About 10 years ago, there was a sight-seeing tour in Iceland that lost one of its sightseers. She was no where to be found. Panicked, they called in the police and the search began. Hours later (about 3 in the morning) they discovered that the woman they were searching for had been there all the time. Apparently, the woman had left the tourist group to change clothes and when she returned in a different outfit the rest of her tour group did not recognize her. On top of that, when the description of the “missing person” described her as – “An Asian woman, in dark clothing and speaks English well” – the woman seemingly didn’t realize they were describing HER. So she began to assist the others in searching… for herself. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/missing-woman-finds-herself-after-intense-search/ Article from August 30, 2012)
She didn’t know who she was looking for!
In our text today we’re told that: “Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went (to the Garden) 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?’” John 18:3-4
WHO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Jesus asked.
You know, Jesus loved to ask questions. According to one of my sources, Jesus asked at least 135 questions during His ministry: Do you believe that I am able to do this? (Matthew 9:28); Who do you say I am? (Matthew 16:15); What do you want me to do for you? (Mark 10:51); Why are you so afraid? (Mark 4:40); Do you love me? (John 21:17); and perhaps the most important: What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul? (Matthew 16:26)
Jesus always seemed to ask the right question at the right time to challenge people to think about what they were doing. And so, when this band of armed men come to arrest Him, Jesus asked the right question/ at the right time/ to challenge them to think: “Who are you looking for?”
Well WHO were they looking for?
Let’s look at first guy out of the box … Judas. WHO was he looking for? We’re told “JUDAS, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went (to the Garden) with lanterns and torches and weapons.” Judas is leading an armed band to go and arrest Jesus. Judas was LOOKING for Jesus to betray him with a kiss.
At the Last Supper Jesus said “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me”… Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.” Matthew 26:21 & 25
Judas wasn’t a very nice guy and he’s gone down in history as one of the most despised men of all time. He’s become the symbol of betrayal. But why? Why did Judas betray Jesus? Well, he was a man driven by greed. John described him a thief --- he stole money from the money bag that the disciples used to buy stuff. (Jn 12:6)
Judas’ reputation was so blackened by this treachery that in every one of the Gospels, whenever there’s a list of the disciples…he’s always LAST. In fact, one of the other disciples (named Thaddeus) was also called Judas, and in John 14:22 John refers to him as “Judas (not Judas Iscariot)” just make sure no one confused the good Judas with the bad one.
Now, all that said, what’s interesting to me is HOW the Bible talks about Judas beyond that. Did you realize that Jesus never mistreated Judas? In fact, Judas was at the Last Supper… and Jesus even washed Judas’ feet. In addition, aside from the Gospels, Judas is only mentioned ONE MORE TIME (in Acts 1:13-25) and he’s NEVER mentioned ever again in rest of the New Testament. You’d think that one of the most notorious traitors in Scripture would have gotten more press than that. I mean, Benedict Arnold gets worse treatment than that in American History! Why does Judas get this “kid-glove” treatment in the Bible?
Well here’s the deal… the message of Scripture is that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - every one of us!! In I Corinthians 6:9-10 Paul writes: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” THEY’RE ALL GONNA GO TO HELL!!!!!
But, we’ve all sinned too, and that means we all DESERVE go to hell. But then Paul writes: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” I Corinthians 6:11
The main theme of Scripture is that Jesus came to save the lost. In fact, Paul wrote: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15) Paul was essentially Ldeclaring: whatever you think of Judas… I was worse!
So, I believe Judas (who was someone I would have seen as the worst of sinners) got the “kid glove” treatment because God didn’t want to give us the impression that SOME folks weren’t worth saving. Jesus will save anyone who believes, repents and is baptized. Jesus came to save the worst of sinners, whether Judas, Paul… or me.
So Judas came looking for Jesus that night - and he was leading a band of armed soldiers. Who were these soldiers looking for? Well, they SAID they were looking for “Jesus of Nazareth” but they didn’t recognize Him. They didn’t really KNOW who He was, so they had no idea WHO they were looking for.
You see, this mob knew very little about Jesus except that others hated Him. And because others hated Him they didn’t like Him much either.
There’s a lot of folks out there like that. They don’t know much about Jesus, but the people they hang around don’t like Him, and that tends to make them a little hostile toward Christ. They’ve listened to the wrong people and come to the wrong conclusions. And all they need is someone like Peter, swinging a sword and cutting off people’s ears, to confirm their doubts about our faith.
So how do you deal with folks like this? Well, you definitely don’t swing any swords at them. You don’t get angry, and you don’t attack. You don’t push… because they’ll tend to push back and things can get ugly.
