Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] So, Father, we pray today as we come into your presence. I believe that what I'm going to share today could be life defining and life changing. I think every word that we share from your word, Father, does do that. But some messages are far more maybe helpful in our lives because we tend to avoid or shy away from some of the more challenging aspects of life. And I pray today that this message will deeply encourage us and give us tools in our toolbox. If I can say it that way, that you're going to help us develop a skill. Wisdom is the ability to do certain things, and I pray that we will gain a skill that I believe is so critical in interpersonal relationships. And I just thank you for that. I pray where we have failed. Forgive us, Lord, where we're learning. It's great. And help us to learn from your example, Jesus, how to handle the spiritual opposition that's going to come against our lives as believers. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, in God's people's head. Amen. Amen.
[00:01:03] I'm going to speak this morning on how to address confrontation in a positive manner. How many go? I really enjoy confrontation.
[00:01:14] See, I don't think we enjoy that. I don't enjoy, I don't think most people enjoy confrontation. But how many know and recognize it's a part of life?
[00:01:22] Probably one of the most challenging aspects, I think, is confrontation. And especially when you're in a leadership capacity, you're going to have to do that. If you're a parent, you're going to have to do that. If you're an employer, you're going to have to do that. You're going to have to confront situations. And it's not always fun. It's not always easy. So how can we do this in a positive manner? And I can think of no better model of how to deal with adversarial issues then to see how Jesus dealt with the most challenging situation in his earthly life. Now, throughout the gospel of John, there's been this running tension between what Jesus is teaching and doing and the response among the religious leadership of that hour. How many recognize that? And if you've been journeying through this series with me, how many are getting a feeling? It's getting pretty intense. And we're about to see the explosion, the culmination of this intensity here in John chapter 18. And we're going to see how Jesus now addresses the situation. I love it because there's so much to learn from him.
[00:02:24] And shifting in the book of John, from his upper room teachings and then that beautiful prayer in chapter 17, his intercession. Now we're moving to his arrest and the denial of Peter. Those are the two things we're going to look at today. John's account, and this is amazing to me, is very different than the other gospel writers. And that's because John is going to emphasize some things that the others aren't even addressing. How many think that's neat. So we don't just have everybody writing the same thing exactly the same way, but each gospel writer takes something and zeroes in on it to make a point. And John's point is going to be a lot different than what Matthew is trying to drive it. And I love that about these gospel writers. Now, John does not bring out the agonizing prayer of Jesus in the garden. He doesn't bring about the story of the disciples falling asleep. He doesn't even mention Judas betrayal with a kiss. Isn't that interesting? None of those things he talks about. So what in the world is John talking about? We're going to look at that.
[00:03:24] What John brings out is this profound sense of Jesus willingness to give up his life for the sake of his disciples. He's still in a protective mode. He's their leader. He's going to make sure that nothing happens to them. He's going to step up to the plate. And I really believe that good leaders take responsibility.
[00:03:46] I think we have a lot of poor leaders today.
[00:03:50] I'm going to say it this way. You know, if you're a husband, you're a leader. You got to take responsibility. I see a lot of people shrinking back from responsibility. Can't do that, because what happens is the people that you are responsible for, they are going to suffer.
[00:04:09] And I'm going to call it moral cowardice.
[00:04:14] Those are fighting words, pastor. But it's true, because what we're going to learn from Jesus is he's courageous. And when I read the Bible, I read things like, be strong. This is the word of the Lord. Be strong and very courageous. How many ever read those words in the Bible? God challenges us as believers to not be fearful, do not be afraid. How many of you know, I'm tempted to be afraid at times, you know, and especially there are moments where I'd rather avoid certain situations. Cause I don't want to get involved now. I think there's. Sometimes that's wisdom. We avoid certain things that are none of our business.
[00:04:54] If you get into those things, then it's like pulling a dog's ear. You might get bit, okay? But there are things that you and I cannot avoid. There's things that you and I must address in our roles in life, and we're gonna see that with Jesus.
[00:05:09] This willingness to lay down his life for his disciples, this action, I believe, is actually the cornerstone of the christian life. Jesus obedience and laying down his life will bring about the most important event in human history and the incredible implications for the human condition. The fact that Jesus was willing to die for us changed human history.
[00:05:34] It brought in God's kingdom for us and gave us an eternal hope. It's transcended our lives. How many are so glad that Jesus left heaven, came to earth, and was willing to lay down his life for us? I am so extremely grateful.
[00:05:53] That's the most important thing. That's the greatest focus we should have in our thinking.
[00:05:59] Let's pick up the story in John, chapter 18 and verse one, some say what happened to the third point of last week's sermon, pastor? Here's the good news. I haven't put it in the blog yet. It'll get there and you can read the last little bit of those sermons. I just have to move on, folks. I'm sorry.
