Every now and then, we hear in the media that some newly
discovered, long forgotten “gospel” has been recovered containing scintillating
information about Jesus that will change the way we look at Him. These books
were not “lost” or “forgotten.” They were rejected by the early church almost
immediately as they began to circulate for a variety of reasons. Some were
known to be forgeries; that is, it was known beyond any shadow of doubt that
they were not written by the individuals whose names they bore. Some were
rejected because their content contradicted the Scriptural writings that the
early church knew to be authentic documents written under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit. But in every case, these so-called gospels were also rejected
because they were not Gospels at all. The word “Gospel” means “good news,” and
the good news of the Christian faith is that Jesus came into the world to die
and rise again to rescue sinners and reconcile them to God. This is the central
message of the Christian faith. Without the climax of Jesus work of redemption
upon the cross, a writing is not a “Gospel” because it has no good news for us.
We have four authentic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And in each of
them, the writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, move relentlessly
through their narratives toward the account of the suffering, death, and
resurrection of Jesus. Each of them climax on the final week of Jesus’ earthly
life – His “Passion” week.
The word “passion” is well known to us, but most of us
associate it with a meaning that is far removed from this sense. We associate
it with “desire,” “longing,” or even “lust.” The sense in which it is used of
Jesus has to do with suffering. When we speak of His passion, we speak of all
that took place from His betrayal and arrest to His death on the cross.
With our text today we have come to John’s account of the
passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. His treatment of the “Passion Week” began
back in Chapter 12. That means that roughly half of John’s Gospel is concerned
with the final seven days of His earthly life, leading some to describe the
Gospel According to John as a “passion story with an extended introduction.”[1] Writing
his Gospel decades after Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written, John assumes
that his readers are familiar with some of the details of the narrative.
Therefore, he omits details such as the name of the garden where Jesus was
arrested, that Jesus labored there in prayer, or that Judas betrayed Him with a
kiss. But John also provides us with information that the other Gospel writers
omitted. Therefore what we have in the four Gospels are not contradictory
accounts, but complementary ones, giving us a full picture of the incidents
that took place. Each one has its own unique emphasis. John’s singular aim in
his treatment of the suffering and death of Jesus seems to be to stress that
Jesus was not taken by surprise by any of the events that transpired.
Throughout it all, Jesus is shown to be in control of the situation.
It is a mistake to view the events surrounding Jesus’ death
as a tragic accident. To hear some describe it, it is as though everything
suddenly went haywire and Jesus fooled around and got Himself killed. No, quite
to the contrary, everything took place exactly as the Father had planned it,
and Jesus was a willing participant, not a martyr or an accidental victim. In
John 10, Jesus foretold what was to happen, and He said there, “No one has
taken [My life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.” And
beginning here with the scene of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane
I. Jesus’ insurmountable authority is seen in His perfect
knowledge (v4).
It was game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship
Series, and my Boston Red Sox were down 3-0 to the Yankees in the series, on
the verge of yet another heartbreaking end to a promising season. It was the
bottom of the ninth inning, and the Sox were losing 4-3. We had a runner on
second base that could tie the game. Everyone in the stands was on the edge of
their seats. But not me. I was relaxed, calm, and at ease. I knew he was going
to score that run and send it into extra innings. And he did. And the game went
on to the bottom of the twelfth inning, still tied. With a runner on base,
David Ortiz came to the plate and there was a nervous anxiety in the heart of
every Red Sox fan. But not me. I was cool, calm, and collected, because I knew
that Ortiz was getting ready to launch a walk-off home run to stay alive, and I
even knew that the Sox would go on to win the next three games, and then to win
the World Series. I knew that because I was watching that game from 2004 just a
couple of months ago on my computer. But back in 2004, when I was watching it
live, I was not so calm about it. It makes a difference when you know what is
getting ready to happen.
We have a saying that says “hindsight is always 20/20.”
That’s how I watched that baseball game not long ago. But none of us have 20/20
foresight. There isn’t a one of us who knows with absolute certainty what the
next year, the next month, the next week, day, or even minute will hold for us.
Jesus did. As the divine Son of God, omniscience was inherent to His nature. He
knows everything with perfect knowledge at all times. And the Bible says here
in verse 4 that He knew “all the things that were coming upon Him.” He knew He
was being betrayed, He knew He would be arrested and tried, He would He would
be convicted, sentenced, and executed. He had foretold it on many occasions.
