Put the Sword Away - Myles Holmes | March 22, 2026

Well, if you have your Bibles, you can open them up to John chapter 18.

John 18 · chapter mention

We're gonna be in verses 1 to 11 this morning.

And if you don't have a copy of God's word with you, the ushers are making their way down the aisle right now, and you can flag one of them down.

They would love to get a copy into your hands, which you can keep as our gift to you.

We are in John chapter 18 this morning.

John 18 · chapter mention

As you turn there, I want to point out something instinctive that is in every one of us when we love someone deeply.

It happened to me just this past week.

When we when someone we love is suffering, everything in us wants to take that suffering from them.

And so we had a sick baby over the last two weeks, a little five-month-old, and it's especially instinctual there, the feeling that my wife and had I had that you may have had before for a person that you love, that I would just take this sickness.

If I could, I would take this sickness in a heartbeat.

I would take it in ten times worse, just to be able to relieve this person that I love from having to endure it.

And there is something that is undeniably beautiful about that, isn't it, there?

To willingly step into someone else's pain on purpose to do it out of love.

And in some ways and at some times, we can actually do that, can't we?

We can sacrifice ourselves, bear another person's burden in order to love them.

There are certain burdens that we can carry.

There are sacrifices we can make, there are costs that you and I can absorb for someone we love so that they don't have to.

But the reality that I was faced with this week is that there are other times where we cannot.

There are realities in life where no one can stand in your place.

And there is a weight, a weight that we carry that is too heavy, even for the most devoted friend, to lift.

It is the burden of our sin.

The Bible comes along with this message that the deepest problem of your life is not just that you suffer.

Suffering is hard, and we can be honest this morning.

I don't know if we can say this in church.

It sucks, right?

We don't like it.

We don't like suffering, but the Bible comes along and tells us that our deepest problem is that we are guilty before God.

That is our deepest burden.

A cosmic treason that we have before the Lord, that in the courtroom of perfect justice, you and I stand guilty before Him in a way that nothing can fix it, that we do, no amount of effort that we put in, no amount of time that we spend can erase it.

No one that is like you, no matter how much they love you, can step in and take that from you.

What if they could?

What if someone didn't just feel for you about that burden of sin that you bear upon your shoulders?

What if someone stepped forward on purpose and took what was yours?

That's the gospel, isn't it?

The gospel is that when you had that burden of sin on your shoulders, Jesus willingly, out of a love for you and a burden to glorify God, he stood up and he declared, that is mine.

That's the gospel, amen.

Church, amen.

That is the gospel.

That is what we celebrate at Easter.

And if it was that easy, we could just, you know, pack it up here, say, that was a great sermon and go home.

Maybe that'd be the best sermon I'd ever preached.

You know, five minutes in now.

Here's the problem.

Despite the fact that Jesus has stood in our place, you and I, in various ways in life, don't actually live like it happened.

So that so many of us live like this burden of sin is still ours to deal with.

So many of us live like our standing with God can still rise and fall.

So many of us live like at the end of the day, it really all still depends on us.

The remedy to that is what we are about to see in John 18, verses 1 to 11.

John 18:1–11

It is the arrest of Jesus.

And the arrest of Jesus is not the story of a man getting caught in a tragic incident.

It is the story of a Savior who is purposefully and intentionally stepping into his arrest.

And I want you to see that this morning.

We're gonna look at it together.

Let's read it together, in fact.

And what as we do, would you stand with me?

John chapter 18, verses 1 to 11.

John 18:1–11

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kedron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, Whom do you seek?

They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus said to them, I am he.

Judas, who betrayed them, was standing with them.

When Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground.

And so he asked them again, Whom do you seek?

And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus answered, I told you that I am he.

So if you seek me, let these men go.

This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, of whom you gave me, I have lost not one.

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear.

The servant's name was Malchus.

So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into its sheath.

Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?

This is the word of the Lord.

You can grab your seat.

Every verse that we just read overwhelmingly reinforces one singular life-altering truth, and that is that Jesus gave himself on purpose.

