Betrayal in the Garden
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When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.
When he had spoken these words:
Upper room discourse (overview)
Chapter 13
Jesus washing the disciples feet,
eating of the passover
Satan possessing Judas and Judas betraying Jesus
Jesus foretells Peter’s denial
Chapter 14
Jesus tells his disciples that he is the way to the Father… He is the way, the truth and the life.
Jesus also encourages by promising the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 15
The True Vine, and they are the branches
he also warns the disciples that the world is going to hate you if you stand in truth and love of Christ
Chapter 16
Jesus speaks more about the Holy Spirit
And gives them hope that he has indeed overcome the world and all those who stand opposed.
Chapter 17
High Priestly prayer
This holy prayer concludes the upper room discourse.
Chapter 18 begins the long story of the Passion, of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trials, beatings, and crucifixion.
So this morning we begin this journey toward the cross beginning in John 18.
After finishing the Passover meal, and teaching and preparing his disciples for his departure, Jesus and his disciples left the upper room, they crossed the brook Kidron (Just to the east of the Temple and city wall).
The crossed the brook and went to the mount of Olives, and on the mount of Olives there was a place called Gethsemane, and in Gethsemane there was a garden.
The garden was an olive garden - the word Gethsemane means, “Oil Press” It is thought that there was as an oil press in the garden in order to make olive oil.
Now, Jesus could have gone anywhere with his disciples.
He could have gone up onto a mountain
as he often did to preach.
he could have gone out into the wilderness or the water
as he often did to get away and pray.
he could have gone to the temple courtyard.
However, he decided to go to the mount of olives, and into an olive garden, in a place called Gethsemane (oil press).
We must be careful not to read over these details to quickly. Here, John is telling us a fascinating story that prepares us for what is to come.
First, we should notice that Jesus enters a garden.
Garden imagery is profound in the bible.
The Bible begins with a garden, and ends with a glorified garden, a garden city.
The first garden is where the first Adam drug all of humanity into the cursed condition sin.
yet here in this Garden, the second Adam is about to free humanity from the curse of the first.
It was in a garden that humanity fell under the weight of sin, and it was in this garden that christ bears that weight of sin for humanity.
Not only is Jesus enter a garden, but he enters it in a place called Gethsemane - it was the Garden of the “oil press”
Even more than gardens, Oil is symbolically overflowing throughout the scriptures
There are times when Oil is seen just as oil
It served a plethora of purposes:
a essential for making food (1 Kings 17:12),
it was a cosmetic (Eccles 9:7–8),
a medicine (Is 1:6).
a fuel for lamps (Ex 25:6),
according the book of Exodus Oil is like liquid light. It marked God’s favor and faithful provision.
However Oil is also sacred and symbolic
Oil was used for anointing prophets, priests, and kings.
Oil was used in the sacrificial system as an act of worship and dedication
Oil is a sign of god’s blessing and provision
Oil was also used for the anointing of sacred things.
The Holy Anointing Oil was used on the furniture and the utensils in the Tabernacle,
the priests were also anointed with this oil to set them apart as Holy to God…
The anointing declared something to be holy
set apart for the purposes of God.
All of this in view when Jesus, our high priest and King, goes to the oil press garden with his disciples.
Jesus willingly enters this garden as the new Adam and as the true olive tree of Israel, who is about to be crushed under the oil press of God’s wrath.
As he is about to be crushed for our iniquities we receive the anointing oil of his death so that we might be made holy. -
IN the NT followers of Christ are called hagios, holy ones or saints.
Jesus was crushed or pressed for our sake, so that we might be anointed with the the oil of the True Olive Tree.
For our holiness before God is not our own, but we are anointed with the oil of Christ that is the Spirit of God, and like the high priests and tabernacle before us, we are declared holy before the Lord.
This is all in view, as John brings us into the garden with Jesus and his disciples…
When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.
It is late, after midnight, and jesus and his disciples walk to the garden together.
We must remember, thats its not all 12 disciples with Jesus, but only 11.
Judas had left a few hours earlier to go and gather together the demonic band of soldiers, temple police, and the Pharisees.
The night it dark, and its darkness is only matched by the Judas’ devilish intentions.
Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.
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.
This is a fascinating verse. Look who it is that Judas brought with him.
a band of soldiers
These were not Jews, but rather a cohort of Roman soldiers.
Some officers from the Chief priests
The officers were the temple police, they were the chief priests’ muscle.
These are the guys that tried to arrest Jesus and failed back in chapter 7.
