Word of Jesus Part 64

John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.
John 18:2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.
John 18:3 Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.
John 18:4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
John 18:5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.
John 18:6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

We see here proof that they could not have taken Jesus if He would have chosen not to die for sins and save Himself. They fell to the ground and could not move unless Jesus allowed them to continue.

John 18:7 Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
John 18:8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:

Jesus would allow Himself to be taken but He did not allow the soldiers to take His disciples. This is the reason for them falling to the ground. Apparently they were attempting to take all the were with Jesus.

John 18:9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

This was in the previous chapter:

John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
John 18:11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

We see by this action that the soldiers surely would have taken Peter for this act if they had the power to do so. Jesus prevented them from taking His disciples. They were only allowed to take Jesus. This shows that the Lord died for our sins by His own free will. He chose to make that sacrifice. He chose to save us from sin. He laid down His life so that we could live and not die eternally. This is God's plan of salvation for all who would believe. This is why there is no other way to salvation. If there had been another way, Jesus would not have had to suffer and die in this manner. I doubt that someone would allow this horrible death to himself if it was not necessary. He could have saved Himself at any point in the crucifixion.

John 18:12 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,

Had they only realized it, they would have had no need of binding Jesus. He would not have tried to escape. He could have called the angels at any moment. I believe that the angels were looking on all along the road to Calvary for one sign that the Son of God wanted deliverance. If only we could see the power of God. At His word all this would have stopped. He allowed this so that we could be saved from sin and inherit eternal life. It is never God's will that any should perish and spend eternity in hell. God wants all to be saved. Sin takes us to hell. Sin cannot continue in eternity. Evil will be irradiated. It will be done away with. God will deliver us from sin and from the penalty of sin if we just believe in His Son that He sent to pay that penalty for us. Faith in Jesus Christ alone is what saves from sin and grants the believer the ability to escape the judgment of sin and enter eternal life.

Our own works, penances, pilgrimages, sacrifices and rituals etc. are a waste of time. We cannot do one thing to save ourselves from sin except to believe in the Son of God to take away our sin.

Here is Matthew's account of this same moment after Peter cuts off the ear of one soldier.

Matthew 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

John 18:13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
John 18:14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

They feared the Roman authorities and felt that it was better to kill the one that was supposedly causing trouble than be destroyed by the Roman army. Little did they understand who it was they were putting to death. Little did they realize that only a few years later in 70 AD the Roman armies destroyed them anyway.

John 18:15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
John 18:16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
John 18:17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.

Here we see the once brave Peter who cut off the soldier's ear, being afraid of the crowds. Peter's weakness and many of us have this weakness, was that when he was around believers he was as the believers but when he was around unbelievers, he hid his truth faith. This happened again later which caused the apostle Paul to confront him for this weakness. I believe Peter got victory over it later in his ministry but at this point he was weak in that area.

This shows us another side of God. We see that God doesn't always choose perfect people. Through imperfect people He can show forth His power and strength to use the weakest one of us for His glory. God will sometimes call the very type of people we would not choose. The ones we think is great just may not be the great ones.

John 18:18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.
John 18:19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
John 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
John 18:21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
John 18:22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?
John 18:23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?

Imagine smiting God Himself. This is what they were doing.

John 18:24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
John 18:25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.

Second denial of knowing Christ.

John 18:26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?
John 18:27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.

Third denial and the prophecy that Peter would deny Him three times was complete.

John 18:28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

People will sometimes do evil and condemn people to death and then turn around and observe religious traditions without realizing that that their religion is vain and does nothing to save the soul from sin. Many times throughout history people were persecuted and killed by those who believed they were doing the will of God. It is still happening.

John 18:29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?
John 18:30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.

What a cop out. Instead of answering the question they evade the issue and state that if he was not a criminal, we would not have brought Him to you.

John 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:

We see here another sign of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They claimed they could not lawfully kill someone but it was okay to cause the Roman's to do the killing.

John 18:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.

The Roman's used crucifixion for killing criminals. If the Jews would have done the execution, He would not have been crucified.

Jesus warned His disciples ahead of time the death that He would die.

Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
John 18:34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
John 18:35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

This shows us plainly that the Crusades were totally wrong. We are not to make a great Christian army for the purpose of destroying the enemies of God. This doesn't necessarily mean that a Christian cannot be part of an army to defend his nation against enemies but it does mean that we are not to use force and have armies to kill and destroy those that do not share our faith. Never. We are to preach the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the use of force.

Jesus Christ will one day return with the armies from heaven to take vengeance on those who have rejected the gospel and persecuted those that believe the gospel. Jesus will do this. We are not to do this ahead of time on our own. Much evil has been done by those who try to set up the kingdom of God before Jesus returns again. We can't do that or else we will destroy innocent people who may otherwise repent and believe the gospel. We are to be wise as serpents yet harmless as doves. His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is within each and every believer. His kingdom now is the new birth and the inner changing of the soul and spirit of the person who believes in Jesus. We can't see the kingdom of God with our eyes. It is within our hearts. One day we will see the outward literally kingdom but Jesus Himself will usher that in on the time table God has planned. We are not to try to set up that kingdom by our own efforts. We preach the kingdom of God by preaching the gospel of salvation which comes by repenting of sin and turning to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. That is the message that needs to be given to the whole world. Many have messed up the simple message of salvation by trying to go beyond the commandments that Jesus gave His disciples to do.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

It is still the same now. Everyone that does the truth will hear His voice and know the difference between His voice and the voice of the wicked one.

John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

What is truth? That Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus is the Christ that God sent to save all who would believe in Him.
That Jesus was the Messiah that had been foretold through the prophets. Jesus was the promised one and the one God sent. That is the truth these people failed to recognize. They were looking for a great military leader instead of a savior from sin.

Even the church throughout history has gotten away from the message of repentance and being saved from sin. The church at times have substituted other things which covered up the real message the world needs to hear. The church at times have even raised armies to fight against unbelievers instead of preaching the gospel. Jesus came to save us from sin. Sin will kill and destroy our souls. If we are still in sin when we die, we will be lost for eternity. If we want salvation we must renounce sin and accept Jesus Christ into our lives. It is the only way. That is why He died. Without His sacrifice on the cross, no one could ever enter heaven and have eternal life because we would still guilty of sin.

Believing in Him will free us from the penalty sin brings. The penalty of sin is death eternally or hell. Jesus takes our sin away when we simply believe in Him with a heart that desires to be free from sin.

John 18:39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
John 18:40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

They preferred a real criminal to be released instead of one who wants to give them an eternity of peace and joy.

This was an example though of what Jesus did. When they decided to kill Jesus and release Barabbas, it was a sign. The innocent died so that this criminal could go free.

Jesus died for our sins so that we (the guilty) could be free from sin and not suffer eternity in hell. The law says that the soul that sins shall die. Jesus died in our place so that we could live eternally. Jesus died physically when He did not break any law that deserved that death. That is why His death can count on our behalf. We will still die physically but eternally we will receive a new body that cannot die. This is accomplished by the sacrifice of Jesus. Since He was resurrected with a new body, that will be what we will receive when He returns again. This is given only to those that believe in Him and what He did for us. The soul and spirit never dies but lives somewhere either Heaven or Hell. Immediately when we die physically, our soul and spirit goes to one of those places to await the resurrection. At the resurrection believers will receive a new body that can never die. All this is given because of the death, burial and resurrection of the innocent Son of God, Jesus Christ. This message is so important. Without this way, no one could possibly be saved from sin and have eternal life.

Words of Jesus 65