And that because he did, you don't have to be like Peter.

You can rest in your salvation.

Jesus gave himself on purpose so that you can rest in your salvation.

Now, if we're honest as we read that, if we have sort of the spiritual honesty and vulnerability to stand exposed in front of God's word, we can admit that few of us, if any of us, have found this rest.

We could probably by show of hands agree that a hundred percent of us are exhausted, that we've heard the gospel, that we've sung the songs, but but we haven't yet found the rest that Jesus walked into that garden purposefully, into his own arrest, into his own demise to buy for us.

Instead, what you and I often do maybe could be illustrated best by saying that we run on the spiritual treadmill of enoughness.

That we wake up day after day wondering if we've done enough, if not guilty, feeling that maybe we haven't read enough, maybe we haven't prayed enough, maybe we haven't been good enough to keep God on our side today.

And even though we can, you know, verbalize this idea that we're talking about in John 18 that Jesus purposefully gave himself for us so that we can rest, it's another thing to say that we've experienced it.

It's another thing to say that we've experienced the freedom that comes from living debt-free.

We live like the arrest is still coming for us.

And so this morning, what we find ourselves in is not just the point of theology to be debated.

It really is immersing ourselves into God's word to experience this reality for which Jesus went into the garden for.

It is a reality in which he purchased our rest.

It is what John tells us in verse 9.

This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken of those whom you gave me, I have not lost one.

Jesus wants you to rest in that promise, and everything that happens in the garden is him purposefully giving himself so that you can have this assurance that because he did that, you can rest.

Three reasons then in John 18, we see why our soul can finally rest.

It is because we have been given a salvation that is planned, that is powerful, and that is finished.

A salvation that is planned, that is powerful, and that is finished.

Noticed first, loved one, that we can rest because our salvation is planned, not accidental.

It is planned, not accidental.

I love plans.

You love plans?

Any type A personalities in here?

You love a plan?

Well, get ready, because you are about to see an awesome plan.

Look down with me at verse one of chapter 18.

When Jesus had spoken these words, you remember he was in the upper room with his disciples.

He he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered.

Notice twice the gospel writer John tells you that Jesus went out, he went out, and that Jesus entered, he entered, because John wants you to see this clearly.

Jesus is not being taken to the garden.

Jesus is walking as a free man into the garden.

He's not being dragged into what is about to happen in every possible way.

Jesus is positioning himself to be found.

John even tells you the significance of where this is happening.

He leads them across the brook Kidron, not a random detail for the student of God's word.

The last time a king crossed this very brook, it was King David when he was fleeing Absalom to preserve his life.

Here, King Jesus crosses it, entering into the hands of the enemy to give his life.

Notice, loved one, that he goes into a garden where all the other gospel writers are very happy to give this garden a name.

John wants to keep our mind on the reality that this is a garden.

A garden much like the one that the first Adam found himself in, where he hid his guilt.

A garden where the second Adam, Jesus, steps forward in his grace.

So that the place, the place in verse one that Jesus finds himself is significant, but I want you to see that it's also significant for Judas.

Look at verse 2.

Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place.

For Jesus often met there with his disciples.

How does Judas know where to find Jesus?

It is because Jesus had been going to this place often.

It wasn't a hidden place.

And Jesus being here at this very moment wasn't a mistake in timing.

We put this together, and here is what you see: Jesus goes to a place that Judas already knows because Jesus goes to this place repeatedly.

So then the question as we look at John 18 is this who's setting up this meeting?

I can tell you what Judas thinks.

Judas thinks that he's capturing Jesus.

Beloved one, what do you think?

Jesus is setting up this meeting.

He's not hiding from what's coming.

He's not trying to escape.

Before he even opens his mouth, notice the authority that is in his posture, funneling him to this very moment in place, so that this moment is not happening to Jesus.

It is happening because of Jesus.

Jesus doesn't find himself in the garden, having been cornered, sort of having to play a weak hand, put up his hands and say, All right, well, you got me.

Here in the garden is an unfolding of an eternal resolve.

