WEBVTT 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:23.280 The scripture reading this morning is in John 18, verse 1 to 27. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:34.320 When Jesus had spoken this word, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:39.840 Now Judas who betrayed him also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:47.840 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. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:53.119 Then Jesus, knowing all that will happen to him, came forward and said to them, Whom do you seek? 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:55.520 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.679 Jesus said to them, I am he. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:05.680 Judas who betrayed him was standing with them, and when Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:08.400 So he asked them again, Whom do you seek? 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:14.879 And they say, Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus answered, I'll to I told you that I am he. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.200 So if you seek me, let this man go. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.400 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.599 Of those whom you gave me, I have lost no one. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:29.760 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest servant and cut off his right ear. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:32.640 The servant's name was Malchus. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.480 So Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword into the sheath. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:40.159 Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:45.359 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:53.760 First they led him to Annas, who for he was the father-in-law of Caiphas, who was the high priest that year. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:01.519 It was Caiphas who had advised uh advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for for the people. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:08.080 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple, since that disciple was known to the high priest. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:14.240 He entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside of the door. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:24.159 So the other disciple who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:30.400 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, You also are not one of his disciples, are you? 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:32.159 He said, I am not. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:40.639 Now the servants and officers had made a chural charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:44.240 Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:48.479 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.080 And Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:03:00.800 I have always talked in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews came come together, I have said nothing in secret. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:01.919 Why do you ask me? 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:06.960 As those who have heard me what I say to them, they know what I say. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:16.479 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, Is that how you answer the high priest? 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:21.039 Jesus answered him, If what I said is grown, bear witness about the ground. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.280 If it was if what I say is right, why do you strike me? 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:28.400 Annas then sent him bound to Caiphas, the high priest. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:39.360 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself, so they say to him, You also are not one of his disciples, are you? 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:41.759 He denied and said, I am not. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:53.199 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose Peter, uh whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, Did I not see you in the garden with him? 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:57.680 Peter again denied and at once a roosted crow. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:03:58.960 So it's God's word. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:18.000 We've done weeks and weeks and weeks of Jesus' teaching in uh what we call the upper room discourse, uh, John 13 through the end of John chapter 17. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:25.279 Lots of teaching about uh about the future, uh, about joy, about the gift of the Holy Spirit and what he does. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:35.120 But now, again, chapter 18 begins after he'd said these words, the talking's over, and now the great actions begin. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:47.519 So Jesus uh leads his disciples again out of that upper room and out of the city of Jerusalem. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:55.279 Night has fallen, the darkest day in all of human history is about to dawn. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:06.399 And he journeys for one last time out of the city with the eleven, across the small stream called the Kidron Brook. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:20.720 Tiny little stream that started up in the temple mount that flowed down past the old city of Jerusalem, uh, marking out the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, and he would cross over that stream. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:29.759 That stream, which flowed from the temple court at this time at Passover, was running red with the blood of the sacrifices. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:49.120 Usually about a quarter of a million lambs and goats and bulls were slaughtered at Passover, and so this blood-red brook trickles down, and the Lamb of God steps over it as he walks up the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:51.120 The garden. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:57.040 A garden which the other gospel writers note is the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:05.120 John, in his account, simply notes that this place was known also to Judas. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:09.839 Did Jesus leave the city just to pray? 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:14.319 Or did he leave because Judas knew where he was going? 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:18.800 Was Jesus walking into a trap? 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:21.759 Or was he setting one? 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:27.759 The city at Passover would swell by about 200,000 people. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.800 This ancient city of Jerusalem is teeming. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.519 And Jesus leaves and goes somewhere quiet. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:46.000 Perhaps he leaves because he doesn't want a public revolt at his as at his arrest. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:52.000 He sets a trap and he waits to spring it. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:07:11.519 Judas has conspired with both religious and political leaders, and now he comes with a mob, not just of Jewish temple guards, but uh we're told a uh a battalion, a detachment, a band, verse three, of soldiers. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:15.519 That band of Roman soldiers would have been about 200 men. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:22.079 So you've got to kind of picture in your mind's eye the type of crowd that's coming out to arrest Jesus. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:34.720 All of humanity, Jew and Gentile, are coming out to subdue and to silence the word made flesh. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:58.879 Yet in the midst of all of the drama of these unfolding pages, there is one who is in utter and unwavering control over every beat, over every movement, and it is not Judas, it is not the authorities, it is certainly not the disciples. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:07.680 John tells us in verse 4, then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said, Whom do you seek? 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:18.720 And so we come this morning not just to learn the the information about those events, but to consider their significance. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:22.720 The one who is in utter control of his destiny. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:27.839 Let us consider it under three headings. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.279 First, let's consider Jesus' great claim. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.000 There's a great claim here from Jesus. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.639 Let's let's figure it out. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:42.080 Judas comes to the garden and the trap is sprung. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:55.120 He arrives just as he was meant to, at the appointed place, at the appointed time, and Jesus, stepping out of the shadows, asks, Whom do you seek? 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.559 Verse 4. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:01.440 And they answer him, verse 5, Jesus of Nazareth. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:08.720 They're thinking about his uh his background, his earthly lineage, Jesus of Nazareth. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:17.120 And Jesus responds in verse 5, Jesus said to them, I am he. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.960 Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with him. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:26.720 When Jesus said to him, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:37.519 How is it that when Jesus says, I am he, 200 Roman soldiers fall to the ground? 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:39.919 Why does that happen? 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:41.679 What's the significance? 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:43.360 What's going on here? 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:54.320 Well, first of all, one of the things that you need to know is that the word he is inserted into the English translations in order to smooth out the reading. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.639 There's no he in the original. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:57.919 It's Jesus steps forward. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:58.720 Whom do you seek? 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:04.399 Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth, and he steps forward and he says, I am. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.200 And they stagger and fall back. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.559 Jesus says, I am. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:14.240 Ego Ami. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.480 Now there's great significance to these words, to I am. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:26.799 You've got to cast your mind back to the book of Exodus, to Exodus chapter 3. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:35.360 Exodus chapter 3 is the uh is the scene uh where Moses comes before God in the uh in the form of the burning bush. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:47.519 He's there in the uh in the wilderness of Midian, and he sees that there's a bush that's on fire and it's not being consumed, and so he he goes forward, and the Lord, God, speaks to him from the bush. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:11:02.799 And in the uh and in the course of their conversation, uh, God is telling Moses, uh, go to Pharaoh and say, Let my people, the people of Israel, let them go, because they were in slavery in Egypt. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:12.799 And Moses at one point uh in verse 14 says, Who should I say has sent me to them? 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:18.320 And God says, Tell them I am sent you. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.360 That is God's name. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:29.519 Yahweh, I am, I am who I am, or I will be who I will be, the ever-living one. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.200 Tell him I am sent you. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:47.759 Or indeed, in this very gospel, there's a scene in uh in chapter eight where the Pharisees are again discussing Jesus' earthly uh lineage and uh and how great their pedigree is. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:53.039 And they say, Well, our father is Abraham, we're descended from him. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:59.360 And Jesus looks at them and says, Before Abraham was, I am. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.960 He is taking that divine name upon himself. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:13.519 When Jesus steps forward and says, I am, he is making a great claim. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:16.799 He's making a staggering claim, no pun intended. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.200 He is claiming to be God. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:28.799 This you need to recognize this is different to every other founder of any world religion. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:44.559 Most founders of world religions, whether it's Muhammad or Buddha, uh they expressly, deliberately, explicitly do not claim to be God. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:54.320 Whereas Jesus has every confidence in taking that name upon himself. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:07.200 And John wants us also to be confident that this claim is a historical one, that we can be confident that this is something that actually happened. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.559 That's why we get little details all the way through this passage. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:15.919 One of the chief ones is the naming of the servant who had his ear cut off. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:17.519 His name is Malchus. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:19.440 Why do we learn his name? 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:26.559 When we learn his name, because John wants us to be confident that what we are reading is eyewitness testimony. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:35.279 The idea being that if you were a first century reader, you could go to Jerusalem and find the guy still bearing the scars. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:40.320 Say, were you in the garden the night they arrested the one that they called the Christ? 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:42.000 Is your name Malchus? 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.480 And he would turn and he would say yes. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:50.559 There's a uh a great and scholarly work called Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:57.679 If you ever want to look it by a guy called Richard Balcom, uh B-A-U-C-K-H-A-M, Richard Balcom, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:10.399 And it makes the case very convincingly that what we have in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are eyewitness testimony to what is unfolding in these events. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:11.360 And why? 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.120 Why include these details? 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:26.480 Because when you're making such extraordinary claims, John wants you to be confident that these claims are rooted in history, that they are verifiable. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:33.679 But each one of us here this morning must reckon with the claims of Jesus. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:40.399 Is he the great I am, the eternal son of the Father, or is he not? 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:47.279 And if he is, what implications does that have for your life? 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.480 Jesus is making an extraordinary claim. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:55.919 Point two. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:04.639 John not only shows us an extraordinary claim, but shows us our great need. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.000 Second, our great need. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:17.840 You might be sitting there and say something like, Well, I could go around uh saying that I'm God doesn't make it true. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.360 Yes, that is quite right. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:26.799 But then you must consider the response of the people here in the garden. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.200 Jesus steps forward, who you looking for? 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.200 Jesus of Nazareth, I am. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:37.279 And their response, all right, great, let's go. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:37.919 No. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.759 They stagger and they fall back to the grind. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:42.480 Why? 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.399 Why do they fall back? 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:53.440 Why do they fall to the ground when Jesus says, I am, when he reveals that divine name to them? 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:04.000 Well, one of the things that you need to see is that all the way through the Bible, this is how people respond when they come face to face with God. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:12.159 People these days like to say, Oh, you know, when I uh when I became a Christian, I felt just a real sense of uh real sense of peace. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.320 And that is wonderful and glorious and good. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:23.279 But actually, the the response to many people, when they come face to face with the God of the Bible, with the God of the universe, they do not feel a sense of peace. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.320 They feel a sense of terror and they fall down. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.919 Moses again before the bore before the burning bush. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:35.519 Uh, when when he encounters God, he falls down, he hides his face. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:44.399 That is, he he goes prostrate on the ground because he cannot bear to be in the presence of God. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:17:07.519 When the temple uh in Jerusalem was was first consecrated by King Solomon, we're told there that the glory of God, that is, the weightiness of his presence, fell upon the temple, and that the priests in the temple could not stand to minister the sacrifices. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:13.039 The glory of God caused them to fall again on their faces. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.480 Or perhaps more famously, Isaiah's vision of God. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.200 If you don't know it, it's at the start of Isaiah chapter six. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:46.960 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and around him were six seraphim, each of them having six wings, and with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew, and they cried, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.599 The whole earth is full of his glory. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:53.839 At the sound of their voices, the posts of the temple shook. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:18:02.319 And I cried aloud, Woe is me, for I am undone, for I live among a people of unclean lips. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:14.559 Because my eyes have seen the Lord. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:28.480 Or Peter, we're told in Luke's gospel, has a very odd reaction to Jesus right at the start of Jesus' earthly ministry. 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.599 You might remember the story from Sunday school. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:34.880 Uh but there's it's the large catch of fish. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:39.680 You know, the disciples have been fishing all night and they haven't caught a thing. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.200 And Jesus comes along and says, How's it going? 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:44.000 Any fish? 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:44.960 No, no fish. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.240 So why don't you let down for why don't you let down for another catch? 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:53.519 And they're like, Well, we've been fishing all night, but at your word, we'll lay down, we'll let down for another catch. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:59.759 And they put down their nets, and in an instant, their nets are full to burst. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:05.759 The boats are nearly sinking under the weight of this great catch of fish. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:07.680 And do you remember what Peter says? 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.680 Peter doesn't say, huh, off the market we go. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:12.160 Great. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:13.920 That's dinner tonight sorted. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.279 We get to sell some fish. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:16.559 Thanks so much, Jesus. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.920 Great to have you around. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:19.359 Ah, see you next week. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:20.400 Same time again. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.640 No, he doesn't say anything like that. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.240 What does Peter say? 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:28.000 He says, Depart from me, Lord. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.640 For I am a sinful man. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:36.400 Falls down before him and begs Jesus to leave. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.480 Why? 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:46.559 When people come face to face with God, they cannot help but fall down. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:49.599 Why is that? 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.400 Well, think about it. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:20:01.599 When you come face to face with the most intelligent person that you have ever met, do you feel smart or do you feel stupid? 