Matthew 16:21 says that Jesus began to show His disciples that “He must go to Jerusalem , and suffer
many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
be raised up on the third day.” He told them this repeatedly. At the supper in
the upper room, He had announced that He was being betrayed and even identified
Judas as the betrayer. He knew everything that was going to take place.
Now, what is interesting about that is what Jesus does with
that knowledge. Maybe you have imagined at times, if you could go back and do
something in your life over again, knowing what you know now, you may have done
things differently. Jesus doesn’t live with those kinds of thoughts. He didn’t
know any less then than He knows now, and He wouldn’t have changed a thing
about how He acted in the situation. The Bible says here that Jesus, after He
had spoken these words – the words of the farewell discourse and the High
Priestly Prayer that are recorded in John 14-17 – went forth with His disciples
over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden in which He entered with
His disciples. The other Gospel writers tell us that this garden was called Gethsemane , a word meaning “olive press,” because the
area was filled with olive trees. John tells us that Jesus had often met there
with His disciples.
There on the banks of the Mount of Olives there were a
number of private gardens of wealthy Jerusalem
families, walled off and separated from one another. It is possible that one of
these families had given Jesus permission to use the place regularly. During
Passover week, the expectation was that the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem would stay in
the city until the festival had ended. Because of the number of pilgrims who
came, the “city limits” (if you will) had to be enlarged and would have
included this hillside. Luke 21:37 tells us that during Passover week, Jesus
spent the night every night here on the Mount of Olives .
Judas had been there, and he knew that Jesus would go there on that night.
Verse 2 tells us that.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Remember, verse 4
says that Jesus knew all things. He knew that He was being betrayed. He knew
that they would come for His arrest. He knew that Judas knew the garden and
would bring them there. So what would you have done? I would have gone
somewhere else! What a plot twist that would have been! Judas brings the arrest
squad to the garden and, what do you know, Jesus isn’t there! That’s what I
would have done, but it is not what Jesus did. He went to the garden anyway.
Nothing that took place on that night took Him by surprise, and nothing
occurred that was outside of His knowledge or the Father’s purpose for Him. So,
willingly and knowingly, He went to the garden where He knew the betrayer would
bring the mob to arrest Him. Jesus was in complete control of the situation, and
never once was it out of His control. His authority is insurmountable, and He
shows us that by His perfect knowledge here.
II. Jesus’ insurmountable authority is seen in His powerful
word (vv3-6).
For three years, Judas Iscariot spent nearly every waking
moment in the company of Jesus. In that time, He saw the Lord do amazing things
to demonstrate His power. But he never once saw Him act in a violent way. There
was the cleansing of the temple incident, which may have occurred twice,
depending on how one arranges the events of the four Gospels chronologically,
but even in that event, Jesus did not do harm to anyone. So one has to wonder
what Judas was expecting when he brought the arrest squad into the garden that
night.
Verse three says that he brought a cohort and officers from the chief priests and
the Pharisees. The “officers” were members of the Jewish Temple police force
who were responsible for maintaining peace in and around the Temple Mount Temple
police.
Judas brought numbers out against Jesus, but we need to see
also that they were armed to the teeth. They had lanterns and torches and
weapons, according to verse 3. The lanterns and torches would not have been
necessary, for the full moon that would have been in the sky during Passover
would have provided plenty of light. They must have expected Jesus to run and
hide in the shadows. We don’t know what kind of weapons they brought, but it
wouldn’t matter. Several hundred trained fighting men armed with any kind of
weaponry at all would have been an imposing force. Considering this sizeable
armed militia, William Barclay observes profoundly, “What an expedition to send
out against an unarmed Galilean carpenter! … What a compliment to the power of
Jesus! When the authorities decided to arrest him, they sent what was almost an
army to do it.”[2] But, as
they were about to find out, it wasn’t enough.
Thinking they would have to beat the bushes to drive Jesus
out into the open, they must have been alarmed when He went forth and confronted
them (v4). He made it easy for them. John doesn’t record Judas’s kiss, but it
likely took place when Jesus came forth in verse 4. Jesus asked them, “Whom do
you seek?” They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Undoubtedly it was spoken with
a serrated edge. Remember that it was often said, “Can anything good come out
of Nazareth ?”
(Jn 1:46).
Now here is where we have to know how to handle our Bibles.
