[0:00] We welcome you to the media ministry of Bethel Community Church, Knowing Jesus, Making Jesus Known. This morning, we continue our study on the Gospel According to John.
[0:14] If you've got your Bibles, turn to John chapter 18. Last week we had the chapter 17, the prayer of the Lord. They've shared with us, and it was good to see what the Lord had, the passion that he had in that prayer, and the things he was praying to his father, for his disciples.
[0:40] So now this section of five, I think it's about five chapters, that happened in just a really, really short time has come to an end, and we're getting into the Lord accomplishing his mission, going to the cross, paying for your sin and for mine.
[1:03] And so we're going to look at the first 11 verses of John chapter 18. It's called the Betrayal of Jesus. And think about betrayal. I don't know if any of you, if I asked you to raise your hand, have you ever been betrayed?
[1:17] Have you ever been betrayed by a close friend? Think of the feelings that if you have been betrayed, maybe you had feelings of hurt, maybe you had feelings of anger, maybe you had feelings of hate, because maybe it was a close friend that betrayed you.
[1:43] Maybe it was somebody you thought, wow, I thought we were in this together, and yet you ratted me out. And so usually there's a lot of feelings that are conjured up.
[1:58] But this ultimate betrayal here, I think the Lord makes it seem like it wasn't even a betrayal.
[2:09] He tells us the story before it happens. You've already heard the story in previous chapters. The Lord said, I'm going to be betrayed.
[2:19] He even said, Judas, you're the one that's going to betray me. Judas, in fact, go quickly. Go get it accomplished. And so he kind of, the Lord kind of ruins the story for us, really.
[2:33] He makes it so it's not so huge in a sense. And we'll find out instead of hate, anger, the Lord has the opposite feelings and actions towards the enemy, towards Judas.
[2:52] Unbelievable. So have you ever felt betrayed? I've got a couple clips here, short clips. First one is for, you know, those who are in the sports, and you think about the ultimate thing is team.
[3:09] Team. And you don't let your secrets out to other people. You wouldn't think about telling someone else what you're going to do. Well, this past year we heard Wake Forest, University of Wake Forest, they fired their radio or TV announcer because he betrayed the school, the team.
[3:31] He was telling other teams what their plays were, how they do it, when, you know, what players do what. And so, Jeffrey, if we can see this.
[3:43] This was on ESPN. And just. What is your take on this situation? Lisa, this is a profound betrayal.
[3:55] So deep that I can't even imagine it. Because inside a football locker room, it's a brotherhood. And you suffer physically for your brothers. You suffer emotionally to fight through that physical pain so that you can work together to bring about a result, winning football games that are so important to all of you.
[4:13] You bleed together. And for somebody that was a player in that locker room at one point to turn around and proactively betray that trust and work to harm the efforts of players that are doing that suffering for a common goal is something that you can't even get your brain wrapped around.
[4:29] And his former teammates even coming out and saying, I'm still. So, life's not on the line here. But notice the passion this guy had.
[4:40] You know, this ultimate betrayal to your teammates, to the coaches. This guy played for Wake Forest football. And then he was an assistant coach for 11 years.
[4:53] Now he's their announcer. He didn't go somewhere, become announcer at Louisville. And this happened when they were playing Louisville. And then they found out he had been doing this for a while. Betrayal.
[5:05] Can you imagine what the team felt like? What the coaches felt like? What the players felt like? What the fans? The ones who hired him. Betrayal. Can you imagine the anger, the hurt, the resentment that was...
[5:20] And then we have a second clip. This is Rocky, or Sylvester Stallone. It's in the movie called Lockup. And he was ready to get out of jail in a couple weeks.
[5:33] And they set him up. And he got into a fight. And therefore, he was given another 10 years or something. And the game warden who hates Sylvester Stallone, Frank is his name in the movie.
[5:46] He wants to set him up so that he's going to be in there forever. And so he uses another prisoner. And Sylvester Stallone and this other prisoner, they're going to break out together.
