April 13, 2025 • 29 mins
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus demonstrates his divine authority by identifying himself as "I AM" to the soldiers who came to arrest him, causing them to fall to the ground with just his words. Though possessing all power, Jesus chooses to surrender himself willingly, requesting his disciples be allowed to go free and fulfilling his mission to bear our sins.
• Contrast between Adam hiding in Eden versus Jesus stepping forward in Gethsemane
• The arrival of Judas with 200-600 soldiers demonstrates the perceived threat Jesus posed
• Jesus' declaration "I am" (ego eimi) reveals his divine identity and power
• Peter's misguided sword-drawing compared to Jesus' willing surrender
• Jesus exercises his supreme authority paradoxically through submission
• The "cup" Jesus drinks represents God's judgment for our sins
• Like CS Lewis observed in "A Grief Observed," Jesus could and dared take our suffering upon himself
Join us this Good Friday and Easter Sunday as we celebrate the One who laid down his life to take our sins to the grave but rose without them, offering redemption to all who come to him.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:23):
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now
in listening to our sermon fromthis week?
Let me pray for us as we beginthis morning.
Lord Jesus, we do thank you fora morning like this, to start a
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morning with baptism.
Lord, it's already been enoughfor us, it's already been a good
morning.
And so, lord, would you just,through the worship that we've
offered, through the word thatis preached, god, would you just
show yourself more and more, asyou already have, more and more
.
Transform us now through yourword.
Lord, please speak through me,please use us during this time
(01:06):
as we look at your son, jesusChrist, and we look towards
Easter.
In Christ's name, amen.
This may not be a big surpriseto you.
May not be.
If Grace Pallis is here, ourdirector of communications, I
know it's not a surprise for herbecause she knows my keen eye
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for graphic design.
If you knew what I meant, you'dbe laughing more than that,
because I do not have it.
But I was on the yearbook staffin high school and so they put
me on their biggest tasks thesports department.
I would, and you can leave thatthere for a second.
That was my child there in 11thgrade.
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The baseball spread Everypicture you see perfectly in
place.
Those action shots I did nottake, but I did place them.
That is all my doing.
On the next slide you'll seenot only was I in charge of the
spread itself, but I was also incharge of the article there.
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How do you tell the story of the2007 Little Rock Central
baseball team?
Well, I had to figure that out,I had to put that story
together, and so not only agraphic designer, I really had
to be an investigative reporter.
I had to get down to thenitty-gritty details that people
want to know when they opentheir 2007 yearbook about the
baseball team.
And how did I do that?
(02:30):
I'll tell you before I show youthat picture in the middle of
two guys the guy on the left,his name is Drew Smiley.
He pitched at Laroque Central.
He went on to pitch for threeyears at the University of
Arkansas, then went on with theRays, the Tigers, the Braves,
the Cubs, to have an 11-year MLBcareer.
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And so this is the guy I wasdealing with.
And, as a reporter, what do Ihave to get to the bottom of?
What do I figure out to letpeople know?
The next slide will show youthat his favorite sport is
baseball.
No stone left unturned.
I got to the bottom of it, wegot it figured out.
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His favorite sport again isbaseball.
I've laughed about that overthe years because I sat in a
room with Drew Smiley and askedwhat his favorite sport was.
I laughed because of thesilliness of it.
But really, over the last coupleweeks I've been greatly
encouraged.
Greatly encouraged because Ifound out in walking through
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Genesis that I'm not the onlyone, and certainly not the first
one, to ask questions.
I already know the answer to.
In fact, I'm in fantasticcompany God himself in the
garden.
He's walking towards Adam andsays where are you?
He knows right where he's at.
A few verses later, he knowsalready that Adam is in sin.
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He said who told you that youwere naked?
Have you eaten of the tree?
I commanded you not to.
God already knows the answer tothat.
That was way back in Genesis.
Even today, in John chapter 18,god is still asking questions.
He already knows the answer towhy?
Because he wants humanity toparticipate in the answering of
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that question.
And today the savior of theworld, standing in the garden of
Gethsemane, is going to look ata crowd and say whom do you
seek and the answer we alreadyknow and we will see again today
.
Who are they seeking?
They are seeking Jesus Christ.
Why?
To put him on a cross.
We turn to John, chapter 18,beginning in verse 1.
(04:37):
It says this when Jesus hadspoken these words let's stop
right there.
When Jesus had spoken thesewords, what words had he spoken?
Well, john 13 through 17 givesthe account of the upper room,
the upper room discourse.
So Jesus and his at the time 12, soon to be 11 disciples are
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sitting in the upper room havingdinner what would be the last
supper before his arrest andcrucifixion and Jesus begins to
speak.
He begins to talk about so manythings that are to come.
He talks about the Holy Spiritthat is going to come.
He talks about the reality thathe will suffer, but he also
prays for his disciples.
(05:18):
So these are the words thathe's spoken.
And when Jesus had spoken thesewords, he went out with his
disciples across the brookKidron, where there was a garden
which he and his disciplesentered.
I've got a few pictures of usfor us.
The first is just that'sJerusalem as it sits today.
That dome in the middle, thegold dome, is where the temple
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mount stood, and so you haveJerusalem, but then in that next
picture you see the BrookKidron or the Kidron Valley.
Elevation drops about 700 feetand so you're up in Jerusalem
and then you come down reallyinto this beautiful valley, but
then you start to go back upagain to the Mount of Olives and
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this last picture shows theGarden of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane literally meansolive press, so it's this garden
of olive trees.
When Katie and I were in Israelin 2016, we had an excellent
tour guide.
However, he was not a Christian.