[00:06:17] When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples. He crossed the Kidron valley, and on the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. And in this encounter with his enemies, Jesus is now instructing through example. How many know, probably the best way to learn from somebody is to actually watch what they're doing. You can talk all you want to, but I want to see it done. Jesus is going to model for his disciples exactly how to handle confrontation. How many want to learn how to do it the Jesus way? You know, I like that. Let's learn to do it the Jesus way. Jesus is teaching us some powerful truths in how to go about confronting evil injustice in a positive manner. How do we do that? And how that we could possibly, and really so that we could bring the possibility bringing out good outcomes. Now, the reason why I worded it, possibility, how many know you don't always win in these confrontations and you don't always got positive outcomes. I wish he could say, yeah, if you do it right, you'll always have the right outcomes. No, that doesn't always work that way. But we can only control what we can control our behavior, that we model it right. We're courageous, we deal with things in the right way. We cannot change outcomes. It takes two people to tango, as they say. Right. It takes people to agree, to be willing. And sometimes that doesn't happen. But we're going to see what happens here with Jesus. Now, the first truth in addressing evil, injustice and challenging situations, because I'm throwing them all together, because I'm dealing with confrontation as a general idea, is the courage required confronting them? It takes courage to deal with problems. How many go? That's so true.
[00:08:08] You know, a lot of us go, I just don't have that courage. I would rather not do that. I would rather avoid the stuff. I don't want to address these things.
[00:08:17] But you know what happens when you don't address these things. They don't get any better. Everything gets worse. A lot of people get hurt.
[00:08:24] So we have a responsibility.
[00:08:27] I don't want to hear that word, pastor responsibility, I don't like that word, but it's true. And, you know, we're going to stand before God one day and he said, I gave you this responsibility.
[00:08:39] I gave you this gift, I gave you this stewardship. What did you do with it? Well, you know, I didn't want to. I just didn't want to have all that pressure in my life. I just backed away from all these things. Well, no, God wants us to address these things. And we know from experience how difficult it is to correct, challenge and discipline other people. How many go, that's so true. It's not easy. And if we don't approach it in a proper manner, we will alienate people. And so one of the great temptations we have is I'm just going to avoid doing it because I'm afraid to alienate people.
[00:09:11] Remember, I pointed out to you, you can still do things right and still alienate people.
[00:09:16] You can still have negative response, negative outcomes. That's why there's always that temptation not to do it. I get it, you know, Jesus, on the other hand, addresses issues with courage and with grace and with an eternal perspective in mind. We gotta get a bigger picture, the eternal picture. Jesus knew that the only way to bring redemption to the evil in our world was to lay down his life as a sacrifice to atone for our sin. And Jesus now tells us, sorry, John now tells us, Jesus is crossing the Kidron Valley, a place where much sacrificial activity had happened. I don't know if you realize this, but from the time of King David a thousand years before, the Kidron Valley was a place of sacrifice. And sometimes it was a correct sacrifice of the temple and the animals were discarded, you know, the remains in the Kidron Valley. But sometimes there was false worship and there was sacrifices, and sometimes there was even human sacrifices. How many are just kind of aghast at that, that the people of God were actually sacrificing their own children, just like the people in the world?
[00:10:15] I could make all kinds of implications from that statement.
[00:10:19] It's kind of a shock. But when we embrace the values of this world, we're going to do what the world does. So we've got to have God's understanding. We have to have courage. It takes courage to be a Christian. I'm going to tell you right now, this is not an easy life. It takes courageous people. I believe I'm looking at courageous people, and we're going to get even more courageous. How's that? How many are saying, pastor, I want to become even more courageous today than I've ever been in my life. I want to be strong enough to do the right thing, even though it may cost me everything.
[00:10:52] That takes a lot of courage. But by God's grace, he'll help me. I believe he'll help you.
[00:10:58] So what's fascinating here in our text is the context between Jesus and the forces of darkness. But before I get to that point, I'm just going to make mention how many know places are important in the Bible. Does anybody know that? Jerusalem. Why was Jerusalem so important? The temple was there. Why is the temple so important? Because God's presence was there. It was the visible reminder of the presence of the living God. You know, I could mention Egypt. Egypt has all kinds of connotations. It's symbolic, it's a place. But what was it? A place, a place of bondage, a place of slavery, a place where the nation was delivered from Egypt. And Egypt is actually a picture of what the world standard is like. That's like living in Egypt. And, you know, a lot of times they just couldn't get Egypt out of the system. You know, that's why they were idolaters. They'd learned idolatry in Egypt. And even though God brought them out of Egypt, Egypt didn't always leave them. It was inside of them. And they saw they. When they made those crazy golden calves. Where did they get the idea from Egypt? Because that's what they worshiped there. That was one of the things they worshiped there. So, you know, what's fascinating here in our context is this confrontation between Jesus and the forces of darkness. And I think one of the most important lessons we need to remind ourselves in dealing with people is that we're not wrestling against flesh and blood. How many know that's true? So a lot of times we think the person is the issue. I want you to just move away from that. I don't care who's doing the talking or whatever. I don't care how close you are to this person. I don't even. Doesn't even phase me when it's a believer. Satan will use all kinds of people to come at you, including, you know, look at job's situation. Even this poor wife, who was going through the same thing, she got so upset, she said, why don't you curse God and die? Now, I don't think she was an ungodly person, but I think at that moment, she was speaking from the voice of the pit.