And the Pharisees
The religious leaders of the day. The great antagonist of Jesus throughout the gospel.
So you have Romans, Jewish Police, and the Pharisees.
And they come marching into the garden with lanterns and torches and weapons.
Its interesting to think, the crowd with Judas carried torches for fear of stumbling in the dark,
but they ended up stumbling on the rock of offense that is Christ.
They come with lights so they can see, yet they are blind to the light of the world who stands in front of them.
They enter into the presence of the light of men, yet blinded by their own sin and self righteousness.
John notes that they not only had torches and lanterns, but also weapons.
This no doubt caught everyones attention. especially Peters, who has already said that he would die to protect Jesus.
I could see Peter keep his hand on the handle of his own sword in case any of these fools tried something.
However, Jesus is wasn’t shook by this unholy mob, he is not intimidated, he does not shrink back.
But rather, Jesus takes control of the situation.
You have roman soldiers and temple police coming with torches and lanterns and weapons there in rank to arrest Jesus, and it is Jesus who begins by asking the questions, it is Jesus who interrogates the mob.
Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
Ah, a questions that has been echoing in the back ground of John’s gospel since chapter 1.
Jesus first words in the gospel is this question to Andrew, “what are you seeking?”
This is the question we all must ask and we all must wrestle with.
The whole gospel of John has been a revelation of Jesus, the son of God, the one whom we are to seek.
He is…
“the bread of life" for the hungry
"the light of the world" for those who are enslaved to the darkness
"the door" to freedom, joy, peace, love, glory, truth and righteousness.
"the good shepherd" who lays down his life for his sheep
"the resurrection and the life" giving hope in the face of death
"the way, the truth and the life" and the only way to the father
"the true vine" through whom we receive the divine life of the triune God.
This is who we are to seek.
Our whole lives are to be a pursuit of the person of Christ.
Our hearts and minds are to thirst and hunger for Christ.
Our lives are to be postured toward Christ
Our relationships are to be centered on Christ
Our desires should be aligned with Christ’s desires.
We should love what Christ loves and hate what Christ hates.
We all have a longing for
Joy and peace and glory
for Love and truth and justice
We all have a longing for
meaning and purpose
For dignity and worth
We seek these things… the problem is we so often seek them in all the wrong places.
We seek these things in ungodly relationships, in spending money, in the habits we form that are not centered on Christ.
We seek within ourselves… which is always a bad idea
Or we seek for that which only can be found in Christ in other people, places, and things, and end up exhausted and discouraged.
There is only one who can cary that weight of our longings, our seeking, our desires… there is only one who will not crumble under the weight of the glory we long for… and that is Christ.
This Question, “Whom are you seeking,” is a question we all must ask, and if the answer is anyone or anything outside of Christ, than we are in desperate need of recalibration.
But now, Jesus asks this question to those who are seeking him, not as king or as savior, but they are seeking him as the enemy, the one who must be destoryed.
They are standing their with torches, lanterns and weapons in hand, and Jesus steps forward into the glare of their lights and asks, “whom do you seek?”
They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
Now this is a powerful moment, and John does not want us to miss the fact that Judas was standing with enemy.
So the effect of Jesus’ answer impacted Judas along with the rest…
When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
In his reply, “I am,” he not only confirms he is the one they are looking for but also gives them a foretaste of his divinity as they are cast to the ground at the sound of his name”.
As Augustine says, “One little word can fell them because darkness cannot stand up in the face of the Light.”
This foretaste of Christ divine power will soon be experienced by not only these unbelieving fools, but the power of his name, the power of the I AM will cause every knee, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, to bow before his kingship.
The power of Jesus words threw his enemies to the ground.
This demonstrates again for us that Jesus is not a victim here. He is not poor and weak - arrested against his will.
Jesus is in complete control of the situation.
Jesus is moving forward toward the cross according to the sovereign purposes of the Triune God. Not because he is a helpless victim of a horrific crime.
For the one who speaks and knocks down a whole mob has the power to do whatever he determine needs to be done.
And thanks be to God, he determined to go to the cross, to die in our place, to war against satan and the dark cosmic powers, so that he might defeat death and free us from the slavery of sin.
So the solders, the jews, and the pharisees and Judas, all stood back up and Jesus asks them again...
So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Again, Jesus controlling the situation continues to ask the questions…
I could imagine the whole mob would have perhaps trembled a bit answering him a second time, “Jesus of Nazareth”
Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”
This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”
This is a reference back to his high priestly prayer when he said,
John 17.12 “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
Also in
John 6:39 he says, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
John 10 28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Christ is the good shepherd who refuses to lose a single one of his sheep. For no one, not even death will be able to snatch us from the hand of our King.
