Arrested In the Garden | Frank Brancato

It's wonderful to be here with all of you today and we have a

wonderful crowd and we're grateful for your presence.

It's good to see some folks that I haven't seen in a while, but

and we even have visitors here that are among us today.

And we want you to know that you are honored guest and we welcome

you back every time we have an occasion to meet.

I was asked to preach a sermon on the subject that is before us

today and I actually have a sermon or had a sermon on this

subject and I preached it about seven or eight years ago here.

Now a couple of things. First of all, I make a sermon

that is 7 or 8 years old is fair game if you want to re preach

it. But I didn't want to do that.

So just like I did when I preached on the Beatitudes a

second time when I went through the Sermon on the Mount, I wrote

a new sermon on an old subject. And I hope that it is edifying

and encouraging to you, and I really hope that the subject

matter will give you a greater appreciation for Jesus Christ

and for everything that he has done for us.

The title of our lesson, as it is on the screen, is Arrested in

the Garden. We're going to talk about when

Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and they came and

they took him away. We're going to talk about how

Jesus was totally in control, that he was no man's victim.

He was the ultimate victor. You've heard me say that phrase

regarding the crucifixion of Jesus many, many times, but he

was totally in control, even in the garden.

And we want to point some of those things out today.

I appreciate it so much. The choice of the songs today, I

was wonderful. I even heard, you know, Tina

will tell you, she reminds me and she's right, that even with

my hearing aids and I can't hear Thunder most of the time.

And that's really true. I can't help it, but that's

really true. But I did hear this this the

sound of some young voices singing today.

And I got to tell you something. I got a little emotional.

It got me because I thought about how much Jesus must really

love that. And then I thought about when

Jesus said suffer little children to come on to me and

forbid them not for of such as the Kingdom of heaven.

That's a wonderful thing, and when we meet and assemble in one

assembly with older folks or more seasoned folks,

intermediate folks, and some young folks, we all worship God

together. It's a wonderful, wonderful day.

Our introductory text will be taken from the book of John.

The 18th chapter will begin in verse one and verse 2, and then

we will make some comments. When Jesus had spoken these

words, He went out with his disciples over the Brook Kidron,

where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered.

And Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus

often met there with his disciples.

Let me just say as an introduction, apart from the

cross, there's nothing that brought any greater agony to any

human being in all of mankind than the agony that our Lord was

under in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night as He

anticipated what He was going to do.

That's true. As He anticipated what He was

going to do for all mankind. In fact, His sorrow was so

severe, His struggle was so massive, that Jesus even said

these words. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful

even unto death. The Bible describes it like this

and says it like this. In this way.

His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the

ground. He was in anguish, and he was in

agony before he ever went to the cross.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke's account, it shows the suffering

and the humiliation that made him suffer.

But today, folks, John does not present that at all.

John's account presents Jesus in majesty, the majestic power of

Jesus. It presents him as something

that glorifies him, Jesus in his deity.

From John's account, we actually see the supremacy of Jesus

Christ and is demonstrated in four features.

And I got to tell you, here's feature number one, and don't be

alarmed, OK? There's 4 features that we're

going to talk about today. We're going to spend the

majority of our time on number 1.

So when we spend all this time on number one, you think, man,

we got three more. Don't think I'm going to be like

Paul and continue my speech until midnight.

I promise I'm not going to do that.

OK? We're going to spend most of our

time on number one. And then two and three are very

brief and #4 is actually in the conclusion we're going to spend

a lot of time on #1 The feature that we find in the Garden of

Gethsemane, the preeminent feature sowing the supremacy of

Christ is his supreme courage. When you think about Jesus could

have stopped the whole thing, you have to understand He could

have put a stop to all of it. How many times are we faced with

a choice and we have no choice at all?

And sometimes we do something or we carry through something

because really we have no choice.

What if you did have a choice? The greatest things we ever do

is when we make the right choice.

That's the most difficult choice.

Even when we have a choice to do something else, that's the

greatest things that we ever can do.

How about Jesus, He could have put a stop to the whole thing.

How do I know that? In Matthew 26, beginning in

verse 53, Jesus says or do you not think, or do you think that

I cannot now pray to my Father and He will provide me with more

than 12 legions of angels? And how then the then could the

Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus, how many was

that? How many are 12 legions of

angels? Well, first of all, a legion is

6000. So 6000 * 12 is 72,000 angels.

Now we're going to find when they came to arrest Jesus,

there's going to be a lot of guys there.