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:10.079 When you meet the most beautiful person that you have ever met, do you feel pretty or do you feel ugly? 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:21.119 Imagine then confronting absolute moral purity, stunning holiness, absolute glory. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:32.079 You don't feel pride, you feel sinful and you fall to the grind. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:42.000 It is as though at this point, it is as though Jesus is giving one last flex. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:21:14.799 It is as though he opens up one tiny chink of light of who he truly is for one last time and says, I am and this mob at those two glorious words in that moment all of their swords and all of their clubs and all of their lanterns become laughably useless and they fall back. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:16.160 Why? 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.359 Because none of us can stand in the presence of God. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:42.240 Moreover, Peter's pitiful attempts, and we'll talk a lot about Peter in just a moment, but Peter's pitiful attempts at valor here point us to the fact that we both cannot stand before God, and nor can we save ourselves. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:45.039 He strikes this uh this blow. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:49.920 Uh it is it is possible actually that uh that the mob's still on the ground. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.279 So Malchus is still kind of on the on the grind, and so Peter's kind of striking down like this. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.200 Uh and so you know, it's so courageous. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.599 The guy's on his back, and he's like, okay, let's go. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:04.799 And he lands this clumsy blow. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:10.319 Peter's blow is as clumsy as his understanding of what is going on. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.079 He affects little. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:12.880 Yes, this is. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.319 He affects little, if anything. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:20.720 And as we'll see later, he actually, for himself, I think, makes matters worse. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:28.480 You see, Peter didn't need greater strength nor greater resolve or to fight with greater courage. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.880 No, he needed what we need. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.119 He needed the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:40.880 Because it's Jesus here in this passage who negotiates the freedom of his disciples. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:41.680 Did you notice that? 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:43.119 Verses 8 and 9? 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:45.839 Jesus answered them, I told you that I am he. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.279 So if you seek me, let these men go. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:54.079 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken just a couple of chapters earlier. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.359 Of those whom you have given me, I have lost not one. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:03.200 It is Jesus who negotiates the release of those whom he loves. 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:10.799 And in doing so in the garden, he shows us in miniature what he is about to do by his death on the cross. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:22.960 This passage shows us not just the great claim of Jesus to be eternal God, the beloved Son of the Father, but shows us our great need. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:30.480 That on our own we cannot stand in his holy presence, and we cannot save ourselves. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:44.880 And so thirdly, we come then to his great love, Jesus' great claim, our great need, and his great love. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:57.519 If our problem is that we cannot stand before a holy God, and that we cannot in our own strength rescue ourselves, then we need help. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:04.319 And our help comes from the great love that Jesus has for us. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:09.440 It is his love that constrains his power in the garden. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:20.240 You see, the most amazing thing that happens in the garden is not that Jesus is able to blow down 200 men with a word. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:22.960 That's not the most amazing thing. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:32.559 The most amazing thing that happens in the garden is that after he has laid them on their backsides, he willingly goes with them. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:58.160 It is as though we wrap the God of life in tissue paper handcuffs, and he in his great love deigns to go with us. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.319 That's the most amazing thing about what happens in the garden. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:08.480 It's that after all of that, he goes willingly to his arrest and to his trial. 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:12.160 It is his love that compels him forward. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:17.599 It is his love that negotiates the release of his disciples. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:24.160 It is his love that drives him on to take that cup. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:27.279 There's a reference there in verse 11. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:31.920 So Jesus said to Peter, put away, put your sword into its sheath. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:36.319 Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:45.440 That reference to the cup is a it's an Old Testament image of the cup of the wrath of God. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:46.880 Jeremiah talks about it. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:53.920 He says that the wrath of God has been poured into this cup, and it would make the nation stagger. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:11.599 Jesus is saying, I'm about to drink that cup of the wrath of the judgment of God, to drain it to its dregs for you who cannot stand in his presence. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:21.599 In love, he will go on in just a moment to deny nothing, while Peter denies everything. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.279 And so the scene shifts. 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:27.200 Jesus is arrested. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:31.839 He is brought to Annas, the high priest, and is led. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:39.680 If you can begin to picture, so begin to construct in your mind's eye a uh a large-ish colonnaded courtyard. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:43.759 So colonnades are the are these kind of uh kind of Roman posts, right? 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:51.519 So it's a courtyard that has these colonnades around it, this private courtyard in the high priest's house. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.839 And Jesus is led in there. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.359 Now we're told that there is another disciple. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:00.559 The reference to another disciple is probably John. 