John 18:1-11: The Arrest of Christ

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 53:4–6 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Intro

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Our whole life was made to see… savor… and live for the glory of Christ.

All things were made through Him and created for Him that in everything… in everything! starting with our life first… He might be preeminent (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-18).

We were made to enjoy and treasure Christ!

To find all the longings of our soul satisfied in Him and celebrating His glory.

And the place to see the glory of Christ most… the glory that is worth all of our life… is in the Passion of Christ.

His Suffering and death.

When we look at the death of Christ we should see more than just some Historical Fact.

We should see the Eternal Son of God… the Word made flesh… laying down His life for us.

In John 18:1-14, John uses the arrest of Jesus to highlight the glory of Christ and everything He was about to accomplish on the cross.

From the very beginning John wants us to see that Jesus didn’t just die… He laid down His life for us and suffered the wrath and condemnation our sins deserved.

John highlights certain details in the arrest of Christ to frame the whole picture… everything that comes after…

Because John wants us to read every detail of the Passion through the lens that Jesus was giving His life for us.

Every step… every pain… every drop of blood was all to save us from our sins.

So for our sermon today I want to highlight two aspects of Christ glory that John highlights in Jesus’ arrest that define everything Jesus was about to do.

What was Jesus ultimately going to the cross to accomplish?

Number 1… we are going to look at The Glory of Christ in His Voluntary Sacrifice.

And Number 2… The Glory of Christ in His Suffering… in drinking the cup of God’s wrath our sins deserved.

And both of these come together in the Big Idea John wants us to see in Jesus’ arrest and ultimately His Passion and Suffering as a whole.

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins and drank the cup of God’s wrath our sins deserved out of His great love for us.

Let’s start with point number 1…

I. The Glory of Christ in His Voluntary Sacrifice

John 18:1–2 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. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.

Judas had been sent out earlier that night when Jesus was with His disciples.

John made a special note that Satan had already put it into Judas’ heart to betray Jesus during the Supper (John 13:2).

And after the Supper we are told that Satan entered into Judas… Judas gave himself over to His wicked desires… and Jesus said What you are going to do, do quickly (John 13:27).

The point being that Christ was entire control of the whole situation.

Judas did not catch Him by surprise.

Jesus had prophesied that one of you will betray me in fulfillment of the Scripture (John 13:21, 18).

Jesus death was according to the Sovereign Plan and Will of the Father (Acts 2:23-24).

The Son in perfect unity with that plan entrusted Himself to the Father’s will.

And so after spending His last night with the Disciples praying for them and giving them His final promises and instructions… His Last Will and Testament so to speak… Jesus went to the very place Jesus knew Judas would find Him.

Jesus had consecrated Himself as a sacrifice and nothing was going to stop Him now (John 17:19).

This is the first place we see Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice.

Instead of running away or looking for a place to hide trying to get out of Judas’ plan, Jesus goes directly to the place Judas would look for Him first.

John says He often went there with the Disciples and Judas also knew the place.

Again the courage and bravery of Christ to set His face towards the cross.

To stare at it unflinching out of His great love for us.

Satan was working but Jesus was in total control.

Then John says in…

John 18:3 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.

They had torches and weapons because they expected Jesus to run or fight back.

They didn’t expect Him to go along peacefully.

But Jesus was the faithful Lamb… the one who came to die in our place for our sins.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29).

He didn’t run… He didn’t fight back… He didn’t tried to escape.

As Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

He gave His life as a willing sacrifice and continued entrusting Himself to the One who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23).

Jew and Gentile

And John notes that it was both Romans and Jews that came to arrest Jesus.

The band of soldiers would have been a Roman cohort which normally numbered between 600 to 1000 men but here it was probably around 200.

200 soldiers! along with some officers of the Chief Priests and the Pharisees.

Jew and Gentile together coming to capture Jesus by night.

That is not some arbitrary detail.

John is highlighting the fact that the whole world… every man… is involved in the murder of the Son of God.

The whole world… Jew and Gentile… rejected Christ and God’s grace in Christ.

That’s all of us.

Were it not for God’s grace would all still be lost, dead, and blind in our sin.

If it were up to us and our stone hearts… all of us would reject Christ, but by God’s grace we are born again.

John already hit at this idea in the prologue of chapter 1.

John 1:9–13 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

The world… the created order Gentiles included did not know or recognize Christ.

We were so fallen and broken by the Fall we had no eyes to even see our Creator.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

That’s the Jews.

So a Jew and Gentile rejection of Christ.

But here’s the good news… something John wants us to see in the Roman Cohort and Chief Priests and Pharisees coming against Jesus.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Its the promise of the Gospel.

All who trust in Christ will be saved and forgiven of all their sin (Isaiah 53:3).