[6:01] Jeffrey. Jeffrey. Shooter. All right. All right. All right. No. No. What? It's this way, man.
[6:12] It's a shortcut to the steam plant. It's this way. No, man. I remember the map. It's this way. I'm positive, man. I'm positive. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
[6:24] Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. PPA, Frank.
[6:37] Get that what you want me, man. PPA. Right on schedule, Frank. I'm sorry, man. You want my ticket out of here. So here, the ultimate, he thought his cellmate who was in jail, we're going to break out and be free together.
[6:56] He said, hey, you do this, and we'll let you, the cellmate still had 30 years left.
[7:08] And he said, we'll reduce your sentence. So he was willing to betray his friend in prison to get less years.
[7:18] So that's probably a little more emotional. You know, you can see the hatred probably building up and the anger and the, what, we were, we were together.
[7:30] We were together. Betrayal means to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty.
[7:40] And it usually has devastating effects. Like I said, hatred, anger, hurt. People usually aren't friends anymore. But this one's different.
[7:52] The one we're going to look at this morning, it's different. This account really does shine on Jesus. It shines on his deity, his glory, his willingness, and his being in command.
[8:07] He's in charge through all this. You're going to find out in John's account, this is incredible how the Lord Jesus handles this. He's being betrayed and yet he's in charge.
[8:20] He's the one in charge. So let's, if you're at John chapter 18, as we're reading that, notice in the Gospels, Matthew, as he writes, he shows Christ as the king to the Jews.
[8:36] Mark presents Jesus as the great servant, prophet, doing the will of the Father at all times. Luke presents Jesus in all the perfection of his manhood.
[8:48] And in the account here in John that we're going to read, John presents the Lord's eternal sonship, the divine one. And so let's read this.
[9:00] It says, starting with verse 1, When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden into which he himself entered and his disciples.
[9:12] Now Judas also, who was betraying him, knew the place. For Jesus had often met him there with his disciples. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
[9:27] Jesus, therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them, Whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, I am he.
[9:39] And Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with them. And therefore he said to them, I am he. They drew back and fell to the ground. Again, therefore, he asked them, Whom do you seek?
[9:51] And they said, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way, that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke.
[10:03] Of those whom thou hast given me, I lost not one. Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. And the slave's name was Malchus.
[10:15] Jesus, therefore, said to Peter, Put the sword into the sheath, the cup which the Father has given me, and shall I not drink it? Lord, as we come and we look upon you, and we consider your life, your love towards us, as we consider your scripture, I pray for wisdom.
[10:37] And we looked at James some this morning in our Sunday school. It says, if any of you lacks wisdom, ask. And Lord, I lack wisdom greatly, and I ask wisdom of you.
[10:50] May we learn this morning from this passage. Amen. So we have 11 verses here. And we've got it broken up in verse 1, and then verses 2 to 9, and then verse 10 and verse 11.
[11:06] In the verse 1, we have the Lord Jesus. It says in verse 1, when Jesus had finished these words, he went forth. So he had this whole upper room discourse.
[11:19] He had washed the disciples' feet. He had the last supper with them. He disclosed who was going to betray him. He prayed for them. And now he's finished.
[11:31] And what's it say? He went forth. He just told them he was going to be betrayed. And instead of hiding, running, turning, going the other way, getting out of there, which he did many times, it says he went forth.
[11:47] He was going about the Father's business. And what did he do? He went with his disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, or Kedron, the same place, Kedron or Kidron, which means gloomy.
[12:04] It refers to the dark waters that were often stained by the blood from the sacrifices in the temple. Note, the Lord and his disciples are ready to go through dark waters right now.
[12:20] And that's what that picture in the Kidron or Kedron Valley. There's some historical significance here from the Old Testament.
[12:33] In 2 Samuel 15, David's own son, Absalom, who was trying to kill David and to take over the throne, David hears about this, and it says he left Jerusalem and he went over the Kidron Valley to escape.