Before Judas had it in his heart to portray Jesus, Jesus had been setting up the place where he would be arrested.

Which means, loved ones, before you had ever sinned, before you had even been born, the Father and the Son already looked at this moment and they determined this is how we will redeem them.

This is how we will bring them home.

Jesus doesn't walk into this garden, discover what's going on, and sort of create a plan.

B.

This is the plan.

Jesus is not getting swept away by the current of Rome's hatred and religious hatred towards him.

Jesus is the current here.

He has been funneling everything to this very moment, which means this what's happening in this garden is not a last-minute response.

It is not God reacting to evil in sin.

It is God executing a plan, a plan that had been drawn up before eternity, before you existed.

You see this all throughout the scriptures.

1 Peter chapter 120 says that Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world, that the Messiah was made manifest in these last times for you.

In Ephesians chapter 2, we are told that we are chosen, we were chosen before the foundation of the world, so that before you ever sinned, before you even existed, this was already determined.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

The purposefulness of Jesus stepping into this garden wasn't just a possibility when he came to this earth.

It wasn't just the backup plan.

Well, if they don't follow me, maybe then I'll do this.

This was the plan.

So that what's happening in Jesus' mind here as he sees Jesus, as he sees Judas, is not him thinking, well, I mean, I guess this is how it ends.

I mean, he's looking at Judas and he's looking at those two, you know, hundreds of soldiers and the religious authorities, and he's saying, This is why I came.

This is why I came.

All throughout John's gospel, he would say to his disciples, the hour has not come, the hour has not come, my time has not come, my time has not come.

And now he is here and he's saying, This is it.

This is it, this is what I came for.

And you know that changes how you understand your salvation.

Your salvation does not originate in your decision.

It originates in his.

Before you had ever needed saving, Jesus had already determined to save you.

Do you know this love for you?

Can you rest in the love that Jesus has for you marching into a garden to purposefully give himself over to crucifixion and to die for a people that had not yet even been born?

Purposefully suffers for you.

The cross was the plan.

The cross was always the plan.

The price of your life has at always been settled.

Jesus walks into this garden and he's not looking at a blank check of your life asking, How much sin am I gonna have to pay for here?

When Jesus walks into this garden, he looks at the total invoice of your life.

Every single sin, every moment of rebellion, every sin you remember.

You know those sins that you know they come to your mind when you wake up in the middle of the night and they fill you with shame.

Jesus at that moment, on the invoice, those sins are there.

But you know what else is there?

Every sin you forget.

Every sin you forget, every sin you haven't even committed yet, past, present, and future.

Jesus knows it all.

He's ready to pay for it all.

He's ready to sign the check with the staggering cost of his own blood.

He's a purposeful savior.

You know, an accidental savior might do what you and I do at a restaurant every once in a while.

You ever get the receipt and it's face down on the table and you look at it, and what sound do you make?

Ugh.

Right?

Especially these days, right?

Ugh, oh man, I didn't know.

I mean, my friend invited me to this restaurant.

I didn't know my friend was making that kind of money.

This is a you know, this is a bad scenario.

A sovereign saver looks at the bill, he sees the staggering cost of your soul, and he steps forward to sign it in his own blood.

Jesus did not wait to see how much you would sin, to see how much you would struggle before you were even born, before you ever even sinned, he purposefully gave himself up for you, out of love for you, out of a desire to glorify the Father, but the Son decided the cost was worth it.

You know what that means?

You can you can rest, you can take this spiritual breath in and breath out, because even though you might think your sin goes deeper than his mercy, the cross, the garden, is evidence that Jesus didn't think that.

Jesus walked into this garden purposefully.

You know, this is why we struggle to rest, isn't it?

We struggle to rest because as we count the cost of our own sin, as we know the weight of our own guilt and shame, we begin to wonder if Jesus really knew it.

As we consider our future and how we might fail and how we might fall, we begin to wonder if maybe we'll catch God off guard.

I mean, I can convince people not to like me.

Just give me some time.

Maybe God is like that.