Now, he knew his facts, he knewhis information, but you could
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just tell at times that he knewthe facts but didn't believe the
facts it showed at a fewoccasions.
One time we entered into theGarden of Gethsemane and he gave
us a few pieces of informationabout it, some facts about the
garden, and then he looked atour group and he said if you
want to take about five minutesto look around, then we'll get
rolling.
The group looked at each otherand said we're going to need
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more than five minutes in thegarden of Gethsemane.
We may need more than fivehours, but we were there and it
looks just like this thesebeautiful olive trees that you
walk around, and it seems likesuch a peaceful place.
And today it is a peacefulplace, but there was one night
it wasn't so peaceful.
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We see that the disciples andJesus entered this garden Verse
2,.
Now Judas, who betrayed him,also knew the place, for Jesus
often met there with hisdisciples.
Judas had recently left outfrom the dinner.
He left to go to the templeauthorities, the chief priests,
to hand Jesus over.
He knew exactly where they'd begoing because he knew where
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their getaway retreat was, andit was in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
And then we see verse 3.
So Judas, having procured aband of soldiers and some
officers from the chief priestsand the Pharisees, went there
with lanterns and torches andweapons.
And so now we arrive at thisscene in the garden.
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Who are the characters here?
You have Judas.
I fast forward and you see theofficers, the temple guards, you
see the chief priests andPharisees, the religious leaders
.
But then it says this this bandof soldiers, that band of
soldiers, that word in theoriginal language can really
talk about a battalion that wasreally used for groups of
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anywhere from 200 to 600soldiers.
Now I don't know how you'vethought about this evening in
the past in your mind, but I'veusually thought it was Jesus and
11 men on one side and maybe agroup of 25 or 30 on the other.
No, it could be as many, from200 to 600 men with torches and
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weapons, and they are ready totake Jesus and take Jesus by
force if they have to.
And it's interesting, they havethese lanterns and torches why?
Because they're coming at night.
That's interesting because thisis towards the end of Holy Week
.
Jesus has been around all week.
In fact he's been around forthree years now, but he's been
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around in the temple teaching.
He's been around this wholetime.
They could have had him anytime they wanted, and yet they
knew Jesus to many was a popularfigure.
So they come out at night toavoid detection.
Then we read verse 4.
Then Jesus, knowing all thatwould happen to him, came
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forward and said to them whom doyou seek?
I want to start at thebeginning there Jesus knowing
all that would happen to him.
It reminds me so much of whatJesus said at the very beginning
of his upper room discourse inJohn 13.
It says this now, before thefeast of the Passover, when
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Jesus knew that his hour hadcome to depart out of this world
to the Father.
So Jesus knows his hour hasarrived, having loved his own
who were in the world I lovethis he loved them to the end.
Fast forward to verse three.
Jesus, knowing that the Fatherhad given all things into his
hands and that he had come fromGod, was going back to God.
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He rose from supper and whatdid he do?
He got down with a bucket ofwater and towels and he washed
the feet of his disciples.
And this blows me away, thatJesus, again, knowing all things
, knowing that he has allauthority, knowing that the
Father has sent him all thesethings.
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He knows, and what does he do?
He goes to the humble place ofservice.
And now, once again, in verse 4of John 18, then Jesus, knowing
all that would happen to himAgain, nothing that's coming up
is a surprise to him that allthat has happened to him.
It includes the arrest, itincludes the trial, it includes
the cross, all the sufferingthat would take place.
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Jesus knows all of this andwhat does he do?
Well, what would I do, knowingall of this?
I might ask if the garden has aback door, if we can get out of
here, if there's some way toescape this.
But what does Jesus do, knowingall that would happen to him?
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Look, he came forward.
It's fascinating the last twoweeks reading the account in
another garden, the Garden ofEden, when Adam knew very well
that he was in sin, that he haddisobeyed his creator.
What's his role?
What does he want to do?
He goes to hide the Saviorhimself.
What does he do for the sake ofhumanity?
He comes forward.
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He comes out.
The obedient son comes forwardand asks this question whom do
you seek?
Again, it's not like Jesus iswondering who this is.
Are they looking forBartholomew?
I don't know.
No, no, whom do you seek?
He knows they're looking forhim and they answered him.
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Verse 5, jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus said to them I am he.
Jesus said to them I am he?
Judas, who betrayed him, wasstanding with them.
Jesus says I am he?
Really?
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He just says two words ego eimi, I am.
Throughout the book of Johnthere's been these seven.
I am statements, I am the way,the truth, the life.
I am the resurrection and thelife.
Last fall, we walked throughthese seven statements and now
we see, in this moment fall.
We walk through these sevenstatements and now we see, in
this moment, who are you seekingJesus of Nazareth.
And he just says this I am.
But really the idea of that Iam statement didn't start in the
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book of John.
You could go back to Exodus,chapter 3, when Moses is before
a burning bush and says who inthe world do I say sent me?
When I go into Egypt and saylet my people go, they sent me.
When I go into Egypt and saylet my people go, whose
authority am I going with?
And God says this I am you.
Tell them that I am, has sentyou.
And so in this moment, jesus isbringing back that I am
statement.
I am the one you're looking for.
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But I am more than just someguy in the garden.
I am God himself standingbefore you.
And if you want proof that thatis the case, am God himself
standing before you.
And if you want proof that thatis the case, look at verse 6.
When Jesus said to them I am he, they drew back and fell to the
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ground.
Let me read that again.
When Jesus said to them I am he, they drew back.
Remember 200, 600, maybesoldiers drew back and fell to
the ground.
Let me ask a question who's incharge here?
Jesus and 11 men on one side,600 troops on the other.
