Jesus' Arrest
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
We have pigs, chickens and turkeys at our place. I was curious the other day about the differences between bird flu and swine flu. One requires tweetment and the other requires oinkment!
I want to thank those who came out on Friday night and fellowshipped with us and sang praises to God with us. It was a great evening and we had a lot of fun.
On the 10th and 11th, we are having the Ok Baptist Convention Annual Meeting at Southern Hills Baptist Church in OKC. It will be a great time of learning and fellowship and business.
I sent out a message yesterday that I was beginning to read 1 Thessalonians. I am going to read the entire epistle every day for the month of November. I invite you to join me in this Bible study. I did it for Galatians last month and it was great. When the month is over, you truly have a good knowledge of the epistle. I look forward to this journey with you guys.
Today we are going to be in Mark 14:43-52.
Last week we got to see a part of Jesus that we normally don’t get to see, His humanity. Jesus was feeling the weight of the upcoming cross. He went to the garden called Gethsemane, which means oil press. He felt like He was in that press. He was troubled in His soul. He took Peter, James, and John farther into the garden than the rest of the disciples. He wanted the leaders of the group to see how He was going to handle this weight that He was feeling. We got to see Him ask His Father to take the cup from Him, if there was any other way. He said, not My will, but Your will be done! Jesus was obedient to what God wanted. He surrendered His will and desires to what the Fathers was. We are called to die to self and to daily pick up our cross and follow Jesus. That means just as Jesus was obedient to the Father’s will, so are we! Jesus was under so much stress, that He was sweating blood! I can’t imagine how He must have felt.
We got to see the disciples sleeping on the job. Jesus told them to stay there and pray and watch! They were praying so hard, they fell asleep. No, they were very tired. They had a long day also! They were told that one of them was going to betray Jesus and then they were going to be scattered! They denied it and even to this point, they still didn’t know that Judas was the betrayer! They were very tired, we were told that their eyes were very heavy.
At the end, we got to see that Jesus didn’t run from the crowd coming to arrest Him, He went to them. He volunteered His life, no one took it. He gave His life, so that we could have life.
Trivia question. Who is the owner of the Garden of Gethsemane? If you are thinking of a name, you are more than likely wrong. We are not told who is the owner. My point is that we do not have to be famous or even made known to man for God to use us. God used the owner of this garden even though we don’t know who he is. It is ok for people to not know what you are doing for God. We do not need to make ourselves know. That is God’s job. He reveals those whom He chooses. I want my reward to be in Heaven, not here on earth!
Today we are going to see Judas coming with a large crowd and betray Jesus and then arrest Him. We are going to see the reaction of Peter and at the end, the disciples flee! Just like Jesus said they would. We are going to get to see the power of Jesus and the humility of Jesus.
Please stand as we prepare to hear God’s Word
43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled.
51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
Jesus had not even finished talking to the group when Judas and this large crowd of people come up to them. Mark makes sure that we know that is was the Judas that was one of the twelve. It was not a different Judas, as it was a common name back then, not so much today! People don’t even name their dogs Judas today.
This was a large crowd of people, in John 18:3
3 So Judas, having obtained the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
The ones carrying the swords were the Roman soldiers, the ones with the clubs were the temple guards, they did not carry deadly weapons. Judas had gotten a group of Roman soldiers to help with this arrest. There had already been an insurrection earlier lead by a man named Barabbas. We can see this in Mark 15:7
7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.
The Romans had extra soldiers there this week because so many people were in Jerusalem for the Passover. The Sanhedrin talked to the Roman officials and got them to let him take some of the soldiers to help get Jesus. A full Roman cohort was around 600 soldiers. He also had a group of the Temple guard to help him also along with the people who were siding with the scribes and other religious leaders against Jesus. There were easily over 400 people in this crowd who had come to arrest Jesus. It could have been as many as 800! All those people for one man! That is how much the religious leaders feared the people and Jesus. They didn’t want to take a chance in Him getting away.
