June 7, 2020 - God's Work; God's Way

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 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. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom 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, “Whom 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.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 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?”

So here we have the SCENE - where Jesus is about to be arrested...

The BAND of Soldiers comes to arrest Jesus…and some interesting things take place...

As I said - TODAY we’ll see Jesus live out ALL we talked about LAST WEEK...

BUT - all of IT - under the banner of...

SLIDE: Bold Humility: How We Impact the World for Christ

Bold Humility

We’re going to see Bold Humility on the part of Jesus today...

Let’s get back to our text...

John 18:1–3 ESV

The stage is set...

Judas had - INSIDER INFORMATION...

So he knew where Jesus would be...

And so he goes there - to this garden where Jesus and his disciples were...

The band of soldiers come…and they’re PRIMED to arrest Jesus...

So what happens??

John 18:4 ESV

4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

WOW

Read it again - and let it sink in!

What do we see here?

Jesus HERE - LIVES OUT - what it means to be - ONE with the body of Christ!

SLIDE: How to Be One with the Body of Christ: Bold Humility

How to Be One with the Body of Christ

What we see in v4 here - is ABSOLUTE - Bold Humility

John 18:4 ESV

4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

NOW - typically what we LOVE to see - is BOLDNESS!

We love MOVIES where people BOLDLY stand up against OPPRESSION - and WIN..

BRAVEHEART

Erin Brockovich

A Few Good Men

We love UNDERDOGS don’t we?

Rudy

Rocky IV

Miracle

Hoosiers

We LOVE - when Boldness is on display…and when that BOLDNESS - WINS!

But what does THIS say?

“Jesus, KNOWING ALL that would happen to Him, came FORWARD and said to them, “Whom do you seek?””

KNOWING all that would happen to Him...

What would happen to Jesus? What did He know?

He knew what was coming:

flogging: The whip, made of leather throngs of various lengths, was interwoven with sharp, jagged pieces of bone and lead. With every lash, these bits of bone and lead ripped Jesus’ back to shreds. As a 1986 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association records, “As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh.”

Crown of Thorns: But it wasn’t just a crown of thorns… Dr. Mark Eastman says, “Jesus had not drunk since the night before, so the combination of the beatings, the crown of thorns, and the scourging would have set into motion an irreversible process of severe dehydration and cardiorespiratory failure. All of this was done so that the prophecy of Isaiah would be fulfilled:

Isaiah 50:6 ESV

6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

In his article, Crucifixion — The Physical Suffering of Jesus, Jeremy Myers says, “Most artists do not even come close in depicting what Jesus looked like after all of this torture. He was probably the most inhuman looking thing you’ve ever seen. The prophet Isaiah wrote of the Messiah:

Isaiah 52:14 ESV

14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

But that’s not it:

Jesus had to endure even more agonizing pain as long metal nails were driven into His wrists (considered part of the hand in the language of Jesus’ day) in order to hold Him to the cross. The nails, most assuredly, came into contact with the median nerve. For His feet to be pierced with nails, the guards twisted Jesus’ legs into an unnatural and painful position.

As He fought off suffocation, He was forced to take the next breath by laboriously pulling himself up by His wounded hands and feet. “The pain was absolutely unbearable,” observes Dr. Alexander Metherell, PhD. “In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally, excruciating means out of the cross.”

NOW - back to our verse...

John 18:4 ESV

4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

How BOLD is this?

KNOWING all THIS pain that was coming....

He COMES FORWARD....

He doesn’t SIT BACK and wait…hoping they go away…!

He STEPS OUT - and says…I’M right here.

This was AS BOLD - as it was - HUMBLE!!

WHY is this CONSIDERED humble?

next couple verses...

John 18:5–6 ESV

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.

Think of the power DISPLAYED here...

Jesus says - I AM HE!

And the soldiers - FALL down!

A typical BAND of soldiers (cohort) would have been about 600 soldiers....BUT in this case...

it was probably more like 200 or so...

And so THINK of the power that Jesus displays...

He SAYS - I AM HE...

and they all FALL DOWN!

THIS is where the HUMILITY comes into play...

Jesus WILLINGLY turns Himself over to the soldiers...

WITH ALL THAT POWER....He lays it down.

In Humility...

Philippians 2:8 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

God IN THE FLESH - laying down His life...

We can’t EVEN COMPREHEND this level of humility...

But He wasn’t JUST being - humble...

HE was also EXTREMELY BOLD!!

