Easter Series 2
Easter Series 2 • Sermon • Submitted
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We left off with over 600 soldiers when to arrest Jesus that night.
He and His disciples did not hide or put up a fight.
After being supernaturally empowered by the angel God sent to help Him, Jesus rose up and went out to greet Judas and the troops.
1) Just as the Roman soldiers and the temple police were preparing to arrest Jesus, a supernatural power was suddenly released that was so strong, it literally threw an entire band of around 600 soldiers backward and down onto the ground!
It was if a invisible bomb had been detonated.
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”
5 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them.
6 Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
“I Am He”
The Greek word “I am He” is ago eimi which is translated “I AM”.
The word “He” is italicized.
It was not the first time Jesus used this word.
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
19 Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.
It was the very words that God used to identify Himself when He spoke to Moses on Mt Horeb in:
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
Jesus affirmed that He was the Great “ I AM” of the Old Testament.
As soon as Jesus told the soldiers “ I AM” they went backward and fell to the ground. ALL 600 and some of them.
Some invisible force unexpectedly, suddenly. and forcefully knocked these troops and temple police flat on the ground.
Jesus proved He couldn’t be taken by force, He willfully surrendered to them, knowing it was all a part of the Fathers’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
2) This event was so powerful it raised the dead of someone that was berried in the cemetery near by.
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.
Who was this young man? why was he following Jesus? Why was he naked? Why was he draped in a linen cloth instead of wearing a normal clothes? Why did the Holy Spirit put this in scripture?
The identity of this man lies in the cloth he had wrapped around his body.
When a body was prepared for burial, it was washed, ceremonially cleaned, and buried naked in a linen cloth exactly like the one described here.
There was only one other reference that this Greek word for cloth is used and its in reference to the cloth that Jesus was wrapped for burial.
59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud
Also the Garden of Gethsemane was on the side of Mt Olives. Towards the base of the mount is a heavily populated cemetery, with many of its graves going back to the time of Jesus.
When Jesus said I AM the power released was so tremendous that it knocked the soldiers back to the ground but it also caused a young boy draped in a linen burial cloth to crawl out from his tomb RAISED FROM THE DEAD!
3) There wasn’t a human force on earth that could arrest Jesus against His will.
53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
There are 6000 in legion. Jesus said 12 legions which would equal over 72,000 angels.
What would be the combined strength of this number of angels?
36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
That was the strength of ONE angel!!
If one angel carried that much power what would 12 legions produce?
if you took 72,000 angels and times that 185,000 men then it would equal 13 billion 320 million men
Of course this is assuming that the angel spoken of in Is 37:36 had maxed out his power at 185,000.
Simply put angels are powerful, and Jesus had a huge number of them at His disposal.
The only reason Jesus could be arrested was that He chose to willingly lay down His life for you and for me.
Take time to thank Him for being willing to go to the Cross and to bear the punishment for your sin. Jesus is worthy of your praise.
4) the previous verse we have Peter taking off the ear of the High Priest’s servant.
51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
This wasn’t self defense but an act of aggression because Jesus had just knocked all the soldiers backwards and on their butt.
Does that mean Jesus or the Bible is against self defense? Or using weapons for self defense?
No because Peter had a sword on him to use and it wasn’t for buttering their bread. In fact just before that Jesus said to them in
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.
Is the Bible against all violence ? No I don’t think so. Their is just violence when it comes to self defence.
Ideally a police officer carries a gun for self defence and the defence of others.
Well aren't we suppose to love everyone? Yes and that includes helping those who can’t help themselves.
IF you were in a situation where you came across someone getting raped wouldn’t you do everything in your power to stop even if it took physical force?
Wouldn’t that be an act of love?
Wouldn’t that be loving your neighbor as yourself?
What about home defense?
2 If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him,
If I knew someone was breaking in my house not to harm me or my family but had some other motive I wouldn’t shoot them.
The issue is in most circumstances you have no idea what their motive are and even if they told you I wouldn’t believe them.
Maybe you could catch them off guard and point a gun at them until they leave and that might be a risk I might take if it was just me in the house but not with my family in the house and putting their life at stake.
The Bible says to love my wife and kids and that includes looking after their physical well being.
What about self defense and bullies?
We are raising Ellie to try to make peace with everyone as it’s in your power to do so.
If a teacher or the parent of the other child dons’t do anything then we are going to teach her to defend herself if the bullying is physical. Also going to teach her to defend others, specially the defenseless.
IF its verbal then she should turn the other cheek.
All the while trying to love her enemies and lead them to Christ afterwards.
What about turn the other cheek? It was in reference to a insult.
Chris Rock and Will Smith
5) Jesus then allowed the soldiers to arrest Him.
57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.
“they let Him” is a phrase that comes from the Greek word apago. This same word is used to picture a shepherd who ties a rope around the neck of his sheep and then leads it down the path to where it needs to go.
This tells us that the soldiers lightly slipped a rope about Jesus neck and let Him down the path as He followed behind, just like a sheep being let by a shepherd.
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.
Consider that Jesus never sinned, no guile had ever been found in His mouth and His entire life was devoted to doing good and to healing all who were oppressed of the devil.
Therefore, it seems entirely unjust that He would be led like a sheep into the midst of the spiritual vipers who were ruling in Jerusalem.
We would conclude inheriting Adams sin and death isn’t fair.
However Jesus going to the cross and dying for sin He never commited isn’t fair either.
Jesus never questioned the Father’s will or balked at the assignment that was required of HIm.
23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
According to
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him,
68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”
One scholar notes that it could have been a 100 or more people in the court area where Jesus was taken to the High Priest.
1 John 1:11
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Although these men who spit on and hit Jesus refused to acknowledge Him, He still went to the Cross and died for them. His love for them was unwavering - unshaken and unaffected by their wrong actions.
When you think about the way people have wronged you in the past, does it affect your desire to love them? What have these conflicts revealed about you?
Is your love for those unkind people consistent , unwavering, unshaken, and unaffected?
Or have the conflicts revealed that you have a fickle love, which you quickly turn off when people don’t respond to you the way you wished they would?
The same Holy Spirit who lived in Jesus now lives in you. Just as the Spirit of God empowered Jesus to love people consistently , regardless of what they did or didn't do, the Holy Spirit can empower you to do the same.