We can see how a common enemy can unite even the greatest of enemies! We have 3 distinct sections of the ruling Sanhedrin, they were the Chief Priests, the Scribes, and the Elders. They did not like each other and almost never agreed on anything! The hatred of Jesus united them. Then you have the Romans, who disliked the Jews and the Sanhedrin hated the Romans! Again, the hatred of Jesus united enemies. Just like the love of Christ unites His Church, the hatred of Christ unites His enemies.
Judas knew that is would be dark and he would need to have a sign to let the soldiers know which one was Jesus. The dark back then was different than it is today. We have the bright lights of the city and we have powerful flashlights that can light up the night. Then, they only had torches that did not put out very much light and the city of Jerusalem would have been dark also, no electricity!! This is one of the reasons most people didn’t go out after dark, it was dangerous, especially outside of town. Judas knew Jesus well enough he would have been able to recognize Him in the dark, but no one else in the crowd would have been able to do that. So Judas told them that the person that He greeted with a kiss was Jesus and to arrest Him!
Judas comes up to Jesus and greets Him by saying Rabbi! and then he kissed Him. Judas continues his acting even though Jesus had already called him out. Remember that Judas was so good that none of the disciples knew he was the betrayer. He chose a kiss as a way to greet and identify Jesus. This seems weird to us, but in the middle east even today, it is common for people to greet each other with a kiss. We are even told in the Bible to greet each other with a holy kiss. In Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 Peter. It was common for this type of greeting. There are several types of greeting with a kiss, there is a kissing of the feet, kissing of the back of the hand, there was a kiss of the hem of the garment and the most intimate type of greeting was the kiss on the cheek. The cheek kiss showed the closest love and affection, normally reserved for one with whom a person had a close, intimate friendship. Judas took this act of love and affection and perverted it and showed just how much of a hypocrite he truly was. 3 years he faked being a follower of Jesus and he just couldn’t stop! It’s like when you tell a lie so many times, you even trick yourself into believing it really happened. Judas is truly a wicked person. He had a love that the world has, I love you for what you can give me or do for me. Once you can’t do anything for me I am done with you! That is how Judas loved Jesus! This kiss that Judas gave Jesus was similar to the one that was given by the father of the parodical son when he came home! That is the kind of hypocrite that Judas was.
In John 18:4-8
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. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”
Jesus knew who they were coming for, He wanted His disciples to witness His power. In you Bibles, the word he may be italicized or have a number by it. This is to show that in the original Greek it was not there. What Jesus really said was that “I am” and when He said that, we can see His power, they all drew back and fell down! What a powerful King we serve! This is a foreshadow of what is to come when Jesus comes back. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus as King! We can see a glimpse of this power here. Just at the mention of His name, they fall down.
I would have like to see the look on there faces when Jesus asked them again “whom do you seek”. They probably didn’t say it quite the same way they said it the first time!!
Even in the face of death, Jesus is still thinking about His disciples, He tells them to arrest Him but to let the others go. What great love and compassion Jesus has for us!!
When Judas had kissed Jesus, they laid hands on Him to arrest Him and we can see one of the disciples took offense to this action. He drew his sword and attacked the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear! I wonder who was the one who attacked? I think even if we were not told in John’s account, we all could have guessed that it was Peter!! Just so you know, Peter was not that good with a sword, he was not trying to cut of the ear, he was trying to cut of his head. There is a reason Peter was a fisherman and not a soldier. Before we are too hard on Peter, he had a hard day, Jesus told them that they were going to be scattered and Peter was adamite about not fleeing Jesus’ side. Jesus told him that before the rooster crows, he would deny Jesus three times. Peter was going to show Jesus that he was there until the end. Peter had something to prove! He more than anything wanted to show his love for Jesus. He didn’t realize that was the wrong way to show our love for Christ. We know that the disciples had two swords. In Luke 22:36-38
36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” 38 And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”
It is ok for Christians to defend ourselves, be we are to never go on the offensive, we do not advance the Gospel with force or violence. The Gospel is spread by love!
