FBCWest 603 | Jesus Betrayed
Recorded On: 04/21/2024
Bulletin
Hymn # 166 “At the Cross”
SCRIPTURE READING – Romans 5:6 - 8
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Lord, I Need You”
“Won’t Stop Now”
“In the House”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Jesus Betrayed”
“At the Cross (Love Ran Red)”
Benediction “Praise You Anywhere”
Sermon Notes
John 18:1 Jesus goes to a garden with His disciples
John 18:2 & 3 Judas knowing where Jesus often went led a Roman cohort and officers
John 18:4 – 7 Even though Jesus is to be arrested He takes charge
John 18:8 & 9 Jesus tells them to let His disciples go
John 18:10 & 11 Peter tries to defend Jesus, but Jesus tells him this is the cup Jesus is to drink
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
There are times in our lives when we may face circumstances when we truly wonder whether God is in control and can solve our problems. Jesus is going to show a situation where his betrayal and his seizure is such that he is not a victim, but he is in control. And not only to make sure that God's purposes are accomplished, but he protects his own. Come and see how God is in control of even circumstances that seem to be out of control.
We all belong in the house of the Lord.
Not because we're worthy of it, but because he invited us, and he included us.
If you have your Bibles, and you should, turn to the Gospel of John chapter 18.
John chapter 18, sorry, with verse 1.
Think 12 or 13, something like that.
Where we left off in this context was, Jesus had been praying for the 11, and had been praying for you and me.
And he finished that prayer, and then it says that this is what's happening now in Gospel of John chapter 18. And when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the ravine of Kidron, where there was a garden in which he entered with his disciples.
Now, when we get the idea of a garden, we think of a, you know, maybe a place with a bunch of flowers or whatever. This is probably more like an orchard, and probably more like a olive orchard. And so it's a place of solitariness. It's a place of agriculture, and it's a place of peace.
And the other Gospel will talk about what Jesus does in the Garden of Gethsemane, but John goes right to the action of what happens. And so Jesus moves on to this garden with his disciples. Now, Judas also, who was betraying him, knew the place where Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So again, Jesus, this is not a one-off. Jesus goes there because, again, it's a good place to teach. It's a good place to have serenity and be uninterrupted by Jerusalem and all the other traveling. And so Judas, having been with Jesus, knows Jesus's routines, and therefore he's aware that that's what Jesus is going to do. Take his disciples to this quiet place.
And Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests, and the Pharisees came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
Now, Judas is in there alone. Judas goes there with, if you will, the civil authorities, the Roman cohort, the Roman soldiers, and with the religious authorities, the Pharisees and their leaders. And he comes together, and a cohort mounts about 600 men.
Now, it may not be a false cohort, but it is a substantial number of people who have come, and they are going to, what they think, deal with any problem that Jesus may present. So they're going there with the Roman authority, the Roman soldiers, and their weapons, along with the religious authority, and their weapons. And they come with lanterns and torches because it's at night, but he wants to make sure that he understands that they're there to seize Jesus by whatever means necessary, because they think they have enough to control the situation.
So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth. Now, I want to stop there. Notice, none of this is taking Jesus by surprise. He's been teaching throughout his ministry, and others have observed that he is the Lamb of God. And he has taught his disciples that he is going to lay down his life as a ransom for many. Now, they oftentimes don't get the clue. They think maybe it's an allegory or a parable.
They can't fully realize it, but these things are not happening to Jesus unexpectedly. And it always cracks me up when I see people who don't really understand who Jesus is, who says, "Well, Jesus was just a good preacher, a good minister, a good prophet." And the history and the authorities just kind of overwhelmed him. No, they didn't overwhelm him. He was fully aware of what is going on. And not only is he fully aware of what is going on, he said, "The coming upon him went forth and said to them." So Jesus goes from being there to moving to the front and saying, "Whom do you see?" You see, Jesus immediately takes charge of the situation, which is an important understanding for you and me.
Because there are times in our lives when we face circumstances that seem to be of great difficulty, and we're not even sure that God can handle it. And we see Jesus immediately taking control of the circumstances, which they are thinking is going to be in their control. And Jesus takes charge of circumstances so that the will of God may be done.
And so Jesus immediately takes it, because he knows what they're looking for. They're looking for him. So instead of hiding or whatever, he says, "Whom do you see?"
The answer is Jesus the Nazarene.
So they know who they're looking for. He's Jesus who was from Galilee of Nazareth, even though technically he was born in Bethlehem. But that's who they're seeking, the Jesus who's called the Nazarene. And he said to them, "I am he."
He doesn't hide it. He makes a bold statement. And I suspect the bold statement is not just, "It's me." It's, "I am he."
"I am the Lord. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am."
And Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with them.
Now, the whole point of Judas being there is to identify him. And the other gospel talks about what Judas does.
John wants us to understand that Jesus is fully in charge.
So when he said this to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
Here's this Roman cohort. Here are these Pharisees. Here are these temple officers who have come to seize and arrest Jesus with weapons, and they can't even stand by his words.
They fall back and fall to the ground at his speech.
Because quite frankly, he is the "I am" who said, "Let there be light."
He is the one who fashioned you and me.
And so his speech is commanding, and they cannot do what they seek to do on their own power.
Therefore, notice Jesus doesn't stop. He says, "Okay, we're done now." Therefore, he again asked them, "Whom do you seek?"
And they said, "Jesus, the Nazarene."
Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he."
You asked me who you're seeking, and I told you,
and now you still don't seem to know what you're doing. So what are you seeking? Why are you here in this olive garden with these multitude soldiers and temple officers with torches and lanterns and weapons?
