Who's in charge around here?
You ever ask that question?
Maybe in a restaurant the service is slow and maybe the food wasn't very good and you sort of are dissatisfied and you look around and you say who's in charge around here?
Who's running this place? It's kind of a rude question. We ask it a lot in America because we're generally rude and impatient.
But John actually wants us to ask this question as we look at the final hours of Jesus' life.
It's a critical question for us to consider because it actually reveals much about the person and work of Christ.
Who's in charge here?
In our narrative this afternoon we really have three options, don't we?
The first is the Jewish mob and the Jewish leaders.
And it's most natural for us to assume that someone has to be responsible for the death of Jesus.
And we see this mob that comes and takes them away.
We see them on trial in front of the Jewish leaders and we think they must be in control.
Clearly they're the ones who are pushing the agenda.
Clearly they're the ones who are running things here.
But what we don't see with this mob and with these leaders is a total control.
In fact, we actually see some great constraints placed on their authority, don't we?
We see it first and most dramatically in verse 6 when they come to Jesus and they say,
and he asks, who are you seeking?
And they say, Jesus of Nazareth.
And what's his response?
It's simply, I am he.
And he says it a couple of times.
And what happens to this great mob?
You can picture them there with their weapons and their torches,
clearly outnumbered, surrounding Jesus.
And he simply identifies himself.
And it forces this crowd of people to draw back.
And John says even to fall down prostrate on the ground.
Something clearly is going on here that they don't fully understand.
There's a power here that they haven't yet comprehended.
We're going to see more of that in a moment.
But the second way we see their control restrained is even just in the judicial process as it plays out broadly.
Can these people actually put Christ to death?
And you'll see this more in a few weeks, but the answer is no.
They're even subject to other authorities.
The Roman authorities are the ones who have to play a role in this.
So who's in charge around here?
Clearly it's not the Jews and the Jewish leaders.
And so there's a second option.
And the second option is Peter, isn't it?
Peter clearly wants to take control of the situation in verse 10.
He wants to be the hero.
He sees this mob coming after Jesus and he says,
I will protect my master.
And he takes out a sword and he cuts off the ear of a man.
You see, he still can't accept Christ's mission.
Earlier in John, Jesus had predicted his death.
He said he was going to have to die for his people.
And Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that.
See, what Peter wants is he wants a Savior, a Messiah,
who's going to stand up to the Romans.
He wants a Messiah who's going to raise Israel up to its proper place among the nations.
That's the kind of Messiah that he wants.
And now faced with arrest, with trial, and with death,
Peter wants to find a way out for Jesus.
And he's left disappointed.
And he's left in denial of ever knowing Jesus.
See, clearly Peter isn't in charge here.
So who's in charge around here?
Who's running this thing?
Well, John makes it abundantly clear that it is in fact Jesus.
And we see this here in three ways.
First, we see it in his innocence.
We see it in Christ's innocence.
One of my favorite shows growing up in the States is a television program called Cops.
I don't know if you have it here.
I haven't seen it.
I've seen similar shows.
But Cops is where they took video cameras and they put these cameramen in police cars.
And it's great because they just go around and you get to see these high-speed chases played out on telly.
And then what inevitably happens is the person that they're chasing will wreck their vehicle.
And then they jump out and they start running.
And so then you get to see these cops get out of their car.
And they're chasing these people through backyards, through countryside, all over the place.
And the cameraman's trying to keep up with them.
And they always inevitably catch the guy.
And when they catch him, the first question they ask him is,
Why did you run?
And the answer, every single time, without question, is,
Because I didn't do anything.
And they say, the response to the cops always is,
If you didn't do anything, then why did you run?
And there's never an answer for that.
See, innocent men don't need to run.
So, where do we find Jesus at the very beginning of this passage?
In verse 18, he's in a garden.
And what's he doing in the garden?
Well, he goes there to pray with his disciples,
which, in verse 2, was his practice.
And it was a place that was known by Judas, his betrayer.
See, Jesus didn't need to run.
He didn't need to hide.
Why?
Because he was acting as an innocent man.
He was doing what any innocent man would do.
He was going about his business.