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Who's in charge?
Because on one side I see a manthat all he has to say is I am.
And just by his words, 600troops can't help but fall to
the ground.
I see, in a moment, jesus and11 disciples and 600 troops, and
yet the 600 troops areoutnumbered.
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And it's not because of the 11disciples numbered and it's not
because of the 11 disciples.
You've heard the phrase God plusone is a majority.
Well, yes, that's true, butit's true because God plus zero
is a majority, because God's amajority all by himself.
He doesn't need help, and inthe garden he just says the
words and the troops fall to theground.
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Who's really in authority?
There's only one person in thegarden that's in control.
There's only one person in thegarden who's in authority, who
has the power, and it's nobodywith a torch and with armor,
it's Jesus himself.
And in this moment, where hehas all power and authorities,
to where he can just speak theword, and 600 men fall to the
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ground, how does he utilize thatpower and authority?
We're about to see by handinghimself over, by allowing
himself to be arrested.
So we move to verse 7, which I'mconvinced is the funniest verse
in all of Scripture.
So he asked them again whom doyou seek?
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Think about this 600 men are onthe ground, they're trying to
get back up and Jesus just looksand says fellas, who are you
looking for?
Who was it you were after?
Who was that name?
You said Jesus of Nazareth.
Probably a little bit morenervousness in their voice, they
suddenly realize I'm not surethis is where I want to be.
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But they say we're looking forJesus of Nazareth.
And Jesus says this, verse 8, Itold you that I am he.
So if you seek me, let thesemen go.
Think about this moment, thecare of Jesus.
Think about this moment, thecare of Jesus.
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I've told you that I'm the oneyou're looking for and so if
that's true, then take me.
Let the others go, the 11beside me.
You let them go free and youjust take me.
I think about the care.
I think back to again John 13,having loved them to the end.
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This is the end.
He's soon to be arrested, puton trial, put on a cross, and
he's still thinking about hislove for those around him.
Hey, let them go, you can haveme.
And I think again back to thegarden for the last two weeks.
The Garden of Eden.
We remember the moment lastweek when Adam stands before God
and he wants the finger pointedat everyone else.
(16:28):
Remember he says these wordsexactly God, the woman whom you
gave to me.
She gave me the fruit and I ate.
Basically, it's everyone else'sfault but me.
And then we come to the gardenin this moment, and Jesus, the
true, innocent one, lets everyfinger be pointed at him alone
and says I don't deserve thecondemnation, but you can have
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me, let the others go, you canhave.
This is the care of Jesus untilthe very end.
In verse 9, this was to fulfillthe word that he had spoken.
Of those whom you gave me, Ihave not lost one.
This goes right back to John 17in Jesus's prayer.
(17:12):
God, of those you gave me, I'venot lost one, except of course
the son of destruction, judas.
I've not lost one, and we seehere he loved him to the end.
And then verse 10, peter justtries so hard All throughout the
Gospels he wants to do theright thing and I'm proud of him
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, but he just gets ahead ofhimself.
Then Simon Peter, having asword, drew it and struck the
high priest servant and cut offhis right ear.
The servant's name was Malchus.
You have this moment Jesus and11 disciples on one side, 600
troops over here, and Peter saysthis is my moment, this is my
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time.
I love J Ramsey Michaels,talking about this verse, says
this in all this there is acosmic touch.
Jesus has floored the wholecompany with a word and poor
Peter thinks his sword isnecessary to save the day that
Jesus can just speak words and600 men fall to the ground.
And in that moment Peter saysif I can just get to the pocket
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knife, I might can get us out ofthis.
I might can get us out of thismess.
You see, so often we're temptedto want the glory without the
suffering.
We want the crown without thecross.
If Peter says we can just skipthe arrest, we can get out of
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this, jesus, you don't need togo to the cross.
Surely these men aren't goingto arrest you.
Is this not exactly what Satanpromised in Matthew 4?
And looking at Jesus, and hetempts, jesus says hey, if
you'll just bow down to me, allthe kingdoms of the earth can be
yours.
Why mess around with thesefolks?
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Why go to the cross for them?
You can have all the kingdomsof the earth, and you can have
them now.
Go to the cross for them.
You can have all the kingdomsof the earth, and you can have
them now.
Skip the cross, go straight tothe glory.
Jesus will have nothing to dowith it.
In the garden of Eden, satanlooks at man and says hey, skip
the obedience, go straight tothe good stuff.
Don't you want to be like God?
(19:20):
Don't you know Jesus?
I mean, god himself is justholding out on you.
Why waste your time beingobedient?
Skip all that.
You can be like him.
And yet, in this moment, jesusis unwilling to know anything of
a glory that does not firstcome through the cross.
And so what does he do?
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So Jesus said to Peter, verse11, put your sword into its
sheath.
Shall I not drink the cup thatthe father has given me?
In the other three gospelaccounts we see in the garden of
Gethsemane, before the arrest,jesus praying, praying to God,
(20:05):
the Father.
If you would will it, you couldtake this cup from me.
Truly, christ is fully divine,but also fully human.
Obviously, the suffering thatis before him is something that
causes him great anguish.
Of course it should, and yet helooks to the Father and says
(20:25):
this, not my will, but yours, bedone.
And here, just moments later,he looks to Peter and saying
we're not going to go to theglory without first going
through the cross.
Shall I not drink the cup thathas been given to me?
Shall I not drink the cup thathas been given to me?
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And what is the cup?
It's the cup of the judgment ofGod that, rightly, is poured
out against sin, but not Jesus'sin, but my sin and your sin.
Verse 12,.
