The Cup The Father Has Given - John 18:2-11

Copyright March 29, 2024 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Tonight, I want to take you on a journey to the Garden of Gethsemane to the account of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. I want to observe this account and draw some lessons from it.

Preparations for Passover were well underway. A room was selected, and the food was gathered and prepared. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. The disciples celebrated Passover together with Jesus. When the meal was over. Judas was dismissed. As the disciples headed to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gave some last-minute extensive teaching. These are some of the most cherished teachings in the Bible. Most of it can be found in John 14-18. They stopped somewhere along the way to the Garden, and Jesus prayed with and for the disciples. It is a prayer that is recorded in John 17. From there, the disciples went into the Garden, and Jesus prayed by Himself. If you remember, He asked Peter, James, and John to “watch with Him,” but the night was late, and they fell asleep. Jesus agonized in prayer, and then we read the text I want to look at tonight.

Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. 3 The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

4 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

5 “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I Am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

8 “I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” 9 He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

The Presence of Jesus

The first thing to see is the presence of Jesus. There was a mob that came out to arrest Jesus. This mob consisted of Roman soldiers (likely a significant detachment). The temple guard, religious leaders, and, I am sure, some other people. This was an extraordinarily large group to bring in one man. I am sure they were concerned that the followers of Jesus would put up a fight. But Jesus didn’t hide; He didn’t back away. The other gospels say Judas indicated which one was Jesus by a kiss. Jesus did not slug Judas, which most of us would have been tempted to do.

Jesus asked very simply, “Who are you looking for? When they answered they were looking for “Jesus the Nazarene,” Jesus calmly responded, “I Am he.” The power of this “I Am” statement knocked this mob back on its heels.

“Throughout John’s Gospel, we have looked at the “I am” sayings of Jesus: “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” and so forth. Each time Jesus gave one of these sayings, He used a unique phrase, rendered in the Greek as ego eimi. Both of these words mean “I am,” so if you put them together, ego eimi literally means “I am, I am.” As we saw earlier, the Greek translation of the Old Testament rendered the ineffable name of God, Yah-weh, by this same strange construction, ego eimi, which can be translated “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14). Thus, when Jesus used this construction, He was claiming deity for Himself. That is the phrase Jesus used here, when He addressed those who had come to arrest Him.”(Sproul)

One would have thought this might have given these guys a chance to stop and think about what they were doing, but they didn’t. They had a job to do.

Jesus calmly asked who they were looking for again, and they repeated that they were looking for Jesus. Mark tells us that Jesus rebuked these guys for coming out as if they were tracking some fugitive. Jesus was in complete control, unafraid, and at peace because He dealt with His emotions when He prayed in the Garden.

The Protection of Jesus

Next, notice the protection of Jesus. The one thing Jesus was concerned about was protecting his followers. Earlier in the evening, in the upper room, Jesus talked about love. He said,

Greater love has no man than this, that a man give up his life for His friends.

Jesus was willing to go with the mob, but only if they freed the disciples. The disciples, of course, were the key to advancing the gospel. But there was more to this than simply the practical side of ministry. Jesus had spent about three years with these followers, and they experienced many things together. No one understood who Jesus was better than these guys. They loved Jesus, but He loved them even more. The one person who was not concerned for Himself was Jesus.

I wonder how many times His words on love were repeated in the heads and hearts of these disciples as they came to understand why Jesus gave up His life. He did it for them . . . and He did for us.

To those of us who follow Him, he says, “No one can snatch you out of my hand.” He said He would never reject them. And He makes that same promise to you and me.

We have a hard time believing that promise sometimes because….

· Someone who promised to do a job for us only did it part way.

· Someone who said they knew something about a subject, lied.

· Someone who said they would stand with us through sickness and in health, till death do we part, left the marriage.

· Someone we thought was our friend turned on us.

· People for whom we voted made promises they conveniently forgot when they got into office.

· Someone promised to pay us back for a loan, and never did.

It is hard for us to trust people because so many people have proved untrustworthy in our lives. I wonder if that is the reason we have a hard time fully trusting the Lord. We don’t understand how far Jesus was willing to go to defend those who are His.

The Passion of the Disciples

Third, we see the passion of the disciples . . . specifically, Peter. Peter pulled out his sword (probably more of a dagger), took a wild swing, and caught the ear of the High Priest’s servant. I suspect it bled like crazy. It was a critical moment that could have gotten ugly in a hurry.

I don’t think Peter gets enough credit for his heart in this moment. He was willing to die rather than let these men take away the one he knew was the Messiah. He had vowed that He would never desert him and intended to stand by those words even if it cost Him his life. I think they really did believe it was better for them to die than for the Lord to be taken. They understood that they could be replaced, but Jesus was one of a kind. It is too bad we remember Peter more for his denial than his willingness to defend his Lord.