[12:55] To escape. Notice maybe the similar things that have happened. Absalom, his own son. Judas, one of the Lord's disciples.
[13:08] And if you were to go back in the 2 Samuel and read this, you would see that there was also a consular named Ahithophel. And he was a wicked one. He was trying to, he was giving advice to Absalom against David.
[13:24] And it's interesting. They didn't take his advice. So what does Ahithophel do? He goes and hangs himself. He hangs himself.
[13:36] Then we got Absalom, who in the same chapter, he makes war to go get David, his father, and to kill him so he can become king. And what happens to him? Well, Absalom has long flowing hair.
[13:49] And he's riding through the forest, and his hair gets caught in the trees, and it says his donkey went out from under him, and he's hanging in the trees. And then comes the enemy and kills him while he's hanging in the tree.
[14:07] And then we have in this account, we know of Judas, that later on he tried to undo what he had done by selling Jesus to the Pharisees and the army.
[14:22] And he throws his money out, and he goes and hangs himself. So we see some real significance in this idea of the Kidron Valley, of what the Lord is going through here, and what happened with David, and the kingdom there.
[14:40] It says he went from the Kidron, and there was a garden, into which he himself entered, and his disciples. And look at the end of verse 2. It said Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
[14:53] So it was a place that the Lord was familiar with. Judas was familiar with. The Lord would go there often. Maybe it was just to pray, to get away from the crowd, because many people would be coming into Jerusalem.
[15:05] Think about history. Human mankind began in a garden. The Adam.
[15:16] First Adam. It was born there. And Eve. And then now we have the Lord coming into a garden. Coming to make atonement for your sin and mine. And that's where it starts.
[15:27] And then we have the first sin was in a garden. The first Adam. The Lord is mentioned as the last Adam. And he makes right the things of the first Adam.
[15:43] The first Adam disobeyed God and was cast out of the garden. The last Adam, who is Christ, was obedient as he went into the garden of Gethsemane.
[15:53] So as Adam brought sin and death to mankind, Jesus brought by his obedience righteousness and life to all who put their trust in him. If you would look at Philippians 2.8.
[16:09] It says in Philippians 2.8. And Jesus being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.
[16:21] Even death on a cross. And so this idea of the garden represents obedience. Obedience of the Lord to this Father. That nevertheless, not my will, Father.
[16:35] Your will be done. And he went forth instead of hiding, trying to get away from Judas, knowing what was going to happen. He says, I'm going. I'm going to lay down my life.
[16:46] I'm willing to do it. And before we get to verse 2, in between verses 1 and 2 is Gethsemane. Notice we didn't read anything about Gethsemane in this account.
[17:00] In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you're going to find the story about Gethsemane. The Lord taking his disciples here in this garden. This is where it's happening, in between verses 1 and 2.
[17:14] Why isn't it in this account? John was with them. In fact, John was one of the three that went a little deeper and saw the deep agony, as Luke described.
[17:25] Where it said he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. Why didn't John write about it? He was right there. Was he sleeping? Well, we hear that the disciples were sleeping, but no, I think he knew all about this.
[17:39] He knew all about this. Whereas Luke tells of that awful presence and drops of blood, I think, John, it was not the deity of Christ that he was concerned in that scene, but the scene of agony, or with Luke, I should say.
[18:00] Whereas John, he's looking at the Lord, the Son of God, his deity. Wow, this is who he is. And so he's not focusing on what all the three focused on.
[18:13] It's also the same with the transfiguration. It's not in the book of John. Of all things, why not? Because if you look through John, again, in chapter 1, it says, the word became flesh, and we beheld his glory.
[18:30] The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We see in there that he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I'm the bread of life. I'm the good shepherd. Lord, I am, I am, I am.
[18:43] We see throughout the whole book the glory of the Lord Jesus in the book of John. And here he chooses not to put in what the other three authors about Gethsemane.
