Calvary No.1 The Arrest of Christ

And now Brian and Jenny are bringing Alison, Jane. Brian and Jenny, is it your will and your wish to thank God with the rest of your family for the... Jesus had finished praying. He 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. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 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. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. I am he, Jesus said.

And Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them. When Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, Who is it you want? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

I told you that I am he, Jesus answered. If you are looking for me, then let these men go. This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled.

I have not lost one of those you gave me. 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.

Jesus commanded Peter, Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. Amen. What bliss till now was I read, The wondrous joy to call the nightly? What language shall I borrow To praise thee, and leave my pity with thee? Nor let me faithless prove That we ne'er have used such dying Near me, Lord, to set me free.

For he who dies believing, dies safely in thy love. Blessed God, we thank you for your gospel. And as it's preached now here in this tabernacle, Aye, and as it's being preached in Lansing tabernacle, Will you bless and speak And make a human voice your mouthpiece And a human heart receptacle for your word.

For the glory of the Christ. Amen. You may care to have your Bibles open at John chapter 18.

I have a cousin in the north of England that I'm very fond of. She's literally a sergeant in the police force. A very brave young lady.

She acted as a decoy during the saga when the police were trying to trap a man who came to be known as Jack the Ripper and terrified thousands of women folk up there in the cities of Leeds and Bradford and Sheffield and what have you. And last time I was talking to her, she said to me that if the man that has been arrested is indeed proven to have been the Ripper and guilty of those terrible crimes, it will have been one of the most expensive police ventures in the whole history of the United Kingdom. I think she quoted a figure of something like four million pounds that had been invested into tracking down the man believed to be the Ripper.

Now, in a very different context, what I want to talk to you about tonight is also a unique arrest. For I want to sketch out the events that led up to and the few that subsequently followed the handcuffing, if you please, of the carpenter from Nazareth, the man Jesus, who had given up his trade as an artisan in Galilee and taken over the role of a rabbi and had attracted the attention of thousands and the loyalty of hundreds. To do that, I must bring you to narrow down the experiences of his life to a small enough compass for our study tonight.

I must bring you to the garden where he was arrested. And I am presuming that at least for the majority of the congregation this evening, indeed perhaps for everyone, you have some knowledge, however sketchy, of the background behind the arrest and the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Now, we're going to use as a focal point the fourth verse of the 18th chapter of John's Gospel.

With the context in mind of his arrest just about to follow. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, Who is it you want? Listen to that verse and I'll break it in the middle. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out.

Went out from what? What had just happened? Went out to what? What was going to follow? Went out so what? What's the significance of me bringing this to your attention tonight? Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen, went out. From where did he go? The immediate answer is obvious because it's contained in the first verse of this chapter. He had been for some time in an olive grove, in a garden, just across from the beautiful gate of Jerusalem.

You drop down into a valley. Down the valley at times flows the Kidron brook. And on the other side, there was what seems to have been a private tract of land.

In it grows the most beautiful olives. And it would appear that Jesus from time to time used that as a place where he could have a bit of rest and peace. There was a film I understand some while ago called Away from the Maddening Crowd.

I don't know the first thing about the film, never saw it, haven't a clue what the story is. But there must have been times when Jesus needed to get away from the maddening crowd. The populace in Jerusalem, the people who were always walking up and down, inquiring after Jesus.

Some were hostile, some were inquisitive, and the pressures were piling on top of the teacher from Nazareth. So it was good to be able from time to time to go away from Jerusalem and find a little sanctuary in a garden and there have a rest. And we discover from the Gospel of Luke, the 21st chapter, the 37th verse, also the 22nd chapter and the 39th verse, that this was Jesus' practice.

It was an open secret amongst the disciples that there he would go just to have a break. Now that garden is loved by Christian people. It has the name Gethsemane.

Gethsemane. I think that's a beautiful word, maybe because of its associations. I remember some many years ago, well, not that many, I remember some years ago, as a student, engaging in what perhaps was a ridiculous escapade and driving a single Decker X Corporation Manchester City bus from London to Jerusalem, almost non-stop, with 23 other students.

And our concern was as cheaply as possible to get to the Holy Land and have a look round. And one of the highlights of that escapade for me was wandering around those olive groves in what is reckoned to be Gethsemane. Can I Gethsemane forget or there thy conflict see, thine agony and bloody sweat and not remember thee? Jesus went to Gethsemane to prepare for Calvary.

Our Lord makes his way into the garden and it's a crucial night. He's going to spend the hours in a vigil with God. The intensity of the experience is indicated by the beads of perspiration of blood that flow from his forehead.

Do you know, and it's not too easy, I hesitate to share this with you, but rather it's not too difficult even for younger people to grasp. When Adam sinned, it happened in a garden, the Garden of Eden. Jesus is sometimes called in the Bible the last Adam, because he undid the tangle that the first Adam got the human race into.