So the band of officers andtheir captain and the officers
of the Jews arrested Jesus.
What did they do?
(21:08):
They bound him, they led him toa trial and early the next day,
they led him to a cross.
I think about this moment.
John 18,.
There's one person in thisstory that has all the power.
There's one person in thisstory that has every ounce of
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authority.
There's one person in thisstory who can speak a word and
600 men fall to the floor.
There's only one person in thisstory that can do this.
And yet how does this person,jesus Christ the righteous,
choose to exercise this powerthat he has?
By handing himself over, bybeing obedient to these temple
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cops and these priests and thesearmed men by being obedient to
this trial, obedient to death,even death on a cross, and he's
taken to the cross and put intothe grave.
This is how Jesus Christexercises all of his power and
authority.
And why does he do it?
To redeem you and I.
(22:17):
The very one who had no sinbecame sin for us so that in him
we might become therighteousness of God.
The very one who had all powerand authority laid himself down
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for the sake of us so we couldcome unto him.
I think about a book CS Lewiswrote.
Cs Lewis wrote very late in hislife this little book, a Grief
Observed.
I remember telling ourWednesday night group about this
book a little bit Just abeautiful, powerful book, and
really what it is.
(22:59):
It never was meant to bepublished.
At first it was really just hisjournal after the death of his
wife, helen Joy Davidman, tocancer.
And his wife had been sick forsome time and finally she passed
.
And so CS Lewis, after the fact, after she passed away, wrote a
journal, very real, very raw,just beautiful words here.
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Never meant to be published,though in talking with him some
individuals said no, no, this isgold, you've got to get it out
there, and so he allowed it tobe published.
But he allowed it to bepublished under a different name
, not his own, nw Clerk.
Let it be published under thatname.
One of my favorite stories is afew months after the fact, a
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friend of CS Lewis's came to hishouse, knew he had struggled
with the loss of his life andtold CS Lewis I bought you a
book I saw at the bookstore.
I read the words by NW Clerkand I thought it was exactly
what you needed, and he wasgifted his own book.
But as I read the GriefObserved and I hear about just
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really his diary after the lossof his life, I'm struck by
something he says.
He says that when you walkthrough suffering like this,
there's a prayer that you pray.
And he says I'm not really surewe know what we're getting
ourselves into when we pray it,but as a spouse walks through
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cancer or any illness or a childor anyone, there's a prayer
that you'll pray and you'll prayGod.
Would you just give it to me,god?
Would you just take it fromthem and just give it to me.
Would you just let me take thispain from them.
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I'll take it all.
Just give me the pain, so theydon't have to bear it.
I will bear the weight of it.
God, can you please give it tome?
He said that's the prayer manypray in these moments and he
says this.
And God returns to us and hesays this you cannot and you
dare not.
But he says then God says thisI could and I dared that the
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very righteous one, who had nosin in himself, took on the very
sin sickness that you and Ipossessed, took on our
brokenness and guilt and shame,everything that we had, the
death that we deserved to die,the sin that we bore in and of
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ourselves.
He was willing to take uponhimself.
The very one who, in the gardenin John 18, has all power and
authority.
What's he willing to do on ourbehalf?
Lay down his life, take our sinsickness upon himself, our
death upon himself, and he'swilling to take it to the cross
so he can pay for sin completelyand totally.
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Here's why we come togetherthis coming Friday night for
Good Friday and Sunday morningfor Easter is because we have a
God who has done this on ourbehalf.
When you and I could not do itfor ourselves, could not do it
in our own effort, christ Jesushas done it for us.
And Christ Jesus has taken oursin upon himself.
He's gone to the cross.
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He's died for sin.
He went to the grave and I'mgoing to tell you something.
But you've got to promise meyou're going to come back next
week, because I'm going to spoilit.
But please come back EarlySunday morning.
Christ Jesus got up from thegrave, and that's the good news
of the gospel.
Please come back Early Sundaymorning.
Christ Jesus got up from thegrave and that's the good news
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of the gospel that he took oursin upon himself, took our sins
down to the grave.
He got up, but our sin did notget up with him.
Christ Jesus has laid death todeath.
Sin has been forgiven, and theone of all power and authority
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has exercised that power andauthority for the redemption of
you and the redemption of me,the redemption of us, for the
redemption of all who would comeunto him, of us for the
redemption of all who would comeunto him.
I wonder this morning if you'llcome unto him.
I wonder if you want to knowJesus personally.
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I'd love to introduce you tohim.
It'd be a good day for it.
I wonder if there's any way youwant to respond.
Maybe you want to join ourchurch family.
Maybe you want to pray whereyou're at.
Maybe you want to have a pastorpray over you.
However you'd like to respond,I invite you to do it For all of
us.
I invite you, today and thisholy week we have ahead, to
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think upon Jesus this week.
I know that's an obviousstatement.
The pastor told me to thinkabout Jesus this week, but I
mean it.
Think about what he's anobvious statement.
The pastor told me to thinkabout Jesus this week, but I
mean it.
Think about what he's done foryou.
Think about him laying downthat power for you, humbly going
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to the cross for you and boldlystepping out of the grave for
you as we worship.
In a moment I'll be down front.
Let me pray over us.
Lord Jesus, thank you for thegospel, thank you for the cross,
thank you for the hope that youprovide.
Lord.
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I pray that there are any thatdo not know you that today would
be the day that they come toknow you.
I pray that we would all taketime to thank you for the gospel
, to worship you as you deserve,because you deserve all praise,
because you have done what wecould not do.
I thank you for the cross and Ithank you for the resurrection.
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Lord, as we respond now, let usdo so with all of our heart,
with authenticity.
