Strathalbyn Church of Christ

John 18.1-11 Theme: Jesus surprises.

Sermon by Pastor David Williams. Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 14 March 2021.

Open our eyes to the riches of your word, Amen

Do you feel powerless? You know God has a plan but does that seem so far away as to be meaningless and irrelevant to your own daily struggles. The kids are out of control, there are relationship breakdowns, depression and anxiety, failing health, problems with work, and rising debts. So many things that are just beyond our control.

If anyone had a claim to feel powerless, it was surely Jesus when he was about to be taken off to be crucified. So, his response will surprise you. And it can offer you real hope in your daily struggles. In fact, there are three surprises about Jesus here.

1. First surprise: Jesus was no helpless victim

2. Second surprise: God died

3. Final surprise: God drank his own cup of wrath

First surprise: Jesus was no helpless victim

That is, Jesus went willingly to the cross, and he remained in full control

“Jesus … went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons”, Jn 18:1-3_._

Jesus was met by the might of the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman occupation force – all those with real power in Jerusalem. They went to arrest him and lead him to his death. And this was no small gathering. No doubt they expected Jesus’ disciples to stand and fight, so they came out in strength – with torches, weapons and a band of soldiers – “band” can mean up to 1000. The Romans didn’t want to take any chances of yet another Jewish rebellion.

This story is full of ironies. Kids, Irony is like when the fire station catches on fire. Or like here: Those who came in darkness to capture the Light of the world. And the Jews relied on Caesar’s soldiers – Caesar the king they hated - to capture their own king, the King of the Jews. All very ironical.

So, Jesus faced enemies with huge power. What would he do, what could he do, in the face of such overwhelming odds? What would you do? Flight, fright or fight? Run, hide in terror, or try and muster your disciples for a heroic last stand. Let’s look at what Jesus did, and why.

4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Who do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Who do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go”. Jn 18:4-8.

There was no flight, fright or fight here, rather, Jesus presented himself as a willing sacrifice. But Jesus was no hapless victim either. He remained fully in control and there are several things that show this.

He knew all (v4). For years, Jesus had known that he was to die for the sins of the world (e.g., Jn 1:29). Jesus repeated again and again to his disciples that he was going to be crucified. He had predicted the betrayal by Judas and the denials by Peter (Jn 13:21, 38). He knew the dozens of OT prophecies that pointed to his death. He knew exactly what was about to happen to him.

He was in charge. We see this in the words that he used. Jesus was the one calling the shots – presenting himself for arrest, giving directions, and revealing his true nature. See the words he used – each time Jesus is the one who seizes the initiative, who catches others off guard. He is the one in control. Check it out as you listen:

4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen … came forward and said …, “Who do you seek?” 5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said … “I am he… 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Who do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he.

He’s directing the conversation. He even issues orders

So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”

He is protecting his own disciples to fulfill the promise he had given in John 17:12.

Do you feel like things are way out of control; that you are helpless? Jesus’ disciples must have felt this way as they saw their Lord being dragged off to his death. Yet in all of this Jesus remained in control. He still is in control. Trust him

Did you also notice the irony of this armed gang shrinking in fear at this calm defenceless man. Why did they shrink back? To answer that we come to the second surprise about Jesus and the cross.

Second surprise: God died

God revealed himself in remarkable fashion on two critical occasions in the Bible -both times he used the term “I Am”. It has been translated, “I am who I am” or “I will be who I will be”, Ex 3:14_._ In other words, it is God who defines himself – we humans don’t. After all, we are made in **his** image. He is not made in **our** image. It’s worth thinking over – are you ever angry with God? If so, are you angry because he is not living up to your expectation of how a God should behave?

God first announced his name to Moses in the burning bush as “I am who I am”. And here again in John, God reveals himself. Yet now it is a man who uses the term “I am” of himself. Three times Jesus says the words “I am”. The ending, “I am he” does not appear in the Greek. So let me reread it as it literally is:

Jesus asked, “Who do you seek?” 5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said … “I am!” … 6 When Jesus said … “I am!” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Who do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am!

Jesus has done this at least 9 times already in John’s gospel, usually with some word attached to it that indicated divine authority – so he said “I am the vine”, “I am the bread of life”, “I am the light of the world”, “I am the good shepherd”. But he also said simply, “I am”. The Jews knew that he was claiming to be God and they tried to stone him for it. In John 8, Jesus said, ‘“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him but Jesus hid himself…’

For Moses the revelation of God’s name was awesome. He was told to remove his sandals, for he stood on holy ground. Now the sheer force of this divine revelation from Jesus compels the enemies of God to shrink in fear. “Every knee will bow before the name of Jesus”, Phil 2:10. Here we have just a glimpse of this. The calmness, dignity and authority of Jesus in the face of such overwhelming odds must have been so unexpected, so unnerving. Not for the first time were they awestruck by this man. “No-one ever spoke like this man”, John 7:46..