A lot of people are opposed to Jesus.

A lot of people there were against him, right?

But they would not have stood up to more than because that's

where he says more than 72,000 angels.

He could have done that, but Jesus says I can't do that.

Why? Because how would the Scripture

be fulfilled that it must happen thus it just has to be in Johns

10 and 17. Jesus said, therefore my Father

loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again.

Jesus even further said, he said no man takes my life.

I my life I freely give. And by the way, that's why fast

forwarding to the cross when Jesus totally in control, Jesus

says it's finished, it's accomplished.

I've done it. Everything you sent me to do,

Father, I've done. And finally he says, Father,

into your hands. I come in my spirit.

And the Bible says he bowed his head.

The word bowed, as you heard me say many times, is a word that

is described to somebody that willfully pillows their head.

That's not the posture of a victim.

That's somebody that gives his life and says this, I lay it

down, you sent me to do it, I've done it, it's finished, and now

I'll die. Wow, I just got chills on that.

That's what Jesus said, OK, He wasn't unwilling, but that

doesn't mean there was no anguish.

And that's evident in his prayer.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays three times

to his father. In Luke's account in Luke 22 and

42, he said, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away

from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but

yours be done. All right, My question to all of

us is this. It's a rhetorical question.

I'm going to answer it in a minute, but let me just throw it

out in a general sense. What's the cup?

Well, I'm going to tell you what everybody says, everybody

deduces this is the cup, and I've heard it in my whole life.

The cup is the cup of suffering is what most people say.

And when they say or what they're suggesting, when they

say the cup of suffering, they're suggesting the cup of

physical suffering. In other words, what Jesus was

going to have to do physically on the cross.

Let me just suggest this to you, please.

I'm not minimizing the pain, the awfulness of the cross.

It was so horrible that even a Roman historian said that Roman

soldiers, literally even, and Roman citizens shuddered to even

speak about the crucifixion. It was so awful that a Roman

citizen could never be crucified.

In fact, it was for foreign slaves and criminals.

They're the ones that got crucified.

So I'm not minimizing the pain of the cross.

Please don't think I'm doing that.

But to say that the cup that Jesus was saying and to his

Father three times, let this cup pass from me is just physical

suffering that is way too easy. What is it?

In fact, by the way, if you look at Fox's Book of Martyrs, you

know what you find? You find a whole lot of people

that were martyred for their faith.

You know what they did? They went courageously to their

death. Stay with me.

I got a point here. They went courageously to the

death. In fact, some of them, you know

what they did? They went singing hymns and

praying and praising God. Was Jesus less courageous than

they? How about Polycarp when he's

about to be burned at the stake and they said all you got to do

is denounce Jesus. That's all you got to do and you

will not be burned. You know what Polycarp said?

You know the phrase, very ancient phrase.

We all know it. Here it is 80 and six years have

I served him, and he's never done me wrong.

How then could I blasphemy the name of my king, the one who

saved me? How about Stephen when he's

being martyred for his faith? The very first one in Acts

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Chapter 7, he looks up into the heavens.

He says he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God and all he

has to say is Lord lay not their sin to their charge and he was

executed for his faith. What about Paul who was beheaded

headed What about Peter who was going to be crucified on a Roman

cross? And tradition says that he said

I'm not worthy to be crucified like my Lord, crucify me upside

down. Was he more courageous than

Jesus? Absolutely not.

In fact, Peter chickened out a few times, didn't he?

Jesus shows supreme courage. So what is the cup and why was

he troubled in spirit? Let me take it a step further.

Hebrews 12 and two, OK, looking under Jesus, the author and

finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him

endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the

right hand of the throne of God. So that's something else we're

adding here. What do we have?

We have the pain of the cross. He endured it.

We've got the shame of the cross.

He endured that too. OK, all of those things are

true. What was on the Lord's mind that

was troubling Him in spirit with regards to the cup?

I submit to you the cup. Please get.

This is the cup of divine wrath. It is the cup of divine wrath.

And that was terrifying. That was a terrifying reality.

In other words, the Lord wasn't troubled because of what He was

going to anticipate physically or physical suffering.

He was troubled because he anticipated divine wrath from

God and that is spiritual suffering.

You know why He had to bear the sin of the world?

He had to bear the sin of the world and that include God's

divine wrath on sin. Can I say something?