[00:12:50] How many say that's true? So good people can say stupid things? I think people that are godly can say satanic things.
[00:12:58] How do you know that? Because Peter himself rebuked Jesus when he talked about dying on a cross and suffering. And Peter said, may that never happen to you. Doesn't that sound nice of Peter? He didn't want Jesus to suffer. And what does Jesus say? Get thee behind me, Satan. Why? Peter's not Satan, but what Jesus is saying is. Peter, what you're saying right now is satanic.
[00:13:18] I think we have to understand we're not fighting with flesh and blood. You're going to have opposition, and it's not a person. You're fighting with spiritual forces of darkness, and you need to get that in our. We all do. I need to get that. I have to remind myself I'm not dealing with just with people. I'm dealing with spiritual forces of darkness. And Paul talks about that often. What's transpiring in these situations of confrontation is spiritual in nature, and therefore we need to be spiritually alert when addressing these challenging situations. It's not that straightforward. There's something going on. It's far more, I'm not going to say benign, more malevolent. It's evil. We got to get that in our minds. So when and where and how we go about confronting people and issues is critical in moving towards healthy resolutions. And I would caution us to remember that not all situations work out the way we want them to.
[00:14:13] We're not here to manipulate people, but we certainly want, you know, that people are healthy and this is a good situation.
[00:14:21] And so we need to work towards healthy resolutions. And I put, if possible, Paul says, we need to live at peace with all people. If possible, you go, why isn't it always possible, pastor? Because of sin.
[00:14:33] Because we're dealing with people that are battling sin. And how many know we can resist God didn't. We know we can resist God.
[00:14:41] Sure we can. We can rebel against God. People do it all the time. So let's take a look at the setting of the confrontation here. John brings us into the garden of Gethsemane.
[00:14:51] I don't think it should be lost on us that the opening scene of the Bible and the beginning of the human story, we find a human being where? In a garden. We find Adam and Eve in a garden. The serpent comes to them to tempt them to disobey what God's word has spoken to them. Isn't that true? And they failed. Where did they fail? In the perfect environment, in the garden. You know, sometimes we have this very idyllic and idealized concept of life. You know, hey, if I'm a Christian, there'll be never a problem. Or, hey, if I'm in a church, there will never be an issue. Come on, guys.
[00:15:28] You know, you got the perfect father. You got two people. You know, they got everything going for them, the perfect environment, and all of a sudden they get tempted and they fail.
[00:15:38] There's not one of us in this room that can say, I have never failed.
[00:15:44] We can't say that. We know we've all failed. It's true. We picked the story up in Genesis. Why I'm bringing this out is you're going to see that what's happening here is actually a counteraction to what happened there. Now, the Lord had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed, and the lord commanded him, you're free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die. Now, he didn't immediately physically die, but ultimately he did. Adam died, but at that moment, when he ate immediately, he died. In what sense? He spiritually died. He was now disconnected from goddesse. There was a rupture in that relationship, and that's why Jesus came to earth to repair that rupture and to address the whole issue of disobedience and sin and death. He came to deal with all of that.
[00:16:36] Paul certainly understood this interchange between what happened to Adam in the Garden of Eden and what happens to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. While in the garden of Eden, the serpent takes the initiative. I want to show you today that Jesus is actually taking the initiative in the garden of Gethsemane.
[00:16:55] Jesus is not a victim.
[00:16:58] That's what we need to understand.
[00:17:00] He's a victor. He's a conqueror. He's addressing a big problem. As a matter of fact, we know that it's through Jesus death and his resurrection that we have the means of salvation from our sin. Paul writes it this way in the book of Romans. For if by the trespass of the one man death reign through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ? So one man brought death, one man's gonna bring life, eternal life. Paul goes on to say, consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in the justification in life for all people.
[00:17:46] Interesting. Now, you know, sometimes people say, well, it's kind of unfair. You know, one guy sins and we all suffer. Do you know, every one of us in this room, we have the choice to sin or not sin. And how many, you know, we're just like Adam. We sin.
[00:17:59] So don't blame Adam. Just look at yourself, okay? If you were in the garden, in a sense, you were in the garden, you were in Adam. We're descendants of his. We would have done the same crazy thing, you know?
[00:18:13] And don't tell me, oh, no, I'm different.
