Sermon Tone Analysis

Guilt and Grace

 

John 18:1-27

 

May 3, 2009

|  There’s a lot in today’s passage from John chapter 18.

It begins in the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus’ betrayal and arrest.

It follows Jesus as He is taken before the high priests – Annas and Caiphus.

In this chapter,  we also hear Peter deny Christ three times.

Although our key passage is found in chapter 18, I will also be following the account in all four gospels.

Even at the climax of Jesus’ earthly life, He challenges His enemies to find fault with Him.

The utter futility of their accusations becomes quickly apparent.

Jesus’ sinless perfection is about to show us the difference between guilt and grace – the title of this morning’s message.

But first, I want to draw from Henry Blackaby’s deep well of wisdom.

Here is a practical rendering of grace - in* *Ephesians 4:32:/And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

/The Book of Ephesians describes the behavior that ought to characterize Christians as they relate to one another.

Our actions ought to be permeated with kindness.

Kindness is love expressed in practical ways; it is putting the needs of others before our own.

It is intentionally considering ways to meet other people's needs.Being tenderhearted means that we are keenly sensitive to the feelings of others.

When a fellow Christian experiences sorrow, we grieve also (1 Cor.

12:26).

When another believer is joyful, we, too, rejoice.

Being tenderhearted means showing compassion toward those around us.We show forgiveness because we, too, fall short of God's ideal.

Knowing that God has graciously saved us from destruction motivates us to forgive others when they offend us.

Often we are less patient with our fellow Christians than we are with nonbelievers.

We expect more of Christians, and we feel betrayed when they fail us.

When this happens, we need to look closely at the cross and remember the forgiveness we received there.

We must set aside the self-centered attitude that leads to impatience and criticism of others.Jesus did not say that the world will know Him by our miracles, by our grand testimonies, or by our vast Bible knowledge.

The world will know Him by the love that Christians show to one another (John 13:35).

Are you constantly in conflict with others?

Ask God to give you kindness, a tender heart, and a forgiving spirit.

As you allow the Spirit to build these qualities into you, your life will be a blessing to others around you.

Will you reflect guilt or grace?The private ministry of our Lord with His disciples has now ended, and the public drama of redemption is about to begin.

Man will do his worst, and God will respond with His very best.

“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom.

5:20).

Perhaps the best way to see the truths in John 18:1-27, and grasp the lessons they convey, is to pay attention to the symbolism that is involved.

John’s Gospel is saturated with symbols, some more obvious than others; and these symbols convey some important spiritual truths.

There are five such symbols in this section.

Listen for them as I continue.

The Kidron Valley is located east of Jerusalem, between the city wall and the Mount of Olives; and the Garden of Gethsemane is on the western slope of Olivet.

Jesus often went to this Garden with His disciples, no doubt to rest, meditate, and pray (Luke 22:39).

Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims attending the Passover, and Jesus would want to get away from the crowded city to a private place.

He knew that Judas would come for Him there, and He was ready.

Human history began in a Garden (Gen.

2:8ff), and the first sin of man was committed in that Garden.

The first Adam disobeyed God and was cast out of the Garden, but the Last Adam (1 Cor.

15:45) was obedient as He went into the Garden of Gethsemane.

In a Garden, the first Adam brought sin and death to mankind; but Jesus, by His obedience, brought righteousness and life to all who will trust Him.

He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil.

2:8).

History will one day end in another garden, the heavenly city that John describes in Revelation 21 and 22.

In that garden, there will be no more death and no more curse.

The river of the water of life will flow ceaselessly and the tree of life will produce bountiful fruit.

Eden was the Garden of disobedience and sin; Gethsemane was the Garden of obedience and submission; and heaven shall be the eternal garden of delight and satisfaction, to the glory of God.

The name /Gethsemane/ means “oil press.”

Even today there are ancient olive trees in Gethsemane, though certainly not the ones that were there in Jesus’ day.

The olives would be picked and put into the press for their oil.

What a picture of suffering!

So our Lord would go through the “oil press” and the “winepress” (Isa.

63:3) and taste our judgment for us.

The Brook Kidron is also significant.

The name means “dusky, gloomy,” referring to the dark waters that were often stained by the blood from the temple sacrifices.

Our Lord and His disciples were about to go through “dark waters,” and Jesus would experience the “waves and billows” of God’s wrath (Ps.

42:7; also note Jonah 2:3).

The Kidron had special historical significance, for King David crossed the Kidron when he was rejected by his nation and betrayed by his own son, Absalom (2 Sam.

15; also note John 18:23).

Jesus had been rejected by His people and at that very moment was being betrayed by one of His own disciples!

It is interesting that David’s treacherous counselor Ahithophel hanged himself (2 Sam.

17:23), and David’s treacherous son Absalom was caught in a tree and killed while hanging there (2 Sam.

18:9-17).

Judas, of course, went out and hanged himself (Matt.

27:3-10).

Jesus fully knew what lay before Him, yet He went to the Garden in obedience to the Father’s will.

The gospels of Matthew and Mark record Jesus’ time of prayer in the garden.

Jesus left eight of the men near the entrance, and took Peter, James, and John and went to another part of the Garden to pray (Matt.

26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42).

His human soul longed for the kind of encouragement and companionship they could give Him at this critical hour; but, alas, they went to sleep!

It was easy for men to boast about their devotion to Christ, but when the test comes, they may fail miserably.

Before we judge the disciples too severely  we had better examine our own hearts.

Jesus warned us about casting the first stone or trying to take the speck out of an eye when we have a log in ours.

It is not ours to judge.

Judas had lived with the Lord Jesus for perhaps three years, and had listened to Him teach; yet he knew very little about Him.

The traitor actually brought a company of temple guards, armed with swords and clubs!

(Matt.

26:55) The word /band/ in John 18:3 could be translated “cohort.”

A Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, and this would be 600 men!

It is not likely that Judas brought that many to the Garden, but apparently a full cohort was made available to him if he needed it.

Obviously, Judas and the temple officials did not realize that the Lamb of God would meekly submit and that there would be no need to do battle.

Jesus was in full control; He knew what would happen (see John 13:1, 3, 11; 16:19).

Judas expected some kind of deception, so he arranged to identify Jesus by kissing Him (Matt.

26:48-49).

But Jesus shocked both Judas and the arresting officers by boldly surrendering Himself to them.

He had nothing to fear and nothing to hide; He would /willingly/ lay down His life for His sheep.

Furthermore, by surrendering to the officers, Jesus helped to protect His disciples.

He kept them safe not only spiritually (John 17:11-12) but also physically.

Why did the arresting soldiers draw back and fall to the ground when Jesus told them, “I am He”?

The Jews present would be struck by His “I AM” statement, an affirmation of Deity.

The Romans, who were in the majority, would be struck by His bearing, for it was obvious that He was in command.

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 and always without success.

The band was prepared for conflict, and they were met with surrender and calm, and a manifestation of divine power, an exhibition of the majesty of Jesus Christ.

“When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell” (Ps.

27:2).

I can picture Jesus with a puff of breath or a flick of His fingers, prostrating His enemies.

How could Judas have missed the obvious?

Where was Judas when Jesus asked Peter: “Who do you say I am?” and Peter replied, “ You are the Christ, the Son of the Lining God,” (Matt 16:16) Judas missed it, didn’t he? That’s why the troop of soldiers and the sign of the kiss.

Judas’ kiss was certainly one of the basest acts of treachery recorded anywhere in sacred or secular history.

In that day, a kiss was a sign of affection and devotion.