Now you know why God hates sin so much.

Well, the obvious things, it's beneath him, He's perfect, it's

ugly. Secondly, the price that was

paid for it, and that is the blood of His only Son.

But even stop to consider that God hates sin so much because

it's the one and only thing that'll keep us from Him for

eternity. And that's what He wants.

The Bible says the long-suffering of God is

salvation, not willing that any should perish, but that all

should come to repentance. He wants everybody to go to

heaven. He doesn't want that.

That is His desire. How do I know that?

Look at the price that he paid in order to have it.

OK, so the Lord was anticipating the fact that He would have to

bear the sin of the world, and therefore God's divine wrath on

sin. What else?

He would be alienated from his Father.

You know, I'm going to tell you what that took a tremendous

amount of courage to purpose in your mind to go to the cross

where all of your purity would be defiled.

He was perfect in every way. And by the way, that's the only

reason He was the only perfect candidate to be the Lamb of God,

because he was perfect in, excuse me, in every way.

His purity would be violated as He bore the sin of the world and

he would be abandoned by God. In Matthew 27 and 46 in about

the 9th hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Ili ili

la masa bakhtani. That is my God.

My God, why have you forsaken me?

This is a direct quote from the book of Psalms in Psalm 22 and

one my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from helping me and my and the words in my

groaning. All right, most people think and

maybe it's true. I don't know when the we talk

about God's turning his face, even the songs that we sing,

because the Bible talks about and the Scriptures teach the

concept of God turning his face. And the easy answer is this.

And I know that most people say that's because God can't look on

sin. And maybe that's true, but

there's a lot of debate that that's not what that means.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to talk about what we

actually do know for sure. What we do know for sure is

exactly what the Scripture says from the book of Psalms.

Notice this is what we know for sure.

This is the symbolic turning the face of God away from Jesus.

Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping

me and from the words of my groaning?

OK, what do we know? We know this God, Jesus and the

Holy Spirit have always worked together.

What else do we know? They are one in purpose, they

are one in unity. They are one in every aspect of

what they do. But they're three separate

personages in the Godhead in the very beginning in Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and verse 26, let us make man in our image after our

likeness. Who was there?

God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit doing what?

Working together in the entire life of Jesus in heaven and on

the earth, except in this one instance, God was there side by

side, if not in heaven literally, but figuratively,

while Jesus walked on the earth. God was with Jesus every step of

the way until now. And the reason for that is he

had to do this all by himself. He had to do it all on His own.

That is infinite supreme courage.

He does so undaunted and without hesitation.

But before we go any further, when it comes to the garden, as

you've heard me say this phrase about the crucifixion, I'll say

it again. Here we go.

He's not trapped in the garden, He's not tricked in the garden,

and He is not surprised in the garden.

Let's go to John 18 and verse one.

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with his

disciples over the Brook Kidron where there was a garden which

he and his disciples entered. OK, this phrase right here after

he had spoken these words is referring to John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

And if you want to know, by the way, what the Lord's Prayer is,

that's the Lord's Prayer. That's the prayer the Lord

prayed. OK, I know that there's another

passage that people call the Lord's Prayer, but nobody, the

Lord never called it the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, so forth.

OK, the Lord didn't call it that, and neither does the

Scripture man calls it that. That was a prayer that Jesus

gave as a model, not words to be regurgitated, but a model on how

to pray before the Kingdom came. OK, if you want to know what the

Lord's Prayer is, it's John 17. When He spoke those words in His

prayer in John 17, what happens? He and his disciples, they left

the upper room, they left the city of Jerusalem, they went

down a little slope. They crossed the Brook Kidron

and they went to the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of

Gethsemane, and that's where they went immediately.

You know, that was a place that Jesus spent a lot of evenings

there. It was a place that scholars say

or would refer to it like this, the closest thing the Lord ever

had to a place on the earth. It was a place where he would

retire at evening time. According to John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

It was a very familiar place, the Garden of Gethsemane.

It was his custom. It was a place that he went to

be close to his Father. You know, maybe you have a place

like that. Maybe you have a place that you

just want to go and get to a quiet place, and that's the

place that you can get your mind right and you can pray to God.

You know, a symbolic sense. The Bible talks about going into

your closet. OK.

In other words, finding your private place or some place that

you want to just go and it's just you and God and you can

talk to God, whatever that is for you.

I don't know. Jesus had one too.

It's called the Garden of Gethsemane.

