Healing Until the End (John 18:1-11)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

We take some time now to dive into God's Word.

We're going to do so this evening from John 18.

John 18, 1 through 11. We're actually going to

be in a few different texts this evening, for

as I was considering this sermon and this text,

I was thinking about what an incredible miracle

it is that we celebrate. What Jesus has done

for us and on Sunday we're going to see the resurrection

which might just be the greatest miracle of them

all and Yet as we went through a series this

winter on the miracles of Jesus There's one more

that I wanted to cover That I think is applicable

for this evening And though we're gonna look

at John 18, it's actually not in John 18. We're

gonna have to spend time in Luke, too. Matter

of fact, we're gonna be in probably all four

Gospels this evening, but we're gonna start in

John 18, one through 11. And so would you give

attention, for this is God's word. When Jesus

had spoken these words, He went out with his

disciples across the brook Kadron 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

and Jesus said to them I am he Judas who betrayed

him was standing with them when Jesus said to

them I am he they drew back they drew back and

fell to the ground 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 those whom you

gave me, I have lost not one. Then Simon Peter,

having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest

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

God's word let us pray Heavenly father we give

you praise and thanks for this word And this

evening we know how important it is but father

we seek understanding And so would you grant

us this and would you guide us through your word?

We pray in the name of the one who is the word.

Amen. I feel like it needs to be said, but it

probably gets said most Maundy Thursdays is that

Maundy Thursday is not Monday Thursday. It's

Maundy Thursday. And the reason that that might

be perplexing is because well, we don't speak

Latin, right? And it does sound like Monday.

What does Maundy mean? It means mandate or commandment.

And so tonight what many people across the world

are looking at as they celebrate Maundy Thursday

is the commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples.

How Jesus told them to love as he had loved them.

But he says it in an interesting way. He says,

a new commandment I give to you, that you love

one another, just as I have loved you, you also

are to love one another. And we look at that

and we think, what's new about loving one another?

This is all through the scriptures. Here's the

new part that Jesus says, as I have loved you.

Jesus exemplified love in everything that he

did, everything that he did. And we especially

see it tonight within this text. Jesus shows

compassionate love to three different groups

really within this text. The first, he shows

his compassionate love to his disciples. Then

Jesus shows compassionate love to His enemies.

And then finally, Jesus shows His compassionate

love to all who believe in Him. It's just like

John 13, one says, He loved them to the end.

And Jesus' miracle in this and the very fact

that He drinks that cup of wrath that we have

talked about illustrates His incredible love

for us. And so let's see this firstly with his

disciples. We can see this primarily in verse

eight of John 18. But before we even get there,

I wanna take you back to chapter 17. Because

in a way, 18 fulfills 17. For you remember this

incredibly important chapter. John 17 is called.

Jesus' high priestly prayer. And there's a portion

of this prayer in which Jesus especially prays

for his disciples. It's there in verses 9 through

19. Let me read this for you. Jesus praying for

his disciples. He says, I am praying for them.

I'm not praying for the world, but for those

whom you have given me, for they are yours. all

mine are yours and yours are mine and I am glorified

in them and I am no longer in the world but they

are in the world and I am coming to you holy

father keep them in your name which you have

given me that they may be one even as we are

one while I was with them I kept them in your

name which you have given me I have guarded them

and not one of them has been lost and that is

a very key statement. Not one of them has been

lost except the son of destruction. That the

scripture might be fulfilled but now I am coming

to you and these things I speak in the world

that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word and the world has

hated them because they are not of the world

just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that

you take them out of the world. But that you

keep them from the evil one They are not of the

world just as I am not of the world sanctify

them in the truth Your word is truth as you sent

me into the world So I have sent them into the

world and for their sake I consecrate myself

That they also may be sanctified in truth Did

you hear it there in verse 12 I have not lost

one of them except for the son of destruction.

And yet what have we also read in John 18? Jesus

says it there. I haven't lost one of them. Chapter

18 verse nine is fulfilling chapter 17 verse.

12, God here, as this band of soldiers and authorities

come at Jesus with clubs and with swords and

with torches and lanterns, they come at Jesus

and what does Jesus say? He says, hold it right

there. Whom do you seek? And they say, Jesus

of Nazareth. And then he says, then let them

go. You see what happens here. Jesus is showing

his compassionate love for his disciples. And

maybe, maybe this doesn't come through as clearly

for us somehow in the English, but I wonder if

we have a full picture of what's happening here.

When you picture this as the ESV says this band

of soldiers and some officers a band of soldiers

and officers Coming towards Jesus and his disciples.

