John 18:1-21

Who's in charge around here?

You ever ask that question?

Maybe in a restaurant the service is slow and maybe the food wasn't very good and you sort of are dissatisfied and you look around and you say who's in charge around here?

Who's running this place? It's kind of a rude question. We ask it a lot in America because we're generally rude and impatient.

But John actually wants us to ask this question as we look at the final hours of Jesus' life.

It's a critical question for us to consider because it actually reveals much about the person and work of Christ.

Who's in charge here?

In our narrative this afternoon we really have three options, don't we?

The first is the Jewish mob and the Jewish leaders.

And it's most natural for us to assume that someone has to be responsible for the death of Jesus.

And we see this mob that comes and takes them away.

We see them on trial in front of the Jewish leaders and we think they must be in control.

Clearly they're the ones who are pushing the agenda.

Clearly they're the ones who are running things here.

But what we don't see with this mob and with these leaders is a total control.

In fact, we actually see some great constraints placed on their authority, don't we?

We see it first and most dramatically in verse 6 when they come to Jesus and they say,

and he asks, who are you seeking?

And they say, Jesus of Nazareth.

And what's his response?

It's simply, I am he.

And he says it a couple of times.

And what happens to this great mob?

You can picture them there with their weapons and their torches,

clearly outnumbered, surrounding Jesus.

And he simply identifies himself.

And it forces this crowd of people to draw back.

And John says even to fall down prostrate on the ground.

Something clearly is going on here that they don't fully understand.

There's a power here that they haven't yet comprehended.

We're going to see more of that in a moment.

But the second way we see their control restrained is even just in the judicial process as it plays out broadly.

Can these people actually put Christ to death?

And you'll see this more in a few weeks, but the answer is no.

They're even subject to other authorities.

The Roman authorities are the ones who have to play a role in this.

So who's in charge around here?

Clearly it's not the Jews and the Jewish leaders.

And so there's a second option.

And the second option is Peter, isn't it?

Peter clearly wants to take control of the situation in verse 10.

He wants to be the hero.

He sees this mob coming after Jesus and he says,

I will protect my master.

And he takes out a sword and he cuts off the ear of a man.

You see, he still can't accept Christ's mission.

Earlier in John, Jesus had predicted his death.

He said he was going to have to die for his people.

And Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that.

See, what Peter wants is he wants a Savior, a Messiah,

who's going to stand up to the Romans.

He wants a Messiah who's going to raise Israel up to its proper place among the nations.

That's the kind of Messiah that he wants.

And now faced with arrest, with trial, and with death,

Peter wants to find a way out for Jesus.

And he's left disappointed.

And he's left in denial of ever knowing Jesus.

See, clearly Peter isn't in charge here.

So who's in charge around here?

Who's running this thing?

Well, John makes it abundantly clear that it is in fact Jesus.

And we see this here in three ways.

First, we see it in his innocence.

We see it in Christ's innocence.

One of my favorite shows growing up in the States is a television program called Cops.

I don't know if you have it here.

I haven't seen it.

I've seen similar shows.

But Cops is where they took video cameras and they put these cameramen in police cars.

And it's great because they just go around and you get to see these high-speed chases played out on telly.

And then what inevitably happens is the person that they're chasing will wreck their vehicle.

And then they jump out and they start running.

And so then you get to see these cops get out of their car.

And they're chasing these people through backyards, through countryside, all over the place.

And the cameraman's trying to keep up with them.

And they always inevitably catch the guy.

And when they catch him, the first question they ask him is,

Why did you run?

And the answer, every single time, without question, is,

Because I didn't do anything.

And they say, the response to the cops always is,

If you didn't do anything, then why did you run?

And there's never an answer for that.

See, innocent men don't need to run.

So, where do we find Jesus at the very beginning of this passage?

In verse 18, he's in a garden.

And what's he doing in the garden?

Well, he goes there to pray with his disciples,

which, in verse 2, was his practice.

And it was a place that was known by Judas, his betrayer.

See, Jesus didn't need to run.

He didn't need to hide.

Why?

Because he was acting as an innocent man.

He was doing what any innocent man would do.

He was going about his business.

