THE GOSPEL OF MIGHT: By all outward indications, Jesus is in a losing situation.
- John 18:1-11.
- Pieces of this outward situation:
a. Jesus has a betrayer with inside information.
- John 18:2.
b. Jesus is in an enclosed area.
- John 18:1.
- It’s an olive grove and they went “into it,” so presumably this was not an open area with plenty of avenues of escape.
c. Jesus is facing perhaps hundreds of soldiers.
- John 18:3.
- Most of us picture the scene with maybe a dozen soldiers (in addition to the officials) in order to lead Jesus back to Annas, but it seems more likely they brought an overwhelming force. They had seen the passions that Jesus stirred up in the public. They deliberately chose a time when it would be less likely for there to be a crowd, but I expect that they would have decided to err on the side of too much force.
- Even if there’s not a confrontation, any competent plan would allow for the fact that Jesus and His followers might try to flee when they became aware of the effort to arrest Jesus. Having many soldiers would allow them to quickly block the various exits from the area.
- There is speculation about the word “detachment” that’s used and whether that means they brought a full detachment. That word could indicate as many as 600 men, although that seems unlikely.
- Nonetheless, it was a formidable force.
d. Jesus has only a few followers and fewer weapons.
- John 18:1.
- Compared to that impressive army, Jesus is surrounded by perhaps eleven disciples. (There may have been a few additional – we can’t be sure.) Among those, we can be confident that almost no one had a weapon.
e. Jesus is against powerful political foes.
- John 18:3.
- Those that were pressing this prosecution of Jesus were well-connected. They were the religious leaders, so they had the Jewish people in their grasp. Further, they had influence over the Roman leadership, who had a vested interest in keeping peace in Jerusalem.
f. Jesus wants to get His followers out safely.
- John 18:8.
- It would be easier if Jesus was only interested in finding a way to slip away through the crowd and flee Himself, unconcerned about what happens to those He leaves in His wake.
- But that’s not His stated desire. Quite the opposite. He is most concerned about making sure that His arrest does not lead to their arrest.
- From a human perspective, that puts Him in a most challenging situation, given all the other details we’ve just discussed.
- I have called this “the gospel of might.” What do I mean by that? I mean that from an outward, worldly perspective, this show of force is incredibly impressive. It’s everything this world loves: forceful, overwhelming in power, well-connected politically, well-executed in timing.
- This is a show of force and it is, by all outward standards, impressive and going to be effective.
THE PATH OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS: Pursue the will of the Father.
- John 18:10-11.
- This is a simple point, but it is crucial and often overlooked today.
- First, the simple point.
- Note in v. 11 that Jesus makes His decision on what to do based on one simple criteria: what is the Father’s will?
- Peter moves forward to fight against this nefarious arrest and Jesus puts him in his place: why is Peter trying to misdirect Jesus onto a path that is not the Father’s will?
- Second, how this is often overlooked.
- Let’s just ponder for a moment the various ways to do the calculations on how to respond to this predicament:
a. The situational calculus.
- “What’s the best way out of this sticky situation?”
b. The military calculus.
- “How many weapons to we have? How many do they have?”
c. The power calculus.
- “If we let them win this moment, will they have all the power?”
d. The religious calculus.
- “By what authority are they bringing this condemnation?”
e. The political calculus.
- “Do I have allies that can push back on this arrest?”
- The important thing to consider at this point in the sermon is this: all of these are possible things that Jesus could have focused on in doing His calculations of how to respond. And each of them would have led to a different approach.
- But what does Jesus keep His focus on? One thing: what is the Father’s will?
- Why is this so important for us tonight? Because we usually have other criteria that we put first as we make our decisions:
a. “How will this impact my finances?”
b. “What will this do to my kids?”
c. “Will this make my life easier?”
d. “Will this make my life better?”
e. “How much time will it cost me?”
- And on and on.
- None of those are completely irrelevant to us, but they’re not the main thing. The main thing is “is this the Father’s will for my life?” If it is, then the other factors don’t matter.
- What are some examples?
a. Should I forgive?
b. Should I read the Bible?
c. Should I put aside this questionable image?
d. Should I start that ministry?
e. Should I make church a secondary priority?
- How does this tie into the “Gospel of Might?”
- Because we often do calculations when it comes to our decisions based on a whole host of “might” issues/factors.
- We want to stay strong and independent and in charge. We want power. If the Father’s will points us in the opposite direction, often we’ll give in to other criteria that point us in the direction we want to go.
THE AGENDA OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS: This is wildly different than the Gospel of Might in a thousand ways.
- John 18:10-11.