You don’t have to know Greek to study the New Testament, but you need to know
your English Bibles handle the Greek New Testament. Usually it is explained in
that front matter of your Bible that everyone always skips over. For example,
on page vii of my copy of the New American Standard, the editors have
explained, “Italics are used in the text to indicate words which are not found
in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek but implied by it.” We have an
instance of this in most English versions in verse 5. When they say they are
seeking Jesus the Nazarene, Jesus responds by saying, “I am,” and then in
italics we have the word “He,” so it
reads “I am He.” “He” has been inserted so that the sentence is grammatically
correct in English. But, theologically, the word “He” is not implied or
required, and in fact gets in the way of what is going on here. Jesus said, in
Greek, “Ego eimi,” or “I am.” Does
that sound familiar? When Moses asked God at the burning bush what His name
was, He said, “I am.” Seven times previously in John, Jesus has taken up this
title for Himself, saying, “I am the Light of the World,” “I am the Bread of
Life,” “I am the Good Shepherd,” and so on. Here, He simply sets for the divine
name as His own: “I am.”
Notice what happened when Jesus spoke these two words: verse
6 says that they drew back and fell to the ground. There are some scholars who
suggest that what happened here was that the militia was frightened when Jesus
came out of the shadows suddenly, and shocked by the candid admission of His
identity. Their surprise caused the front line of soldiers to lose their
footing on the hillside and fall backward, sending the rest of them tumbling
down like dominos. So, we are supposed to believe that they sent the Keystone
Cops out to arrest Jesus and a madcap misadventure broke out. No way! These
were elite, trained fighting men. So, why were they literally knocked to the
ground? It was the power of Jesus’ word as He revealed His true identity and
nature to them. He is the Great I AM, and the power of His word could not be
overcome by armies or weapons.
There are two surprises that take place here as the militia
falls to the ground. First is what Jesus did – or rather, what He did not do. I
think if it had been me, I might have said, “OK, boys, they’re on the ground,
let’s make a break for it!” But Jesus didn’t do that. He stood by and waited for
them to regain their composure, and He asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” He
was not going to try to escape or avoid the purpose for which He had come into
the world. The second surprise is what the soldiers did. After picking
themselves up from the dirt, when Jesus asked them the second time, “Whom do
you seek?”, I don’t know about you, but if I’d been in charge of that group I
might have said, “Uh, maybe we’ve got the wrong guy. Did we say Jesus the
Nazarene? We meant to say the Nieces of Jazzercise. That’s not you, so we’ll be
moving along. Have a good night.” But here is the alarming thing: they
persisted in seeking to seize Him! They said once again, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
So persistent is the rebellious unbelief and hatred of God in some people that,
even after seeing a grand display of His power and nature, they will remain
hell-bent on destroying Him. This is a hatred for Christ that has united the
Pharisees, the chief priests, and the Romans: three parties that at any other
time would mutually despise one another. But their relentless hatred of Jesus
compels them to come together and to persist in spite of what they have just
seen and experienced.
The power of the Word of God cannot be underestimated and it
cannot be overpowered by anyone or anything, even relentless and persistent
unbelief and hatred. Remember that it was by the power of His Word that the
world and everything in it was created, it is by the power of His Word that
souls are saved and lives are changed, and it will be by the power of His Word
that the world and everything in it will be judged on the last day. The book of
Revelation points us forward to a day when Jesus shall return, and from His
mouth will come a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations
and rule them with a rod of iron (Rev 19:15, 21). Here we see a foreshadowing
of that day, as Jesus speaks, and the sharp sword of His divine word overpowers
the multitude that had come out armed against Him. On the last day, the scene
will be much more severe and intense. His insurmountable authority is evident
as we behold the power of His word.
III. Jesus’ insurmountable authority is seen in His
sacrificial love (vv7-9).
Have you ever noticed how many books and movies depict
someone laying down their life to rescue someone else? Why do you think that
is? My theory is that every human being is hard-wired to long to hear the story
of sacrificial love. Great stories are only great when they echo the greatest
story every told. And the greatest story ever told is the story of Jesus laying
down His life to rescue us from sin. He said, “Greater love has no one than
this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). He also said, “I
am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” And
here in the Garden, we see Him doing just that.
Why is that Jesus asked the mob twice whom they were
seeking? We can’t know for sure. Certainly the second question gave them an
opportunity to reconsider. But it also provided an opportunity for clarity.