We can see that Jesus told them to carry a sword, he knew that when He was gone that they would need to defend themselves. It would not have surprised me if Peter had both swords!!
In Matthew 26:52
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Jesus again rebukes Peter for his actions, although to some they might have been justified, Jesus didn’t need Peter to defend Him. If you read further in Matthew 26 Jesus tells Peter this. Jesus doesn’t want us to be offensive or aggressive when we are trying to further His kingdom. He wants us to us love, something far more powerful than a sword! Through love, hearts are changed and life is given! That is how we are to advance the Gospel! The love that Jesus showed us on the cross, that is what changes people.
In Luke 22:51 we are told that Jesus healed the slaves ear. I believe He did this so Peter could not have been arrested! He needed Peter and He needed him to be free to go and advance the Gospel. This is not in the Bible, just my thoughts and beliefs.
Next Jesus accuses the crowd and asks them, why so many and why the weapons? He was in the city all week out in the open, in was in the temple for 2 days. If they wanted to arrest Him all the had to do was come to Him then. Jesus asked why they were treating Him like he was a Barabbas, someone who incited a revolt? He was not riling up the people against the religious leaders or Rome. He was just teaching in the temple, healing people and doing miracles.
He told them this happened to fulfill the Scriptures! He was talking about Isaiah 53:7-9
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. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
This arrest was ordained before time! This was always God’s plan and Jesus humbly submitted Himself to the Father’s will.
In verse 50 we can see Jesus’ telling of them being scattered coming true. It tells us that all the disciples left Him and fled! Jesus is never wrong. Peter is so at learning this! He will get it eventually.
These last two verses are strange and seem out of place. We are told that this young man was following Jesus and wearing nothing but a linen sheet, that was it!! It tells us that when they seized him, he pulled free of the linen sheet and fled naked! We are not told who it was or any other details. It is just odd! Some interesting details if you dig into the Greek, the only time the word used here for linen is used in Mark is the linen cloth that was wrapped around Jesus’ body in the tomb. Also the only other time the word used for young man was when the two Mary’s and Salome were going to the tomb and they were wondering who was going to roll away to stone, and they got there and the stone was rolled away and they saw a young man in the tomb. That is the only other time Mark used these words. What that means, I have no idea. I have no idea why this is here either, it just is and I think it is humorous. Some people think that the young man was Mark, some think it was Joseph of Arimathea. We have no idea who it was. Any guesses are just that, guesses.
The big idea of these verses to me is that Jesus gave His life, no one took it. Also that we don’t have to prove ourselves to Jesus. Peter didn’t need to draw his sword and prove to Jesus that He loved Him and He would die for Him. Peter would get his chance later to show that!
Jesus doesn’t need us to defend Him either. At any point in time, He could have said a word and stopped all that. He didn’t because He knew it was the Father’s will and He was obedient to the Father.
No were does it say that we are to defend Jesus. We are commanded to tell about Jesus and what He has done for us, not defend Him. He is God! He can defend Himself much better than we ever could.
We don’t need to try and prove ourselves to God! We will only fail if we try. Look at Peter, he was constantly trying to do things for Jesus and trying to prove himself to Him. He was rebuke a lot! We can prove ourselves to Jesus by loving others the way He loves us!
Love is the greatest command!! The first is to love God, second is to love each other!
We are to go and tell and to go and show love! Tell about the love of Jesus and show the love of Jesus!
That is what we are to do!! It sounds easy, some days it is, a lot of days it is not!
At the end of every service at 1st Anadarko, the Pastor would end by saying go and be the church!
Liberty, let’s go and be the church!! Let’s go and tell about a love that is life changing and show a love that is world defying!!
Let’s pray