I pray this Lord in Christ'sname.
Amen.
Would you stand?
I'll be down front.
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now
in listening to our sermon fromthis week?
Let me pray for us as we beginthis morning.
Lord Jesus, we do thank you fora morning like this, to start a
(00:43):
morning with baptism.
Lord, it's already been enoughfor us, it's already been a good
morning.
And so, lord, would you just,through the worship that we've
offered, through the word thatis preached, god, would you just
show yourself more and more, asyou already have, more and more
.
Transform us now through yourword.
Lord, please speak through me,please use us during this time
(01:06):
as we look at your son, jesusChrist, and we look towards
Easter.
In Christ's name, amen.
This may not be a big surpriseto you.
May not be.
If Grace Pallis is here, ourdirector of communications, I
know it's not a surprise for herbecause she knows my keen eye
(01:27):
for graphic design.
If you knew what I meant, you'dbe laughing more than that,
because I do not have it.
But I was on the yearbook staffin high school and so they put
me on their biggest tasks thesports department.
I would, and you can leave thatthere for a second.
That was my child there in 11thgrade.
(01:48):
The baseball spread Everypicture you see perfectly in
place.
Those action shots I did nottake, but I did place them.
That is all my doing.
On the next slide you'll seenot only was I in charge of the
spread itself, but I was also incharge of the article there.
(02:08):
How do you tell the story of the2007 Little Rock Central
baseball team?
Well, I had to figure that out,I had to put that story
together, and so not only agraphic designer, I really had
to be an investigative reporter.
I had to get down to thenitty-gritty details that people
want to know when they opentheir 2007 yearbook about the
baseball team.
And how did I do that?
(02:30):
I'll tell you before I show youthat picture in the middle of
two guys the guy on the left,his name is Drew Smiley.
He pitched at Laroque Central.
He went on to pitch for threeyears at the University of
Arkansas, then went on with theRays, the Tigers, the Braves,
the Cubs, to have an 11-year MLBcareer.
(02:51):
And so this is the guy I wasdealing with.
And, as a reporter, what do Ihave to get to the bottom of?
What do I figure out to letpeople know?
The next slide will show youthat his favorite sport is
baseball.
No stone left unturned.
I got to the bottom of it, wegot it figured out.
(03:12):
His favorite sport again isbaseball.
I've laughed about that overthe years because I sat in a
room with Drew Smiley and askedwhat his favorite sport was.
I laughed because of thesilliness of it.
But really, over the last coupleweeks I've been greatly
encouraged.
Greatly encouraged because Ifound out in walking through
(03:32):
Genesis that I'm not the onlyone, and certainly not the first
one, to ask questions.
I already know the answer to.
In fact, I'm in fantasticcompany God himself in the
garden.
He's walking towards Adam andsays where are you?
He knows right where he's at.
A few verses later, he knowsalready that Adam is in sin.
(03:53):
He said who told you that youwere naked?
Have you eaten of the tree?
I commanded you not to.
God already knows the answer tothat.
That was way back in Genesis.
Even today, in John chapter 18,god is still asking questions.
He already knows the answer towhy?
Because he wants humanity toparticipate in the answering of
(04:14):
that question.
And today the savior of theworld, standing in the garden of
Gethsemane, is going to look ata crowd and say whom do you
seek and the answer we alreadyknow and we will see again today
.
Who are they seeking?
They are seeking Jesus Christ.
Why?
To put him on a cross.
We turn to John, chapter 18,beginning in verse 1.
(04:37):
It says this when Jesus hadspoken these words let's stop
right there.
When Jesus had spoken thesewords, what words had he spoken?
Well, john 13 through 17 givesthe account of the upper room,
the upper room discourse.
So Jesus and his at the time 12, soon to be 11 disciples are
(04:57):
sitting in the upper room havingdinner what would be the last
supper before his arrest andcrucifixion and Jesus begins to
speak.
He begins to talk about so manythings that are to come.
He talks about the Holy Spiritthat is going to come.
He talks about the reality thathe will suffer, but he also
prays for his disciples.
(05:18):
So these are the words thathe's spoken.
And when Jesus had spoken thesewords, he went out with his
disciples across the brookKidron, where there was a garden
which he and his disciplesentered.
I've got a few pictures of usfor us.
The first is just that'sJerusalem as it sits today.
That dome in the middle, thegold dome, is where the temple
(05:41):
mount stood, and so you haveJerusalem, but then in that next
picture you see the BrookKidron or the Kidron Valley.
Elevation drops about 700 feetand so you're up in Jerusalem
and then you come down reallyinto this beautiful valley, but
then you start to go back upagain to the Mount of Olives and
(06:03):
this last picture shows theGarden of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane literally meansolive press, so it's this garden
of olive trees.
When Katie and I were in Israelin 2016, we had an excellent
tour guide.
However, he was not a Christian.
Now, he knew his facts, he knewhis information, but you could
(06:27):
just tell at times that he knewthe facts but didn't believe the
facts it showed at a fewoccasions.
One time we entered into theGarden of Gethsemane and he gave
us a few pieces of informationabout it, some facts about the
garden, and then he looked atour group and he said if you
want to take about five minutesto look around, then we'll get
rolling.
The group looked at each otherand said we're going to need
(06:49):
more than five minutes in thegarden of Gethsemane.
We may need more than fivehours, but we were there and it
looks just like this thesebeautiful olive trees that you
walk around, and it seems likesuch a peaceful place.
And today it is a peacefulplace, but there was one night
it wasn't so peaceful.
(07:11):
We see that the disciples andJesus entered this garden Verse
2,.
