| |
Book: John
 Print ( PC Only )
John 18:1
I. "When Jesus had spoken these words"
A. The words of the prayer in chapter 17.
1. He went forth with His disciples over the Kidron brook.
a. If as thought by some that the 15th chapter was
spoken somewhere around the Temple as Jesus and
the disciples were passing the gates with the
emblem of the grape vines upon it. That would
put the prayer of Jesus somewhere between the
Temple mount and the bottom of the Kidron
valley.
2. Where is Jesus going with His disciples?
a. Let us trace again the events of the evening.
1. Jesus has observed the passover supper
with His disciples.
2. There He had prophesied His betrayal by
one of His company.
3. Judas had left the supper to firm the
deal that he had made with the priests
to betray Jesus.
4. Jesus had sought to comfort the heavy
hearts of the disciples, answering
their questions, and promising the
Comforter who would come to be with
them and guide them into all truth.
5. At the end of chapter 14 they leave the
upper room and begin their walk to the
Garden of Gethsemene.
6. On the way they pass the Temple where
Jesus speaks to the of the vine and the
branches.
7. They continue their walk together
toward the Mt. of Olives when Jesus
pauses and offers the prayer of chapter
17.
b. They now cross the brook and enter the garden
of Gethsemene which is the oil press.
3. It is in another garden that man first encountered the
spiritual warfare with the enemy of his soul. The
battle with Satan was lost by man, there he forfeited
the rights of the earth over to Satan by yielding his
will to Satan's will.
4. Now Jesus enters another garden to do battle with
Satan. The issue again is God's will versus the will of
Satan.
B. John seems to indicate that this was one of the favorite spots
of Jesus around Jerusalem.
1. He went there often with His disciples.
2. Therefore the place was known to Judas.
3. The chief priests were wanting to arrest Jesus away
from the crowds for they knew that many of the common
people believed that He was the Messiah.
4. This place and time would give them the perfect
opportunity to carry out their nefarious plot.
II. Meanwhile Judas is making his deal with the chief priests who will
soon be sending a band of men and officers with Judas to arrest
Jesus.
A. Soon they will be making their way to the garden with
lanterns, torches and weapons.
1. It is interesting that John does not record the thrice
repeated prayer of Jesus in the Garden.
2. Perhaps because the other gospels had already been
written and He knew that they covered well the prayer
of Jesus in the Garden.
B. The other gospels fill us in on the details.
1. Jesus was in great agony as He prayed for the Father to
let the cup pass from Him, however He submitted to the
Father saying not My will but Your will be done.
2. They tell us of His sweat turning into great drops of
blood falling to the ground.
3. They tell us of the disciples sleeping through most of
this ordeal, so that the Angels of heaven were
dispatched to comfort Him.
III. "Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were to come upon Him."
A. He had been telling them from the beginning of their
acknowledgment of His being the Messiah that He would have to
suffer at the hands of men, and be crucified.
1. He knew that He would be despised and rejected by man.
2. He knew that He would be wounded for their
transgressions, and bruised for their iniquities.
3. He knew the strips that would be laid on His back.
4. He knew that they would smite Him with a rod.
5. He knew that they would mock Him to scorn, and spit on
Him.
B. If you knew all this would you have gone through with it?
1. No wonder He was asking the Father that if it were
possible to let the cup pass from Him.
2. Hebrews tells us that for the joy that was set before
Him He endured the cross despising the shame.
C. "He went forth."
1. He went out to meet them.
2. No endeavor to hide or to run from the will of the
Father.
a. Convinced that the world can be redeemed no
other way He now steps forth to pay the price.
b. "If this cup cannot pass except I drink it, Thy
will be done."
c. He is now ready to give His life. "No man
taketh My life from Me, I give My life."
d. He is now ready to manifest the supreme love
for His disciples. "Greater love has no man
than this, that a man lays down his life for
his friends."
D. We see Jesus in perfect control of the situation.
1. He interrogates them. "Who are you looking for." They
responded, "Jesus of Nazareth."
2. He answered, "I Am." "Ego Emmi" As He speaks the
wonderful name of God, they all fell backward on the
ground.
a. John notes that Judas was standing there with
them perhaps to indicate that he also fell over
with them.
b. If so, this is the only account of a disciple
of Jesus being so to speak, "Slain in the
Spirit." Not necessarily a disciple I wish to
relate to.
3. Again He asked them, "Who are you looking for?"
a. When they again affirm "Jesus of Nazareth" He
said, "I told you that I Am."
4. Jesus now commands them, "If you are seeking for Me,
let these go their way."
a. He is not the victim, He is the victor.
b. The events are not out of hand, but are moving
just as was planned from the beginning.
E. Here His declaration to the Father is about to be fulfilled,
for in 17:12 He said, of those Who You gave Me, I have lost
none.
1. As He had said to them, "Where I am going, you cannot
come now."
2. He must alone pay the price to atone for sin.
3. The time will come when they shall follow Him in death,
but for now He must taste the bitter cup alone.
4. He was concerned for them, and thinking of them, even
while being arrested.
5. No wonder He lost none, "Oh love that will not let me
go."
6. He was still protecting, guarding, shielding while
being arrested.
F. Do you understand just how loved you are by Him?
1. How secure you are in Him?
2. "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
3. He knows that they do not understand what is going on,
and what will be going on in the next few hours.
a. He knows how devastated their lives are going
to be.
b. He knows they are not able yet to handle the
things that He would have told them if they had
only been able to bear it.
c. He knows that it will take the miracle of the
resurrection to help them to understand.
4. Their unbelief will cost the three days of abject
misery.
a. How many days of misery do we experience
because of our lack of faith in the word of God
and the purposes of God.
G. John tells us in 20:30 that Jesus did many other signs in the
presence of His disciples that he did not record, but he
recorded these that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of
God and by believing have life through His name.
1. The last great sign is about to be seen by the
disciples.
2. Jesus said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I
will rebuild it."
3. In response to the request of the scribes and pharisees
to show them a sign, Jesus said, "A wicked and an
adulteress generation seeks after signs, but no sign
shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet
Jonah. For a Jonah was three days and three nights in
the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be
three days and nights in the heart of the earth.
|