[00:18:17] I know better. We are all sinners, and that's the way we are. You ever tell somebody, don't do that? And then they go right ahead and do it? Yeah, okay.
[00:18:30] For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one Mandev, the many will be made righteous. Love that. Roland Tasker explains that each of the gospel writers now share different elements in this moment in Jesus life. And what John is trying to convey is that Jesus is taking the initiative. And I just already said that. But here's how he says it. He says so when he crosses the book hidden to a garden which had been a favored resort for himself and his disciples, what is happening is that the second Adam is deliberately entering upon the final conflict with the prince of evil, reversing the situation in the Garden of Eden, where the serpent took the initiative and the assault upon the first Adam.
[00:19:15] So what is happening? God's reversing it, and God himself is coming after the serpent.
[00:19:21] How many are seeing that now? And you're going to see it. It's going to become very clear to us as we keep reading the story.
[00:19:28] You know, while we often think this experience in the garden is a moment of great struggle, suffering and sacrifice, which it was.
[00:19:35] What we should understand is that this garden experience is actually a battlefield where Jesus is marching forward to defeat the foe of darkness and releasing us from the sentence of death. So Jesus needs to be seen, as I've already said, a conqueror and not a victim.
[00:19:57] I'm trying to change your whole thinking about this scene. How many are going? This is flipping it on its head. I've always seen Jesus as you know, he's barely making it. He's just suffering through this. He's just finally surrendering. No, it's not what's happening at all. The humanity of Christ is struggling with it. But the nature of God in Christ is going, I'm going through with this. This is why I came to this planet. This is what it takes. I'm going to defeat the powers of darkness and release all these people from captivity.
[00:20:28] And I'm going to show you how triumphant Jesus really is in the garden. So let's take a look at the betrayal of Jesus. Look at verse two. It says now, Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Jesus came. Sorry. So Judas came to the garden guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and pharisees. And they were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Now, first of all, Jesus had often resorted to this garden. Judas knew where it was. He had been there with Jesus lots of times. This is where Jesus came, especially during the Passover. And why is that? Because, as Don Carson writes, he says on the night of the Passover itself, jewish law required that observing jews remain within an extended city limit.
[00:21:11] That included Gethsemane, but excluded Bethany. Bethany was just two or 3 miles away. But the garden is closer. I've been to those locations. And the garden is right against, you know, the muslim wall today. It's just right there. So they weren't that far away. They were within the parameters of, you know, the law. And so they retired to the garden.
[00:21:31] It is evident that Jesus, knowing it, says he knew the place.
[00:21:37] Judas did. But we're going to see, Jesus knew what was about to happen. Jesus could have ran away. He could have hid, he could have avoided the whole thing if he wanted to, but he didn't. He went to that garden. Because I think Jesus goes, I'm going to the garden to undo what the first Adam did in the first garden. I'm going to this garden. I know what's going to happen. I know the price I'm going to pay. He knows these things, you know, he's not in Judas, now he's coming. First of all, at night. Why would Judas even come at night? Because he's terrified.
[00:22:09] You go, why? Because if you have ever been around an asian group of people, they're highly excitable.
[00:22:16] Read the Bible, you get these guys going, you're going to have mob action in no time flat, you're going to have a riot. And Jesus was a very popular figure. And you can imagine the people are going to stop him from being arrested. They would have been a mass demonstration. And the Romans, why were they involved? Because it said he brought a detachment of soldiers. These are not jewish people. These are roman soldiers. Why was that? Because they were afraid what was going to happen. So they came at night in secrecy to arrest Jesus. Very interesting.
[00:22:45] John is the only gospel writer to mention that Jesus was arrested.
[00:22:51] He's talking about the garden here in Carson. John is the only gospel writer to mention that Jesus was arrested not only by jewish officials in a crowd, but by a detachment of soldiers. Only one that says this. All the rest of them say a crowd came with them.
[00:23:06] I think this is fascinating. There was certainly a deep concern that someone is popular of Jesus with the masses. There was a possibility of violence. They brought soldiers.
[00:23:17] You know, John often uses the symbolism of night to speak of the realm of darkness. Do you know, John is a very symbolic writer. It's at night, as a matter of fact, when you read the story, there's no daytime here until you get all the way to the resurrection. Everything's night. Everything's at night.
[00:23:36] And then even when it's daytime, what happens at the cross? It becomes dark.
[00:23:42] John uses all of this symbolism to give us the idea this seems to be the hour where the darkest enemy, the work of the dark enemy, is at greatest height, but yet it's the moment of his greatest defeat and the moment of God's greatest victory all rolled into one. How many think that's amazing? How can this be the most difficult moment, the darkest moment, is actually God's point, where he's going to win the greatest victory. Because I want to just say to you and me, in your hour of greatest darkness, God's greatest victory is there. Did you just hear what I said? In your hour of greatest darkness, God's greatest victory is there.
