Events in Gethsemane
Notes
Transcript
When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”
They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them.
Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,”
that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”
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.
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
Intro:
Intro:
AG: Have you ever gone to the doctor for a check-up and the doctor gets out that little rubber hammer? He wants to find out something about you. The rubber hammer is used to tap you below the kneecap and check your reaction. Now he could have said, will you raise your leg. Your brain would say, okay, here is the plan, raise your leg. But the doctor isn’t interested in what you plan to do but your unplanned reaction.
Now, folks, all of us can control our actions. It’s our reaction that counts and shows what we are. The difference in action and reaction is the difference in reputation and character. Reputation is what others think of you. Character is what your wife, children, and God know about you.
TS: We have noted that several times in the gospel of John, we have unique details included and some familiar details excluded. Each gospel, though telling the same story, comes from a different perspective.
Remember, John’s purpose is not to present a chronological narrative of the life of Christ but to display His deity. John sought to strengthen the faith of second-generation believers and bring about faith in others, but he also sought to correct a false teaching that was spreading in the first century. John emphasized Jesus Christ as “the Son of God,” fully God and fully man, contrary to a false doctrine that taught the “Christ-spirit” came upon the human Jesus at His baptism and left Him at the crucifixion.
John recorded the priestly prayer of Jesus in ch 17, but not the prayer in the Garden other gospels record.
In this section, we find a blending of the majesty and the meekness of Christ.
Jesus crossed over the brook Kedron after Judas had made his agreement to betray Him.
Perhaps you remember another person who crossed over the brook Kedron.
When King David’s son, Absalom led a rebellion and Ahithophel, his friend and counselor betrayed him.
As far as we know, Jesus never spent a single night in the city of Jerusalem.
The last week of His life, Jesus went to Bethany and stayed with His friends.
Even on this last night, He left the walled city of Jerusalem to go to the place we know of as the Garden of Gethsemane, a place of quietness, in order to give His enemies an opportunity to take Him.
John does not include the agony Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane.
John speaks of Jesus’ glory and he places great emphasis upon the deity of Christ, while the other Gospels emphasize Jesus’ humanity.
Jesus will not resist arrest, for He is the Lamb of God who offers no resistance “led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
Let's take a closer look at the events in Gethsemane
Jesus’ confrontation with his foes (18:1–7)
Jesus’ confrontation with his foes (18:1–7)
After finishing His High Priestly prayer, Jesus went forth and began the path to the cross.
He hid from no one.
He was in the garden, He had probably gone there often. It was a known location He frequented.
There He is confronted by His foes
1. The Betrayer (18:1–2):
1. The Betrayer (18:1–2):
When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
Judas arrives in Gethsemane, prepared to betray his master.
The betrayer had been dismissed earlier and now returns at the head of those ready to take Jesus
2. The Roman Cohort and Temple Guards (18:3–7)
2. The Roman Cohort and Temple Guards (18:3–7)
Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”
They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them.
Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
A full auxiliary Roman cohort had the potential strength of 1000 men (760 foot soldiers and 240 cavalry)
In practice, it varied from 200-600 troops at any given time.
Point: overwhelming number for 1 man’s arrest, even if His disciples (11 now) had been trained soldiers, this was overkill!
They were backup and displayed Rome’s endorsement and authority for Temple Officers.
Temple officers were the actual arresting force
This was over Jewish law and custom, not a violation of Roman law, so the Temple Officers took the lead role in arresting Jesus.
They came ready for resistance (18:3):
Blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons.
A Roman Cohort as backup
b. Why they have come (18:4–7)
They came to arrest Jesus and return Him to the Temple grounds for “trial”
John (A. Malchus: Impressions in a Garden (18:1–11))
“The fact that Roman troops were there as well as temple police implies that the Jewish authorities had already approached the military command, probably indicating that they expected armed resistance to the officers. That it was the Jewish authorities and not the Romans who took the initiative is shown by the fact that, after the arrest, the Jewish authorities were allowed to take Jesus into their custody. When Judas is described as ‘taking’ the cohort and the police to the place, all that is meant is that he acted as their guide” (Bruce, p. 340).
