Passion

And, we're gonna have our reading now. So please take a Bible and turn to John chapter 18. And that is on page 10 86 of the church bibles. When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the kidron valley. On the other side, there was a garden.

And he and his disciples went into it. Now Judith who betrayed him knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judith came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the 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 Judith 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?

Jesus of Nazareth, they said. Jesus answered I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go. This happens so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have not lost 1 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 Melchus. Jesus commanded Peter, but 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 Annos who was the father-in-law of Kyophus, the high priest that year. Kyophus was the 1 who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if 1 man died for the people. Well, Tom had been, has just finished a series on Sunday mornings in John, 19, and 20. And so we're starting a series in June 18. So we're sort of going backwards.

So it sounds odd, but sometimes we just look at this during Easter time, and I I thought it would be really good in the evenings just to to spend a few weeks just looking at John 18 and the first part of of 19. Let me pray. For the help us now, some of these words are very familiar and some are not And it's amazing how sometimes in a familiar scene, we can miss the obvious. And we pray please It's a warm evening. Our minds can be tired and our body's tired.

Please help us to to see the treasures here and to have warm hearts towards your precious, wonderful word, and see the truths it speaking to our hearts and lives that we may be changed by this, not just here, not just be informed, but hear the very word of god to our very soul. Speaking, calling, crying to us to know Jesus. We pray this in Jesus' name. There's a there's a very old saying. You've probably seen it when you go around those sort of gardens with the national oh, I can't see you, Phil.

Sorry. Can I move this? Is that alright? Well, I think I'll put it back. You go around national, what they called gonna say national front, national trust gardens, and, you see the sign in the garden and it says something like you're nearer to god in the than anywhere else on earth.

Have you seen that? You get it sometimes in the front garden of people that have gnomes that sort of stuff. Or you're closer to go to god's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth. I hate that saying. Because I think what it's really trying to say is you don't need to go to church.

The way you really know god is just in your garden. And there's no sort of commitment other than sitting in a nice garden. And, actually, you don't really need Jesus. To know god because you're nearer to god than anywhere else on earth in a garden. But actually, to be fair on it, maybe it's not as bad as as as I'm making out because, you know, when you see creation, it reminds you of the the good things of god and how god makes flowers and all of that sort of stuff.

But also, because actually, we're told that god does meet people in the garden. Which is quite interesting. So right at the beginning in the first book of the Bible, god is not some distant god, far away, a accept, a force, just a creator. He actually reveals himself as a knowable person and personal god in a garden. So Adam walked with god in the garden.

So that he reveals who he is and speaks in the garden. And then this passage, I don't know whether you noticed, is actually in a garden And here in this garden, Jesus is revealing himself. He is showing who he is and showing what we should, know about him in the garden. You'll notice Jesus asks twice the question. Who is it you want?

Who is it you want or in some versions? Who is it you seek Who is it you want? He asks that question twice. Who is it? Who are who are you after?

See, there are many, many ideas about Jesus. 1 of the big questions you've got to ask is when people say they believe in Jesus, 1 of the most basic questions is, yeah, but which Jesus do you believe in? What what what is the Jesus you believe in? Cause there's lots of versions of Jesus. Isn't there?

Lots of people have an idea about who Jesus is and what he's like? But actually here, in the garden. We can get close to Jesus. We can get close to God because he reveals who he is. Stop guessing.

Stop making it up, stop having your own opinion. This is the authentic Jesus, and he'll reveal himself in this garden. So Let's enter. Let's get closer. Let's see who this Jesus is.

First of all, I want you to see the scene that's going on. This garden scene. We're told in verse 1, look at it. When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the kidron valley On the other side, there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. So Jesus had finished a private time with his followers, his disciples.

They were in the upper room and they were in Jerusalem. And now evening had come. This is passover evening. Evening had come, and they make their way across this thing called the kidron Valley. Now the kidron Valley is a sort of deep valley between the temple wall high up on Jerusalem and this mount of olives.

Where he's going to go to. And there's this this this valley between. It's quite deep. It's quite a deep ravine. It's called the kidron valley.

And he goes, so therefore, he goes from the Temple War, from Jerusalem down into the depths of this valley, and then up over to the other side to this mount of olives. Now in other gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, we're told the name of this garden that it's actually called gethsemane. Gethsemane means oil press where they pressed olive oil. Kidron Valley means Dusky. Gloomy because it was dusky and dark in the valley, but also because the blood from the sacrifice of the temple would pour into the little rivulet of of the kidron valley.