Maybe as God gets to know me and my weakness, but listen, if this was the plan before you ever existed, there is nothing in your life that God didn't already account for when he chose to save you, which means that when you are striving, when you're restless about your standing with God, I want you to understand that that doesn't come just from acknowledging your circumstances and how sinful you are.

It really comes from a misunderstanding of the call of the cross.

It really comes from a misunderstanding of the price that Jesus paid.

Love one, you don't have to wonder.

To wonder if God will eventually look at your life and say, Listen, I didn't I didn't sign up to pay for this.

He already did.

He already paid for it.

And as we see him walk into that garden, we see him ready to pay a debt he had claimed as his own before the foundation of the world.

Well, maybe you hear that and think, okay, well, well, it it maybe sure, maybe it was planned.

But it certainly could be stopped.

Plans fail all the time.

Your intentions don't guarantee the outcome.

And so the question becomes is Jesus really in control here, or is he just about to be overrun?

Does Jesus make the best of a bad situation?

Well, the second thing I want you to see this morning is this you can rest because your salvation is powerful, not overpowered.

You can rest because your salvation is powerful, not overpowered.

Notice in verse 3, look at the text with me.

Notice it says, so Judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

In the Roman world, a band was typically a tenth of a cohort, which was 2,000 soldiers.

Most of my sermon prep this week was figuring out the math on just how exact exactly how many men are here, and I did figure it out.

It's 200.

Judas is backed by Roman might, but he's he's flanked here by religious might.

People who often argue with each other link arms when they find a common enemy.

Here are the Pharisees and the chief priests with these battle-hardened men.

The gear they brought tells you everything about what they expect this encounter to be.

They brought lanterns and torches because they thought Jesus would be hiding.

They brought swords because they thought he would be fighting.

They brought hundreds of men because when you bring that many men to arrest 12, you know exactly who is in control.

But when Jesus steps out of the shadows, there's no question who's outpowered.

Look at verse 4.

Knowing all that would happen to him, Jesus came forward and said to them, Whom do you seek?

Now, what happened in verse 4 is very strange.

I don't know if you've ever been pulled over.

I'm not going to tell you how many times I have, but I do have some experience.

I can tell you who leads the conversation when you get pulled over.

It is the one who wears the badge.

It is the one who has the authority.

You might say hi first, but you do not get to ask the questions.

Now, here, where it on the outside looks like the like Judas has the authority.

He certainly has the numbers.

They have the weapons, they have the torches, they have the lights.

Here it is Jesus who comes and asks them the first question.

The arrested man is not willing to be interviewed.

He is summoning these men.

Notice then the collision of these two worlds.

With lanterns, they try to find the light of the world.

With swords, they try to intimidate the author of life.

With 200 men, they try to overpower the one who holds their very life in his hands.

It is a collision of two powers.

Well, you know Jesus.

So you know then who's gonna win as these two powers collide.

Jesus speaks.

I don't believe in this moment he has to shout.

He doesn't call down a rain of fire on these men.

He simply identifies himself with the divine name.

In your English translation, it says, I am he.

In Greek, it is simply the divine name.

He says I am, and they fall.

It is the name God gave Moses at the burning bush.

It is the name of the eternal God who from eternity past to eternity future simply is.

And with that name, an entire detachment hits the ground.

They came to arrest him, and Jesus doesn't need a sword at a word.

They hit the ground.

You see the staggering irony in this.

They came to take Jesus' life.

They can't even stay on their feet in his presence.

That means that nothing about what is about to happen is outside of the control of Jesus.

These men will arrest Jesus.

These men will come to accomplish their task of arresting him.

But notice, loved ones, that John wants you to understand he is not overpowered.

He is arrested because he chooses to be.

Which means that your salvation is not a result of Jesus losing his power.

It's not a result of Jesus being overcome by power.

It is a result of Jesus using his power to give himself to you.

There is a type of power that is so strong it can allow itself to be taken overtaken by the greatest forces of its enemy and still remain victorious.

I in my house have four girls.