Its a life giving reality when we rest in the fact that we are secure in the hands of our savior.
I remember walking through parking lots with my kids when they were young…
They would often try to let go of my hand by doing this thing…
The first thing i would do is tell them not to do that. But to hold my hand as I held theirs.
That worked most of the time…
But what worked all the time was me holding their hands - no matter what -
No matter how much they squirmed, they were safe… not because they were holding my hand, but because I was hold theirs.
How much more is our security knowing that we are in the hands of the creator, our High Priest and King?
This security should give us great confidence as we live our lives.
We should not be afraid of risk, but with courage we step forward as God has called… not because we have confidence in our grip on God, but because we have confidence that his grip is on us.
So Jesus, demands that the mob let his disciples go free… but he will go with him.
Jesus will walk the path toward the cross willingly.
he was not trapped or forced to go with them.. but he went on his own accord.
However, to Peter, this was not ok!
From the moment Judas led these monsters into the garden and Peter saw their torches and lanterns and the weapons in their hands… Peter was ready to throw down.
And when it looked like Jesus was about to go with them, thats when he decided to act
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
Again, we need to be patient careful readers of the word.
Why is it that John gives us these details?
He leaves many people unnamed in his gospel, and often does not go into detail the way he does here?
Why tell us about Malchus?
John is the only Gospel writer who gives us the name of this servant, as Luke is the only one who tells us that the Lord touched his ear and healed him.
So here, the servants name is important. The name Malchus means “one who is destined to reign.”
However to reign with Christ you first have to be restored by Christ. So as Luke tells us, Jesus healed his ear giving him new ears to hear.
The mangled ear that would have caused deafness in Malchus was put back together and healed so that he might hear the proclamation of the gospel.
With his healing hands, Jesus opens his ears to hear the good news that he, through faith, is destined to reign with Christ.
We should not doubt that Malchus trusted in christ here, for throughout the gospels those who received Christ’s healing, also received liberty and salvation.
Here in Malchus we see the gospel in miniature.
an enemy of God, a sinful rebel, one who was literally following the prince of the power of the air, one who is set against Christ, receives the healing power of Jesus, is made new, given ears to hear, and is made whole.
Malchus understood the redeeming, renewing, and restoring power of Christ better than most.
John quickly takes our attention back to Jesus and Peter as they stand there in the midst of the mob… with a bloody, yet healed Malchus.
Jesus says to Peter in verse 11,
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
To “drink the cup” meant that Christ was to go through with the suffering the Father had planned for him in order to spare his people from drinking the cup of his wrath.
The cup is a symbol of God’s righteous judgement that must be poured out on sin.
all throughout the prophets we see the cup of God’s wrath being consumed by the enemies of God.
In revelation we likewise see the cup of God’s wrath poured out on those who set themselves against the Lamb and his people.
So why is Jesus drinking this cup?
Why is Jesus drinking the cup of God’s wrath that is the punishment for sin?
He drinks the cup, so you and I don’t have too.
He absorbs God’s wrath so that we might be saved.
This is the doctrine of propitiation.
Jesus satisfies God’s righteousness judgement toward sin by taking the wrath we deserve upon himself.
Put the sword away Peter, for it is Christ who is going to take the wrath of almighty God on behalf of Malchus, and on behalf of his chosen people.
Put your sword away peter, for I will be crushed under the blade of God’s perfect righteousness
put your sword away peter, for I am the one who will be cut off, so that my people may be grafted in.
Put your sword away peter, for I am the one who will be crushed under the olive press of God’s perfect wrath, so that nations might be sprinkled clean.
My friends, How are we to respond to such a love as this?
What is the right way to respond to a King who drinks the cup of God’s wrath so that we might drink the cup of his blessing?
How are we to respond to a love so fierce that he would consume God’s anger in our place?
How are we to respond to a King so mighty that he is able topple over his enemies with just the words of his mouth?
How are we to respond to a Grace so extravagant that he would restore the ear of an enemy and make him his friend?
The truth, goodness, and beauty of Christ demands from us a response.
And we are to respond as those who have been given new ears to hear and new eyes to see, and a new heart to trust.
We are to respond with gratitude and thanksgiving
We are to respond with faithful allegiance to the King of glory
We are to respond with devotion and worship.
My friends, the love and grace of God is not silent. Deep calls to deep, the call to seek is always before us. Church, let us respond by loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Lets pray.