I said there were two critical times God revealed himself as I AM. Both are huge turning points in history. At the burning bush, Moses was sent to release Israel from slavery. Now God is again releasing his people from slavery – but here it is a far greater release. This time it is from sin and death.

There is a mystery here, that the second person of the Trinity died on that cross. That is, God the son died. We can’t know how that could happen any more than we can understand God himself. God himself died for humanity on that cross. And it had to be so, for only God can forgive sins against himself. A mere man dying could not have satisfied the penalty for the rejection of the Creator. Only God himself could do this, and he did it by dying in the person of his Son.

Can you glimpse the incredible love that God has for humanity – dying in our place. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Rom 8.

This leads us to the third surprise about the cross: What actually happened there.

Final surprise: God drank his own cup of wrath

“10 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.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Peter, while making a show of bravado is not really with Jesus at all. He will soon show his cowardice and betray Jesus by denying him 3 times. Peter trying to fix things with his sword, was little different to the soldiers trying to fix things with their swords.

Peter and the others did not get what Jesus was on about. They had seen him as the victorious conquering Messiah. They had no idea that his way to victory was through the cross, that he would defeat his enemies by dying for them. The victorious Messiah was in truth the Suffering servant.

To defeat his enemies, Christ needed to defeat death itself. Sin is rebellion against God. It was seen in another garden, the Garden of Eden. In that Garden, Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil, and so ate the forbidden fruit. That is, they wanted to make their own choices and run their own lives, with no thought for God.

The penalty for eating the forbidden fruit was death. God cannot allow rebellion – what king can? The cup of God’s wrath is an image used in scripture. God’s enemies will be judged by drinking the cup of God’s wrath (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17-20; Jer 25:15-29; Rev 14:9-10).

This cup image was used earlier by Jesus in that same Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Matt 26:39. In today’s passage, he again refers to this cup: “shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” What was happening here? God had decreed that his enemies would drink the cup of his wrath as a judgement on their rebellion. Now God the Son is taking that cup and drinking it. The sinless Son of God is dying for the sins of the world. Death is the penalty for sin. But God himself took our place in paying that penalty. As John wrote earlier: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”, Jn 3:16.

Remember I said, we tend to make God fit into our own images. It is common today to deny that God is angry, that he will judge people. God is simply love. An English church leader, Steve Chalke has tried to ridicule the crucifixion by saying it amounts to divine child abuse. But no – the Son went willingly. God the Father and God the Son were acting together to deal with the problem of our rebellion against them. God’s wrath and judgement are clear biblical teachings. So, it is wrong to deny God’s anger. Indeed, his anger and judgment flow from his love. They also fit with our own deep yearnings. Any innocent victim has a longing for justice to be done – a longing for things to be set right. The cross was God’s great act of setting the world right. On the cross, God dealt with all the rebellion and evil of humanity – yours and mine. He judged and condemned it. His own son bore the penalty that we all deserve.

One last point: notice the historic detail here – the name of the High Priest’s servant, Malchus. John’s gospel if full of such details. But why include such an insignificant person? John was writing history. His gospel was written possibly 35 years after these events. It is quite likely that Malchus and those close to him would have read this account. They could have raised doubts over John’s account if it had been false. The fact that the church grew so rapidly indicates the opposite: that John’s account was true. Eyewitnesses of these events backed up John’s account as true.

This is important, for Jesus really lived. He really died. He really rose again. We’re not dealing with a myth, or a ghost. We are reading history as it happened. No reliable historian disputes that Jesus was a real person, and he was crucified.

So, when your life seems out of control, remember the cross, the surprises of the cross. Remember Jesus who went willingly to the cross, drinking the cup of wrath for our sins. Remember Jesus, Jesus who was both man and God; Jesus who alone dealt with the causes of all our problems and our fears – sin and death.

Pray: Lord, thank you that as life gets us down with all its twists and turns and uncertainties, we have a certain hope that we can cling to, thanks to your sacrifice on the cross.

Sources:

Barnett, Paul. (2005). The shepherd king: reading John today. Sydney: Aquila Press.

Series: John

Topics: #John