Christ Jesus Betrayed

Good morning, sorry that I'm running a day late on this post. As we pick up our study Christ Jesus was now in an olive grove on the east side of the Kidron Valley, Having crossed the brook after the Lord's prayer; we saw this prayer in chapter 17. This olive grove is generally thought of as the Garden of Gethsemane although that name is not actually mentioned in this chapter.

John hits us with a abrupt delivery of betrayal, arrest, denial, and trial before Pilate that continues into chapter 19.

On May 27, 1999, Daryl Scott, father of two victims of the Columbine High School shooting testified before the subcommittee on crime of the House Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives.

Scott talked about his loss and how amazed he was in the days following the tragedy that people pointed fingers at all kinds of groups trying to fix blame – the NRA, a permissive school atmosphere, insufficient government funding for school safety, and a host of other culprits. But Scott believed the attitudes that gave birth to the Columbine massacre rested in the vacuum of the school itself long before the tragedy occurred. He saw the raw secularism of much contemporary public education as a breeding ground for the kind of chaos that took the life of his daughter. And he wrote a poem commemorating the event:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs, your words are empty air.

You've stripped away our heritage; you've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms and our precious children die.

You seek answers everywhere, and ask the question “Why?”

You regulate restrictive laws through legislative greed,

And yet you fail to understand that God is what we need.

Mr. Scott went on to that day to tell the members of the subcommittee, “We do not need more religion. We do not need more gaudy television evangelists spewing out verbal religious garbage. We do not need more million-dollar church buildings built while people with basic needs are being ignored. We do need a change of heart and a humble acknowledgment that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God.”

Tragedies like Columbine force us to face the reality of death and the fact that a person's death may come at the hands of friends. This is how it is with Christ Jesus in this chapter. He was betrayed by Judas, and denied by Peter – not once but three times, forced to endure not one but three mock trials, and then even when found innocent, sentence to death.

The tragedy and joy of Christ Jesus’ hour of glory has come—an hour from which He does not shrink back in fear. But He moves into these events with a calm courage, even anticipation, like a runner eager for a race. This is why He had come. Christ Jesus is the central actor, the prime mover, throughout His arrest, His trials, and His Crucifixion, not Judas or Annas or Caiaphas or Pilate, although their judgments and actions may seem to precipitate what takes place.

It is Christ Jesus who “went out” with His disciples where there was a garden, and who “went forward” to meet His enemies when they came, and who asked that they let His disciples “go their way” and not arrest them. And through the interrogation Christ Jesus is really the One who is control of the situation, not those trying to put Him on trial.

John 18:1-27
18:1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"
5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.
"I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Again he asked them, "Who is it you want?"
And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."
8 "I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me." 
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"
12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter.
He replied, "I am not."
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.
19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.
23 "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" 24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. 
25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?"
He denied it, saying, "I am not."
26 One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?" 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.
 

1. Judas: Betrayal in the Garden (vs. 1-9)

John wanted his readers to see that Christ Jesus hid from no one. Matthew Henry says it this way, “the second Adam was not driven, as the first was, to hide himself, either for fear or shame, among the trees of the garden.” 

Christ Jesus took His disciples and crossed the brook Kidron. I wonder as Christ Jesus “went out with His disciples” and crossed the Kidron, if He could not help being aware that the stream was dyed red with the blood of the thousands of lambs being sacrificed in the temple for the Passover. There was a channel that carried the waste blood away from the site of the sacrifices and into the Brook. 

One more bit of irony if you want to call it that. It was in a garden that man first lost his way in disobedience, and now it was in a garden that man was given the possibility of being restored to God’s paradise. This garden was well known to Christ Jesus as He and His disciples visited it often. This is most likely the spot that they stayed on their previous trips to Jerusalem. So it is no surprise that John said that Judas knew the place. 

Judas did not come to the garden alone. John says that he was leading a “detachment of Roman troops,” which could have been as many as six hundred soldiers, but no less than two hundred. The Gospel of Mark make a reference to the Temple Guard and then there were officers from the Sanhedrin and other religious “big wigs” as well. 

Here the Roman “state” and the Jewish “church” were joined in the church's evil plans. Imagine such a large force coming to arrest this one lone Man with His handful of nervous disciples. Talk about “shock and awe” Or maybe the religious leaders feared that Christ Jesus would pull off some kind of surprise resistance. 