Now Judas, who betrayed him,also knew the place, for Jesus
often met there with hisdisciples.
Judas had recently left outfrom the dinner.
He left to go to the templeauthorities, the chief priests,
to hand Jesus over.
He knew exactly where they'd begoing because he knew where
(07:34):
their getaway retreat was, andit was in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
And then we see verse 3.
So Judas, having procured aband of soldiers and some
officers from the chief priestsand the Pharisees, went there
with lanterns and torches andweapons.
And so now we arrive at thisscene in the garden.
(07:56):
Who are the characters here?
You have Judas.
I fast forward and you see theofficers, the temple guards, you
see the chief priests andPharisees, the religious leaders
.
But then it says this this bandof soldiers, that band of
soldiers, that word in theoriginal language can really
talk about a battalion that wasreally used for groups of
(08:20):
anywhere from 200 to 600soldiers.
Now I don't know how you'vethought about this evening in
the past in your mind, but I'veusually thought it was Jesus and
11 men on one side and maybe agroup of 25 or 30 on the other.
No, it could be as many, from200 to 600 men with torches and
(08:42):
weapons, and they are ready totake Jesus and take Jesus by
force if they have to.
And it's interesting, they havethese lanterns and torches why?
Because they're coming at night.
That's interesting because thisis towards the end of Holy Week
.
Jesus has been around all week.
In fact he's been around forthree years now, but he's been
(09:03):
around in the temple teaching.
He's been around this wholetime.
They could have had him anytime they wanted, and yet they
knew Jesus to many was a popularfigure.
So they come out at night toavoid detection.
Then we read verse 4.
Then Jesus, knowing all thatwould happen to him, came
(09:24):
forward and said to them whom doyou seek?
I want to start at thebeginning there Jesus knowing
all that would happen to him.
It reminds me so much of whatJesus said at the very beginning
of his upper room discourse inJohn 13.
It says this now, before thefeast of the Passover, when
(09:46):
Jesus knew that his hour hadcome to depart out of this world
to the Father.
So Jesus knows his hour hasarrived, having loved his own
who were in the world I lovethis he loved them to the end.
Fast forward to verse three.
Jesus, knowing that the Fatherhad given all things into his
hands and that he had come fromGod, was going back to God.
(10:07):
He rose from supper and whatdid he do?
He got down with a bucket ofwater and towels and he washed
the feet of his disciples.
And this blows me away, thatJesus, again, knowing all things
, knowing that he has allauthority, knowing that the
Father has sent him all thesethings.
(10:29):
He knows, and what does he do?
He goes to the humble place ofservice.
And now, once again, in verse 4of John 18, then Jesus, knowing
all that would happen to himAgain, nothing that's coming up
is a surprise to him that allthat has happened to him.
It includes the arrest, itincludes the trial, it includes
the cross, all the sufferingthat would take place.
(10:51):
Jesus knows all of this andwhat does he do?
Well, what would I do, knowingall of this?
I might ask if the garden has aback door, if we can get out of
here, if there's some way toescape this.
But what does Jesus do, knowingall that would happen to him?
(11:13):
Look, he came forward.
It's fascinating the last twoweeks reading the account in
another garden, the Garden ofEden, when Adam knew very well
that he was in sin, that he haddisobeyed his creator.
What's his role?
What does he want to do?
He goes to hide the Saviorhimself.
What does he do for the sake ofhumanity?
He comes forward.
(11:35):
He comes out.
The obedient son comes forwardand asks this question whom do
you seek?
Again, it's not like Jesus iswondering who this is.
Are they looking forBartholomew?
I don't know.
No, no, whom do you seek?
He knows they're looking forhim and they answered him.
(11:55):
Verse 5, jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus said to them I am he.
Jesus said to them I am he?
Judas, who betrayed him, wasstanding with them.
Jesus says I am he?
Really?
(12:15):
He just says two words ego eimi, I am.
Throughout the book of Johnthere's been these seven.
I am statements, I am the way,the truth, the life.
I am the resurrection and thelife.
Last fall, we walked throughthese seven statements and now
we see, in this moment fall.
We walk through these sevenstatements and now we see, in
this moment, who are you seekingJesus of Nazareth.
And he just says this I am.
But really the idea of that Iam statement didn't start in the
(12:36):
book of John.
You could go back to Exodus,chapter 3, when Moses is before
a burning bush and says who inthe world do I say sent me?
When I go into Egypt and saylet my people go, they sent me.
When I go into Egypt and saylet my people go, whose
authority am I going with?
And God says this I am you.
Tell them that I am, has sentyou.
And so in this moment, jesus isbringing back that I am
statement.
I am the one you're looking for.
(12:57):
But I am more than just someguy in the garden.
I am God himself standingbefore you.
And if you want proof that thatis the case, am God himself
standing before you.
And if you want proof that thatis the case, look at verse 6.
When Jesus said to them I am he, they drew back and fell to the
(13:18):
ground.
Let me read that again.
When Jesus said to them I am he, they drew back.
Remember 200, 600, maybesoldiers drew back and fell to
the ground.
Let me ask a question who's incharge here?
Jesus and 11 men on one side,600 troops on the other.
(13:39):
Who's in charge?
Because on one side I see a manthat all he has to say is I am.
And just by his words, 600troops can't help but fall to
the ground.
I see, in a moment, jesus and11 disciples and 600 troops, and
yet the 600 troops areoutnumbered.
(14:00):
And it's not because of the 11disciples numbered and it's not
because of the 11 disciples.
You've heard the phrase God plusone is a majority.
Well, yes, that's true, butit's true because God plus zero
is a majority, because God's amajority all by himself.
