The Arrest of Jesus

The Arrest of Jesus – John 18

I am like a lot of Christians in that I like the book of John. People like it for a lot of different reasons. What I like about John is that he lifts high the name of Jesus. John answers the question, “Who is Jesus?” That was the huge debate of the day. People were not at all clear about who this man was. Some thought he was John the Baptist, some thought he was one of the prophets, Elijah or Jeremiah. Some called him teacher and some thought he was demon possessed. Some said he was a good man. Others said that he led people astray. Most people had no idea. [ID Joke]

Now you would have thought the disciples were clear on who he was. Even those closest to him weren’t sure. His cousin, John the Baptist asked, “Are you the expected one or should we be looking for someone else.” His own disciples were confused. I counted 5 times in the book of John where John says that the disciples didn’t understand. This may have been hard for John to write because he was one of those disciples that didn’t get who Jesus was.

That is why John is now sitting down to write this Gospel. He wanted to clear up the confusion. He says I was confused at first, but I know who Jesus is now and you can too. He states his purpose very clearly in John 20:31. We need to put a star in our Bibles by this verse. It is the key to unlocking the book of John.

[Read John 20:31]

It has been said that John is not a history or a biography. It is a sermon and his sermon has 3 points, Jesus is the Christ, Jesus is the Son of God and by believing in Jesus, you have life in His name. He is the promised Messiah, He is God in the flesh and He is the giver of life.

Jesus was the Messiah. John nails this point. If you do a study of John, watch for how many times he makes reference to Moses. Once you start looking, you will see Moses all over this book. The reason is that back in Deuteronomy 18:18:

Deuteronomy 18:18 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

This prophecy was huge in the minds of the Israelite people. When the Messiah comes, He would be a prophet like Moses. Now look at the parallels:

Moses parted the waters. Jesus walked on top of the water.

Moses gave the Israelites bread from heaven. Jesus fed the 5000 and was called the bread of life.

Moses struck the rock and out came water. Jesus is called the living water.

Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness and the people were healed. Jesus lifted himself up and the people were healed spiritually.

John 1:17 says The Law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus.

The book of John is full of references to Moses. And to a Jewish audience, this meant Messiah!

I would like to focus this morning on the other 2 points of John’s sermon. He was the son of God and by believing there is life in his name. And I would like to show how these two points played out through the account of Jesus’ arrest in John 18.

As I was reading through this account of the arrest of Jesus, there was a question I kept coming back to. That was “Who is in charge of this arrest?” Something just wasn’t right. Normally the person making the arrest is in charge. I have never been arrested but I was in a 7-11 one time when a young man got arrested for stealing beer.

[Tell story of arrest]

When I come to the account of Jesus’ arrest, it is not clear that the people making the arrest are in charge.

We are going to see that Jesus picked the place of the arrest. He picked the time. And he picked the terms.

Jesus Picked the place

[Read John 18:1-11]

Judas has already left to get the arresting party. Jesus gets up from the table and takes his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. He could have taken them anywhere, but he took them to a place where He knew Judas knew to look. I get the impression that Jesus had this choreographed perfectly. Probably Judas returned to the upper room with the mob, but when they discovered that they were already gone, he took them to the one place that he was sure they would be, the garden. This delay would give Jesus time alone with the other 11 to prepare them for what was about to happen and to pray with them. It also gave him time alone with the Lord before the hour of the arrest would come.

Not only does Jesus pick the place, he picked the time.

Jesus Picks the Time

The arrest did not take place at all when chief priests and the teachers of the law wanted to do it. They wanted to arrest Jesus and kill him but not during the feast.

[Read Mark 14:1]

They were afraid of a riot and probably the Romans were especially afraid of trouble during the feast. The Passover was a time when people were thinking about the messianic hope. The feast is when Rome most feared a rebellion from the Jews. So they were going to lay low till after the holiday and then go after Jesus. That was the plan. It didn’t happen. They end up arresting him smack dap during the feast. Why? Because Jesus forces them to.