The second way we see his innocence here

is in the questioning of verses 19-24.

They ask Jesus about the things that he's said

and the things that he's done.

And he said,

If I've said or done something wrong,

then bring witnesses to testify against me.

I've done everything publicly.

I've done everything openly.

I've done everything within the order of our society,

the way that you would expect it to be done.

If I've spoken, I've spoken in the temple.

I've spoken in the synagogues.

I've spoken to loads of people.

So if I've said something that's blasphemous,

if I've said something that's wrong,

bring people here to testify against me.

And what's the response to that?

The result is they resort to,

I guess the politically correct term is

enhanced interrogation techniques, isn't it?

They start smacking them around.

See, Jesus is an innocent man.

What we have here is a setup.

The trial of a man who has done nothing wrong.

John is exposing that.

But he also reveals that this isn't the result

of simply a corrupt judicial system.

This isn't the result of an elaborate conspiracy.

But it's part of a bigger plan.

It's part of a divine plan.

And that's the second thing we see about Jesus here,

is his divine nature being drawn out by John

and being placed before us very, very clearly.

In verse 4, we see it reflected in his knowledge.

Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him,

came forward.

See, Jesus already knows before this scene plays out

what's going to happen to him.

And he moves forward with it.

Why?

Because it's part of the divine plan.

We see that continuing in verses 5-8.

When he asks, who is it that you're seeking?

They respond, Jesus of Nazareth, this mob.

And how does Jesus respond to that?

He responds by identifying himself with a divine name.

He says, I am he.

Now, if you're not as very familiar with the Bible,

I am is a way that God identified himself

several times in the Old Testament.

In Exodus chapter 6, at the burning bush,

Exodus 6 · chapter mention

when Moses came and he said,

who do I say sent me when he's sent to the Egyptians,

God's response is, tell them that I am has sent you.

We even see Jesus identify himself this way earlier

in John in chapter 8,

when he says, before Abraham was, I am.

And what was the result of that?

Well, he was saying this to a group of religious Jewish people

who understood the Old Testament.

They understood what he was trying to say about himself,

that he was claiming divinity for himself.

And they wanted to pick up stones.

They picked up stones to stone him.

But what happened in that moment?

Jesus simply walked through the crowd

and walked to safety.

He left them behind.

What happens here?

When he identifies himself as I am,

well, the crowd has to draw back, don't they?

And they fall prostrate.

And once again,

Jesus could simply leave in that moment, couldn't he?

The crowd was constrained by the power of God

that Jesus reveals in himself.

But he doesn't leave, does he?

He stays. Why?

Because Jesus came with a divine purpose.

And that's the third thing we see about Jesus here,

the purpose of his coming.

And the purpose of his coming is very simple.

It was to serve as our substitute.

To take our punishment for us.

And we see this in verse 9.

What's Jesus' purpose?

He says,

To not lose any that his Father has given to him.

And we see it again in verse 11.

His purpose is what?

To drink the cup

that the Father has given to him to drink.

See, what we can rightly say

about Jesus' purpose in coming

was that it was to not lose any

that had been entrusted to him.

And the way he would do that

is by drinking the cup

that his Father had given him.

Now, what is the cup?

What's Jesus talking about

when he says he has to drink this cup?

Well, again, it's Old Testament imagery

being pulled out by John.

The cup in the Old Testament

was used for two purposes.

One was for celebration.

It was an image of,

you know,

the psalmist talks about

how his cup overflows.

It was such a joyful and celebratory moment

that his cup is overflowing.

But we also see it used

in the sense of wrath and judgment.

To drink the cup of God's wrath.

That's what we're talking about here.

Jesus is going to drink

not the celebratory cup,

but the wrath cup.

The cup of divine wrath.

The cup of wrath

is actually the cup

that we deserve for our sin.

Jesus, the innocent, divine Son of God,

drinks the cup for you and me.

This is what theologians call

penal substitution.

Jesus acts as a substitute in our place

to take away the wrath of God

that we deserve.

So we see Jesus' innocence.

We see His divinity.

We see His purpose.

What does all that mean for us?

Well, first of all,

it means that

Jesus actively gave Himself up for you.