The oldest is eight, the youngest is five months old, and you won't believe this about these girls, but they love to wrestle.

And I say this to try to impress you, even though I know that it won't.

Sometimes when I am wrestling them, the five-month old doesn't get involved too often, but I will let them all jump on me at the same time.

And I'll be honest with you, you might think that I'm worried in that moment.

I'm not worried at all.

I didn't think ever in my preaching career I'd be boasting about beating up an eight, six, and four-year-old girl.

But the illustration calls for it.

There is a type of power so great in the opposition, in the face of opposition, that it can allow itself to be overcome and then still remain victorious.

Often when we think about power, we think about the power to crush an enemy.

But as we approach Easter, we see a different kind of power.

It is the power to endure being crushed by the enemy.

It is a different power, but it is a greater power.

It's the kind of power that says, I can endure your worst and still come out victorious.

And on Good Friday, the world saw a man being defeated by the Roman Empire, but the gospel tells us that God was defeating death itself.

That the same I am who knocked the soldiers flat on their backs was the I am who would allow those very soldiers to cuff and bind his hands so that he did not lose his grip on the universe.

He used his sovereign grip on the universe to stay on that cross until the debt was paid.

It's the irony of the cross, isn't it?

That many look at him and they say, Listen, if you're powerful, why don't you take yourself down from the cross?

Why don't you call on angels to come and deliver you?

And here is Jesus saying, I'm using a different kind of power here.

It is greater.

It is a power not just to deliver myself.

It is a power of purposeful sacrifice.

And it's proof that God didn't just stumble into a solution for your sin.

Jesus Christ marched towards it.

And the sovereign step of Jesus towards you in your sin, loved one, is so strong that nothing can stand against it.

Nothing can stand against it.

This is what Jesus said earlier: that all who the Father has given to him, he will hold on to.

And no one, not even yourself, will be able to take him from his grip.

The question is, do we believe it?

You know, you and I we can say that Jesus is powerful, and we do, and we will, that you know, Easter will proclaim it.

The question is, do we subtly believe that something else is more powerful?

Can I ask you, loved one, do you believe that you can outfail Jesus' salvation?

You really believe your failure is more powerful than Jesus' salvation?

Do you believe that your inconsistency can outlast the steadfastness of the love of God?

I mean, do you think you're more endurant than in sin than God is endurant in patience?

Do you think your future sin can shock a got a God who knows all things?

So I mean, at times like this, the Holy Spirit can put a mirror in front of us to allow us to see ourselves and what we really believe in the very heart of our hearts to say this that often we believe our sin might be stronger than Jesus.

It's certainly what we believe.

Every time we find our ourselves thinking, well, well, maybe I'll mess this up later.

Every time we find ourselves anxious, maybe I've just gone too far, maybe I maybe I won't be able to hold up my end of the bargain.

What we're saying is that his power is not enough to hold on to me, that the power of my unbelief is greater than the power of his salvation.

And loved one, the Holy Spirit holds this mirror in front of us now to see ourselves and say, that is not humility, that is unbelief.

If Jesus's will is to save, what can stand in front of him?

You know, what we find in John 18 is this reality that certainly 200 soldiers couldn't.

Rome's finest, the religious authorities, could not stand in front of him.

What will our sin do in his presence when he comes to redeem it?

Will we overpower him?

Will we outlast him?

Will we surprise him?

If he spoke and they hit the ground.

This is the reason that you can rest in your salvation.

Jesus chose to go.

And yet, even as we know these two things about our salvation, we can still struggle to believe it.

We might think this well, maybe, maybe that's all true.

Maybe, maybe he did plan to save some, maybe he's powerful enough to save some, but but he wants me to prove it.

He wants me to finalize it.

He's left at least a little bit for me to finish.

And I've got to do my end.

That's why many in our world cannot rest.

Because if any part of your salvation depends on you, you will spend your life trying to attain that salvation, never knowing if you have done enough.

And so the question is first, does Jesus mean to?

Secondly, it is Jesus powerful enough to do it.

But it very quickly becomes this.