That's where the Lord went. OK.

Sometimes though, he would go up the side of the Mount of Olives.

He'd make a little turn, he'd take a little Rd. around the

hill, and he'd go to a place called Bethany.

And he would be there with dear friends Mary, Martha, and

Lazarus. But not this night, Not this

night. It was His time to go to this

fatal garden. And I'm going to submit to you

this. He did it on purpose.

Not only that, He knew everything that was going to

happen. And #3 He planned every detail

that happened in it. OK?

It was a place that the disciples knew about.

Jesus took his disciples there with him.

But do you know who else knew about that place?

You know Judas, the vile betrayer.

He knew it too. He knew where it was, and Jesus

knew that Judas knew 2 reasons #1 Jesus knows everything.

OK, that's obvious, right? But there's another reason that

Jesus knew that Judas the Betrayer knew, and it's all

because of an Old Testament example.

An Old Testament passage that we can read about an Old Testament

example in prophecy brings up an interesting point about

prophecy. I'm going to be brief about

this, but we'll throw it on there about prophecy because

prophecy matters. But let's talk about it for just

a moment. There's two kinds of prophecy.

There's verbal predictive prophecy and there is typical

prophecy. OK, verbal predictive prophecy

is a prophecy that's verbally spoken that's going to happen or

be proven or fulfilled later on. Give you an example of verbal

predictive prophecy? Here's an easy one.

Here's a softball toss. Here we go.

For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given.

That's Jesus verbal predictive prophecy.

Jesus fulfilled that. He was born of a virgin.

He did come into the world and a son, the Son of God, was given

to all mankind. Great stuff.

Verbal predictive prophecy. Typical prophecy is prophecy in

types. That's a fancy word for a

picture or an example. OK, a picture or an example in

the Old Testament fulfilled with Jesus in the New Testament, for

example, every Old Testament sacrifice was a picture of Jesus

Christ. A prophecy of a final sacrifice

would come. That is typical prophecy.

All right. Also in a in a distance in a, in

more than this or step from this with typical prophecy.

There were also men or characters in the Old Testament

who were types of Christ who by their life actually typify

Jesus. Give you 3 brief quick examples.

Here we go #1 How about Moses? OK, the children of Israel were

in Egyptian bondage for many, many years.

God sent Moses, a deliverer to deliver the children of Israel

out of Egyptian bondage in life manner, Moses became a type or a

picture of Jesus because guess what, all of us were in the

bondage of sin and God sent Jesus to deliver us from sin.

So therefore, Old Testament type, Old Testament picture

Moses was a picture of Jesus. Let's move on, how about Joseph?

I don't have time to go into this.

It's actually a sermon all in itself, but there is over 100

points of likeness in the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus.

I'm just going to give you one because I don't have time.

Here we go. One when Joseph was sold by his

brothers and betrayed and sold by his brothers into slavery.

He was sold for 20 pieces of silver, the price of a slave.

When Jesus was sold and betrayed by Judas, he was also sold for

the price of a slave and at that time it was 30 pieces of silver.

Joseph in 100 points of likeness in his life became a type of

Jesus Christ. What else?

Sometimes there's even a character in an event that

typify Jesus. One example would be Isaac, when

God told Abraham, Abraham, take your son Isaac, the one that you

love, your only son, you sound familiar.

Your only son, the one you love, sound familiar.

And God said, take him and take him to a place that I will tell

you and offer him as a sacrifice unto me.

We know the story. They leave, they leave for three

days. 03 days is significant, isn't it?

Three days? They leave for three days.

And by the way, in Abraham's mind, Isaac was gone from the

very moment that they left on that journey.

You know what's going to happen three days later, Abraham, the

father gets him back. You know what happened with

Jesus? He was crucified, he was buried.

Guess what happened? Father lost him.

Three days later, God got him back.

Notice, but in this instance, Isaac, who typified Christ in

this one event, actually carried the wood that he would be

sacrificed on. Can you imagine carrying the

wood that you're going to be sacrificed on?

Jesus carried the wood that he was sacrificed on to in this

event. Isaac typified Jesus in that

event. OK, give you another one.

And that's the reason that I'm doing this is because we're

getting to the connection of why everybody would have known what

Judas was going to do, and Jesus knew too.

And that's the character from the Old Testament, David.

The Bible says that Jesus was a king like David, and David was

betrayed by a familiar friend and his name was a hit.