Do you picture a large group or a small group

a Large group of enemies or a small group Friends

the picture here is actually of a very large

group coming towards Jesus Again, the ESV uses

this word band of soldiers a more technical term

that you may have if you're using a different

translation is a cohort and specifically a cohort

means something like a tenth of a legion what

that means is that coming towards Jesus and the

disciples is not a dozen men and It's not two

dozen or three dozen. We're talking about hundreds

soldiers and authorities coming to arrest Jesus

and his disciples probably something in the neighborhood

of 600 or more coming towards Jesus in this way

this is a small army they have come to arrest

Jesus and Jesus says stop you have come for me

not for my disciples let them go And in a way,

isn't this what Jesus does for all of his disciples?

Isn't it true that Jesus stands in the gap? That

Jesus goes to bat for us? Throughout the Scriptures

we see this. We see Jesus battling Satan in the

wilderness. We see Jesus every step of the way

saying no to sin and ultimately we see Jesus

defeating sin and death and the devil on the

cross. For us. And he does it with compassion

and with mercy and with love. But Jesus doesn't

do this just for the disciples in this passage.

He also does it for his enemies. This is primarily

in verses four and four through six and 10 through

11, but I actually want to take you back to Matthew.

I want you to see how Jesus, in showing compassion

for his enemies, he walks the walk and talks

the talk. Matthew chapter 5, 43 through 44. You'll

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

likely remember this within the Sermon on the

Mount. Jesus says, you have heard that it was

said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your

enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and

pray for those who persecute you Now where in

the Bible does it say to hate your enemies? I'm

still looking No, Jesus is saying that's not

what I'm teaching. I'm telling you to love your

enemies For indeed you remember that as Jesus

is on the cross there as he's giving up his life

He says father forgive them for they don't know

what they are doing And here Jesus illustrates

that as well. They arrive with lanterns and torches

and weapons and overwhelming force. As I said,

hundreds of soldiers here with weapons. What

is Jesus' weapon here? It's not a club or a sword.

Jesus' weapon is his word. Look in verses five

and six. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.

And Jesus said to them, I am. You'll notice I

left off the he there. That pronoun is supplied

by English translators, but the actual word there

or words is ego a me. It means I am. Why does

Jesus respond in this way? When they say we're

seeking Jesus of Nazareth, he says ego a me,

I am. What does that mean? That's exactly what

Jesus has been doing throughout his ministry

according to the gospel of John the I am statements

I am the door I Am the Good Shepherd I Am the

resurrection and the life I am the way and the

truth and the life Jesus what he's doing here

when he says I am he's connecting himself with

Yahweh the Heavenly Father God's covenant name.

And what does this do? What effect does it have

upon the people? They fall back and to the ground.

Jesus' word has that effect on people. It's much

more powerful than any weapons in the world.

Just by saying, a go, a me, they fall to the

ground. But why? Why is that so powerful? Because

they are in the presence of holiness. Like Moses

being told to take off his sandals because he's

standing on holy ground. Like Ezekiel seeing

the glory of the Lord filling the temple. Like

John in Revelation seeing one like the Son of

Man and falling at his feet. The very holiness

of God can drop a man. Drop a legion of men.

The holiness of God can drop legions of legions.

Ego e me. I wonder if you remember Martin Luther's

famous hymn, a mighty fortress is our God. Within

that hymn, there's this line that says, one little

word shall fail him. And throughout the centuries,

people have wondered, what's the one little word?

Certainly Luther was reflecting on Psalm 46,

but what's the one little word? There's all kinds

of theories out there. Here's mine. It's Yahweh.

It's the very name of God. There's power in that

name. And it drops them to the ground. And if

they had the eyes to see these disciples of Jesus,

if they could have looked around, they would

have seen something far greater than this army

before them. It's very much like an Old Testament

text. Second Kings chapter 6, just listen to

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

this. I'll just read three verses. Second Kings

6, 15 through 17. This is an episode with Elisha.

When the servant of the man of God rose early

in the morning and went out behold an army with

horses and chariots was all around the city and

The servant said alas my master. What shall we

do? And he said do not be afraid For those who

are with us are more than those who are with

them then Elisha prayed and said oh Lord Please

open his eyes that he may see so the Lord opened

the eyes of the young man and get this he saw

Behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots

of fire all around Elisha Again, if the disciples

could have seen this they were supremely protected

by God But this has me thinking, you know, these

Roman soldiers likely don't know all of this

Jewish history, but I think that Judas does.