Did he actually complete what he came to do?

That's what I want you to see, thirdly, that you can rest because your salvation is finished, not needing.

Not needing me.

It's finished because it doesn't need you.

Look at verse 8 with me.

Jesus answered to them again, I told you I am He, so if you seek me, let these men go.

Judas and these soldiers certainly came to arrest not only Jesus, but all of them.

This was very typical in the time that as they were being arrested for really a political revolution, that all of the followers would be arrested as well.

Jesus steps forward and he utters these words, take me instead.

Jesus uses his authority.

I mean, I if you can just put yourself into the scene of scripture right now, you would be certain that these men would be terrified.

I mean, with just a word, they were blown back on their feet so that their weapons really meant absolutely nothing.

They realized they have no authority at all.

They know who calls the shots.

What does Jesus do with his authority?

He says, Let them go free.

Now, immediately after he does that, Peter pulls out a sword.

In Peter's mind, this cannot be how the story goes.

It feels wrong.

It feels like we're losing.

There's a humiliating aspect to it.

And so he steps in to help and he swings his sword at the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

I don't know if the text says this, but I cannot help but to believe that Peter was not aiming for the man's ear.

Peter attempts to commit murder in front of the very word of God, who said that that was a sin.

It's not a calculated strike.

It's instinctual.

Now I find it fascinating then that Jesus fights for the freedom of all these men still.

If you were Jesus, what would you do with Peter?

I'll tell you what I would do.

I would say, okay, listen, I you know, I just said, you know, don't take these men.

Well, maybe take Peter.

He's a bit of a loose candidate.

Maybe take him, okay?

But take me and Peter, let the rest go.

Jesus is absolutely determined to stand in the place of the deepest, furthest, most misunderstanding disciples.

Every one of them must go because Jesus came to stand in the place of his people.

In Peter's mind, this is not how the kingdom works.

The kingdom doesn't advance through suffering.

The kingdom must advance through the strength of the disciples.

Sound like a familiar way of thinking, someone.

How do you believe the kingdom of God is established?

In your life, I mean.

How do you believe that you are saved?

How do you believe that you grow?

I cannot help but to think that many of us, as we think about that answer to that question, think about our own strength.

We think, well, if I'm gonna grow, I I better do this.

And we pull out the sword of our effort.

If I'm gonna grow, well, I better do this.

We pull out the sword of our consistency.

If I'm gonna do this, I better, I better, we pull out sword after sword, just like Peter, fighting for the kingdom, believing that a suffering servant can't win it for us, that we need to do it ourselves.

Notice then, notice what Jesus says to Peter, put your sword into its sheath.

Why can't Peter bear a sword?

Your strength contributes nothing to the work of redemption.

Jesus must stand alone.

You cannot be a part of it.

Jesus already said it, apart from me, you can do nothing.

Now notice then his justification to Peter.

Why must Peter put the sword away?

Look what he says.

Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given to me?

Jesus looks at Peter and he says, The cup is mine to drink.

What is the cup?

It is not Roman suffering, it's not human opposition.

All throughout the Old Testament, the cup is God's wrath against sin.

It is his judgment, it is his justice, it is everything that your sin deserves.

So that loved one, every time that you have sinned, every lie that you have told, every prideful action that you have taken, every time that you have acted out of selfishness instead of love, every time you've looked at what you should not look at, every hidden thought.

Scriptures say you're storing up judgment.

You're not just breaking rules, you are filling the cup by drop by drop.

Paul even looks at those who are not in Christ and at the way that they are living.

And in Romans 2, he says, you are storing up judgment for yourself.

So that your sin puts you in a place of deserving God's justice and wrath, not in a static way, but every time you have sinned against him, you have added to the cup of judgment that one day must someone must drink.

Someone will drink that cup.

You notice what Jesus is doing?

He is coming into the garden to fight for his disciples.

To even hold them back and restrain them, like Peter, to say this: I will be the one who drinks that cup.

It is the offer of the gospel where Jesus steps forward and he looks at your cup and he says, Give it to me.