[00:24:20] He hasn't left you. He hasn't abandoned you. It's a moment of great victory. You know, I'm looking at what's happening in our church right now. I'm saying, you know, we're on the verge of a great victory.
[00:24:29] I can see it. I sense it. The battle has become very intense right now. We're on the verge of a great victory. You don't think the enemy doesn't know a great victory is around the corner? Well, yeah, he does. And he's fighting for all he's worth.
[00:24:43] Okay.
[00:24:45] Roland Tasker describes the scene as one of the most dynamic scenes, revealing the authority and power of Jesus in one of the most trying situations and circumstances. He says, I'm sure that Judas had prepared the arresting forces with stories that show Jesus was no ordinary person. Can you imagine Judas explaining these guys? Now listen, we're going to arrest Jesus. I want you just to know a little bit about who we're arresting here. This guy can stop the weather. This guy can raise the dead people. This guy, we just don't know what he's going to do. Judas was a little afraid. Can you imagine the tension inside of these guys? Because, you know, you could say what you wanted, but they, you know, everybody knew about Jesus. These soldiers were, like, primed, ready to go into action. They were scared. The temple guys, they were nervous because they had already confronted Jesus. Jesus, as a matter of fact, they couldn't even arrest him at times. He just walked away. There was an authority in Jesus life that intimidated the enemies of Jesus. And you and I need to know that Jesus is not afraid of people. Isn't that amazing? I think you and I are allowed. We allow ourselves to be intimidated, but he was never intimidated. Jesus was not afraid. It was very powerful.
[00:25:53] I think this created a great degree of tension. When they came to arrest him.
[00:25:57] Then the authority of Jesus is now manifested. Verse four. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked him, who is it you want?
[00:26:08] Jesus wasn't in the back corner pushing other disciples up ahead of him, saying, why don't you go talk to these guys?
[00:26:14] No, no. He pushed them back and said, boys, move aside. I'm going to walk up here.
[00:26:19] Who is it you want?
[00:26:22] Jesus of Nazareth. They replied, I am he. Jesus said, and Judas the traitor was standing there with them. So Judas has now made a choice. He's on the wrong side of the ledger, folks. I'd rather be the disciples quaking in fear in the garden with Jesus than to be Judas, standing with this big army over here, ready to address and arrest Jesus.
[00:26:43] Jesus says, I am he. Very interesting choice of words.
[00:26:48] When Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and they fell to the ground.
[00:26:52] Are you getting the impression that Jesus is actually in control here?
[00:26:57] We're talking to a lot of people here and they're all falling down that way. They're going backwards.
[00:27:03] They're scared.
[00:27:05] Jesus is unafraid. They're terrified of how many are picking that up. Can you see it? It says again, he asked them, who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth. They said, Jesus asked. I told you that I am he. And if you're looking for me, then let these men go.
[00:27:21] What did he say? The only person you need here is me.
[00:27:25] I'm going to make sure nobody is going to perish here tonight. Now, if you are in a tense environment like that, where you're on the verge of violence, Jesus diffuses the intensity and the emotion of the situation.
[00:27:41] This happens so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have not lost one of those you gave me. Here we see the responsibility of Jesus stepping forward to protect his disciples by laying down his life. Can I just stop here and say this about all of us?
[00:27:57] If we are going to take responsibility for other people, we have to be prepared to lay down our lives.
[00:28:03] That's what it takes.
[00:28:05] He tells them that he's willing to be taken, but his men must be freed. I'm willing to go.
[00:28:12] They're not going to even argue with him. They're scared. These guys are scared of Jesus. I'm going to tell you that right now. Are you picking this up?
[00:28:19] Well, let me go on and just say this. Ronald Tasker again, describing the scene. He says, on the one hand he says, we see Judas and his army, representative of the world, which is tainted by evil in its religion and politics, and they rely upon physical force to achieve their objectives. That's the one side. On the other side, we are confronted with Jesus, unarmed, unbefriended, because his disciples are now running and apparently helpless in the face of an overwhelming opposition, but having at his command invisible divine resources in virtue of his complete obedience to his heavenly Father.
[00:28:59] Well, what's he saying?
[00:29:01] Jesus is saying, I'm not afraid. I know what I'm doing is what my father wants me to do. He's totally at peace. He's in control of the situation.
[00:29:11] How do you deal with a person that you can't intimidate? You're not intimidating Jesus here, guys.
[00:29:18] It was the hour ordained by the father. Hence he takes the initiative. Judas betrayal by a kiss is not even mentioned. And Jesus himself advances towards the soldiers. Isn't that neat? He's taking the initiative and the police to ask whom they want. And the reply is, I am he and may be seen as a normal self identification, but we're almost certainly intended to recognize its overtones, as throughout its gospel, he's using the term I am.