[18:57] But we know that what the Lord went through there in Gethsemane. And we know the agony. And we know that he went to pray, and he came back three times. His disciples are sleeping on the job.
[19:08] While his life is in the balance. And he's praying to his father. Father, is there any other way?
[19:22] Nevertheless, not my will, but yours being done. I have come here to do your will. And I think we see then, it's been settled.
[19:35] And Jesus is going forth. And he already knows the story. He already knows the end. And he says, this is what I've come. I've come to do my father's will.
[19:46] Then we have in verses 2 to 9, we have the betrayal. The actual betrayal. And let's look at a few things.
[19:56] We have Judas, who it says, who was betraying him. He's the one to deliver him over. He's the one that's made the contract. He's the one that the Lord said, get out and do what you're going to do.
[20:07] And he went out and they paid him. They paid him money to do this. And look what comes. It says, Judas, who was betraying him, knew the place.
[20:26] And then, verse 3, Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Man, we've got ourselves a, it's ready to have a war.
[20:41] And one side is equipped. They say that a cohort was a tenth of a legion. So it would have been 600, about 600 men. Now, we don't know if all the men went, but that was how many was to Judas' disposal.
[20:56] He probably said, guys, this man is tricky. If you haven't dealt with him, he could slip out of a knot anywhere. We've got to have all, you've got to give me all, everything that I can use to get this man.
[21:09] So they've got their weapons. They've got 600 men at their disposal. It says they've got the chief priests. The chief priests, it says, is probably from the Sadducees. And then they've got the Pharisees.
[21:21] So I note that. If they're from the Sadducees, all of a sudden, the Roman army, the Sadducees, the Pharisees all get along.
[21:35] Remember, Romans are ruling, so Jews probably aren't really excited about them. Sadducees and Pharisees, they don't get along. But when it came to getting the Lord Jesus, they all get along.
[21:52] Let's go get them. He's escaped our hands for three years. Let's get them now, guys. Get the swords. Get the lanterns. Get whatever you can.
[22:05] We're going to get them. And we're getting them now. They knew how he could escape.
[22:17] Think about what it would be like. Bob, I was thinking of you. If there were 600 policemen. What one person would draw 600 policemen?
[22:31] Think about it. It would be like, this guy is the worst in the world. And he could slip out of anything. We're going to get 600 policemen. We're going to get other religious leaders in this.
[22:43] We're going to throw a blanket around this area three miles deep. He will not get through. And think about the confidence that they have that they're going to catch this man.
[22:55] But no. Jesus will not resist arrest. He's the lamb of God who offered no resistance. That's my Lord.
[23:05] That's your Lord. Savior Jesus. He offered no resistance. They called out the cavalry for unnecessarily. And here was our Lord.
[23:18] He's in full control. He knew what would happen. He knew what would happen. Judas even expected probably maybe some kind of trickery. He said, okay, now, the person I kiss, that's the one.
[23:32] That's the one. He said, you know what? Don't let him trick you. I know who he is. I'm going to kiss him. That's the one. Not these other guys.
[23:45] And again, verse one, it said he went forth. Look at verse four. Jesus, therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth. Again, he didn't try to hide.
[23:56] He was like, I'm going to be betrayed. Judas is going to be the one. He's going to deliver me over. I'm going forth. I'm going to do the Father's will. Do the Father's will.
[24:07] And he constantly, in the book of John, the Lord is talking about his father. And I'm going to go back to my father. And I'm doing the Father's will. I pray to my father. This idea, again, of his deity.
[24:19] Unbelievable. Here we have Judas, three years with Jesus. Heard so many stories, saw so many miracles. But he wasn't one of his. I don't know.
[24:30] As I was going over this, I thought, you know, Judas wasn't an unusual monster. He wasn't. What did we hear about him? We hear about his greed.
[24:42] We heard that he had a love of money. He had a love of money. And that money caused him to betray the Lord Jesus. Thirty pieces of silver.