No - not BOLD in that He was going to DESTROY ALL OF THEM with some DIVINE THROAT punch!!

NO - He BOLDLY stepped forward - to DIE!

to LAY down His comforts! - FOR HIS SHEEP!

And it’s HERE where we begin to SEE Jesus LIVE out what we walked through last week...

He we SEE what it looks like to - BE ONE in the body of Christ...

And JESUS - provides us an EXAMPLE

It’s ONE thing to BOLDLY stand up and protect someone else by FORCE...

Right?

We love it when those who are STRONG step up and protect those who are WEAK!

But what do we see HERE with Jesus?

We see - BOLD HUMILITY!

Jesus - ABLE to destroy whomever He wishes...

STEPS UP… NOT to destroy the soldiers...

BUT - to take their OPPRESSION upon HIMSELF

WHILE protecting the body of Christ…His followers FROM that wrath...

Jesus BOLDLY - Humbles Himself -

And THIS IS an EXAMPLE for us...

Philippians 2:3 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Now - as you can see - this command is in Philippians chapter 2...

What we need to know is - Chapter 2 begins with the word - THEREFORE...

Which MEANS - this command should play itself out in our lives BECAUSE of what we find in CHAPTER 1 of Philippians...

What are the main points in Philippians chapter 1?

He who began a good work in you will complete it at the the day of Jesus Christ.

In regards to my imprisonment, i will rejoice, for i know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that i will not be at all ashamed, but with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...striving together...standing firm in one spirit.

For it has been granted to you for Christ's sake, to not only believe in Him, but also to suffer for his sake...

THEREFORE - - Boldly Humble yourself

For JESUS - He was BOLD in knowing that ONLY HE could ACCOMPLISH what needed to be accomplished on the cross...

And so - he said...

John 18:7–8 ESV

7 So he asked them again, “Whom 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.”

Jesus KNEW that the disciples could OFFER NOTHING in regards to SAVING themselves…let alone the WORLD...

And so He LAYS down His OPPORTUNITY to either ANNIHILATE everyone OR GET AWAY...

And instead - STAYS ON MISSION...

WHICH LEADS to our NEXT point...

SLIDE: The Posture of Those Set Apart for God: Bold Humility

The Posture of Those Set Apart for God

Remember last week we talked about how Jesus PRAYED for US in that we would be SANCTIFIED (set apart) in TRUTH…(Word)

And THEN we heard Jesus say that HE WOULD SANCTIFY Himself in order that others would be sanctified..?

Well now we know WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE to Sanctify yourself - - BOLD HUMILITY...

AND - How does Paul describe this - BOLD Humility - this STAYING ON MISSION of Jesus

Philippians 2:8 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus knew His mission - and that MISSION was not to ESCAPE persecution...

His SUFFERING was - - An Opportunity to display His worth...

And so PAUL speaks of Christ here in THIS verse, but we know he HIMSELF BELIEVED this because he lived it out himself...

Acts 16:25–31 ESV

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Paul was JAILED - for OBEYING God.

He was jailed - WRONGLY so...

He was OPPRESSED...

And THEN - the perfect opportunity AROSE for him to - ESCAPE...

TO FLEE from this EVIL that had been done to him...

But what does he do?

He STAYS...

He BOLDLY - HUMBLES himself - and considers the jailer MORE IMPORTANT than himself…**(jailer charged with watching…)

The jailer assumed Paul would view this as an OPPORTUNITY to leave...

INSTEAD...

Paul viewed it as an OPPORTUNITY to display Jesus to the world…to the jailer...

Paul - in BOLD Humility - laid down his comforts…and STAYED...

He stayed on MISSION..!

- - Do we view LIFE this way?

Did we view Corona as an OPPORTUNITY to display Jesus…?

To talk about Jesus?

To talk about hard things?

- - Do we look at trials this way? As OPPORTUNITIES?

This is how Jesus handled His execution…!

John 18:8–11 ESV

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. 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.” 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?”

All the suffering that was to come...

ALL the pain… (that we read about earlier)...

ALL of it..

The plan of God - to redeem mankind to Himself!

BOLD Humility was needed!

And it’s NO DIFFERENT with us!

What’s holding you back?

What’s keeping you from STANDING UP - and BOLDLY laying down your life...

This is what it will take - if you will ever make an impact in...

your family

this church

this community

this world

SUMMARY:

BOLD HUMILITY

To Be One With the Body of Christ

To Be Used By God

Let’s pray...

Related Media

Related Sermons