(1) The Savior (18:4): “Whom are you looking for?”
Jesus, as God, is omniscient, He knows all things.
He didn’t need to ask, but He did anyway
(2) The soldiers (18:5–7): “Jesus of Nazareth!”
He forced them to acknowledge they were here for Him and not His disciples.
Their “warrant” was only for Jesus
Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Jesus replied: “I Am” Notice “He” is in italics, it is added to make the English sound better. This is written in Greek, but essentially, Jesus said I Am just as God the Father said it to Moses!
They recoiled back and fell to the ground
Picture that!
This group of several hundred come out to take Him
He states “I AM: and they are staggered!
The cohort of armed soldiers was afraid of Him! Not Jesus when facing overwhelming numbers.
This demonstrates:
He is divine!
Staggers them with just a word
He is allowing Himself to be taken
He is and was always in control, not the mob!
Jesus’ concern for his friends (18:8–11)
Jesus’ concern for his friends (18:8–11)
Jesus continues to display that He is in charge
He made them identify Jesus as their intended target
Now He seeks the wellbeing of His disciples
1. The request (18:8–9):
1. The request (18:8–9):
Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,”
that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”
He agrees to go with the soldiers and asks that they let the disciples leave.
He did this to fulfill the Scripture:
Most recently John 17:12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Earlier John 6:39
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX.
For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.
He protected them from arrest, He didn’t lose any
They, before the resurrection and without the Spirit, weren’t ready for arrest
It would probably have been too much for their faith
Jesus will never let us be tempted beyond what we can bear
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
We are eternally secure because of God’s gracious protection!
If you could lose your salvation, YOU WOULD!
2. The rebuke (18:10–11):
2. The rebuke (18:10–11):
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.
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
Peter reacts by swinging his sword with great courage and poor aim. Malchus’ ear is cut off
He was always the bold one and the one to act before thinking
Jesus hadn’t commanded resistance!
He got ahead of Him and anticipated it and was wrong
It was done out of love and courage, but was still wrong
He probably aimed to kill, just wasn’t good with the sword.
Jesus chastens Peter for cutting off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant.
Jesus’ reaction?
First of all, Jesus covered Peter’s sin.
In the gospel of Luke 22:50-51
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
The servant is healed
Again, they have been knocked the ground at His word
Now, they see His divinity in healing!
They also see His loving nature because the Malchus was an enemy
Jesus confronted his sin.
Jesus said Peter put up the sword. Peter, you are wrong.
Jesus had taught them of the betrayal, arrest, death, and resurrection
Now was not the time for a fight
V. 11: he had to drink the cup
In OT, cup was often associated with suffering and judgment
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.
This was the cup He had prayed about we find in other gospels
And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Jesus cleansed Peter’s sin.
Jesus did not mistake the moment for the man. Jesus saw Peter not for what he was at the moment but for what he would be in the future.
Jesus does the same for eacha of us
His atoning sacrifice on the cross makes redemption possible for all of us
APPLICATION
1) Jesus shielded his disciples
He stepped to the front and put Himself in harms way
He protects us!
Jesus cares for His own
He watches over us and sets limits on what can come against us
temptation is limited by what he knows we can endure WITH HIS HELP.
He stretches and grows our faith, not allowing us to be overwhelmed.
IT MAY BE BETTER NOT TO GET OUR WAY
Trying to protect Jesus, Peter pulled a sword and wounded the high priest’s servant. But Jesus told Peter to put away his sword and allow God’s plan to unfold.
At times it is tempting to take matters into our own hands, to force the issue, or at least try to dictate the direction. Most often such moves lead to sin. Instead we must trust God to work out his plan.
Think of it—if Peter had had his way, Jesus would not have gone to the cross, and we still would be dead in our sins.
Trust God to have the best plan.
Concl:
Concl:
https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/your-reaction-is-showing-part-one-melvin-shelton-sermon-on-apologetics-the-bible-60115
Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 355.