[24:56] Maybe there's someone here today. Maybe someone right in our group that's been going here for a while. And everybody thinks, yeah, what a great person. But inside, you're not one of the Lords.
[25:10] Because the Lord Jesus is just another name to you. He's not your Savior. He's not the one who has taken away your sin when he died on the cross.
[25:24] That brings us to the, in verse four, Jesus says, whom do you seek? Of course, the Lord already knew. But he wanted to find out from them. Do you guys really know who you're trying to catch?
[25:38] Who do you seek? And look what they said. Jesus of Nazareth. Or Jesus the Nazarene. Ah, he's looking for man.
[25:49] They know his name. They know his place. But they don't know the person. They don't know the person. Or else they would not be doing what they are doing right now.
[26:02] They know the name. They know the place. But they don't know the person. But Jesus gives them a little to think about. Look what he says in verse five. Jesus says, I am.
[26:15] I am. He is in the italics probably most of your Bibles. That means it's implied. This is phrase, I am. And can you imagine? Maybe the Roman soldiers, maybe they didn't really know what he was talking about.
[26:30] I am. I am. I am he. Oh, okay, yeah. We got the right guy. What's it say there? Verse six. When he said to them, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground.
[26:43] There was something about the Lord Jesus, his deity, that they couldn't even, with all their might, their strength, their people against these twelve. It says they drew back and fell down.
[26:57] The very name of the Lord Jesus. But I can imagine the chief priests and the Pharisees, probably in the back of their mind, were thinking, wow, he's referencing back to Moses.
[27:12] He's referencing back to Exodus. When Moses said, but who should I tell him has sent me? And he says, I am. Has sent you. I am that I am.
[27:24] Oh, that's Jehovah. That's Yahweh. That's Lord himself. On the back table, there's somebody has ran off some names of God.
[27:35] There's just a couple from the Old Testament. If you go down, one, two, three, six. Jehovah. I am. I am. Or go to the last one, Yahweh.
[27:49] There's some nice little comments to the side. But here, some of them are like, he's going to be God. Wait. And the Lord, it says, he asked them again.
[28:03] So they're blown away by this. The Romans may not know. Think about in Matthew. The wise men, it says, they heard about the Lord. They went.
[28:15] They found the house, the place where you're staying. And they brought gifts. And they bowed down and worshiped him. They bowed. They came to him.
[28:27] But these people, they were literally blown away. But fell down. At the very name of Jesus. The very name.
[28:38] You know what this reminds me of? Would you turn again to Philippians 2? Let me read those four verses, starting with verse 8.
[28:56] Jesus, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We see about his obedience. Therefore, also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
[29:18] And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So I'm reminded of the day when every knee will bow.
[29:32] And I don't believe they're going to be blown backwards and fall down because of the very name. I think they're going to see the Lord and it's just going to drop to the knees.
[29:43] You are. I am. You are the Lord. You are the Savior of the world. And then look now here in verse 8.
[29:58] Jesus answered, I told you I'm he. If therefore you seek me, let these go. Let these go. That the word might be fulfilled which he spoke.
[30:14] Of those whom thou hast given me, I lost not one. I lost not one. So now the Lord is. Isn't it interesting?
[30:27] He's the one taking charge. Come on, guys. Who are you looking for? Me? This is me. Now let them go. Wait. Again, Bob.
[30:38] When's the last time the person getting arrested gets to tell you what to do? I know they probably try to. And this is what, but we don't see any opposition to it. He says, hey, you got me?
[30:50] Let them all go. Because I just prayed in chapter 17, verse 12, that I have not lost one that you've given to me. Except the son of perdition.
[31:00] And this is literally being fulfilled now. And they can't resist it. They flee. But before that happens, we see big Peter.
[31:15] Once again, oh, brave Peter. Verse 10. Boy, Peter is a great fisherman, but a terrible soldier.