And so it was dusky water bloody water. Now you gotta remember, this was the time of the Passover where there was a lot of blood sacrifices going on. So you're getting the scene. The scene is that you've got a river or a or a stream full of blood It's dusky, it's gloomy. Jesus goes down into the valley up to the mount of olives where there's this garden of gethsemane where there's this oil press.

That's the scene. We know that it's dark. It's night because when they come to a West Jesus, They've got torches and lanterns and weapons. Yeah. We know that it's cold because if you carry on reading in John's gospel, Peter warms himself later by a fire.

So it's cold. It's dark, and there's this group of people coming. Led by Judith, the traitor. Now let me just tell you some just a little quick bit of history about the kid kid kidron Valley. When the king of the Jews David When his son was a traitor to him, and therefore, the people of Jerusalem rejected the king of Israel, David, the great king.

He had to run through the kidron valley, run because he was rejected, and because the traitor his son was after him. So here, you've got you see all that? See all that history? So here you've got Jesus now, and he's gone through the kidron valley, he's in this garden, and Judith is fronting up a large group of people. Now hold it.

You gotta get this. You might have noticed it said a detached of soldiers. That's an official phrase. An attack the detachment of soldiers. And most experts would say a detachment of Roman soldiers meant 200 Roman soldiers plus.

200 plus soldiers. Then you've got the religious leaders the chief priests and all of that lot, and then you've got the pharisees, the religious people. You've got a massive crowd coming through the night Up the kidron valley to this oil press place, gethsemane, led by the traitor, Judith. You see all this going on? It's a very scary scene.

You've got the sacred and the secular joining together to arrest Jesus. You've got the political powers, the Romans, 200 plus, and you've got the religious powers and all of that crew. Led by a traitor here to get the king of the Jews. That's what's going on here. So it's quite a scary thing, and they've got weapons.

We're told, torches, lanterns, weapons, all to arrest 1 man, an 11 followers. It's quite a lot, isn't it? There's the scene. It's the first thing. Got that.

It's very different to the scene here. We're in the light. It's hot and sweaty. There is cold and dark, and that's the scene. Second thing I want you to see is, though, here is Jesus revealed.

And we see that Jesus is in control of this very moment. He's totally in control. It's really interesting. He's in control of everything in the scene. I mean, just quickly look down at the verses.

That's the the numbers, the sentence numbers. So Jesus goes to a known location where they can find him. You see that in verses 1 and 2. It's known that he would go there with his disciples. Judus knew that.

In verse 4, we're told that Jesus knew what was going to happen, so he knows everything that's gonna happen, and yet he goes there. He doesn't run away from it. Again, in verse 4, we're told that he's the 1 that goes out and confronts his captors They don't ask where he is first. He goes out and says, who do you want? Who do you want?

Yeah? So he's in control. It's amazing. He demands the release of his followers, his disciples in verse 8. He demands that.

He's intentionally following a script if you look at verse 9. Look at verse 9. This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have I have not lost 1 of those you gave me. So he's following a script.

It's his script so that this would be fulfilled. And then in verse 11, He rebukes Peter who has a different, way that this should be going on tries to stop this event. And he says Peter put your sword away, man. No. I'm in contracted.

You know, I'm in control. I don't need I don't need you to help me out. This is set up. So you've got all of this arrest of Jesus, but this is the weird thing. He's totally in control of this scene.

Jesus. Totally. You gotta get the idea out of your head that Jesus is some sad victim arrested, and he didn't really want that to happen. He's a he's a sad martyr. He's a sad martyr.

He's not. He's totally in control of this scene. He is deliberately voluntarily going to the place where the oil or the olives are crushed. An oil is made. Now remember that that means something in the old testament, a wine press, an olive crushing press, meant the judgment of god.

It was an illustration used again and again throughout the Old Testament part of the Bible for the judgment of god. Here is Jesus willingly going to the place of crushing at the Kidron Valley where the Passover Lam's blood would flow. This is set up. He's doing this. He knows what he's doing.

So when you're dealing with the real Jesus, you've gotta know that everything that goes on is about him. Not about you. It's a disaster to put yourself in the center of this world. Judous, I guess, and all of the blokes coming up. I mean, 200 soldiers up the kidron valley.

With a whole load of priests and other people with their weapons, powerful. You know, the most powerful army the world's ever seen, the Roman army, Mark up in the night, lanterns, torches, weapons. What are we doing lads? We're having a fight with the Greeks. Are we killing the barbarians?