Do not give me a part of it, give me all of it.

And on the cross, Jesus drinks that cup to the very bottom, every last drop, so that there is nothing left for you to drink.

The choice you have then this morning is this: who will drink the cup?

Because if you will not place your faith in Jesus Christ, if you will not bend the knee before him, then the choice that you are making this very morning is this.

I'll drink the cup myself.

I don't need Jesus to drink the cup.

I don't need him to face the wrath of God for me.

The choice I am making is the choice I am content with to face the wrath of God for all of eternity in hell.

Who will drink the cup?

And here is Jesus.

Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given to me?

And here is you standing in front of Jesus, the one who offers to drink the cup.

And all you must do is place your faith in him.

And Jesus says, Shall I not drink it, not sip it, not share it?

I will drink it for you.

Loved one, will you leave this place making that decision that you want to drink the cup?

If Jesus drinks the cup, there is nothing left in it for you.

There is no judgment left.

There is no wrath left, no payment left.

Salvation is finished.

There's nothing we can do.

When we have a big enough of a problem, we recognize this is outside of my control.

We recognize that physically, right?

We have certain problems that are so physically great that we need to go to a surgeon, and the surgeon needs to put us under because one of the worst things we could do is sort of wake up and say, hey, listen, I can help you out here.

How big is your spiritual problem?

Is this something that you can manage on your own?

Or do you actually believe that you need a savior who finishes it totally and completely?

That's what Peter is doing.

It's what we do.

We live in this belief that our strength is enough, and we see what Jesus is doing in the gospel.

We still reach for the sword.

Maybe it's not literally, but functionally.

We reach for the sword of our effort, of our performance, of our attempt to stay right with God.

We don't reject Jesus' help outright, right?

Peter doesn't.

He doesn't swing the sword at Jesus.

We just think, well, well, maybe he needs my help.

He got me started.

Maybe I just need to keep this thing going.

He forgave my past, sure, but my future depends on me.

And Jesus says, put the sword away.

Put the sword away.

This is not your cup to drink.

And the essential part of the salvation is that you leave this garden and leave Jesus in it so that he can drink the cup for you.

On the cross, Jesus drains the cup.

Over the span of a weekend, we see the agonizing sip after sip as Jesus endures not only the hostility of man being crucified at their hands, but the very wrath of God.

He drains the cup, every drip of it, until on that cross he cries out, It is finished.

There's nothing left but to pay.

There is nothing left but to prove.

So that you can rest.

Jesus says, put your sword away.

He's finished the work.

And a salvation that is planned, that is powerful, that is finished is a salvation that you can finally rest in.

Here's the question, loved one.

Will you?

Will you keep reaching for the sword?

Will you leave this place continuing to try to manage your sin?

Continuing to try to secure your standing before the Lord, continuing to prove yourself to God, or will you put the sword away?

Because you cannot save yourself.

You cannot have Jesus as your Savior and still act like you are your own.

Put your sword away.

Rest in the Savior who planned your salvation and could not be stopped, and who finished it completely.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you.

That knowing your right and great wrath towards the sinful rebellion of mankind, that as we see Jesus enter into the garden, we also know that you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, that you are rich in mercy, waiting to lavish with grace those who will turn to Christ.

And God, in this place we stand before you, and I pray by the conviction of your Holy Spirit, having heard from your word, that there would be many this morning who do not know you, but knowing your offer of grace, are unwilling to drink the cup themselves, and so have turned to you for eternal life this morning.

God, I pray that there are many, myself included, who live their life with a fearful anxiety that there is still a judgment to come, that there is still some from the cup to be drank.

God, we pray that like Peter, we would hear these words to put the sword away and to rest, knowing that Jesus has accomplished his work, that he promised he would not lose one, that the Father had given to him, and that our faith, if our faith is in him, his purposeful sacrifice that began in a garden, that really began before eternity began, it is sufficient for us.

We give you all the praise, Lord.

And we continue to respond in praise now.

In the name of your son, amen.

Did you stand with me and sing?