Instead, the best thing to do, is what Jesus did. He wasn’t offended. He walked right up them and He told them what they needed to hear.
ILLUS: And what do people need to hear? It all depends. A couple years ago I was in a residential part of town when a couple girls across the street shouted to me. They’d been part of our youth group in the past and they began to engage in a discussion: “Do you believe homosexuals are going to hell?” Now, if I'd been smart I'd have followed Jesus example and asked them a question in return. Something like "Do you want to go to heaven?" But I wasn't that smart (atheists and skeptics try to dominate a conversation by keeping us on the defensive - Jesus defused that approach by putting his adversaries on the defensive with His quesitons). However, I wasn't quite that smart. I just pointed out that all sinful people who refused to turn their lives over to Jesus and change their behavior would go to hell… not just homosexuals. “Well we’re lesbians. Do you mean that we’re going to hell?” I responded “God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell, no matter what they’ve done. But if people insist on doing things their own way… they’ve already decided they don’t want to go to be with Him.” I don’t know if they were lesbians or not. They could have just been trying to get me angry and say harsh things – but I wasn’t going to go there. I simply told them what they needed to hear without being harsh or self-righteous (which is what I think they were hoping to get from me).
But here’s the deal - Jesus wasn’t afraid to tell people what they needed to hear, and we shouldn’t be either.
One problem too many people have is that they are afraid that they don’t know enough to witness to others. Do you realize how Jesus witnessed to that crowd? He asked who they were looking for, and He simply said “I am he” and THAT WAS IT! He didn’t get into a deep theological discussion with them.
Sometimes that’s all you have to do… point to Jesus. Don’t point to the church, don’t point to the preacher. Just point to Jesus. You don’t have to get theological, just tell people what Jesus means to you.
Someone once said: A good witness is like a signpost. Nobody cares if a signpost is ugly or pretty - or if its old or new. All that matters is that the signpost points in the right direction. All that matters is that it easily understood. If we are witnesses for Christ, our job is simply to point to Him.” (my version of something written by a man named John White).
WE ARE SIGNPOSTS! We point to Jesus and say “This is who I believe in and He’s changed my life”
Now, lastly, there’s one more person I want to focus on this morning, a man named Malchus. Just as a reminder, let’s look again at what John tells us about him: “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?’ Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus…” John 18:10-12
MALCHUS!
He was the servant of the High Priest and Peter cut off his ear. That’s all we know about him from Scripture. And yet, we’re told his name: Malchus. Why are we told this man’s name? If you go through the Gospels most of the people mentioned don’t have names. (the Wisemen, Centurions, and all those sick and lame and leprous that Jesus healed). These were all people that Jesus encountered throughout His ministry, but they’re all unknown! We don’t know their names.
So, why are we told Malchus’ name? It only shows up this once in all of Scripture. Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate. I’m giving you my OPINION here. I could be wrong (probably not, but there’s a chance).
There’s a common agreement amongst a lot of scholars that when you read a person’s name in the Gospels it’s probably because he/she had become a Christian and they are well known in the early church! For example, the man who carried Jesus’ cross to Calvary was “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus” (Mark 15:21). Alexander and Rufus seem to have been referenced in Acts and Romans.
Then there’s Zacchaeus, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. There are some scholars who believe all these people became Christians and were well known to the early Christians. I mean, why give a person’s name, if nobody knew them?
So, here we have Malchus. If he DID become a Christian… why would he do that? Why become a Christian?
Well, Luke 22:50-51 tells us that: “one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.”
Jesus HEALED the guy who came to arrest Him? And He Was The Servant Of One Of Jesus’ Arch-Enemies!!! He worked for the High Priest. And yet, Jesus touched him – and healed him. I suspect Jesus did more for this man than heal his severed ear. I suspect Jesus’ kindness touched a part of the man’s soul and laid the groundwork for conversion.
ILLUS: There is a story about a little girl who proudly wore a shiny cross on a chain around her neck. One day she was approached by a man who said to her, “Little girl, don’t you know that the cross Jesus died on wasn’t beautiful like the one you’re wearing? It was an ugly, wooden thing.” To which the girl replied, “Yes, I know. But they told me in Sunday school that whatever Jesus touches, He changes.”
The way for us to touch people for Jesus is to share how Jesus touched us. There’s an old Gospel song that goes this way:
“Shackled by a heavy burden, 'Neath a load of guilt and shame. Then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I am no longer the same. He touched me, oh, He touched me. And oh, the joy that floods my soul. Something happened and now I know – He touched me and made me whole.”
So how did Jesus “touch” you? What did He do to change YOUR life? Once you focus on that – that is your key way to witness to others.
INVITATION