The fell Jesus was betrayed by a familiar friend and his name was

Judas. Now David said the following in

Psalm 41 and verse 9. Even my own familiar friend in

whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel

against me. I got to make this point, got to

make this clarification. It is true that this statement

is twofold. 2 Twofold. One, it does include Jesus.

It does include as if David was speaking for the mouthpiece of

Jesus in the book of Psalms, like he did many times talking

about Judas. That's true, but literally and

specifically, David had the same exact thing.

A familiar friend who he trusted lifted up his heel against him.

So from a prophetic type scenario, this is talking about

a hit the film. All right, let's talk about

Jesus. In John 13 and 18, Jesus said

this. I do not speak concerning all of

you. I know whom I've chosen, but

that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me,

and we know exactly who that is. That is Judas Iscariot.

So a hit. The fell was David's closest

advisor. Judas was the apostle, an

apostle in the Lord's inner circle.

What story am I referring to about hit the film?

I'm talking about Second Samuel, chapter 15.

2 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

Don't turn there, stay with me. I'll narrate it and we'll be

quick. Second Samuel, chapter 15.

2 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

David is king, and he's got a bad son.

He's got a wicked, corrupt son. It was his third oldest son and

his name was Absalom. Now I don't understand this, but

Absalom had two motives and I don't get this.

Number one, he wanted to kill his father.

Can you imagine that killing your dad?

He wanted to kill his father and he wanted to take away the

Kingdom. He wanted to reign as king, get

his dad out of there. Ahithophel, according to I think

it's First Chronicles 27, Ahithophel was David's

counselor. And the word in Hebrew, the word

counselor translated in Hebrew means one who guides.

So Ahithophel was supposed to be the guy that was by the David's

side, the King's side, and guide him.

That's when Ahithophel's job was, that's what he was supposed

to do. But remember, the Bible says

he's lifted up his heel against me.

In other words, he's opposed. He becomes the enemy of me.

OK, what do we also know about Ahithophel?

He was a counselor. He was a guide, yes, but he was

also the grandfather of Bathsheba.

Now, I don't know if this is true and I don't know that it

matters, but some people say, some scholars say that that's

the reason that a hit the fell rose up against David is because

David had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba.

Whether that's true or not, the Bible doesn't say that.

What we do know for sure, a hit the fell was David's counselor.

A hit the fell was Bathsheba's grandfather.

And one day he's going to join forces with the enemy, and

that's Absalom. Let's talk about Absalom for

just a moment. There's so much to the story we

can't go into. Absalom one day goes to his

father and he lies to him. He comes to David and he says to

David, I want to go to Hebron and worship God.

Sounds good, right? And David said, go ahead, gives

his blessing. The whole point is he's lying.

He's lying. When he gets to Jerusalem, he

goes out and he tells everybody, he says I am now ruling over all

of Israel. So here was the question, what

are we going to do to get rid of David?

A hit the fell who's supposed to be on David's side?

A hit the fell now is going to give counsel to the opposite

side and that is Absalom, second Samuel 17 and verse one that got

chopped off. That's verse one.

Moreover, a hit the fell said to Absalom, Now let me choose

12,000 men, and I will arise and pursue David.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I will come upon him while he is

weary and weak and make him afraid, and all the people who

are with him will flee, and I will strike only the King.

Doesn't that sound a little familiar?

What happens with Jesus when he escaped?

You know where he went, David. He left Jerusalem.

He went down the slope, He crossed the Kidron, He went to

the Mount of Olives with his faithful disciples or faithful

followers. What did Jesus do on this fatal

night? He left Jerusalem, He went down

the slope, He crossed the Kidron, He went to the Mount of

Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane with his faithful

followers. So Hithephel and David in that

little incident become a perfect picture in the Old Testament of

what is to come when the true king arrives and Judas becomes

even more treacherous, treacherous than Hithephel.

OK, the question is, if Jesus knew that, why did he go to the

garden? Well, first of all, the garden

was threefold. Here's the obvious stuff.

The garden was a place of prayer, a place where He prayed

to His Father. The garden was a place of rest,

according to John chapter 8, that He went at in the evening

John 8 · chapter mention

time, and the garden was a place of fellowship that He could have

with His disciples. All of that is obvious, but all

of those things are secondary, OK?