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:07.519 John tends to uh in his gospel talk about himself in the third person, the disciple whom Jesus loved. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:17.680 Uh, here he's the he's another disciple, and he has enough family connections in order to grant Peter access to the courtyard. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:26.240 And so he goes in for a moment, he comes out, says, He's with me, and Peter begins to make his way into the courtyard. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:32.799 Now, in the courtyard, uh, some of those, some of the 200 that had arrested Jesus over in one corner. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:36.640 So imagine we're over in one corner here, and they've lit a fire. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:42.480 You think of uh homeless people under uh uh under an overpass, they might have said fire to an oil drum. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:43.519 It's that sort of idea. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:51.200 They're crowded round, and there's a fire here, and Jesus is over on the other side of the courtyard being questioned by the high priest. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:55.119 And so there's line of sight and line of sound. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:07.599 And Peter walks into the courtyard, and as he's walking in, he's stopped at the door just briefly, just for a moment, and he's questioned. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:21.680 Not by some uh some armored soldier with weapon drawn, not by one of the two hundred of the violent battalion, but by a servant girl. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:23.519 Verse 17. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:34.160 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you? 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.039 And he said, I'm not. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:38.400 No. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:47.200 If I could be controversial for a second, let's not judge Peter too harshly here. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:52.880 It's a stressful night for the guy. 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:54.400 Right? 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.359 He's in unfamiliar surroundings. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:03.920 Walking into the home, to the courtyard of the high priest, that's not something that his family had connections to do. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:09.440 And so he's going into an unfamiliar place with people who are armed to the teeth. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:16.160 Remember as well that he's actually at this point the only criminal there. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:22.880 Because, remember, told you this would be significant, he's just assaulted a temple guard. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:27.119 He's the only one who's actually done something wrong. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:30.400 And do you know what else? 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.920 The servant girl's question presumes a no answer. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.079 Do you see the way it's constructed? 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:40.240 Are you not also? 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:42.400 It's so easy. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:50.880 It's so easy for Peter, as he's stressed, wanting to get through the door, wanting to get past people, trying to keep his head down. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:52.000 Are you not also well? 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:53.200 No, I'm not. 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:55.279 It's so easy. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:00.720 But isn't that it all isn't that always the way that it is with sin? 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:07.920 That once you do it once, it'll become even easier to do it again. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:10.160 It was so easy. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:11.519 It was just a moment. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:14.880 But he'd open the door. 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:25.039 They walk into the courtyard, excuse me. 00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:27.519 They walk into the courtyard. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:32.160 We're told that the night is cold, and goodness me, so is the atmosphere. 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:35.680 There's a fire in the corner over here. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:48.000 And Peter, who swore eternal allegiance to his Lord, who swore that he would lay down his life for him, goes and stands where? 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:58.000 Goes and stands alongside those who were arresting his Lord, and warms himself by the fire. 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:04.640 Think of it in your mind's eye. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:12.960 We've come from Peter, and we're moving through the crowd, and we're hearing just for a moment the trial that Jesus is undergoing. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:14.480 And what do we see there? 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:18.559 Well, Jesus stands up to all of their accusations. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:27.200 He stands up in the face of their interrogation, he denies nothing, and he outmaneuvers them by his wisdom. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:33.359 And we know that Jesus is winning here because what do they do? 00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:35.519 They strike him. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:41.119 Isn't violence always the last resort of desperate men? 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:48.079 The Son of God is on trial, and he is keeping his cool. 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:49.440 He is winning. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:52.319 And they hate him for it. 00:31:55.200 --> 00:32:00.000 But there's another trial that's about to ramp up. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:05.440 There's another man on trial, and his questioning is about to begin again. 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:08.960 And so the scene shifts. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:15.200 John again repeats in verse 25 that Simon Peter was what? 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:18.880 He was standing warming himself by the fire. 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:28.319 That as Jesus faces an icy interrogation by the high priest, Peter, by contrast, is warming himself. 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:31.039 More and more distance is growing between them. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:36.400 He has sided by his posture with those who have arrested his Lord. 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:40.400 And those gathered around him ask him again. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:51.279 Again, he is given another opportunity to take a stand for the Lord that he said he loved, and yet he denies a second time. 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:58.160 Finally, we're told that a relative of the man he'd assaulted come forward. 00:32:58.720 --> 00:32:59.680 Imagine. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:02.480 Imagine Peter's blood pressure at that moment. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:05.200 Imagine his heart beginning to thump. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:11.519 He can hear it pulsing in his ears as the question comes again. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:13.759 And he can't see Jesus anymore. 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:15.839 He can only see his own safety. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.480 He can only see his accusers. 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:19.599 And it comes again. 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:22.319 Did I not see you in the garden? 00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:25.920 And here it is, do or die, stand or fall. 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:30.720 And for the third and final time, he spits out his denials. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:34.720 And at once the rooster crowed. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:38.640 Jesus was right. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:43.359 It all happened just as he had said. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:50.160 Why did Jesus tell him before time that this would happen to shame him? 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:52.160 I don't think so. 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:58.400 I think in that moment Peter realized, Peter realized three things. 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:04.319 That he had less strength and resolve than he would have hoped. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:11.599 But second, that nothing was spiraling out of control of the King of Kings. 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:17.119 And that though Peter might waver, Jesus never would. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:39.599 Luke, in his gospel account, tells us that when Peter denied for the third time, their eyes locked and they looked at one another. 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:47.119 Jesus and his Lord, it is as though the the crowd of people parted like the Red Sea. 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:49.199 Just imagine. 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:54.960 And Peter for the third time said, I am not. 00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:57.280 Nothing to do with this man. 00:34:58.159 --> 00:34:59.679 And the rooster crows. 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:02.320 And their eyes mate. 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:05.440 What did that look say? 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:07.840 Can you imagine? 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:15.920 What was communicated between those eyes as they locked for that moment? 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:19.679 Were they words of condemnation? 00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:22.159 See, I told you so, Peter. 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:26.159 Or a look of love and grace. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:32.639 John Newton wrote a hymn. 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:35.519 Excuse me. 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:40.960 John Newton wrote a hymn called In Evil Long I Took Delight. 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:46.159 And he talks about the look of Jesus. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:48.400 Let me read it for you. 00:35:49.280 --> 00:36:00.800 In evil long I took delight, on awed, unawed by shame or fear, till a new object struck my sight and stopped my wild career. 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:11.519 I saw one hanging on a tree, in agony and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me as near the cross I stood. 00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:17.760 Sure, never to my latest breath can I forget that look. 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:23.440 It seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word he spoke. 00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:29.599 My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:35.679 I saw my sins, his blood and spit, and helped to nail him there. 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:48.159 Alas, I knew not what I did, but now my tears are vain, where shall my trembling soul be hid, for I the Lord have slain. 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:57.360 A second look he gave which said I freely all forgive. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:05.280 This blood is for thy ransom paid, I die so thou mightst live. 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:16.400 Thus while his death my sin displays in all its blackest hue, such is the mystery of his grace. 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:19.599 It seals my pardon too. 00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:25.280 It was cold that night in Jerusalem. 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:30.719 But Jesus' love for Peter burned still. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:43.679 It's night time. 00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:46.320 There's betrayal. 00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:47.920 There's violence. 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:51.840 There's arrest and accusation and denial. 00:37:53.679 --> 00:38:00.719 The darkest of days when men would commit the darkest of deeds. 00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:13.760 And yet, through it all there is one shaft of light piercing that dark night, and it rises from one of the most unlikely places. 00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:19.920 A man who, when he spoke, spoke truer than he knew. 00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:24.559 John recounts verse 14. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:26.559 Have a look at it with me. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:40.880 It was Caiaphas who had said, who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient, that it would be better that one man should die for the people. 00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.960 How dreadfully right Caiaphas was. 00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:51.360 We cannot stand before God because of our sin. 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:58.880 We cannot save ourselves because of our pitiful misdirected efforts. 00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:04.000 We have no strength to keep faith on our own. 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:06.079 We need another. 00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:15.840 One who stands in our place, who would take our sin and give us strength to stand. 00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:22.800 We hear all that need Jesus. 00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:34.480 The mighty King who goes willingly with his accusers, the good shepherd who protects his sheep in the garden and who will rescue them eternally. 00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:40.000 The faithful one who did not deny himself. 00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:50.159 The Lamb of God who was sacrificed that we might be set free. 00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:54.079 Come to him. 00:39:56.719 --> 00:40:00.239 Come to him this morning, perhaps for the first time. 00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:10.000 Receive his grace and know his freedom and forgiveness. 00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:34.800 Come, Christian, to the table of the Lord where we eat broken bread and wine poured out in remembrance of these events and renew as a follower of the Lord Jesus your vow to follow him in the strength that he supplies until your day's end.