What are you doing?
And Jesus said, "I told you that I am he, so if you seek me, let these go their way."
Notice what Jesus does. Not only does he take control of the situation, and not only does he self-identify and doesn't make them have to guess, he says, he doesn't ask pretty please let these people go. He says, "If you seek me, let them go."
Basically, he protects his own.
As he says, "The Lord gave him these disciples, and he loses none of them."
So Jesus protects them even in this situation when they seek to do harm to Jesus. Which again, we can say that when God is doing God's things, and the world seems to do its things, and circumstances seem to be just out of sorts,
God protects his own.
Just as much as God said to the storm, "Be calm and be still." Just as he raised Lazarus from the dead, just as he raised the little girl from the dead, just as he healed the sick and rebuked the demons, he is in control, and he tells them, "Let my people go."
And guess what? They do.
And so because the Scripture says that Jesus is going to be alone in this circumstance, he is not going to be taken captive by his fellow disciples. It is he who is going to suffer the anguish of the sin payment by himself.
So he says, "Let them go. To fulfill the word which he spoke of, those whom you have given me, I lost not one."
Except Jesus will tell us previously, the only one he lost wasn't his.
He was the son of perdition.
So many times we wonder, is God in control, and God is in control? The better question, are you his?
Because if you're his, he will protect you through the circumstance.
There were four men, well, three men in a fire, and a fourth one was found,
and they went through the fire unscathed.
But if they would have been burned up, God was still in control and would take him into his presence.
So we can trust God that if we are his, he will get us through every single circumstance.
No matter how powerful the opposition may be, there are lots of soldiers, there's lots of temple guards, there's people there to make sure, and they think that they are in control, and they find out they're not.
Simon Peter, then having a sword. Now, we're not quite sure why Peter would have a sword. It's not the typical sword that you think of. It's more like a large knife, and maybe he had it because of the Passover meal or whatever. Or maybe because he was so intent on making sure when he told Jesus that even though other people would fall away and deny him, that he was willing to die for him.
And so Simon Peter, then having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear.
And the slave's name was Malchias.
Now, this tells me several things as far as the cutting off the right ear.
Either Malchias wasn't facing Peter or Peter's left-handed.
Because if you're right-handed and you cut somebody's ear off who's facing you, it would be the left ear.
So if Peter's slicing the guy's left ear right ear, then it's either because the guy isn't facing him or Peter's left-handed.
But you see, Peter is intent on doing what he said he was going to do.
I'm not going to deny you. I'm willing to die for you.
Now, I don't fall Peter in this because, let's face it, I would hope that if my Lord was in trouble, as if I could do anything, that I would want to help, that I would want to just stand by and watch evil happen.
And so I do give Peter credit in the sense of, "No, this will not happen. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and you're not taking him without me putting up some kind of resistance."
Now, I don't know how effective that is because he simply cut off the guy's right ear.
I mean, he didn't even stab him in the heart, you know, whatever.
But Peter's doing what is counter what God's plan is.
You see, God's plan is for Jesus to be arrested, tried, and crucified. And this is the beginning steps of that.
And it's something that Jesus has been teaching and teaching and teaching.
And so if Peter has his way here, what is going to happen is that the disciples are going to find themselves on the wrong end of Roman source.
Sometimes we want to do something to help God out.
And that something to help God out doesn't help God out.
It gets in the way.
Jesus is saying, "I'm going to protect you. I'm going to be alone.
If you do these things, it makes it harder for me to protect you."
So Jesus said to Peter, "Put the sword into the sheep,
the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?"
Isn't it interesting? Jesus diffuses the situation by not saying, "Hey, guys, slow down." To Peter, "Peter, put it up.
I know what you're trying to do, but it is the Father's will that I accomplished this.
It is the Father's will that I accomplished this, then shall I not drink it?
And shall I not drink it in full?"
And so when we are at that point when we want to just do something, we need to say, "God, what are you doing?
And let me do that with you, rather than trying to do what I think is best for you."
We are told that Jesus takes the ear and puts it back and heals it.
A miracle in the garden.
This person is going to talk about what happens to his relatives.
And I'm sure that is going to impact not only him, but his relatives.
And so we've come to this place where Jesus doesn't fall victim to the circumstance.
There's victory in it.
And so they're going to do what they come to do. And we'll use this last verse, which we will start off next time. "So the Roman of cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him."
Now, again, thinking they're in control.
So this one who just healed someone, who simply spoke and you all fell to the ground, ropes are going to stop him.
But the world so often thinks it's in control.
It thinks by its power and its might.
It can accomplish its purpose.
But they are going to do what they think is in their best interest to conform to the will of God,
which is in the best interest of all of us.
So Jesus, even in this circumstance, is not weak, is not helpless, is not a victim of circumstance.
But even in this circumstance, we will see that he is the God of heaven and earth.
And if we can trust him in the miracles, if we can trust him in the darkness of the night,
then we can even trust him when it seems that the world is winning because it isn't. It is simply conforming to the will of God. And Jesus will accomplish what Jesus is going to accomplish because the Father had set him out to drink this cup,
not for his benefit, but for yours and mine.
That we might be called children of the living God. That we might receive the benefit of his sacrifice.
That we might be the assurance in this uncertainty.
And that even when it seems that we're outnumbered,
as the one prophet said to his servant,
"Open the eyes because there are more with us than against us."
And even if God himself alone is with us, then there's more than is against us. And all God's people said.
And we can know this because even at the cross, when it seems that the world won,
mercy and redemption won.