No. We've only got to arrest 1 man and 11. Hey. This is an easy 1, isn't it? As we march up in our power with our shields and our weapons.

My goodness, we'll be done really quickly here. Won't we? Everybody looks like they're in control. Judith is leading the way. Money in his pocket.

Beautiful. If you think you're in control of your life or you're trying to be, you really don't understand this Jesus. You're not in control. You're not in control. Jesus is writing the script of god.

And in his kindness, might bring you in as a minor character. And if you think you can oppose Jesus or just ignore Jesus It may look like you can, but you'll find out in the end that your script will be screwed up and burnt. The script of Jesus is the most important thing. He's in control. There's the scene.

Jesus is in control. Here's my third point. Jesus makes himself clear who he is. He makes massive claims. Jesus makes massive claims.

Here in the garden, he makes massive claims for who he is in the garden, in the darkness, in this arrest. It's often when we're under great pressure, isn't it? That our real character comes out? Isn't that right? Yeah?

When you're under great stress and pressure, you suddenly think my goodness, I didn't realize I was that ugly. Is isn't that right? Or I didn't realize I was just so weak. I seemed to crumble so quickly. And here is the real Jesus coming out in this stressful situation in this arrest.

Look at verse 2. Let me just read it. Look, It's chapter 18 verse 2 of John's gospel. Now, Judith who betrayed him knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So, Judith came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the pharisees, and they were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.

Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him went out and asked them. So he's not hiding in the in the olive trees. He comes out. Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth, human name for Jesus.

Jesus, the the bloke from Nazareth, He replied, I am he. Jesus said. Now his identity is here. Jesus of Nazareth, human, but he says I am he, something altogether different. I am he.

He says it 3 times in this little passage. Verse 5, verse 6, verse 8. I am he. I am he. Who is it you want?

We want the human Jesus of Nazareth. I am he. I am he. I am he. Now, little bit technical stuff here.

Get this into your head. The word he is not there. In the original. It's just I am. That's all it is.

I am. Who is it you want? Jesus and Nazareth, they replied, I am. I am. Now you've got to know a little bit about the Bible understand.

Whoa. What are you saying there? You've really got to understand it. If you go right back to the second book in the Bible, Exhesus chapter 3, god appears to Moses in a not burning bush. Yeah?

He appears in a not burning bush. And god says to Moses, I'm sending you to the king of Egypt pharaoh to let my people go try and log that in as well to let my people go. And, Moses says, well, it's all very well. You know, I'm gonna go to the king of Egypt the most powerful man in in the world at the time, and I'm gonna say, let my be, who should I say sent me? Well, I mean, what god are we talking about here?

What's your name? And god says through the not burning bush, I am. That's my name. I am. That's intriguing because he doesn't say I am the great god.

Or I am the king of the universe. He just says I am. And, you know, it's a very intriguing name. I am. What's your name?

I am. It's slightly odd, isn't it? Hi. Hello. How are you?

Yeah. Alright. Thank you very much. What's your name? I am.

What? I am. Will I am? Yeah. He's not as stupid as that bloke because I am actually is basically saying, look, you can't place me in anything, in any category.

I'm bigger and grander. I have no beginning. I am. I am. I have no end.

I am. I'm eternal. Like, I'm god. I am. That's my name.

And so it's a phenomenal sentence here. Jesus is claiming, who are you looking for? Who do you want? We want Jesus who was born in Nazareth. I am.

It's extraordinary. And even the Roman god understood what Jesus was claiming, that he is god. Interesting, by the way, if you look through the book of Isaiah, which is an old testament prophet, it's very interesting because 7 times in the book of Isaiah, god says he will reveal himself, and the phrase I am he is used 7 times in in Isaiah. It's very interesting. Jesus, by the way, use 7 titles.

I am the living water. I am the bread of life. I am the way the truth and the lie. Very interesting. 7 so there's a lot of Isaiah stuff here as well going on.

But I am In other words, I am the uncreated being. I am what everything is about. You would not hold your atoms or molecules together without I am. I am. Jesus hasn't come to teach us about god.

He's god, the teacher. That's who he is. I am. And he reveals himself. Now listen, do you know Jesus in that way?

Jesus is the 1 that holds everything together. He is the I am. He is the I am. So do you see what's going on here? We've the scene, Jesus is totally in control of this whole event.