He was despised and rejected by men so you and I could be accepted by God and adopted in Him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Going back to John, John says in John 18:4…

John 18:4-6 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

Notice what John says.

Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him… knowing all He would endure on the cross… all the pain… and all the suffering… Jesus knowing that… came forward.

Not only does He not run and hide… He sets the whole thing in motion.

He asks them, “Whom do you seek?”

He initiates all of it.

Again… Jesus offered Himself as a voluntary sacrifice… He laid down His life.

And when They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”

I AM

Now in the Greek it doesn’t say I am He… it simply says I AM… taking God’s own divine Name upon Himself.

Jesus has done this again and again in the Gospel of John.

Jesus said I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35).

The Light of the World (John 8:12).

The Door of the Sheep (John 10:7,9).

The Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14).

The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

The Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

And The True Vine (John 15:1, 5).

In John 8:58 Jesus even said before Abraham was, I am, clearly claiming to be God.

Lord

And God’s Name… Yahweh… the significance of I AM… when it was revealed to Moses revealed God as the God who was, is, and ever will be the eternally self-existent One True God…

The One True Being, Truth, and Sovereign of all the universe who alone gives life, breath, and existence to all things.

Savior

And because God revealed His Name when Moses asked, But, who will I say has sent me? Yahweh also reveals God as the Covenant Keeping Lord of Salvation who remembers His Covenant and His promises and redeems His people from their sin (Exodus 3:14).

Lord and Savior… and Jesus says I AM.

I Am the Eternal Sovereign God and Covenant Keeping Savior.

I AM the Eternal Son of God incarnate in Human flesh.

And in John 8:24, Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am he,” the same Greek construction here…

“Unless you believe that I AM… you will die in your sins.”

Remember John wants us to see the glory of Christ!

And the glory of Christ in His voluntary sacrifice is that the One who voluntarily laid down His life for us… was God Himself.

We owed a debt to God and the Eternal Son of God Himself suffered for our sins.

This is one of the… if not the core confession of our faith.

Jesus is truly and fully God and truly and fully man.

As Man He was able to voluntarily offer His life as a substitute for our sins.

And As God He was able to actually pay for them in His infinite perfection.

As the 1689 London Baptist Confession says “Truly God and Truly man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and Men” (1689 7:2; 1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 9:5).

Falling Down

And in affirmation of this Truth that Jesus truly is the Eternal Son of God incarnate in human flesh, when Jesus says these words all these men who have come to arrest Him fall to the ground.

Verse 5…

John 18:5–6 Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

There’s an irony here because throughout the Bible falling down is a recognition of Deity (Ezek. 1:28; 44:4; Dan. 2:46; 8:18; 10:9; Acts 9:4; 22:7).

But these men did not recognize the glory of Christ in worship… if they had they wouldn’t have arrested Him (1 Corinthians 2:8).

They fell before Christ unwillingly from the glory of His power.

This was a miraculous event.

Some people will say that Jesus just startled them and these 200 men fell over one at a time like dominoes all bumping into each other.

But these are battle hardened soldiers and its impossible that all 200 would just fall down from someone in front of them falling over.

Christ’s Name rendered them powerless and helpless.

Its Psalm 2… The nations rage and the peoples plot in vain but the LORD and His Anointed are sovereign over them all.

Christ fell all of them with nothing but a word.

This again shows that Jesus offered Himself as a voluntary sacrifice.

They didn’t just arrest Him or overpower Him.

He gave Himself up just like He would on the cross following and trusting the Father’s Plan to save His people from their sin.

John 18:7–9 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “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.”

Calvin talks about this being a picture of salvation.

Jesus lets Himself be captured so that His Disciples can go free.

Of those whom you have given me I have lost not one.

Christ preserves them. He keeps them. He takes their place and sets the captives free (Isaiah 61:1-2).

In Calvin’s words: Here we see how the Son of God not only submits to death of His own accord, that by his obedience he may blot out our transgressions, but also how he discharges the office of a good Shepherd in protecting his flock.

Phillips, John, Vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary, 495.

Then we come to…

John 18:10-11 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.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Jesus is not here advocating against self-defense.

Jesus Himself had told them earlier that evening, “Let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36).

What’s happening here is similar to what happened with Peter in Matthew 16.

After Jesus prophesied His death Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

And Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:22-23).

Jesus had come to do a work and nothing was going to stop Him from accomplishing it.

In John 12 He said, Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour (John 12:27).

Jesus came to seek and save the lost and give His life as a ransom for many (Luke 19:10; Matthew 20:28).

Here again is Christ’s voluntary sacrifice.

Jesus didn’t fight… didn’t resist.

In Matthew after Jesus told Peter to put back His sword He said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:53-54).