It was now that we are reminded who was really in control that night in the garden. When this armed mob showed up Christ Jesus stepped forward to meet His captors, asking them who they are looking for, and they answer, “Jesus of Nazareth,” He identifies Himself simply and directly, “I am He” (v. 5). “I am” can mean “I am he (whom you seek),” but it can also allude to Exodus 3:14. God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you.'" 

A Jewish tradition, purportedly pre-Christian (attributed to Jewish writer Artapanus), said that when Moses pronounced the name of his God, Pharaoh fell backwards. After identifying Himself, Christ Jesus intervened for His disciples, these weak, frightened men who would be scattered, fulfilling His own prayer, “Those whom You gave Me I have kept” (17:12). 

No matter how out of control things seem to you right now, remember this: The same God who was in control in the garden is still in control today. And He still watches over those who are His own.

2. Malchus: Impressions in the Garden (10-11)

It is Peter again who impetuously tries to take things in his own hands by reaching for the sword. He displayed admirable courage and loyalty but poor aim. This fisherman turned disciple was obviously not a swordsman. Peter apparently swung wildly trying to split open a man’s skull and in the darkness missed, cutting off an ear instead. 

We are told the name of the servant of the high priest in John's account of that night in the garden. The servant's name was Malchus. What John does not tell us is that Christ Jesus touched Malchus where his ear should have been and Malchus had a new ear. I can't imagine what that must have been like for Malchus. You are in a dark garden to arrest some religious nut; then somebody takes a swing at your head with a sword. Next thing you know is that there is a lot of blood, pain and no ear. Then calmly the one they said was the religious nut, a false Messiah; touches the side of your head and you have an ear again. Wow!

In the face of so many armed men what Peter did was a foolhardy act of courage. Yet Christ Jesus admonished Peter, telling him to put his weapon away. Christ Jesus reminds Peter that He alone must drink the cup of suffering and death which the Father has given Him (v. 11). He is the Shepherd that was slain for all the sheep. And Peter could not shield Him from that. 

Like Peter, despite your best intentions you are bound with the cords of your iniquities, and bound to the yoke of your transgressions. But Christ Jesus can change all that. He was made a sin-offering for you, poured out to free you from those bonds. Let Christ Jesus touch and heal your heart this today. He has already drank the bitter cup for you, His blood poured out as a drink offering so that you may have a restored relationship with the Father.

3. Peter: Denial by a Fire (vs. 12-18; 25-27)

Now we look at two different segments of Scripture to see what happen to Peter that fateful night after the garden. Before we look at these verses I want to recap Peter's night up to this moment in time. Just a few hours earlier Peter had vowed to die in the service of the Lord. John 13:37 and so he would someday, but not that night. Peter tried to protect Christ Jesus from as many as 600 men with just one sword. Peter was brave enough to follow Christ Jesus up to the gate of Caiaphas the high priest.

But here by himself, surrounded by the enemies of Christ Jesus, Peter's courage falters. The servant at the door, a girl, asked Peter, who earlier had been swinging a sword, if he was not one of this Man’s disciples also. She phrases her question in such a way that a negative answer will be quite natural (v. 17). Look how quickly the surrender was. Without taking time to think about it, he suddenly answered, I am not. 

If he had had the boldness he claimed earlier, he would have said, "It is my honor that I am so."But, caring for his safety only, he denied Christ Jesus: “I am not”; he not only denied it, but even showed contempt, and scorns her words. The evil one will tempt us through innocent-appearing means, very often unexpectedly, making it easy to yield. 

Peter’s response, “I am not,” is a contrast to Christ Jesus’ identification of Himself, “I am.” How often we answer the “yes” of God with our “no.” The beginning of sin is like turning on a spigot, soon it is pouring out. The sin of lying is a fruitful sin; one lie needs another one to support it, and then another and another.

 A relative of Malchus asked Peter if he had not seen him in the garden with Christ Jesus, and again Peter denied it, his third denial. Immediately there was the “rooster crow.” This has been Peter’s trial, the first opportunity in alien territory since those tender moments with Christ Jesus during His teaching and His prayer to the Father to take care of His followers. He has been judged and found wanting. He chose the warmth of the fire over the cost of the witness. How much like him are we really?

Conclusion: The same Christ Jesus who crossed the creek red with blood, gave His blood so that you would have a life restored. The one whom the mob sought with their lanterns is the Light of the World. The one whom they were looking for is the great “I Am.” And this morning He wants a personal relationship with you, if you will let Him.

Think you have messed up so bad that Christ Jesus can't or wont forgive you, think again. He loves you and He will take you, mistakes and all. If you will ask with a sincere heart He will forgive you of all your sins and He will restore you. So why not ask Him to do so today?