Jesus actively gave Himself up for you.

He was in control of the action

the entire time.

He could have walked away

at any moment.

But He gave Himself freely

to suffer humiliation

and punishment

that He didn't deserve.

because

you are the one

He came not to lose.

See, this is where

an abstract idea

has to become

very concrete for you.

He didn't die

just simply for

the disciples

that were around Him.

He didn't die

simply because

He was caught up

in some great conspiracy.

He gave Himself up

for you.

You are the one

He came not to lose.

But,

and there's a big but here,

we can only ever have Jesus

on His terms.

That's the second thing

that this means.

Jesus actively gave Himself up for you,

but we can only ever have Him

on His terms.

We must accept His control.

And we see this reflected

so clearly in Peter.

See, Peter had an idea

of the kind of Messiah

he wanted.

But Jesus wasn't

that kind of Savior.

Jesus didn't come

for the geopolitical revolution

that Peter was hoping for.

And people in our world

make the same mistake

about Jesus

that Peter made,

don't we?

I think Jesus is great.

Jesus was a great

moral teacher.

He says a lot of great things

that I like.

Or,

Jesus really inspires me

to do good things

for the poor

like He did.

Or,

Jesus is a great guy.

I like Jesus.

And these are nice thoughts.

But if that's all

you think Jesus is,

then like Peter,

you've completely missed

the true Jesus.

You've completely missed

the point of His coming.

See,

Jesus' life,

Jesus' teachings,

His miracles,

and His death

and resurrection,

all served

to announce the coming

of the kingdom of God.

A kingdom that is

wholly different

from the kingdom

that we've been living in

on this earth.

It's a kingdom

that you can be a part of

because Jesus' blood

and sacrifice

opened the way.

It's a kingdom

that we've been separated from

for so long

by our sin.

And because we were

under God's wrath.

But what Jesus does

in His death

and resurrection

is He drinks

the cup of God's wrath

to open the way

into this kingdom.

But we must

turn from our sin

and we must

trust in Him

and we must

give up control.

John really shows

this brilliantly

in Peter's denial.

Sandwiched

between

the first section,

you see Peter's denial

in two sections

and sandwiched

in between

Peter's first denial

and his second

and third denials.

John shows Jesus

actively moving

towards the cross.

You see his act

of humiliation

at the questioning

of the Jewish leaders.

We see Jesus

working

to save

Peter

from himself.

And that's the point

that John is making.

It's a brilliant

literary turn,

isn't it?

because you see

Peter denying

Jesus.

You see Jesus

working for his salvation

and then you see

Peter once again

denying Jesus.

And he concludes,

John concludes

this section

with the sound

of a cock

crowing.

And it's

a poignant moment

in the narrative

because Jesus

had told Peter

that before

the cock crowed,

he would deny

himself,

he would deny

him three times.

So imagine

the devastation

for Peter

in hearing

the sound

of that cock

immediately after

denying Jesus

for the third time.

I want to

suggest to you

that this was

actually

an act

of Jesus' grace

in the life

of Peter.

Peter immediately

was convicted

of what he had done.

He was later

restored by Jesus.

It's interesting,

there's actually

two betrayers

in this passage,

aren't there?

There's Judas

at the very beginning.

And do you know

Judas' fate?

Well,

he would later

hang himself.

Whereas Peter

was later

restored.

So you have

on the one hand

Judas,

a man who

really couldn't

accept responsibility

for what he had done.

And there was

no repentance

or conviction

in his heart.

There was no

cock crowing

for Judas.

But then you have

on the other hand

Peter

who denies

his master

three times.

And yet he hears

the cry

of God's grace

in the cock.

It's hard to hear.

It creates

brokenness

in Peter.

But it ultimately

drives him back

to Jesus.

Jesus.

And what we all

need in our hearts

is to hear

the crow

of the cock.

Do you hear

the crow

in your life?

The crow

of the cock.

Because it's

the sound

of conviction

of sin.

It sounds

like Jesus

calling us,

calling you

to repentance.

It's the sound

of Christ,

of God's

marvelous

and wondrous

grace.

Listen for the

crow

of the cock.

Please pray with me.