Of course, you remember the story. Jesus rebuked Peter and told him to put His sword away. Jesus quickly diffused the situation; he also undid the damage by putting the servant’s ear back on. This was a second opportunity for this mob to say, “You know what? I think this Jesus really is the Messiah and we should be following Him rather than arresting Him”

It is natural in a situation like this to either run or fight. The disciples were ready to fight. There is a sense of honor in their desire to protect their Lord. That sense of honor is largely forgotten today. People fight now because they want something someone else has. They fight because it makes them feel superior. These men were willing to fight over their loyalty to Jesus.

The Perspective of Jesus

This leads us to the last “P” the Perspective of Christ. After Jesus repaired the damage from Peter’s sword swinging, he said to Peter,

“Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

Wow! What a question? Jesus shows us that sometimes the way to achieve God’s will is not by dodging suffering but by embracing it. Jesus did not have to go with the mob. He said He could have called 10,000 angels (Matt. 26:53) but He didn’t.

In 2 Kings 6 we read the great story about Elisha tipping off Israel as to where the Aramean would attack next. One morning Elisha’s servant awoke to see horses, chariots and soldiers everywhere. They were surrounded by the angry Aramean army! The servant was freaking out when we read,

16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lordopened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

This is the situation we have here. Jesus was likewise surrounded by the angelic host. All that was needed was one word and those angels would have made short work of this mob. But Jesus did not call on the angels because that is not why He came to earth. He came to make it possible for us to be reconciled to God.

Think about the question, “Shall I not drink the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” Some people have a hard time with this question. They don’t believe the Father would ever give a “cup of suffering” to His child. Yet, sometimes it is in the suffering that we can best serve and honor Him.

All of the disciples (except John, who was sent to an island to be isolated from others) died as a martyr. Like Jesus, they drank the cup of suffering the Father had given them. Jesus did not say the Father inflicted the suffering. The Father knows what is coming, and rather than deliver His children from such suffering, He sometimes ordains us to go through those things.

This should change our perspective on life, shouldn’t it? Just because things are not going the way we would like them to go doesn’t mean we are outside of God’s will. Unfortunately, some teachers teach that if you have enough faith – you will prosper and life will be good. These teachers often parade their expensive suits and lavish lifestyles as evidence of what they teach. By their reasoning, it must be that Jesus and His disciples must not have had enough faith.

It is said that the martyrs' blood has been the church's seed. In other words, sometimes people need to see faith lived out in the most challenging times to believe that this faith is genuine. When a believer can rejoice even in suffering (trusting the wisdom and power of God), that speaks volumes!

Let’s draw an important application here. If we really believe that God is in control and that we are to glorify Him in every circumstance, then it means we should rejoice and drink the cup of suffering that might be

· A devastating diagnosis

· A sudden loss

· A broken marriage

· The loss of a job

· Relentless opponents

· Physical Pain and discomfort

· A loss of independence

This doesn’t mean we ever stop fighting against evil, pain and heartache, it just means that we trust if we have done all we can do and the problem remains, this could be a cup of suffering the Lord is asking us to drink. It is not an easy assignment but it is an important one.

Lessons to Ponder

Let’s draw some applications here. First, let us marvel at the love of God as revealed in Christ. He chose to endure all of this so that we could be forgiven and be seen as righteous in the Father’s sight. He went willingly with the guards and on to the cross. He did it to save us.

When you feel forgotten by God, let your mind drift to the Garden of Gethsemane and the hill known as Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. Stop and gaze at what took place there. Jesus was not coerced into these circumstances; He willingly entered the pain and suffering for us.

Second, Jesus told us to love one another as He has loved us. Much of what we call love today is not much more than selfish lust. We love people until we get what we need from them and then toss them aside. Jesus loved and protected the disciples with His own life. In like manner, we should be looking for ways to “consider others better than ourselves: (Philippians 2) Our job is to love one another with the same kind of sacrificial love He showed to us.

Third, we need to remember that our ways are not the same as the Lord’s ways. We are way too quick to pull out our swords and start chopping off whatever is before us. That is not the way of Christ. He is stronger than any opponent we may face. All that was needed was the simple words, “I Am He” and the mob was thrown back. He can and will defend us if we allow Him to. He is the Mighty God, and we should not forget that fact.

When we encounter a conflict situation, it is our job to remember that God wants us to address problems with love. Jesus could have addressed power with power (10,000 angels), but He didn’t. Instead, He offered Himself as a sacrifice.

Finally, we are reminded that we must be prepared to honor the Lord in all circumstances. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4,

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.

A few verses later, He drives it home.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.[1]

If we are going to follow our Savior's example, we need to look beyond this world for the treasures we so desperately seek. We need to trust His promises, His ability, and His strength. We, too, must stand at His side, ready for His instructions. And if we will do that, we will be ready to drink whatever cup He asks us to drink.

[1]Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), 2 Co 4:16–18.