And so in this moment, with Jesus saying, eh,

go, eh, me, and everybody falling to the ground,

you have to wonder, what is Judas thinking? What's

Jesus gonna do to us? Is Jesus gonna call upon

a legion of angels? Is Jesus going to send the

plagues? Is he gonna strike us all dead? What

does Jesus do? He just asks the question again,

whom do you seek? And I imagine that these soldiers

brush themselves off, maybe clear their throats

and say Jesus of Nazareth. You can see here how

Jesus shows compassion to these enemies, right?

He drops them with a word, but he does not drop

them with swords and clubs and all the like,

but there is someone who attempts this, right?

For this is where, this is where it really gets

interesting here because if you look at Matthew

and you look at Mark, at this point they apprehend

Jesus. They seize him and the disciples are looking

around and one of them or two of them or more

say, shall we strike back? And we know what Peter

does. Peter takes his sword and he strikes the

servant of the high priest, Malchus, and he gets

him in the ear. He cuts his ear off. Now why

does Peter do this? Why would anybody strike

someone in the head with a sword? It seems that

he was trying to kill him. This is very much

a Peter thing to do, right? To act upon impulse.

But then we need to see what Jesus does to show

more of that compassion and it's in Luke chapter

Luke 22 · chapter mention

22. Luke 22 and I'm gonna read just 49 through

51. Notice that the miracle of healing is contained

here. Luke 22, 49 through 51. And when those

who around him saw what would follow, they said,

Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one

of them struck the servant of the high priest

and cut off his right ear, but Jesus said, no

more of this. And he touched his ear and he healed

him. Friends, Jesus is getting arrested here.

Jesus knows he's going to the cross and in these

moments he still takes time to heal. Isn't that

just a beautiful picture, right? This is the

picture of your Savior, friends, that his enemies

are before him, they have come upon him like

he's some sort of violent criminal. Peter strikes

Malchus' ear and Jesus stops to heal him. While

Jesus is being arrested and ultimately crucified

his mind is upon others and I believe That his

mind is upon all who would believe in him for

if you're still in John 18 Look at verse 11 Jesus

said to Peter put your sword into its sheath

Shall I not drink the cup that the father has

given to me? Friends I just talked about how

Jesus shows compassion to his enemies. We need

to remember this, that before coming to Christ,

which is all by the grace of God, we too were

enemies of God. We're acting in rebellion to

him, deeply sinful, not caring for him. But again,

because of the grace and the mercy of God, we

have been saved. So we are no longer enemies

of God. We are Jesus' disciples. And for the

disciples, Jesus says, I need to drink this cup

from the Father. When we see a cup spoken of

this way in scripture, it means a cup usually

of wrath. Jesus knows what's about to happen.

And this is where theologians get a little bit

technical and they speak of the active and the

passive obedience of Jesus. The active obedience

meaning throughout Jesus' life he never sinned,

not once, not in thought, not in word, not in

deed. He actively kept the law for us. But the

passive obedience is this, and I don't believe

Jesus does anything passively, this is just a

term. passively, Jesus allows himself to be apprehended,

to be beaten, to be tortured, and ultimately

to be put up on that cross. And there is no objection

from Jesus. Isaiah 53 .7 certainly is true. He

opened not his mouth. Matter of fact, according

to John 18 verse 11, Jesus is the one that says,

John 18:11

I must drink this. I must drink this. And who

for? For all of you, for every one of you who

would believe in Him, Jesus took on your punishment.

I don't mean to recall sins of yours in the past

that are forgiven, but if you can, if you can

do so without despair, think about the sins of

this month or this week or maybe even this day

and think about how badly your sin grieves God

and how God is a just God and sin must be punished

all of the hatred all of the lies all of the

violence all of the slander all of the discontentment,

all of the lust, all of the idolatry. And now

think about this. It's all been placed on Jesus.

All of it. That's the cup that he drank. You

have received compassion. And you have received

mercy. And Christian, you are deeply loved. And

yet, Maundy Thursday, It's about a commandment,

a mandate, isn't it? A command to love others

as you have been loved. I don't know who you

need to love this week, and I don't know how

you need to love them, but I do know this, that

God's word says that they will know you are my

disciples by your love. Friends, as I begin to

wrap up, we've been all over the Scriptures this

evening and the Gospels, and hopefully we've

had good theology. But the purpose of theology

is not theology. The purpose of theology is doxology.

And so knowing what Jesus has done, knowing how

Jesus has laid down his life for you, how he

is atoned for your sins, and all of the punishments

placed upon him, and knowing we are to be obedient

to him, remember what he taught. Remember what

he taught. Love one another as you have been

loved. Let's pray.