Jesus had just knocked them down by a word of His power.

How could they possibly have arrested Him and forced Him to go to the cross?

But what does Jesus do?

Submits to the Father’s will and even heals… He heals one of the very men who had come to arrest Him.

Here we see the grace and mercy of Christ.

His kindness even towards His enemies, and ultimately how Jesus by His Passion heals us from our brokenness and the Fall.

Good Shepherd

Now here’s the point and why we hammered that idea of Christ offering Himself as a voluntary sacrifice all the way throughout the passage.

By His voluntary sacrifice as our Great High Priest, Christ saved us from all our sins.

He gave Himself up so that we might go free.

He died so we might live.

In Christ’s voluntary sacrifice we see the glory of Christ as the Good Shepherd.

In John 10:11…

John 10:11–13 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

When the hired hand leaves and abandons the sheep the moment danger arises, Jesus runs into the danger to snatch the sheep from the jaws of death.

Where the Hired Hand says, “My life is worth more than these sheep,” the Good Shepherd says, “My Sheep are worth my life.”

He puts Himself in harms way to bear the punishment our sins deserved.

And why?

Because He cares for the Sheep.

The hired hand cares nothing for the sheep, but the Good Shepherd loves the sheep.

Love

Because that’s ultimately what I want you to see.

The glory of Christ in His voluntary sacrifice ultimately reveals the glory of His love…

His love for you and for me… and all the Sheep of His fold.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Why did Christ lay down His life and voluntarily offer Himself as a sacrifice?

Because Christ loves you.

And I want to hammer that point home because what can happen is we turn it all theological.

Well Christ died for His sheep… for the Church… for all people who trust in Him.

Christ died for sin.

But Jesus didn’t just die for sin in general.

He died for your sin.

All of your sin was laid on Him.

He suffered the punishment your sins deserved.

The Good Shepherd offered His life as a sacrifice and laid down his life for you!.

Listen to how personal Paul makes it in Galatians 2:20.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved…

Who?

ME!

and gave himself for ME!!”

Jesus died for you!

When we see the glory of Christ on the cross… Yes… we should see Christ saving a people for Himself… redeeming and ransoming all the church of God.

But we should also see Christ saving You! for Himself.

It was MY! sin that cut me off from God, not just sin in general.

And it was MY! sin that was laid on Christ.

He paid the price to save me and ransom me from all my sin out of His great love… for me.

Transition

The glory of Christ in His voluntary sacrifice is the glory of His love for you and how He removed your sin as far from you as east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

That’s the heart of Christ in giving up His life for us.

And in point number 2 we see the work of Christ in that sacrifice.

What did Christ actually do out of His love for us?

That’s where we see, point number 2…

II. The Glory of Christ in His Suffering

John 18:11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Jesus is resolute here… shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?

For this purpose I have come to this hour.

Well, what is this cup?

The Cup is the Cup of God’s wrath.

Jesus had been praying about this cup all night in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Father… all things are possible for you… if you are willing remove this cup from me (Luke 22:42, Mark 14:36).

Its a Cup that had caused Christ great anguish and distress in His Soul.

In Mark 14:32–34 it says And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

That word greatly distressed means “to be astonished” or “amazed” (Mark 9:15, 16:5-6).

Its as if Jesus is saying what He said earlier in John, “Now is my soul troubled”… Now is my soul stirred up and horrified at what I am facing (John 12:27).

It weighed on Him… crushed Him.

Mark even said He fell on the ground, almost giving us a picture of that anguish and crushing weight (Mark 14:35).

It was so heavy that Luke says Jesus being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:44).

As Christ prayed in the Shadow of the Cross… He stared into the abyss.

As Theologian John Murray said, “Here was the unrelieved, unmitigated judgment of God against sin. It filled Him with horror and dread.”

Beeke, RST: Man and Christ, Vol. 2, 1049.

Oil Press

Its interesting that the word Gethsemane literally means Oil Press.

It was an Olive Grove that as we saw Jesus frequently visited with His Disciples.

Well, Oil was a symbol of God’s Anointing and Blessing.

Priests and Kings would be anointed… under God’s blessing oil would flow.

And the way you would get the Oil is you would press and crush it.

And as the Messiah… the Anointed One… prayed in the Garden He prayed knowing He was about to be pressed and crushed for our sins so that God’s blessing and salvation would flow.

It was the will of the LORD to crush Him… He has put Him to grief (Isaiah 53:10).

He was crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).

And under that crushing weight… in perfect obedience to the Father… Christ said, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

He resolved Himself to drink the cup of God’s wrath on our behalf.

That’s why He said to Peter, “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11).

Cup of Wrath

And this cup that Christ drank on the Cross was the full wrath of God poured out on our behalf.