The second way we see his innocence here
is in the questioning of verses 19-24.
They ask Jesus about the things that he's said
and the things that he's done.
And he said,
If I've said or done something wrong,
then bring witnesses to testify against me.
I've done everything publicly.
I've done everything openly.
I've done everything within the order of our society,
the way that you would expect it to be done.
If I've spoken, I've spoken in the temple.
I've spoken in the synagogues.
I've spoken to loads of people.
So if I've said something that's blasphemous,
if I've said something that's wrong,
bring people here to testify against me.
And what's the response to that?
The result is they resort to,
I guess the politically correct term is
enhanced interrogation techniques, isn't it?
They start smacking them around.
See, Jesus is an innocent man.
What we have here is a setup.
The trial of a man who has done nothing wrong.
John is exposing that.
But he also reveals that this isn't the result
of simply a corrupt judicial system.
This isn't the result of an elaborate conspiracy.
But it's part of a bigger plan.
It's part of a divine plan.
And that's the second thing we see about Jesus here,
is his divine nature being drawn out by John
and being placed before us very, very clearly.
In verse 4, we see it reflected in his knowledge.
Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him,
came forward.
See, Jesus already knows before this scene plays out
what's going to happen to him.
And he moves forward with it.
Why?
Because it's part of the divine plan.
We see that continuing in verses 5-8.
When he asks, who is it that you're seeking?
They respond, Jesus of Nazareth, this mob.
And how does Jesus respond to that?
He responds by identifying himself with a divine name.
He says, I am he.
Now, if you're not as very familiar with the Bible,
I am is a way that God identified himself
several times in the Old Testament.
In Exodus chapter 6, at the burning bush,
when Moses came and he said,
who do I say sent me when he's sent to the Egyptians,
God's response is, tell them that I am has sent you.
We even see Jesus identify himself this way earlier
in John in chapter 8,
when he says, before Abraham was, I am.
And what was the result of that?
Well, he was saying this to a group of religious Jewish people
who understood the Old Testament.
They understood what he was trying to say about himself,
that he was claiming divinity for himself.
And they wanted to pick up stones.
They picked up stones to stone him.
But what happened in that moment?
Jesus simply walked through the crowd
and walked to safety.
He left them behind.
What happens here?
When he identifies himself as I am,
well, the crowd has to draw back, don't they?
And they fall prostrate.
And once again,
Jesus could simply leave in that moment, couldn't he?
The crowd was constrained by the power of God
that Jesus reveals in himself.
But he doesn't leave, does he?
He stays. Why?
Because Jesus came with a divine purpose.
And that's the third thing we see about Jesus here,
the purpose of his coming.
And the purpose of his coming is very simple.
It was to serve as our substitute.
To take our punishment for us.
And we see this in verse 9.
What's Jesus' purpose?
He says,
To not lose any that his Father has given to him.
And we see it again in verse 11.
His purpose is what?
To drink the cup
that the Father has given to him to drink.
See, what we can rightly say
about Jesus' purpose in coming
was that it was to not lose any
that had been entrusted to him.
And the way he would do that
is by drinking the cup
that his Father had given him.
Now, what is the cup?
What's Jesus talking about
when he says he has to drink this cup?
Well, again, it's Old Testament imagery
being pulled out by John.
The cup in the Old Testament
was used for two purposes.
One was for celebration.
It was an image of,
you know,
the psalmist talks about
how his cup overflows.
It was such a joyful and celebratory moment
that his cup is overflowing.
But we also see it used
in the sense of wrath and judgment.
To drink the cup of God's wrath.
That's what we're talking about here.
Jesus is going to drink
not the celebratory cup,
but the wrath cup.
The cup of divine wrath.
The cup of wrath
is actually the cup
that we deserve for our sin.
Jesus, the innocent, divine Son of God,
drinks the cup for you and me.
This is what theologians call
penal substitution.
Jesus acts as a substitute in our place
to take away the wrath of God
that we deserve.
So we see Jesus' innocence.
We see His divinity.
We see His purpose.
What does all that mean for us?
Well, first of all,
it means that
Jesus actively gave Himself up for you.