And there's a lovely contrast that you can draw between Jesus in Gethsemane and Adam in Eden. In Eden all was lovely. In Gethsemane the atmosphere became increasingly horrid.

In Eden Adam and Eve conversed with Satan. In Gethsemane Jesus conversed with God. In Eden Adam received from Eve the forbidden fruit.

In Gethsemane Jesus received from the Father the bitter cup. In Eden God sought Adam. In Gethsemane the last Adam sought God.

In Eden Adam fell. In Gethsemane Jesus conquered. Jesus came out from the garden, from an encounter with God, resolved that he would go through with his life's objective, resolved that he would offer himself as a sacrifice for believing mankind on the Roman torture rack.

Jesus went out from the garden strengthened by the angels who ministered to him. Jesus the flint man would now set his eyes again towards Jerusalem and none shall cause him to deviate from fulfilling God's purpose in sending him into the world. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out.

From what? From a garden where he'd had fellowship with God. From a garden where to a limited extent he'd had fellowship with his disciples. From a garden where God's messengers, the angels, had ministered unto him.

But to what? Jesus, knowing all things that was going to happen, Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out. To what? Well, he went out to reveal his identity. But to whom? I wonder if you can see as I sketch it in on the canvas.

Perhaps five hundred Roman soldiers making a noise as their boots thump into the soil, marching towards a garden of Gethsemane and alongside backing them up just in case five hundred men are not sufficient to arrest one, there is the temple guard. Jewish men who are a sort of old-fashioned security corps looking after the contents of the temple. And in front of them there is a motley crew, the high priests, representatives of the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

And at the forefront there is that small, shifty-eyed, greedy figure of Judas from Kerioth, generally known as Judas Iscariot. And as Jesus emerges from the garden, he goes towards them. Now, bear in mind their seeking, one they determine to be a fugitive.

That's the reason for the lanterns. There's almost a touch of humour, if it wasn't so serious, as to depict sinful Roman soldiers with torches ablaze, going into a garden to seek out the man who is the light of the world. There's something that is almost pathetic about men armed to the teeth going out to find one who is none other than the Good Shepherd.

Do they feel that he will have lurked behind some olive grove, that he's hiding from them, that they'll need to push back the shrubbery and place in their torches so there's enough light to find him? That's how you usually discover a fugitive. That is similar to the way that they arrested a man in Sheffield a little while ago, suspected of the notorious crimes to which reference has already been made. But this arrest is unique inasmuch as the one who is to be arrested identifies himself, if you please, to the police.

Who is it, you want? Jesus of Nazareth. I'm he. I'm here.

He moves out to reveal his identity. But more. Stay with the passage.

He moves out to manifest his deity. Listen again to the question. Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they replied.

And he says, literally, and even the NIV gets this wrong, I am. Not I am he. I am.

And they fall back, not in worship, but in consternation. One of my less spectacular moments as a pastor, and there have been many, was visiting the geriatric ward of Southlands Hospital some years ago. We had a lady there who was getting a little bit difficult.

And when I was visiting her, some poor student nurse was trying to give her a drink of tea. And she didn't want to have it. So, with my typical modesty, I said to the nurse, It's all right, dear.

Give me the tea. I'll give it to her. She'll drink it.

I'm her pastor. Well, unfortunately, as I leaned over the bed, which had got a sort of cage around it, the student nurse didn't tell me that she'd forgotten to put the brake on the bed. Do you know what the domino theory is? It was the most moving piece of ministry that I have ever given anyone.

Not only did she receive the tea, but those in the beds adjacent were cured of their arthritis. The beds went clunk, clunk, clunk. Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth.

I am he. They drew back and fell to the ground. One tumbling back on another.

As Jesus uses that phrase, those two monosyllables that indicate that he is more than just the carpenter from Nazareth. When Moses was asked, or rather asked God for his name, the Lord revealed it. I am that I am.

And when Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, at the edge of the garden, reveals his identity, he discloses also his deity. And there's a flashing forth of divine power. And rough Roman soldiers tumble backwards, one against the other, astonished by the power of the Christ.

There's a messianic psalm, a psalm which speaks of Jesus, and it says, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Who shall I fear? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen, went out.

To what? To reveal his identity. To manifest his deity. To exercise authority.

Now imagine it. That's a ridiculous thing to say at the natural level when one is describing an arrest. Who's got the authority? Her Majesty's government.

The police officer. Who's got the authority here? Imperial Rome. There's a combination of the forces of Judaism and the forces of the Roman Empire.

But when you analyze this story, my friend, when you see what happens stage by stage, here is an amazing thing. The authority remains with the one who is going to be arrested. I'm he, says Jesus.

If you're looking for me, verse 8, let these men go. That's almost a command in the original language. Jesus is in complete control of the situation.