Judas had gone to chief priests and offered them his services (Matt. 26:14). He asked how much they would pay to have him betray Jesus. They offered Judas 30 pieces of silver and he took it. But he thought that no one suspected him. And no one did except Jesus who knew exactly what was going on. So in chapter 13, Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room and he says, one of you is going to betray me. You can only guess how fast Judas’ heart was pumping at that time. And then Jesus says the one that I give the bread to is the betrayer. And he singles out Judas in front of the other disciples. Suddenly Judas’ plan comes crashing down on top of him. How in the world did Jesus know? Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

The plan was to wait until after the feast, but Jesus forced them to move up the time table. So Judas leaves and tells the chief priests that they have to act that night. Jesus knows.

Parenthesis: Judas’ role in the arrest

The Chief Priests and Pharisees had suffered defeat in the past. Every attempt to arrest Jesus had ended in failure. The last time they tried was in John 7. They had sent officers to arrest him. And the officers returned. They said, “Why didn’t you arrest him?” They replied, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”

So when Judas offers his services, they jumped at the chance to use him.

The arresting party came with hundreds of soldiers. They were armed and carrying lanterns and torches. They were expecting Jesus to flee and they were prepared to go after him. They had the lanterns to chase him in the night. They had the weapons to subdue anyone who tries to defend Jesus.

Judas’ role was to use his knowledge of Jesus’ habits to lead them to where he is. And they had even worked out a signal. They were traveling with Roman soldiers who wouldn’t have necessarily known which one was Jesus. The kiss was to get arresting party fixed on the right suspect.

As it turns out, the kiss is completely unnecessary. John doesn’t even record it happening. Not that it didn’t happen, it did. But John doesn’t mention it because Jesus didn’t run. In fact, he took charge. He takes the initiative and asks the band who they are looking for. [Read vs 4]

John emphasizes that Jesus knew all things. The soldiers weren’t sure what was going to happen next. Only Jesus did. Who is in charge here?

Jesus Picks the Terms

Normally when a criminal gives himself up, he relinquishes any control. I don’t see that with Jesus. Even when they have him, they are not in control. He says, “Whom do you seek?” They say Jesus of Nazareth. He said, “I am He.” Except He didn’t say, “I am He.” He said, “I am.” I am sure the significance of this phrase was completely lost on the Roman soldiers, but if you were a Jew, “I am” would stir a tumult of emotions. What He was saying is I am not only Jesus of Nazareth, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And here is the reaction of the arresting party, verse 6. They drew back and fell to the ground. Again, I ask you. Who is in charge here? It is not the ones making the arrest. Jesus picked the place. He picked the time and He is the one who approached the mob. Finally we see that it was Jesus who set down the terms of the arrest. He gave himself up but didn’t not let them take any of the disciples.

John 18:8 through John 18:10 (NASB) 8Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” 9to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”

This is very strange indeed. If you are arresting someone for insurrection, you want to round up his circle of followers. They take only Jesus. You might think, “Well his disciples were harmless. Not hardly. The very next verse, Peter takes a sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. This was exactly the reason for the soldiers. It only takes one act of aggression such as this to set off a riot. The soldiers where there to make sure there was no riot. That should have been their cue to rush in and arrest Jesus and all the disciples if not execute them right there.

The soldiers did nothing. Jesus put an end to the conflict. The synoptic Gospels tell us that Jesus put the ear back on. And then he says to Peter:

“Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”

He says to Peter, you don’t get it. What is happening here is happening because (1) I am allowing it to happen, and (2) because it has to happen because it is part of the plan. And with those words Jesus squelches the conflict. They arrest only Jesus and he is carried away. But the thing that is so vivid in John’s mind and what he wants his readers to see is that Jesus was in complete control of the entire drama.

Listen once again to the words of Jesus in chapter 10:

John 10:17 through John 10:19 (NASB) 17“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

At Christmas time we sing a song a well known song called “Silent Night.” There is one line in the song that says, “Jesus, Lord at thy birth.” Indeed, he was Lord at His birth. But what John wants you to see is “Jesus, Lord at thy death.” This was not the ministry of Jesus coming to a tragic end. This was the good shepherd laying down His life for the sheep. This is the Savior fulfilling the reason for which He came.

It is like Max Lucado said, “No Wonder They Call Him the Savior”. John is saying, I missed this the first time but it is so clear now. He is the Christ, He is the Son of God and by believing in Him, there is life in his name.