The primary reason that Jesus went to Gethsemane is because He

knew that Judas would be there and he knew that Judas knew

Jesus would be there and He knew Judas would take the mob

straight to him. Why Old Testament prophecy with

Ahithophel? But not only that with

verbalization, accurate verbalization.

It even says he would buy or sell Jesus and buy the Potter's

field. The Lord knew John 18 and verse

2, and Judas who betrayed him also knew the place, for Jesus

often met there with His disciples.

Jesus wanted the final betrayal to be in the garden.

If the final betrayal would have happened, by the way, in

Jerusalem, there would have been perhaps an insurrection, maybe

even a revolution. You know why?

Because there was a lot of people that hated Jesus, but

there was a lot of people that love Jesus too.

And with that, and with all the people that love Jesus, He

healed them. He fed them, did great stuff for

him, right There would have been an insurrection, maybe a fight

back, a revolution. He didn't want that.

You know why? Remember, he says, my life was

not taken. My life I freely gave.

This is voluntary, willful surrender.

John 1017 and 18. We read the first verse a moment

ago. Now we get into 18.

Therefore my father loves me because I lay down my life that

I might take it again. No one takes it from me, but I

lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down.

I have power to take it again. This command I have received

from my father. Listen, folks, a coward would

have gone any place but the garden.

Matthew 26 says more stuff about it.

Notice a great multitude came, and they came with swords and

clubs, and they were ready for action.

Can you imagine how many came? How many in John 18 and 3?

Then Judas having received a detachment of troops.

What is that? A detachment of troops is a

Roman cohort. How many of the Roman cohort?

Well, first of all, we know that by this deduction a Roman legion

is 10 cohorts. Therefore 10 cohorts, which is a

Roman legion was 5000 men. So 1 detachment of troops or one

Roman cohort was about 500 men. Wow, 500 guys soldiers, plus the

chief priests and the Pharisees and the angry mob.

And Judas is out in front and they come with lanterns and

torches. Now you'll remember this.

This part might be a little familiar, OK?

They came with lanterns and torches.

Historically, during the time that this occurred, and which is

during the Passover, historians say that there would have been a

full moon, and that moon would have lit up the sky.

In other words, you would not have needed lanterns and torches

to navigate down the road and go into the Mount of Olives and the

Garden of Gethsemane. You wouldn't have needed that to

go from Jerusalem to that place. They took lanterns and torches

because they thought they were going to have to search every

nook and cranny and find Jesus because they thought he'd be

hiding somewhere. Here comes 500 men, along with

chief priests and Pharisees and the angry mob, and Judas is out

front. Interesting.

The irony. They came with lanterns and

torches looking for the light of the world, and they came with

weapons in search of the Prince of Peace.

What a brutal misinterpretation of who the Lord was.

And here comes Judas. What happens when he arrives?

The other gospel accounts tell us more.

Let's go to Mark, Mark 14 and 44.

Now his betrayer had given them a signal saying whoever I kiss,

he's the one sees him and lead him away.

All right, Notice in verse 45, as soon as he had come,

immediately he went up and he said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi, and

he kissed him. You might look at that and say,

well, what's the big deal? It just says what he said he was

going to do until you look up this word kissed.

This is an intensified form of the verb to kiss.

He said when I kiss him, that's who it is.

But this word is different, an intensified form of the verb.

In other words, a fervent, continuous expression of

affection, meaning He kissed him repeatedly.

Wow. Then verse 4, Jesus.

Therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, He

went forward. He knew.

He knew what was going to happen.

He's all knowing. But he also knew from prophecy

too. I do not speak concerning all of

you. I know whom I've chosen, but the

scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats bread with me has

lifted up his heel against me. This is humble, willing

sacrifice. OK, it may be that the kiss came

first, but I'm saying this. Nothing happened until Jesus

went forward. Nothing happened until he went

forward and he said this. Whom are you seeking?

Who are you looking for? So and I said, this is the

majority of the lesson. Now we're going to hit the next

three really fast. Stay with me.

I'm almost finished. Not only do we see the Lord's

supreme courage in every way, but you know what else we see?

We see his supreme power. We see his supreme power in the

garden in chapter 18 and verse 5 of John.

They answered and said Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus said to them,

I am he. You might remember this, the

word He by the way, this whole thing is in italics, but the

word he in the original or in the Scripture in the original is

not there. It is in italics in our English

translations, which means it was added by the translators for

clarity. In other words, in the original,

it simply says this I am came to notice we see a supreme power in

the next verse when he said to them, I am he or I am, they drew

back and they fell to the ground.