Isaiah 51:17 calls it the Cup of His Fury and the Cup of Staggering.

Jeremiah says, “Be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more” (Jeremiah 25:27).

Psalm 11 says its filled with fire and brimstone and a scorching wind (Psalm 11:6).

Psalm 75:8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs… in other words, every last drop.

The full punishment for every sin.

Revelation calls it the “Fury of His wrath” and that the wicked will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 16:19; Revelation 14:10-11).

That poured out full strength is literally mixed, unmixed… its two Greek words.

The idea is that wine was mixed with spices to bring out the full flavor and give it a nice kick, but it was also often diluted with water to make it go further.

But the cup of God’s wrath is mixed, unmixed… mixed with spices to give it its full kick and then poured out undiluted, unmixed in full strength.

That’s the cup Christ drank and the cup we all deserved.

In the Psalm of the Cross… Psalm 22… the Psalm Jesus quoted on the cross giving us a window into His thoughts and suffering as Christ drained this cup of God’s Wrath down to the dregs it says what Christ quoted…

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?… and then the Psalm… Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest (Psalm 22:1-2).

And then verses 14-18…

Psalm 22:14-18 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Looking beyond how these were all fulfilled in Christ’s death on the cross…

The Roman soldier’s gambled for Christ’s clothes…

They pierced His hands and my feet…

Not one of His bones was broken with the two thieves crucified beside Him because He was already dead…

This shows us Christ drinking the cup of God’s wrath on our behalf.

I am poured out like water, my heart is like wax, my strength is dried up like a potsherd…

His heart melted within Him.

He was poured out like water in a desert place… wasted… good for nothing.

Undone… laid to waste… every woe and sin laid on Him.

Jesus bore the full weight of God’s wrath on our behalf.

He drank the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs mixed, unmixed to pay for our sins fully, perfectly, and completely.

Every… Single… One.

He became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13).

He bore our sins in His body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).

He bore our shame, our guilt, our death and suffered God’s wrath our sins deserved (Romans 6:23, Ezekiel 18:20).

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus died and rose again three days later to clothe us in His own perfect righteousness.

Where Adam failed in the Garden… Christ obeyed… He overcame.

He lived in perfect obedience to God the Father at the cost of His own life…

And now by His perfect obedience we are declared righteous in Him.

All of our sin was laid on Christ and the full wrath of God was poured out, and now we are clothed in His own perfect righteousness… dazzling white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

Forgiven and accepted by God by Christ’s once for all perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14).

And now Christ is the well of salvation for all who believe in Him (Hebrews 5:7-9).

Grace alone… Faith alone…Christ alone.

Now there is no more condemnation in Christ because all of our sin… and the wrath of God our sins deserved… were laid and poured out on Him (Romans 8:31).

Love

And just as the glory of Christ in His Voluntary Sacrifice revealed His great love in laying down His life for us…

The Glory of Christ in His Suffering reveals His great love in suffering God’s wrath and drinking the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs.

John Calvin said, “Here was no common evidence of his incomparable love toward us: to wrestle with terrible fear, and amid those cruel torments to cast off all concern for himself that he might provide [salvation] for us.”

And Joel Beeke… one of the greatest living theologians of our day… Behold the marvelous obedience of Christ! He willingly embraced and drank into himself the most painful of dooms, the flaming wrath of almighty God against sinners. He chose submission to his Father’s command and love for his fellow men… at the highest cost to himself. Here we see penal substitution for the satisfaction of divine justice, not as an abstract doctrine, but as the personal experience of Jesus as sweat poured off him “like great drops of blood falling to the ground.” When he went out to meet those who came to arrest him, he was resolute: Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11).

Beeke, RST: Man and Christ, Vol. 2, 1049-1050.

And by that cup we are saved.

Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath so that we… by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone… can drink the cup of His forgiveness…

The Cup of His Salvation, mercy, and blessing forever and ever and ever.

Conclusion

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins and drank the cup of God’s wrath our sins deserved out of His great love for us.

In the arrest of Christ John want’s us to see the glory of Christ in all that Christ was about to accomplish on the cross.

The Glory of His Voluntary Sacrifice and the Glory of His Suffering both pointing… ultimately… to the Glory of His Love.

Every step on the road to the cross was Christ loving us.

The biggest mistake we could ever make would be to look at the cross and merely see some judicial action.

We had sin that needed to be paid for and so Christ… paid it.

But the cross is so much more than that.

Its the wrath of God poured out on Christ and the love of God poured out on us.

Its Christ’s own love for us to sacrifice Himself… lay down His life… and drain the cup of God’s wrath that our sins deserved down to the dregs to save us from our sins… and all our sins… once and for all.

Ephesians 5: Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2)

Prayer