[00:29:49] I am the light, I'm the door. The word I am is the name of the most high God. Jesus has been saying throughout John, I'm God. Can you imagine these guys? Their response to I am.
[00:30:04] The reality of this mysterium tremendum or this awe inspiring mystery before the presence of God, especially through vision, is frequently illustrated in the Bible, and it's not a phenomenon limited to jews. It's entirely comprehensible that the jewish constables of the temple were awed by the word I am uttered by Jesus in the garden. They were scared.
[00:30:29] You know what Jesus said? I'm God. These guys are a little shaken up. And let me tell you, you know, there's a lot of people can walk around saying, I'm Jesus, I'm God, and all the rest of it. And we usually put him in a building and, you know, but Jesus backs it up and you start doing the things he's doing. How do you describe and explain his behavior? People who had never seen now see people could never hear. Could hear. People who never walked. Walked. How many think, this is amazing. People from the dead are coming back to life again. This is shaking anybody up. This is not a normal person, guys. He can talk to the wind and the waves. What manner of man is this? I'm telling you, this is not a normal, ordinary person.
[00:31:11] Warren Wirsby goes on to say here the Jews present would be struck by the I am statement, an affirmation of deity. The Romans, who were actually in the majority here as a group, would be struck by his bearing, for it was obvious he was totally in command. Jesus was totally unafraid, and they could see that, and they had been told about him. And I think they were a little fearful of him, to be really honest. As a matter of fact, when he spoke, they all backed up and some of them fell on top of each other.
[00:31:36] I mean, this is a divine comedy in a sense. You know, all these tough guys, soldiers and guys coming to mug this group, this mob that's coming to get Jesus, and he just says, I am.
[00:31:46] They're all falling over each other. How many are getting the picture? Who's really in charge here? Are we getting an idea that Jesus isn't just a victim here, folks, he's a conqueror.
[00:31:58] We need to see that, you know.
[00:32:01] Well, it was an emotionally charged situation, and we do not know what Judas had told them about Jesus. To help prepare them for this confrontation. The jewish leaders had tried to have Jesus arrested before all, and never with success. They couldn't do it. You know, the band was prepared for conflict. And when they met surrender and calm, they didn't know what to do with it.
[00:32:23] They thought they were going to have a conflict. They thought they were going to have to fight. Here. Jesus says he's totally calm.
[00:32:30] What did Jesus do? He de escalated the confrontation. How many see that?
[00:32:36] He was in calm. He never got excited. He didn't render evil for evil. He didn't overreact to them. He just basically said, let my boys go, I'll go with you.
[00:32:47] Do you see it? I love this story. I like the way John is framing it. It's very powerful. I think Wurzby goes on to say perhaps it was a manifestation of divine power, an exhibition of the majesty of Jesus Christ. And actually there's a psalmist writes this, when the wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. In other words, they came to devour me, but they couldn't do it.
[00:33:15] It's almost like Jesus is fulfilling the psalm in the way he's relating to these arrestors. But let me move on. The second truth, this is only two, is the general human contrast in confrontation. While Jesus is courageous, that's not usually how we respond to confrontation. How many know that's true? The disciples response is more like the way we respond.
[00:33:42] How often do we respond in a very similar way as they responded? Let me just point out how they respond. We'll pick on Peter. So Peter's response, we learned that force meeting force only escalates the conflict.
[00:33:56] I mean, that's true. You just ramp it up, it's going to go to another level. On the other side, evil only is going to bring more evil. So how do we handle conflict or crisis in our lives? Jesus was in control. He accepted what was happening. He knew it was orchestrated and ordained by his father. He was relaxed about it. He said, oh, yeah, this is just happening. This is part of where my life is at right now. I'm not going to overreact to this stuff. How many know when you come to people and they don't overreact? It kind of diminishes a highly charged situation.
[00:34:25] Peter's response is the natural fight and flight response. Do you know, we actually have a human response called fight and flight? We either run away from things we're comfortable with or else we just attack. People either attack or they run away. You know, and his was one of violent action.
[00:34:44] The other disciples started running. Okay, so we get two responses real quick here. And that's why I picked on Peter, because the other guys didn't fight. Peter certainly did. It says then Peter, Simon Peter, who had a sword. He drew it, and he struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name is Malchus. Now, personally, I don't think he was aiming for an ear.
[00:35:07] Boy, isn't that a great shot, Jesus? I think Peter was so revved up, he went for the head. He missed. Got the guy's ear, and then ear drops to the ground, right? And that's what happened.
[00:35:19] And then it says, jesus commanded, Peter, put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the father has given me? In other words, you don't understand what's going on here, Peter. Jesus calmly picks up this guy's ear, sticks it back on his head and heals him.