You remember this, This is not new, very brief.

I got to be brief about this. Be careful when you read

commentaries and the explanation that commentaries give, because

sometimes a commentary can just give you what they think because

they're not inspired by God. And sometimes it's better just

to read the Bible and see what the Scripture says and what

makes sense. Why did they fall?

Commentators say, well, they were so stunned that they found

him so quickly, so they tipped over and fell.

Really. 500 men soldiers stunned?

Come on. Other commentators say, well,

one guy tripped. You've heard me say this.

One guy tripped. And like Domino's, they all

fell. Really.

You don't think 500 soldiers knew how to stand up?

Come on, why did they fall? They fell because of what he

said. He was demonstrating his supreme

power. He said I am because that's who

He is. He's the I am.

And they fell. Thirdly, you know what else we

see? Not only his supreme power, Oh,

we see his supreme love. Jesus anticipated the cross.

He never was concerned about himself.

He is always concerned about his disciples.

In fact, Mark's account says that he interrupts his prayer

three times to go check on his disciples in John 18 and verse

7. Notice then he asked them again,

who are you seeking? And they said Jesus of Nazareth.

Why did he ask them twice? The next verse Jesus answered.

I've told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek me, let

these go their way. Picture this because I want to

show this as an example of what Jesus does for us today too.

OK, you got the enemy, you got the disciples who's standing in

the middle. I see some nodding your head.

Yeah, you get it. Jesus, the busiest man in the

world that was about to be crucified for the sins of the

world. He's protecting his disciples,

he said. I already told you.

That's why the question was asked twice.

I already told you that it's me that you're looking for.

If that's all you want, then you let these go their way.

You live that you leave them alone.

One man put it like this, Jesus is not the kind of shepherd that

rescues the sheep when he's half eaten by the wolf.

No, he stood in the gap and he protected his own.

How do I know, verse nine, that the saying might be fulfilled,

which you spoke of? Those who you gave me, I have

lost none. I believe the Lord knew they

were not ready for a test like that.

They would not have been able to handle it.

You know, the Bible talks about that too when it comes to us,

doesn't it? Paul dealt with that.

There's no temptation taken you except what is common to man.

But with the temptation, we're given a means of escape that

we're able to bear it. In other words, the temptations

that come our way are not going to be more than we're able to

bear. Jesus knew they were going to

not be able to bear that. It was too much.

He stood in the gap and he protected them, OK, Just like he

does for us today. Wow.

So let me just say this, if you are a faithful child of God and

you're doing your very best and you have something come your

way, don't think it's too much because the Lord says, yeah, you

can handle it. And not only that, I'm there

with you all the way to help you through it.

Also, Jesus knew that if something happened to them, they

wouldn't be able to carry out their Commission to proclaim the

gospel and do their work after he was gone.

This is the protecting power of the shepherd.

And then specifically, he protects old Peter.

Here comes impulsive Peter verse 10.

Then Simon Peter having a sword, drew it and struck the high

priest servant and cut off his right ear.

And the servant's name was Malchus.

Luke's account says that Jesus grabbed that ear and he put it

back on. If you look at the original

language, it actually demonstrates the concept.

He actually made him a new ear because by the way, if you cut

off an ear, it's pretty, I don't know, mangled.

I would say he made him a new ear.

He protected him. Now, what was he actually doing

when he said this in Matthew 26 and 52?

But Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place, for all who

take the sword will perish by the sword.

First of all, what was Peter trying to do?

He what? He was a fisherman.

He wasn't a skilled swordsman. He wasn't trying to just shave

down the side of old Malchus's face and cut off his ear.

He was trying to cut his head off.

He was in battle and we can try to cut his head off and Malchus

moved and he sliced off his ear. I believe that.

So because of that, people assume Jesus says put up your

sword from this place because if you take up the sword you will

perish the sword. So most people commonly think

what he was doing is he was protecting him from the death

penalty. Maybe that's true, maybe not.

I think there's a little better point though.

I think there's a better point. What was the Lord actually

saying with regards to His Kingdom?

One violence begets violence. Nothing good ever comes from

violence. Violence begets violence.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace bringing in a Kingdom of peace.

It is a spiritual Kingdom, not a fleshly Kingdom.

So he was saying, put your sword in its place because if you take

the sword, you'll perish with the sword.

You're missing the whole point of my Kingdom, Peter.