He doesn't need help, and inthe garden he just says the
words and the troops fall to theground.
(14:22):
Who's really in authority?
There's only one person in thegarden that's in control.
There's only one person in thegarden who's in authority, who
has the power, and it's nobodywith a torch and with armor,
it's Jesus himself.
And in this moment, where hehas all power and authorities,
to where he can just speak theword, and 600 men fall to the
(14:43):
ground, how does he utilize thatpower and authority?
We're about to see by handinghimself over, by allowing
himself to be arrested.
So we move to verse 7, which I'mconvinced is the funniest verse
in all of Scripture.
So he asked them again whom doyou seek?
(15:05):
Think about this 600 men are onthe ground, they're trying to
get back up and Jesus just looksand says fellas, who are you
looking for?
Who was it you were after?
Who was that name?
You said Jesus of Nazareth.
Probably a little bit morenervousness in their voice, they
suddenly realize I'm not surethis is where I want to be.
(15:27):
But they say we're looking forJesus of Nazareth.
And Jesus says this, verse 8, Itold you that I am he.
So if you seek me, let thesemen go.
Think about this moment, thecare of Jesus.
Think about this moment, thecare of Jesus.
(15:47):
I've told you that I'm the oneyou're looking for and so if
that's true, then take me.
Let the others go, the 11beside me.
You let them go free and youjust take me.
I think about the care.
I think back to again John 13,having loved them to the end.
(16:08):
This is the end.
He's soon to be arrested, puton trial, put on a cross, and
he's still thinking about hislove for those around him.
Hey, let them go, you can haveme.
And I think again back to thegarden for the last two weeks.
The Garden of Eden.
We remember the moment lastweek when Adam stands before God
and he wants the finger pointedat everyone else.
(16:28):
Remember he says these wordsexactly God, the woman whom you
gave to me.
She gave me the fruit and I ate.
Basically, it's everyone else'sfault but me.
And then we come to the gardenin this moment, and Jesus, the
true, innocent one, lets everyfinger be pointed at him alone
and says I don't deserve thecondemnation, but you can have
(16:52):
me, let the others go, you canhave.
This is the care of Jesus untilthe very end.
In verse 9, this was to fulfillthe word that he had spoken.
Of those whom you gave me, Ihave not lost one.
This goes right back to John 17in Jesus's prayer.
(17:12):
God, of those you gave me, I'venot lost one, except of course
the son of destruction, judas.
I've not lost one, and we seehere he loved him to the end.
And then verse 10, peter justtries so hard All throughout the
Gospels he wants to do theright thing and I'm proud of him
(17:32):
, but he just gets ahead ofhimself.
Then Simon Peter, having asword, drew it and struck the
high priest servant and cut offhis right ear.
The servant's name was Malchus.
You have this moment Jesus and11 disciples on one side, 600
troops over here, and Peter saysthis is my moment, this is my
(17:54):
time.
I love J Ramsey Michaels,talking about this verse, says
this in all this there is acosmic touch.
Jesus has floored the wholecompany with a word and poor
Peter thinks his sword isnecessary to save the day that
Jesus can just speak words and600 men fall to the ground.
And in that moment Peter saysif I can just get to the pocket
(18:18):
knife, I might can get us out ofthis.
I might can get us out of thismess.
You see, so often we're temptedto want the glory without the
suffering.
We want the crown without thecross.
If Peter says we can just skipthe arrest, we can get out of
(18:40):
this, jesus, you don't need togo to the cross.
Surely these men aren't goingto arrest you.
Is this not exactly what Satanpromised in Matthew 4?
And looking at Jesus, and hetempts, jesus says hey, if
you'll just bow down to me, allthe kingdoms of the earth can be
yours.
Why mess around with thesefolks?
(19:00):
Why go to the cross for them?
You can have all the kingdomsof the earth, and you can have
them now.
Go to the cross for them.
You can have all the kingdomsof the earth, and you can have
them now.
Skip the cross, go straight tothe glory.
Jesus will have nothing to dowith it.
In the garden of Eden, satanlooks at man and says hey, skip
the obedience, go straight tothe good stuff.
Don't you want to be like God?
(19:20):
Don't you know Jesus?
I mean, god himself is justholding out on you.
Why waste your time beingobedient?
Skip all that.
You can be like him.
And yet, in this moment, jesusis unwilling to know anything of
a glory that does not firstcome through the cross.
And so what does he do?
(19:40):
So Jesus said to Peter, verse11, put your sword into its
sheath.
Shall I not drink the cup thatthe father has given me?
In the other three gospelaccounts we see in the garden of
Gethsemane, before the arrest,jesus praying, praying to God,
(20:05):
the Father.
If you would will it, you couldtake this cup from me.
Truly, christ is fully divine,but also fully human.
Obviously, the suffering thatis before him is something that
causes him great anguish.
Of course it should, and yet helooks to the Father and says
(20:25):
this, not my will, but yours, bedone.
And here, just moments later,he looks to Peter and saying
we're not going to go to theglory without first going
through the cross.
Shall I not drink the cup thathas been given to me?
Shall I not drink the cup thathas been given to me?
(20:47):
And what is the cup?
It's the cup of the judgment ofGod that, rightly, is poured
out against sin, but not Jesus'sin, but my sin and your sin.
Verse 12,.
So the band of officers andtheir captain and the officers
of the Jews arrested Jesus.
What did they do?
(21:08):
They bound him, they led him toa trial and early the next day,
they led him to a cross.
I think about this moment.
John 18,.
There's one person in thisstory that has all the power.
There's one person in thisstory that has every ounce of
(21:31):
authority.