[00:35:34] Kind of diminishes that involvement. You know, Peter's probably stunned. And, you know, I thought about Peter. You say, well, why did Peter do that? Well, because, you know, a little earlier in Luke's gospel, we have this interesting statement. This is towards this evening. It says, now Jesus is about ready to leave. This is neaprum. He says these statements. But now, if you have a purse, take it and also a bag. And if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Okay? Jesus said this, verse 37, it's written, he was numbered with the transgressors. And I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment. The disciples said, see, lord, here are two swords. That's enough. He said, now, why do you know what he's doing? He's telling them, my time is coming to an end here. We're about ready to instigate the kingdom of God. And in their minds are going, great. We're going to take over, knock off all these Romans. We're going to take over and start ruling an earthly kingdom here in Israel. And so they assume in their minds that there's going to be conflict. And Peter's ready. He's got his sword. He's ready to fight and believes that Jesus, you know, he can speak and take people out. He just knows that God is with them. And as long as Jesus is here, Peter's brave.
[00:36:48] I mean, he's ready to take on anybody because he knows that we're going to win this battle. Well, Jesus does something so unpredictable, he can't even believe what's happening. He's telling him to put up his sword and he's healing the guy that he just sliced. I mean, what is he supposed to do? It's really throwing Peter off. How many can already see when you have a certain idea what you need to see happen and it's not happening that way. It throws you off your game plan. I think Peter was off his game plan now. He was befuddled, poor guy. He was just like, what do I do now? What is going on? This is not what I expected.
[00:37:23] You know, when things happen, you don't expect it can throw you off.
[00:37:27] Now Warren Worsby says what Jesus was really telling him in Luke was a time is going to change. I won't be here anymore, and I'm not going to be here to protect you. Jesus certainly didn't mean that the battles would be fought with material swords, but a new sword, the word of God.
[00:37:44] This is what Worsby said.
[00:37:46] He had warned them from that time on, the situation would change and men would treat them as transgressors. He was not suggesting them using material swords to fight spiritual battles, but they needed to get a new mindset and expect opposition and even danger. He had provided for them and protected them while he was with them on earth. But now he was returning to the father.
[00:38:07] They would have to depend on the Holy Spirit and exercise wisdom. Peter apparently took his words literally and thought he was supposed to declare war. And we all see what happened didn't work. Jesus now surrenders to the authorities.
[00:38:20] Verses twelve to 14, the detachment of soldiers with his commanders and the jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him.
[00:38:29] He's a dangerous person, you know, and brought him first to Annas, who was the father in law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. Wow. I think you have to have a little bit of history to understand what's going on between Annas and Caiaphas, because they both sound like high priests. It wasn't that they were replacing them every year. Annas had actually gotten out of good graces with the Romans. They had deposed him from the office. So they made his son in law the high priest. But everybody that was jewish still treated Annas as if he was the high priest. He was the power behind it. And that's why they brought Jesus to Annas first. But watch what happens. It's amazing to me, these guys, you know, if you're going to go to a court, you can't really have the judge already decide ahead of time that the person's guilty and we're just gonna get him and kill him. You know, that's kind of where they were at. That's not what I call a fair trial. This was not a fair trial, folks.
[00:39:21] They had already decided ahead of time. We gotta get rid of Jesus. Jill Burchard explains this relationship between Jesus and the high priest. I've already mentioned that. I'm not gonna go through that. Now we go. Peter's denial when facing confrontation. This is interesting. Now Peter is starting to track Jesus with another disciples. Most scholars believe it's John. Some people argue, how does John have a relationship with the high priest family? Well, he was in the fishing industry. He was a businessman. And maybe he had contacts in Israel and Jerusalem. Anyways, he was known to them, maybe had transacted business. And when he got to the house of Annas, the servant girl recognized him and let John in. But Peter, she didn't let in, okay, he's a stranger. John is known. He goes in, but then realizes Peter had been with him. So he goes back to get Peter. He lets him in. The servant girl says to Peter, this is an amazing statement. Simon Peter and the other disciple were following Jesus because this disciple is known to the high priest. He went in with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciples known to the high priest came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there, brought Peter in.
[00:40:30] She says to Peter, you aren't one of this man's disciples too, are you?
[00:40:35] She asked Peter, I am not.
[00:40:38] Ooh, where's all the courage, Peter? You know what happens in confrontation. Then we get into denying how many know that we don't want to own up to some things.
[00:40:49] Peter's not afraid. He's not with Jesus now. Things aren't turning out the way he thought. Looks like Jesus has given himself up. What's going on here? And then all of a sudden he's getting challenged. And he says, I am not. And I think it's interesting that John brings it out.