And he protected him. Wow.

And that comes to our last point in our conclusion.

Here we go. And maybe this is the most

sobering thought of all. Maybe this one is going to get

all of us a little bit. And I hope it does me too.

Because you know what? We hate this word.

Society hates this word. You know what it is?

Obedience. We see supreme obedience by

Jesus. Going back to verse 11, after he

told Peter, put your sword into its sheath, he said shall I not

drink the cup which my Father has given me?

Are you really going to stand in my way?

Do you really think that I shouldn't drink the cup?

We talked about what that is and fulfill exactly what my Father

sent me to do. Are you really going to stand in

my way? Remember when Jesus said get

behind me, Satan here, he's saying to Peter, I got a job to

do. Are you really going to stand in

that way and notice, shall I not drink the cup which my Father

has given me? I'm going to ask you a question

when it comes to obedience. Do you make your decisions in

your life from a spiritual perspective based on that

obedience? The opposite of obedience is

this. I'm going to do it my way.

I like this other way instead. I know the Scripture says that,

but I like this. I got a friend of mine, good

friend, we talk the Bible all the time.

He said, I know the Scriptures say that, but I just choose to

decide that I'm going to believe this other instead.

Even the Lord Jesus demonstrated supreme obedience and you know

what he did? He paid a price he didn't owe

because we had a debt we couldn't pay.

Aren't you thankful that he did that?

I'm so thankful that he did that.

So in closing this morning, when Jesus went to that fatal garden,

he knew where he was going. He knew the whole thing.

And he goes to the garden of Gethsemane and four preeminent

features are brought out in the garden which could show him as a

victim. But he's not 4 things.

Supreme courage. A coward would have gone

anywhere but the Garden. Supreme power.

He spoke the words I am, and they fell at his feet.

By the way, it had no effect on them.

They just got right back up and, you know, bounced right back up.

No effect. What else?

Supreme love. He protected his own, and He

protects us too. And finally, supreme obedience.

4 preeminent features found when Jesus went to the Garden of

Gethsemane. Then they took Him and it was on

to the mock trial, the beatings, and the scourging, and then to

Golgotha where he would fulfill God's plan.

Does that give you a greater appreciation for the Lord?

I hope so. He could have stopped at all,

but He didn't. He did that for you.

He did it for me. What are we willing to do back

in return for Him? Is He first in our life or is He

an afterthought every once in a while?

Is he #1 Can't say he's #1 without demonstrating it.

So He's going to be demonstrated in my life by my actions.

Is he #1 Because guess what? You were number one to Him.

We never close a time when we teach from the Word of God, when

we don't extend an invitation to somebody that might be subject

to the gospel call. Are you here and not a

Christian? There are steps in order to

receive the benefits and blessings of what Jesus has done

for us. The first thing you got to do,

you got to hear the Word of God. Romans 10/17 So then faith comes

by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

After you hear the word of God, you got a choice.

You got to believe with all your heart.

Hebrews 11 and 6. Without faith it's impossible to

please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and

that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Then what Jesus said you got to make some changes.

You know it's true. Jesus wants you to come as you

are, that's true. But when you come to Christ, you

leave what you were behind and Jesus wants us to change.

That's called repentance of our sins.

Acts 17 and 30. Truly these times of ignorance

got overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Got to change. Then we must be willing to

confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

Acts 837 Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart,

you may. And he answered and said, I

believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Upon taking those steps, you are a fit candidate to go to the

point of salvation, and that's to be baptized for the remission

of sins. Mark 1616.

He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does

not believe will be condemned. The word belief means this,

having the force to obey. I believe so much, I'm going to

obey. There's that word again, obey,

I'm going to obey. And what the Lord say, be

baptized. Is it necessary?

OK, I can't give you the verse on that because the computer's

doing a thing. I'll quote it first.

Peter 321 Is it necessary? The like figure we're in the

even baptism. This is the from the King James.

I like how the King James renders it doth also now save

us. What's that mean?

It saves us not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the

answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection

of Jesus Christ. If you've never become a

Christian, you could do that today.

We'd love to assist you in that. Maybe you have taken those steps

of obedience. Maybe there's something in your

life that just isn't what it should be.

Hey, all that matters what you do now, repent of that.

Confess that. We'll pray with you and for you,

and God will forgive and restore all fixed.

We want to be the class. Come forward while we stand,

while we stand.