He was in control of the action
the entire time.
He could have walked away
at any moment.
But He gave Himself freely
to suffer humiliation
and punishment
that He didn't deserve.
because
you are the one
He came not to lose.
See, this is where
an abstract idea
has to become
very concrete for you.
He didn't die
just simply for
the disciples
that were around Him.
He didn't die
simply because
He was caught up
in some great conspiracy.
He gave Himself up
for you.
You are the one
He came not to lose.
But,
and there's a big but here,
we can only ever have Jesus
on His terms.
That's the second thing
that this means.
Jesus actively gave Himself up for you,
but we can only ever have Him
on His terms.
We must accept His control.
And we see this reflected
so clearly in Peter.
See, Peter had an idea
of the kind of Messiah
he wanted.
But Jesus wasn't
that kind of Savior.
Jesus didn't come
for the geopolitical revolution
that Peter was hoping for.
And people in our world
make the same mistake
about Jesus
that Peter made,
don't we?
I think Jesus is great.
Jesus was a great
moral teacher.
He says a lot of great things
that I like.
Or,
Jesus really inspires me
to do good things
for the poor
like He did.
Or,
Jesus is a great guy.
I like Jesus.
And these are nice thoughts.
But if that's all
you think Jesus is,
then like Peter,
you've completely missed
the true Jesus.
You've completely missed
the point of His coming.
See,
Jesus' life,
Jesus' teachings,
His miracles,
and His death
and resurrection,
all served
to announce the coming
of the kingdom of God.
A kingdom that is
wholly different
from the kingdom
that we've been living in
on this earth.
It's a kingdom
that you can be a part of
because Jesus' blood
and sacrifice
opened the way.
It's a kingdom
that we've been separated from
for so long
by our sin.
And because we were
under God's wrath.
But what Jesus does
in His death
and resurrection
is He drinks
the cup of God's wrath
to open the way
into this kingdom.
But we must
turn from our sin
and we must
trust in Him
and we must
give up control.
John really shows
this brilliantly
in Peter's denial.
Sandwiched
between
the first section,
you see Peter's denial
in two sections
and sandwiched
in between
Peter's first denial
and his second
and third denials.
John shows Jesus
actively moving
towards the cross.
You see his act
of humiliation
at the questioning
of the Jewish leaders.
We see Jesus
working
to save
Peter
from himself.
And that's the point
that John is making.
It's a brilliant
literary turn,
isn't it?
because you see
Peter denying
Jesus.
You see Jesus
working for his salvation
and then you see
Peter once again
denying Jesus.
And he concludes,
John concludes
this section
with the sound
of a cock
crowing.
And it's
a poignant moment
in the narrative
because Jesus
had told Peter
that before
the cock crowed,
he would deny
himself,
he would deny
him three times.
So imagine
the devastation
for Peter
in hearing
the sound
of that cock
immediately after
denying Jesus
for the third time.
I want to
suggest to you
that this was
actually
an act
of Jesus' grace
in the life
of Peter.
Peter immediately
was convicted
of what he had done.
He was later
restored by Jesus.
It's interesting,
there's actually
two betrayers
in this passage,
aren't there?
There's Judas
at the very beginning.
And do you know
Judas' fate?
Well,
he would later
hang himself.
Whereas Peter
was later
restored.
So you have
on the one hand
Judas,
a man who
really couldn't
accept responsibility
for what he had done.
And there was
no repentance
or conviction
in his heart.
There was no
cock crowing
for Judas.
But then you have
on the other hand
Peter
who denies
his master
three times.
And yet he hears
the cry
of God's grace
in the cock.
It's hard to hear.
It creates
brokenness
in Peter.
But it ultimately
drives him back
to Jesus.
Jesus.
And what we all
need in our hearts
is to hear
the crow
of the cock.
Do you hear
the crow
in your life?
The crow
of the cock.
Because it's
the sound
of conviction
of sin.
It sounds
like Jesus
calling us,
calling you
to repentance.
It's the sound
of Christ,
of God's
marvelous
and wondrous
grace.
Listen for the
crow
of the cock.
Please pray with me.