Jesus the meek and caring King

Introduction

So now we have finished looking at the upper room, or the farewell discourse. We have also finished looking at Jesus prayer in chapter 17. Now we come to the final movement of the book of John, where we come to the actual events of ‘the hour’ or Jesus’ glorification, which is the events of the cross. And in today’s passage, we are looking at the actual arrest of Jesus. And although this story on the outside looks like a moment of weakness and defeat for Jesus as he is captured and taken away, we actually see through his arrest that Jesus is indeed a powerful king. And we see a king who defies all human expectations. So what do we actually learn about the LORD, king Jesus?

Why don’t we read the passage together?

Jesus: The Powerful King

Firstly, we see that Jesus is a powerful king, with authority and might. But on a surface level reading, this may not be obvious. You see a whole lot of opposition against Jesus - read John 18:3 “3 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.”

We see ‘a band of soldiers’ opposing Jesus - these soldiers would have been Roman soliders.

We see ‘officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees’ - these were the Jewish temple police or guard, so even Jesus’ own people were against him.

And we see Judas scheming behind the scenes, so even his trusted disciple was against him. And remember, it’s said earlier in the book of John that the devil entered into him (John 13:27), so it’s not only Judas, but also supernatural forces.

So the combination of the Roman soliders, the Jewish temple police, Judas, Satan, shows the incredible forces that Jesus was up against. Not only the natural, but also the supernatural. The whole world was opposed and against him (cf. John 1:10). And in contrast, we see this lonely man, alone, about to be betrayed by not only Judas, but all his disciples. Speaking on a realistic and very human level, Jesus looks weak, and there seems to be no hope for him (cf. Isaiah 53:7-8).

But throughout this passage, there are clues that show us that in this entire ordeal, Jesus is in complete control, despite how things may appear on the surface.

Read John 18:4 “4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?””

John 18:9 “9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.””

Jesus is not caught off guard or blindsided when he is arrested. On the contrary, it was his intention and plan.

And no where is his control, and complete power, displayed more than verses 4-6. Read John 18:4–6 “4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.”

When Jesus asks them ‘whom do you seek’, and they say ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, Jesus says ‘I am he’ -> in the Greek, it is simply ‘I am’ (not ‘I am he’). Jesus is making a direct reference to the holy covenant name of God, YHWH, ‘I am who I am’. And when he says that, what happens in verse 6? It says ‘they drew back and fell to the ground’. It’s as if in that moment when Jesus declared himself as the ‘I am’, they had a glimpse of the divine awesome majesty of Jesus, God in the flesh, in the weak and vulnerable person standing in front of them. And they briefly saw who He was as the ‘I AM’, and they recoiled and fell on the ground.

The very mighty power of God, comes in lots of different forms in the Bible. Sometimes it’s so obvious, like when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, when God parts the red sea for the Israelites to escape. But sometimes it’s not that obvious - when Job’s life was falling apart, when David was running away from Saul and his own son Absalom, when the kingdom of Israel fell before the Babylonians and Jeremiah is sitting among the ruins weeping and lamenting, and now Jesus being overpowered and arrested and taken away. But no matter what things look like on the surface, God’s power is the same. That same very mighty power of God that split the Red Sea, is still there even in the situations when it’s not obvious. Even when it looks like Jesus has been defeated, all he has to do is even mention is name, ‘I am’, and even the glimpse of that power causes everyone in front of him to fall to the ground.

So in our lives, whether in good times, or difficult times, the true spiritual reality is that Jesus is the ‘I AM’, and his name is powerful. Jesus is the one who has overcome the whole world. He is utterly and completely reliable. He is a powerful and trustworthy king, that we can rely on, and who we can pray to. So we always need to remind ourselves in all moments of our lives, whether good or bad, who He is and of his powerful name.

Jesus: The Meek King

But the power of Jesus is not just swords and shields. He doesn’t come as a mighty warrior or a conquering king. He comes as a meek king. I’m not sure if you remember from the camp earlier this year, but we looked at the Beatitudes, and one of the verses was Matthew 5:5 “5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Remember, meekness, is not weakness. Meekness, is a complete humble submission to the will of God. It is reigning in and withholding all your power, desires, agendas, purposes, and instead obeying, submitting, and working for God’s agenda and purposes. And Jesus is the perfect model of meekness. Why?

Jesus walks into the situation of this arrest voluntarily and willingly. He could have summoned an entire army from the heavens to destroy his enemies. He could just just willed for this entire situation to not happen. He could have chosen not to go to the cross. But he willingly accepts his suffering, his arrest, his journey to the cross. Read John 18:11 “11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?””. The cup symbolises the pouring out of God’s righteous anger and judgement. And Jesus is meek because He is willing to obey the Father by drinking the cup of God’s judgement, because this is the Father’s plan and will, to bring salvation to all believers, by giving judgement on his very own Son, rather than us. How merciful and loving is our God, that this cup of judgement is given to Jesus, rather than the enemies standing before him, arresting him? And the Father’s plan was only possible, because the Son was meek, and obeyed the Father.

And what is the heart that lies underneath Jesus’ humble submission and meekness to the cross? His loving care for his flock. Remember Jesus is the ‘Good Shepherd’ (John 10:11) - he will not lose a single one of his sheep. And we see this complete loving committment that Jesus has for us in this passage as the good shepherd:

Read John 18:8 “8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”” - here we see Jesus drawing all attention to himself, so that his disciples will be freed.

Read John 18:9 “9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”” This is similar to what we read earlier in John 13:1 “1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (also similar to John 17:12). Jesus loves us to the very end, and makes sure that not a single one of us, not a single one of his sheep become lost. So when God saves us, He saves us once and for all - it is complete, and perfect. This means our salvation and the perfect eternal life we receive from God, no one can take it away, because God’s salvation is perfect. Not even our own failures can take away our salvation, the classic example being Peter who showed the ultimate failure of denying Jesus 3 times.

And this very power of Jesus to save us, that is so perfect and reliable, is because he was the perfectly meek King, completely submitting to the plans of the Father even at the cost of the suffering on the cross, which frees us from the power of sin, death, and Satan once and for all.

So Jesus is not just a model of meekness for us. His meekness itself is the very basis for our hope, joy, and eternal life.

Conclusion

So through this passage, I hope you’ve come to know a little bit more about our king Jesus today. Our king is different to the kings of this world, it’s different to human expectations. He is still powerful; actually more powerful than any other king; He is the most powerful king. But sometimes it seems like our lives don’t reflect that; and certainly in that moment, not even the disciples believed Jesus’ power in their hearts, because they ended up running away, and Peter denied Jesus 3 times. And although back then, Jesus only showed a glimpse of who he was, when he said ‘I am’, He has now shown fully who He is, as God, the very Son of the Father God, who defeated death and came back to life, to give us that same life. We now know the fullness of who He is, which the disciples only had a glimpse of. So that means even though our lives can get challenging at times, what are we do to do? Remember who Jesus is. We need to remind ourselves every day, especially in the difficult times, that He is the ‘I am’. He is the one who defeats all his enemies. He is the very almighty powerful God.

And he may not work in ways that we expect. Rather than fighting with the sword, Jesus was meek, and rather submitted to the cross instead. But it is this very meekness and humility, this unexpected way that God works, that his perfect power is found. So we are to trust in Him, even though the things in our lives may not meet our expectations we have of God. All we are called to do, is set those expectations aside, show meekness like Jesus and humbly submit to God’s plans for our lives, knowing that he loves us with a perfect love, that makes sure not a single one of his sheep is lost.

Life group discussion:

See - https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/simon-peter-denies-jesus