There's one person in thisstory who can speak a word and
600 men fall to the floor.
There's only one person in thisstory that can do this.
And yet how does this person,jesus Christ the righteous,
choose to exercise this powerthat he has?
By handing himself over, bybeing obedient to these temple
(21:56):
cops and these priests and thesearmed men by being obedient to
this trial, obedient to death,even death on a cross, and he's
taken to the cross and put intothe grave.
This is how Jesus Christexercises all of his power and
authority.
And why does he do it?
To redeem you and I.
(22:17):
The very one who had no sinbecame sin for us so that in him
we might become therighteousness of God.
The very one who had all powerand authority laid himself down
(22:38):
for the sake of us so we couldcome unto him.
I think about a book CS Lewiswrote.
Cs Lewis wrote very late in hislife this little book, a Grief
Observed.
I remember telling ourWednesday night group about this
book a little bit Just abeautiful, powerful book, and
really what it is.
(22:59):
It never was meant to bepublished.
At first it was really just hisjournal after the death of his
wife, helen Joy Davidman, tocancer.
And his wife had been sick forsome time and finally she passed
.
And so CS Lewis, after the fact, after she passed away, wrote a
journal, very real, very raw,just beautiful words here.
(23:20):
Never meant to be published,though in talking with him some
individuals said no, no, this isgold, you've got to get it out
there, and so he allowed it tobe published.
But he allowed it to bepublished under a different name
, not his own, nw Clerk.
Let it be published under thatname.
One of my favorite stories is afew months after the fact, a
(23:43):
friend of CS Lewis's came to hishouse, knew he had struggled
with the loss of his life andtold CS Lewis I bought you a
book I saw at the bookstore.
I read the words by NW Clerkand I thought it was exactly
what you needed, and he wasgifted his own book.
But as I read the GriefObserved and I hear about just
(24:05):
really his diary after the lossof his life, I'm struck by
something he says.
He says that when you walkthrough suffering like this,
there's a prayer that you pray.
And he says I'm not really surewe know what we're getting
ourselves into when we pray it,but as a spouse walks through
(24:28):
cancer or any illness or a childor anyone, there's a prayer
that you'll pray and you'll prayGod.
Would you just give it to me,god?
Would you just take it fromthem and just give it to me.
Would you just let me take thispain from them.
(24:49):
I'll take it all.
Just give me the pain, so theydon't have to bear it.
I will bear the weight of it.
God, can you please give it tome?
He said that's the prayer manypray in these moments and he
says this.
And God returns to us and hesays this you cannot and you
dare not.
But he says then God says thisI could and I dared that the
(25:22):
very righteous one, who had nosin in himself, took on the very
sin sickness that you and Ipossessed, took on our
brokenness and guilt and shame,everything that we had, the
death that we deserved to die,the sin that we bore in and of
(25:45):
ourselves.
He was willing to take uponhimself.
The very one who, in the gardenin John 18, has all power and
authority.
What's he willing to do on ourbehalf?
Lay down his life, take our sinsickness upon himself, our
death upon himself, and he'swilling to take it to the cross
so he can pay for sin completelyand totally.
(26:08):
Here's why we come togetherthis coming Friday night for
Good Friday and Sunday morningfor Easter is because we have a
God who has done this on ourbehalf.
When you and I could not do itfor ourselves, could not do it
in our own effort, christ Jesushas done it for us.
And Christ Jesus has taken oursin upon himself.
He's gone to the cross.
(26:28):
He's died for sin.
He went to the grave and I'mgoing to tell you something.
But you've got to promise meyou're going to come back next
week, because I'm going to spoilit.
But please come back EarlySunday morning.
Christ Jesus got up from thegrave, and that's the good news
of the gospel.
Please come back Early Sundaymorning.
Christ Jesus got up from thegrave and that's the good news
(26:52):
of the gospel that he took oursin upon himself, took our sins
down to the grave.
He got up, but our sin did notget up with him.
Christ Jesus has laid death todeath.
Sin has been forgiven, and theone of all power and authority
(27:12):
has exercised that power andauthority for the redemption of
you and the redemption of me,the redemption of us, for the
redemption of all who would comeunto him, of us for the
redemption of all who would comeunto him.
I wonder this morning if you'llcome unto him.
I wonder if you want to knowJesus personally.
(27:33):
I'd love to introduce you tohim.
It'd be a good day for it.
I wonder if there's any way youwant to respond.
Maybe you want to join ourchurch family.
Maybe you want to pray whereyou're at.
Maybe you want to have a pastorpray over you.
However you'd like to respond,I invite you to do it For all of
us.
I invite you, today and thisholy week we have ahead, to
(27:58):
think upon Jesus this week.
I know that's an obviousstatement.
The pastor told me to thinkabout Jesus this week, but I
mean it.
Think about what he's anobvious statement.
The pastor told me to thinkabout Jesus this week, but I
mean it.
Think about what he's done foryou.
Think about him laying downthat power for you, humbly going
(28:18):
to the cross for you and boldlystepping out of the grave for
you as we worship.
In a moment I'll be down front.
Let me pray over us.
Lord Jesus, thank you for thegospel, thank you for the cross,
thank you for the hope that youprovide.
Lord.
(28:40):
I pray that there are any thatdo not know you that today would
be the day that they come toknow you.
I pray that we would all taketime to thank you for the gospel
, to worship you as you deserve,because you deserve all praise,
because you have done what wecould not do.
I thank you for the cross and Ithank you for the resurrection.
(29:01):
Lord, as we respond now, let usdo so with all of our heart,
with authenticity.
I pray this Lord in Christ'sname.
Amen.
Would you stand?
I'll be down front.
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