“Whom do you seek?” Twice it was asked and twice it was answered: “Jesus the
Nazarene.” He is making it clear that their business is with Him, not with His
disciples. He is putting Himself in between the violent mob and His beloved
sheep in a demonstration of His sacrificial love for them. He says, “I told you
that I am He (or literally, “that I am”); so if you seek Me, let these go their
way.” Jesus gives Himself up willingly, and He gave Himself up to rescue and
preserve His followers. This is the reason He came into the world. This act is
a symbol, a foreshadowing (if you will), of what He will do on the next day
when He becomes the substitute for us all on the cross.
John says that Jesus said this “to fulfill the word which He
spoke, ‘Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.’” Each one of Jesus’
followers have been given to Him as a gift of love from the Father. He
cherishes each one is determined to preserve them to the end. He said in John 6,
“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose
nothing, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:37-40). We rightly understand
this faithful preservation of His own as a spiritual protection, not a physical
one. We do not look to this and similar promises to find assurance that He will
always protect us from harm and danger. Rather, we find comfort in these words
because they instill in us the assurance that He will keep all those who belong
to Him to the end. We are not keeping ourselves in His love, thank God, but He
is holding onto us with a grip of grace that is greater than any of our sins or
momentary lapses of faith. Yet, here, the promise seems to be applied to a
physical protection, not a spiritual one. Well, we must not think that the two
are unrelated. At this stage in their spiritual journey, with a fledgling faith
in Jesus but without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that they would
come to possess at Pentecost, Jesus knew that the physical dangers of this
moment could shake these men to the core of their faith and cause them to fall
away. So His physical protection of them was for the purpose of their ultimate
spiritual preservation.
You have heard me say often that there is only a half-truth
in the familiar cliché, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” The
truth is that we can’t handle much, and most of us are regularly going through
far more than we can handle. The full truth of the matter is that God will not
give us more than He can handle, and
He has promised to handle those matters as we rest in Him, so that our faith
will not be shaken, and we will endure and persevere because He is faithfully
preserving us in His love. He has stood between us and the ultimate and eternal
danger of the outpouring of God’s wrath, and weathered that furious storm on
the cross for us. He endured the cross for the joy of reconciling us to God,
and having done so, He will not allow the difficult circumstances our frail
bodies face in this fallen world to sever us from Him. He who knows all and can
do all, who has power in His word to speak and overpower any adversity, and who
has saved us by His sacrificial love, could certainly deliver us from any
circumstance we face. If He doesn’t, it is not because He is not good or does
not love us. He has not let us endure any situation that will not be found in
heaven to have anchored our joy and our everlasting satisfaction in Him.
Whether He intervenes or whether He doesn’t, it always to the end that we will
rest ourselves in Him and His sacrificial love for us.
No one has said this better than Calvin:
Christ did not keep the apostles
safe to the last, but amidst endless dangers and even in the midst of death He
did secure their eternal salvation. … [B]y sparing them for a time, [He] made
provision for their eternal salvation. .. We see how He continually bears with
our weakness when He comes forward to repel so many attacks by Satan and
ungodly people, because He sees that we are not yet able or prepared for them.
In short, He never brings His people into the field of battle until they have
been well trained, so that even in perishing, they do not perish, because they
can gain both in death and in life.[3]
That gain in death and in life has been secured for us by
Jesus through His death – an act of sacrificial love as a demonstration of His
insurmountable authority!
Friends, as you read the Passion narrative in Scripture –
the betrayal, the arrest, the injustice of His trials, the brutality of His
sufferings, and the bloody cross that He bore for us – you must understand that
at every moment of it all, He was the One who had insurmountable authority of
the situation. He knew all that would take place, and with a single spoken
word, He could have changed any of it. But He did not, so that He might rescue
us by His sacrificial love. Friends, if Jesus faced these horrors with this
kind of insurmountable authority, we who are His can face our difficulties in
life with the confidence that He possesses the same insurmountable authority
now. He knew what He was facing, and He knows what you are facing. He could
speak and change His circumstances, and He can speak and change yours. But no
matter what comes our way, it is His sacrificial love that unites us to Him,
and nothing can overcome or overpower His authority over us and all that we
face.
[1] Robert
Mounce, “John” in The Expositor’s
Bible Commentary (rev. ed.; Vol. 10;Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2005), 609.
[2] William
Barclay, The Gospel of John (Daily
Study Bible, rev. ed.; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975), 2.223.
[3] John
Calvin, John (Crossway Classic
Commentaries; Wheaton , Ill.
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