You see, the point is, as John makes it clear in the fourth verse, our Savior wasn't taken by surprise. He knew all that was going to happen. He couldn't be killed without his express permission.

Neither could he be arrested. Nobody caught Jesus by surprise. He'd been aware all the time.

He knew of the conniving of Judas. He knew of his treachery. He knew of the malice in the heart of Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests.

He knew of Herod. He knew of the vacillating Pilate. He was aware of what the Roman soldiers would do to him in the fortress of Antonia.

He knew all that was in front of him, and yet, blessed be God, he went forward. He disclosed his identity, and he manifested his deity, and he preserved his authority, and he demonstrated his humility. For the time came when Peter, impetuous Peter, unsheathed his sword and made a stab at one of the men nearby, missed his head mercifully, lopped off his ear, and Jesus remonstrates with Peter, and he heals Malchus, the one who's had his ear chopped off, and he says to Peter, Put your sword away.

Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? Here's the humility of Jesus. He knows that in front of him is something that is bitter, something that is unpalatable. But you see, he and his Father, in their will, are one.

Jesus is going to achieve what the Father wants him to do. And so as you see the Christ, oh, I wish I had the words, so that everyone has an indelible impression placed upon their minds at this moment and never loses it. As I see our blessed Lord coming from the heart of that once peaceful spot, that refuge place that was his outside Jerusalem, as he emerges from the foliage, as the full moon, because it's Passover, lights up the scene, you see a man arrested, but a man with deity in his breast, a man with authority in his heart, a man who is in control of the situation, Jesus the Christ.

Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out. From what? To what? So what? You see, I could have held you during the last twenty minutes or so, and this would still be a meaningless address to you. Unless some pointed observation can be made and applied to you as to why Jesus went through this particular experience.

His arrest, my friend, and his death were for all men. I think that this is well enshrined, well symbolized in this event, in as much as not only the Jews came to arrest Jesus, but also Roman soldiers, Gentiles. Jesus shall die for total humanity, and all humankind shall be responsible for his death.

Jesus will deliver himself to the Jews and to the Romans voluntarily. He will go as a willing sheep to sacrifice. In fact, when they've handcuffed him, when they've bound him, they will lead him across the Kidron Valley and into Jerusalem by the sheep gate.

The very gate where thousands, tens of thousands of sheep in history had been persuaded to go to be sacrificed by the temple area. So Jesus, the Lamb of God, shall be arrested by hostile, gentle, Gentile and Jewish forces and taken back to Jerusalem and eventually done to death. What does the person of Jesus mean to you? What does the deity of Christ cause to happen when you think about it in your heart? You see, the reason I put this point is this.

God is fair in his judgment. The Roman soldiers, the Jewish priests, who were present on the occasion of the arrest of Christ, will never have any excuse when they stand before the judgment seat of God for the action that they took. Jesus declared himself to be more than just the man from Nazareth.

Jesus says, I am. Jesus appealed to the fact that he was the Son of the living God and that there was power in that declaration is seen by the effect that it has upon the Romans. They stand in the presence of divinity.

They tumble backwards and still they have the audacity to go ahead and to arrest Jesus and to treat him cruelly in Jerusalem. They witness that last miracle of the Saviour, the replacing of the ear of Malchus and his head. And they still apparently are unmoved.

When confronted with the facts of Jesus, his arrest and his death, its reason and the consequences that can flow, and you don't react, you don't respond, then the responsibility for your eternal state is your own. We are confronted with the person of Christ. He declares himself as being God's own Son who shall take upon himself your sin and my sin.

And unless you accept that fact, then his arrest and his death and his resurrection shall have no value to contribute towards your salvation. Rather, the very knowledge of it shall underline your condemnation and vindicate God in judging you. So I put to you once again the challenge of Gethsemane, the challenge of Calvary, the challenge of the resurrection.

Jesus knows all that's going to happen and he goes forward. He knew right at the onset of his ministry what was in front of him, but he continued to go forward. He knew when he left the palaces of heaven what was in store when he became a man, but he went forward.

For what? For your salvation. For my salvation. To disclose himself as the great I Am, God's own Son.

What does that mean to you? What have you done about it? Have you acknowledged who he is? Or have you heard and it not made any impression upon you at all? Let us pray. Father God, we bow our heads in your presence and in our meditation from your word. By the power of the Spirit, may there have been some disclosure as to who Jesus is, not just the man from Nazareth, but the Son of Man from heaven, the one commissioned by you to make salvation possible.

Lord, may we react in his presence right, not to run away and forget all about what we've heard, but to commend, to commit ourselves to you. Lord, we pray that the gospel of Gethsemane, the gospel of Calvary, the gospel of the resurrection may achieve its objective in our lives, enabling us to confess the Christ of God and ask forgiveness for our sins, because he died to save us. Amen.