[31:32] A terrible, I can't even imagine that he's saying, guys, watch this. I'm going to get his ear. I'm sharing his mind. He's like, Lord, I'm not going to let him get you.
[31:43] And I'm going to get his head. And he's just a terrible soldier. Good fisherman, terrible soldier. Gets his ear. And oh, man, isn't he brave? He goes after the slave. He goes after the slave.
[31:56] We don't see him going head to head with the army, with the ones who've got swords and clubs. No, watch, guys. I'm going to take them all on. I'm going to get that slave.
[32:08] We won't have to worry about Malchus anymore. The same Peter that just a few hours earlier, Jesus was washing his feet.
[32:20] Peter stuck his foot in his mouth. The Lord had to rebuke him. The same Peter who said, Lord, I will go all the way with you to death. And the Lord had to rebuke him. This Peter now is saying, I'll show you how brave I am.
[32:33] And the Lord has to rebuke him. And it's the same Peter that in just a few hours will say, I don't know. We pick on him a lot.
[32:47] And I have to put my name right with him. I think of all the times I'm afraid to say something to somebody about the Lord Jesus. How often an opportunity comes and I just, oh, no, I don't want to disrupt it.
[32:59] I'm just like Peter. I think, oh, we're going to get this situation done. I'm going to do it. But look what the Lord did in verse 11.
[33:11] He says, Peter, put the sword back. Put it back, Peter. I know right now you are zealous, but it's wrong.
[33:22] You don't know. One day you will be talking to thousands of people and you will use the right sword. And you will make an impact on people's lives.
[33:33] But right now, Peter, you don't get it. You don't get it. And look what he said. He has grace. The Lord has such grace.
[33:44] Because in other texts in Luke, I think it is, it says the Lord went to that slave. Put his ear back. Healed him. So the Lord's been betrayed.
[33:56] But instead of anger, hatred, being mad, he heals one of his enemies. And then he looks at Peter and he says, this grace is even for you.
[34:11] Because they probably will want to kill you for chopping off his ear. But I'm healing them. And Peter, the cup which the Father has given me, so I'm not drinking.
[34:24] Peter, I'm in charge. I'm at peace with it. This is what my Father has sent me to do. And you know what? In the Bible, there's different kind of cups.
[34:34] There's a cup of joy in Psalm 23. My cup runneth over. In Jeremiah, it talks about the desolation of Israel. And so we have the cup of consolation, of suffering.
[34:47] But this cup was the cup of judgment. The cup that was handed from his Father to the Son. The cup of judgment for your sin and for mine. The cup that would have him nailed on a cross, dying for your sin and mine.
[35:04] And if we can have the musicians come up here. I want to just read. As we've gone through the betrayal, hopefully you've seen Jesus is in control.
[35:17] He is. In Hebrews 12, too, it says, I better look it up real quick. Hebrews 12, too.
[35:34] With what we've just read, look at this in that context. Hebrews 12, too. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[35:52] This betrayal did not take the Lord by surprise. This betrayal did not bring the Lord's wrath. That's coming one day. But this was one where he was accomplishing his Father's will.
[36:06] And I want to just read. This is from H.A. Ironside. As we go into the Lord's Supper, as we sing, we're going to have a song. By Big Daddy Weave.
[36:17] Called the Lion and the Lamb. And that's what I think about with this passage. He's the Lion and the Lamb. He's the one in control. He's the Lion that, you know, you can't, nobody's over him. But he's the Lamb because he was sacrificed for you and for me.
[36:32] And Ironside says this. It was God who put to Christ's lips the cup of judgment. Jesus received that cup from the Father's hands and drained it to the dregs.
[36:45] And this is what we remember when we gather at the table of the Lord. We think of him, our blessed Savior, going to that cross and draining the cup of judgment to the dregs.
[36:56] If that cup had been placed at our lips, it would have taken all eternity to empty it. But he drank it all in those three hours of darkness on the tree. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
[37:26] The cup which my Father hath given me,