” statement, the soldiers fell backwards to the ground, in
doing this He showed them just actually how powerless they were – even with all the
swords and spears. The power that sent them reeling backward to the ground could just as
easily have held them there. It is rather ludicrous if you stop to think about it, men
with puny weapons coming to arrest the Son of God! They came with weapons expecting
trouble, and they were right to be worried. But had He chosen to resist, no weapons would
have been sufficient.
John wants to make sure that we understand
that up to and including the moment he gave himself up to the soldiers Jesus was in
complete control.
We sometimes erroneously believe that if God
would demonstrate his power that people would repent and believe, but such is not the
case. Even this display of the power and majesty of the Lord does not deter Judas and the
mob that accompanied him from their purpose of arresting Jesus. Just as those who came to
arrest Jesus resisted the revelation, such it will always be for the book of Revelation
reveals that even in the last days when God is dealing directly with sinners they refuse
to repent. Rev 16:8-11 says, “Then the fourth angel
poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. (9) And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name
of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
(10) Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of
the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because
of the pain. (11) They blasphemed the God of heaven because of
their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.”
He Displayed His Glory and ….
Secondly, He Protects His Disciples (18:7-9)
In verse seven Jesus again asked the
question, “whom are you seeking” but this time it
is phrased even more forcefully. Since he had made the soldiers’ clarify that their
business is with him alone Jesus states in verse eight, “I
have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way.”
Note the use of the command (aphete -imperative) translated “let or allow
these to go.” This is a command not a request! There can be little doubt that the
original intent of the soldiers was to arrest the entire band of disciples. Jesus does not defend himself, but he does defend his disciples.
His disciples are allowed to go their own way so that as verse nine reveals, “that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those
whom You gave Me I have lost none.”
The power that secured the disciples safety
could have just as easily secured His own. This made such an impression on John that some
60 years later he still could not get over it!
There are a number of scriptures that tell us
that his protection extended beyond the eleven disciples to preserve those of all the ages
whom the Father has given Him.
Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is also able
to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make
intercession for them.”
2 Timothy 1:12 “For this
reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that
Day.”
Hebrews 2:18 “For in that He Himself
has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted”
Phil 3:20-21 “…. the
Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who will transform our lowly body that it
may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even
to subdue all things to Himself.”
Jude 24-25 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from
stumbling, And to present you fault-less
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, (25) To God
our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be
glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Even at the very
moment of his arrest, Jesus showed His control over the circum-stances. He demonstrated
power over the soldiers, compassion to those who are perhaps unwittingly his enemies and
concern for the safety of his disciples.
Third, He Extends His Mercy (18:10-11)
Apparently Judas’ betrayal of the Lord
with a kiss was more than Peter could stand (Lk. 22:48-50). Verse ten reveals, “Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high
priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.”
Out Peter came with his hidden short sword
and he lunged at Malchus no doubt with every intention of removing his head. Hopefully he
was a better fisherman than he was a swords-man, or as one man commented, “his zeal out ran his skill.” (Leon Morris) Either
the intended victim ducked or the sword was deflected by a helmet but either way all Peter
managed to do was cut off the man’s ear. All of the gospel accounts tell of this
incident but only John tells us that it was Peter.
“Peter made every mistake
possible! He fought the wrong enemy, used the wrong weapon, had the wrong motive and
accom-plished the wrong result!” (Warren
Wiersbe “Be Transformed – John 13-21” (Colorado Springs: Cook
Communications, 2005) p. 87) But least we get to pious, “Have you ever tried to help Jesus in the wrong way?”
The problem is that of trying to accomplish the work of the Spirit in the power of the
flesh. You will remember that Moses made a similar mistake when he tried to free the
people of Israel in his own power (Ex. 2:11). He ended up killing a Egyptian and fleeing
for his life.
Why
did Peter make such a mistake? An examination of the story reveals several mistakes,
(1) Peter was mistaken because of a lack of spiritual preparation.
He was sleeping when he should have been praying. Jesus had told him and other two
disciples who had accompanied him into the garden for prayer, “Watch
and pray so that you do not fall into temptation.” (Matt 26:41) But Peter had
failed to prepare himself for the challenges he would face.
(2) Peter was mistaken in that He relied on a carnal weapon to achieve a
spiritual victory.
The apostle Paul reminds the reader in (2 Cor 10:4) “For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”
(3) Peter also wrong in that He fought the wrong enemy. He
thought the enemy was the men who had come to carry out the arrest and so he fought back.
If we are not careful we also expend our energy fighting against people that are not our
enemy but rather being used by our enemy.
Things no doubt got a little tense when Peter
loped off this man’s ear and only the words of the Lord overt further violence. It is
at this point that Jesus says to Peter in verse eleven, “Put
your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” Far
from being defeated by the wicked-ness of man, Jesus acted in accordance with the will of
his heavenly Father.
Then Jesus touched Malchus’s ear and
healed him (Lk. 22:51).Thus Jesus not only showed his power and authority over the
situation but also displayed his mercy and compassion, extended even to those who sought
to arrest him. If Jesus could stun an armed band and replace a severed ear then he
certainly had the power to extricate himself from any situation. John makes one thing
abundantly clear, Jesus was not taken against his will. There was never a time during his
entire arrest that he was not completely in control. He was not a “victim” of an
angry mob. Jesus willingly offered himself as “the” sacrifice for sin.
Conclusion
What happened in Gethsemane was not a tragedy and neither are our Gethsemane experiences. This does not do away with the fact that there are difficult and dark days in our lives. But it is encouragement that even in those things that we regard as tragedies there stands the benevolent and wise purpose of our loving heavenly father. The circumstances of our lives may be dark at times, and we can feel that we are all but crushed by experiences of our life, but this is not the end. God is in control. Men may intend evil but God intends good.