There's all kinds of references to old testament here, and Jesus is claiming that what no other prophet has ever claimed, that he is in fact god. I'm not going to point the way to god. I am god. That's what that the Jesus who was born in Nazareth is the I am. What's 2 2 natures in 1?

Okay. Here's the fourth thing. Look at the reaction to the real Jesus because when you understand who Jesus is, there's a reaction Look at verse 4 then. Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him went out and asked them Who is it you want? And who do they want?

Jesus of Nazareth, that 1 little bloke who was born in Nazareth that we can arrest. I am. Jesus said, and Judith, the traitor was standing there with them. When Jesus said, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground. Even Judith suddenly got it.

But who are the other they? Who are the other bits of the they? That's the 200 soldiers. They fell back. You've got to get how amazing that event is.

These are 200, at least a detachment of soldiers. These are 200 trained men In the best army or at least 1 of the best armies, the world has ever known, ever known. The most disciplined army, the Roman army. They didn't fall back they were supplied with shoes, the Roman army, but not just shoes with studs on the shoes of bone or metal so that they wouldn't fall back ever. You don't fall back as a Roman soldier, you put your foot in, you stand firm, and you fight, you move forward.

We were used to that. Here is 1 Jesus of Nazareth, a bloke that was born in this tinpot town with 11 disciples who didn't know what the what was going on. Led by a bloke who is a traitor. We want Jesus. What do you want?

Jesus of Nazareth. Is is that who you want? I am. Why? And all of the Roman troops are now lost their footing.

They're in the surrender position. Including including judas. They're immediately down in a surrender position. An imperial troop, hardened blokes, gentle Jesus, meek and mild, just says who he is, and they're down. You see?

Who is Jesus? It's interesting whenever you look in the Bible, anyone that really has an experience of God seems to fall over. It's the surrender position. That's why. You you really can't know Jesus if you come cocky and proud.

It's the fall over position. Izekio fell on his face. We're told he was a prophet in the old testament. Saul, he fought he's he became poor. He falls off his horse.

Yeah? Peter when he sees Jesus falls down. Over and over again, you get these people just falling down when they suddenly understand that this isn't just Jesus of Nazareth. This is Jesus of Nazareth. I am.

It's amazing, isn't it? Isaiah who talks about I am he will come 7 times He says, when he experiences god, when he experiences he like, woe to me, I cried. I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the lord or my cheek, he falls down. When you suddenly understand who Jesus is, If god is here, think about what you've said. The god of truth Hello?

I'm the god of truth. Oh my goodness. What did I just say? Yeah? I am ruined.

I am a man of unclean lips. I'm among a people of unclean lips. My eyes are seen. The king, the lord almighty. It's traumatic to you when you know this real Jesus.

It's traumatic, actually. And it it's actually a bit depressing. Because suddenly I'm not in control. I thought I was. I love the idea of having a god that helps me be more in control.

But actually, I'm totally out of control. He's in control. He's god, not me. Is all about him, not about me. Woof.

I'm I'm over. I'm over. All the little bits in my shoes that I've tried to keep myself standing with doesn't work. I need to be in a surrender position. And so have you have you done that?

Have you surrendered to Jesus? Or are you still trying to write your own script? So you've got the scene. You've got Jesus in control. You've got Jesus makes these massive claims.

You've got the reaction to Jesus. But hold it. There's just there's there's there's 1 more thing. You gotta see this. I don't know.

I'm trying to be quick. But look, the work of the real Jesus, you really see his work. This Jesus of Nazareth, this I am, this god become a man came for a work, and it's revealed here it so lovely because Jesus is the substitute who will stand in the surrender position for you? Look, he's just revealed himself as king. Or that the Roman army has just bowed and put themselves in a surrender position.

And what does Jesus do? You'd think he'd say, told you I was I am, I win. I'm king. Follow me now. But it's at this very point.

He says, take me. He's just won the battle and he says, our surrender. It's extraordinary. Just look look look what happens first, I say Jesus answered I told you that I am, he, if you're looking for me, let these men go. Let my people go.

Let the men go. Then little verse 9. This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have not lost 1 of those you gave me, not 1. Now there's so much here I mean, there is a lot here.

It just shows you how rich the Bible is. You know, you know when you meet people that say, I'll read the Bible. And you think, no, you haven't. You know, I mean, I've been reading the Bible for 40 years. And still, I thought, well, my goodness, how did I miss that?

It's so so rich here, isn't it? Because here is Jesus, the Jesus of Nazareth, the I am, who is saying I am about letting my people go. You know when it says, it says there, let these people go. Do you know what the word for let these people go is? Do you know what the word is?