[00:41:06] As a matter of fact, it says here it was cold, and the servants and the officials stood around a fire and they had made to keep warm. And Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. We'll come back to that. That's a whole different idea as we get towards chapter 21. But I'm going to skip all of that. But Gerald Bouchard points out a number of powerful lessons from John's account here, and I'm going to close with this, Peter's answer was a sharp I am not the evangelist. John, who's writing focuses repeatedly on the affirmation of Jesus as I am, and most immediately at the rest. The contrast here is very striking. What's he mean? Well, the fact that when Jesus was present, Peter was filled with boldness. Now Jesus is gone. He's arrested and he's alone and he's challenged, and he loses his courage and he abandons his discipleship. He basically denies Christ, not just one time, but three times.
[00:42:11] And so we see the contrast between Jesus's courageous and our human, what do you call it, fight or flight mentality. How many see, we probably don't handle confrontation very well.
[00:42:26] Well, let's stop here and stand.
[00:42:33] There is so much to these gospels. How many are going, this is a very powerful story. How many picked up when you're reading through there? I have to confess, I've never seen it this way. You go, how come you're seeing it this way now, pastor? Because I spent the whole week studying on it.
[00:42:49] And when you're studying something, you begin to see things, and you're not just reading them in, you're just starting to read out. You begin to realize there's more here than what I notice.
[00:42:57] Confrontation, that's a difficult thing, isn't it? You know, I was thinking about it.
[00:43:05] Let me just say this here. I think there's so many lessons we can learn from Jesus.
[00:43:13] I think probably the greatest lesson is we need to learn how to trust him more. We need to have courage. We need to take responsibility.
[00:43:23] We need to be truthful. We need not to be fearful.
[00:43:27] Right? Because, you know, when we're afraid, that's a lack of trust. Does anybody know that's true?
[00:43:34] We got to trust God.
[00:43:35] And I think we're living in a hostile world, guys.
[00:43:39] How many say that's true? Pastor? It's hostile out there. If you're a follower of Jesus and you start standing up for the truth, you're going to be buffeted, you're going to be criticized, you're going to be put down, and, you know, we can. The tendency would be to shrink back. Isn't that true?
[00:43:56] To say, I'm just going to avoid all of this, but there's moments that you can't avoid it. God's calling us to take responsibility, to speak the truth in a loving way, not to get emotional and to get attacking. We're not here to attack people can't do that.
[00:44:16] But how many here say, you know what I recognize this morning? I need to take more responsibility in my life in certain situations, and I have shrunk back from my responsibilities, and I probably need to address some things that I know are unpleasant, and I don't want to do it. I'm going to have you raise your hands, but I know some of you in the room, you already know that's true. I've got to deal with this, and I didn't know how to deal with it. But today we're going to pray for divine courage. Number one, how many say, I need it, need courage? Okay. Number two, I need divine wisdom.
[00:44:55] I need wisdom to know how to go about doing this and rendering evil for evil is not the right approach.
[00:45:02] Jesus didn't do that.
[00:45:04] But the last part of the ceremony stands before Annas, the high priest. He basically tells him, you know what? I was here all along.
[00:45:12] I've been talking publicly all along. You already know where I'm standing. You know, and he gets so befuddled because he tries to intimidate Jesus and he can't do it. Can I just say something to you? People are going to try to intimidate you. Don't let them do it. Don't be intimidated. Because when I read the scriptures, it says, be strong.
[00:45:33] And then when an evil day comes and evil comes at you, what are we supposed to do? We're supposed to stand.
[00:45:39] We're supposed to stand. Just stand your ground. Just stand. You don't have to defend. You don't have to fight. You just stand.
[00:45:47] And when you stand for what's right, what's wrong, can't handle it.
[00:45:53] You hear what I'm saying? What's wrong? Will run away.
[00:45:58] Annas sent Jesus to Caiaphas. He didn't know what to do with them. When we go through this story in the weeks to come here, what we're going to find out is Jesus is the one who's confessed confronting all of these people all along. He's the one that's addressing them. They think they're addressing him. He's addressing them because they're in the wrong and they need to be addressed, and they are very guilty. And one day they're going to stand before God, guilty as written. They are guilty.
[00:46:28] And so we don't want to be guilty.
[00:46:30] We want to be forgiven. We want to walk in the proper way as a Christian. So let's pray. Today I'm going to pray for us, that God give us wisdom, God would give us courage, and that we would not deny Jesus when those moments come that we will stand for the truth in a gracious way and watch even as people are bouncing around us and trying to intimidate us. Don't let them do that. Just stand your ground. So, Father, I pray today we all need courageous. We all need wisdom, and we can all learn from you how to address situations that need to be addressed. And father, help us not to run away like the disciples fled. Help us not to fight the way Peter did in the natural, because we're not fighting a natural battle. We're fighting a spiritual battle. Help us to get that. And the weapons that you have given us are not natural, human weapons. They're spiritual weapons.
[00:47:28] Your word, prayer, these are weapons. We need to understand that truth is a weapon. You know, your word is a weapon. Help us to use them wisely. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave today.