Forget them. It's an interesting phrase, isn't it? Take me, forgive them. Do you see? Do you see that?

Take them, forgive me. Now, some people say, oh, you're making a bit too much. A bit of a con connection. Well, you get the connection constantly in this passage. Look at verse 11 where Simon Peter 1 of Jesus followers gets out a sword and he cuts off the, you know, he obviously missed.

I doubt if he was aiming at the ear. He's aiming at the head, wouldn't he? And he missed and he chopped the blokes ear off. And then in verse 11, Jesus commanded Peter. It's a very strong language.

Put your sword away. And then listen to what Jesus says, shall I not drink the cup my father has given me? What's he talking about drinking? See, thirsty? No.

There's an that's a whole load of rich language there. The cup is the cup of broth the cup of god's judgment. The judgment, in other words, I will take the judgment cup of god. Peter, don't stop that. I am about being a substitute.

They go to be forgiven, forgive them. I'll go in their place I'll take the judgment. Now in case you still think, I'm just making this up and I've got the cross in my eyes too much. Then look at verse 14. Because it's rubbed in again in this passage.

Look, Kairfuss was the 1 who had advised the Jews 1 of the chief priests had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if 1 man died for the people. Do you get it? Take me, forgive them. Let my people go. I'll go in their place.

Yeah. I'll take the cup of god's wrath. Yeah. I'll drink that. You're not gonna stop that, Peter.

1 man in the place of the people is constantly there. Now where was Jesus? I reminded you at the front right at the beginning. He's in a garden. What happened in the original garden?

Adam, tried to substitute himself to become god, and it all went wrong. Yeah? He was thrown out of the garden, so he couldn't know god. And what was in place to stop him ever going back to the garden? An angel with a whacking great sword?

What does the sword mean? The sword means this is a judgment. You cannot come to god without judgment you cannot get near to god in the garden without the sword coming down. Peter draws a sword Is this accidental? Peter draws a sword to try to judge people who are taking Jesus and Jesus is angry, and he's saying to Peter, you don't judge them.

I take the sword. I'm taking the sword. The way into the garden where you'll get to know god, the way back to the garden is it's is the judgment falls on me. The cup I will drink the judgment of god for the sins of the world, the sword, the execution. I will be the 1 who is put through the wine press, the olive press, and squashed under the judgment of god.

I am the passover lamb whose blood will go into Kidron Valley into that Dustkey gloomy place. That's what's happening here. It's all there. This is the work of Jesus. He is your substitute.

And if he isn't, then that sword and that cup and that crushing will be upon your head. But he says I'll do it to let my people go. So let's finish. Have you met this real Jesus? Have you met him?

Have you met him like this? He is Jesus of Nazareth, he is, I am, he is man, he is god. He's altogether different from you see, it's always annoying, isn't it when people bang on about comparative religions and all of that sort of stuff? It's just it's interesting. It's just nonsense.

Or even that Christianity is a bit bland and a bit boring. We were animal self or Bill Bailey, a comedian last night. He's very funny. He was going on a bit about religion. I mean, he's he's normally really good.

But, it it was quite it was quite funny. He was saying, let's compare religion to herbs. You know, And he said, no, Islam. Of course, Islam is Oregon because he only grows in hot places, you know. You you don't you don't you don't get it in Iceland.

He's saying like this. And then he says Christianity Christianity, of course Christianity is like parsley. It's rather bland, but it grows anywhere. You know? And it is funny.

It was funny. He was very, very funny, but Christianity isn't bland, actually. It isn't bland. It isn't parsley. This is spicy.

This is hot. This is amazing. This is god come to the world as a man to save you, to bring you into his plan, not he into your city little plan, Your plans could never be big enough for god. Yeah? But to bring you, whoever you are into his plans.

So have you met this Jesus? Who are you after? Jesus of Nazareth, they replied, I am he. Jesus said, and Judith, the traitor was standing there with them. When Jesus said I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground.

Can I advise you to do that? Can I advise you to do that? Stop your plans and get into his, fall to the ground. Who is ruling your life? Who really?

Really? Who's ruling your life? This 1? Or you wanting a god to sort of help you rule your life? This is what the real Jesus is like.

Which Jesus do you follow? The 1 in the garden? Well, next week we'll carry on and we'll start looking at Peter and his denial. Filed god help us now to really see this Jesus of the garden, amen.