- Peter draws a sword. It’s easy to understand why Peter would do this. The military is here – let’s go down with a fight. Sure, they have an overwhelming force, but we can either go down fighting with honor or maybe we can throw them into confusion long enough to escape (after all, there are a lot of Old Testament examples of God bringing a victory out of impossible odds).
- We would be safe in presuming that Peter missed. Chances are he wasn’t trying to cut off an ear. He was more likely trying to take off a head.
- In either event, Jesus sharply rebukes Peter – this isn’t the type of kingdom that Jesus came to establish. To use the language I’m using tonight – this isn’t a Gospel of Might.
- This is a definitive statement from Jesus (not that He hasn’t made it clear up to this point). The agenda of the Gospel of Jesus is wildly different from the Gospel of Might in a thousand ways.
- I won’t give you a thousand, but here’s a quick ten:
a. Mercy toward those who have hurt you.
b. Forgiveness instead of judgment.
c. Money isn’t that important.
d. We rest in God’s power rather than trying to make things happen.
e. Looking good outwardly isn’t enough – it’s what’s going on in your heart.
f. Looking religious isn’t impressive – it’s what goes on in hidden rooms.
g. Rather than finding yourself, you have to deny yourself.
i. You can’t earn your way to God.
j. It isn’t worth gaining the whole world if you lose your soul.
- Why does this matter? Why am I making a big deal of this?
- Because so, so often people act like being a Christian is doing what the rest of the world is doing except for coming to church on Sunday mornings. (And, in some cases, that’s not even considered necessary.)
- We act like the Gospel of the World and the Gospel of Jesus are pretty close (just be good or be a good citizen or be nice or something like that). The Gospel of Might and the Gospel of Jesus are mostly the same. No, they’re not! At all!
- They are wildly different on almost every point. And we need to make a decision which Kingdom we are going to live for.
ONE BEAUTIFUL, IRONIC EXAMPLE: Jesus says, “I am” and everyone falls down.
- John 18:5-6.
- So we have clearly established the wide gulf between the Gospel of Might and the Gospel of Jesus. Yes, many down through the years have tried to conflate them, as we discussed earlier. Here we conclude with a great example of the triumph of the Gospel of Jesus.
- In v. 5 they have stated that they are looking for Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus plainly states that He is Jesus.
- This must have been a surprise to them. Perhaps they thought that Jesus would be difficult to find. Perhaps they thought that Jesus and His followers would flee when confronted. Perhaps they thought that Jesus and His followers would try to start an angry mob response when confronted. They didn’t bring so many soldiers because they expected things to go well.
- Instead, what they got was probably the thing they expected least: finding Jesus where they first looked and then Jesus plainly identifying Himself.
- There are two pieces to this scene that are important for the point I want to make.
a. Jesus replies, “I am.”
- Now, I know that the NIV renders it “I am he.” And that is a good translation of the Greek, because in the context here the big thing Jesus is trying to convey is that He is the person they are looking for and “I am he” does that.
- You’ll notice, though, if you’re using KJV or NASB that the word “He” is italicized. What’s that mean? It means that if you go back and look in the original Greek the word “He” isn’t there. Instead, the translators have included it for the sake of clarity. We all know that translating from one language to another demands contending with the specifics of each language. Sometimes to convey the point that the original writer is trying to get across you need to add another word.
- “I am he” helps with translating the larger point Jesus is making: “I am the guy you’re looking for.”
- I believe, though, that there is something else going on here. This second point is not a matter of identifying but is theological.
- Jesus specifically here says, “I am.”
- Turn with me to John 8:58-59.
- Here after lengthy theological wrangling with the religious leaders, Jesus says, “before Abraham was, I am!” This in turn causes His opponents to try to kill Him. Both knew the point He was making: that He existed before Abraham. He was claiming to be God! Unsurprisingly, they deemed that worthy of immediate death.
- They took it that way because in the Old Testament God revealed His name as “I am.”
- Note the specific phrase: “I am.”
- Now back to John 18. They ask for Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus replies, “I am.” Get it?
b. In response to Jesus’ “I am” statement, they all fall down.
- This is a peculiar scene. What’s going on?
- We can’t be sure but I envision it something like this. As we discussed a moment ago, they are going in with overwhelming force and expecting resistance. As they approach, the military leader may have said, “It’s unlikely that Jesus Himself will be here, but maybe some of His followers will be. We need to capture them and we can torture them to get information about where Jesus is. Keep the formation tight. We don’t anyone to slip away.” They approach this group in the olive grove. They’re bunched tightly. There are military soldiers and religious leaders mixed together. A guy asks them, “Who is it you want?” Someone replies, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Then, shockingly, that same guy says, “I am He.” Who is in charge of arresting Him? Do the religious leaders need to question Him? Should the military commander arrest Him or just the nearest soldier? In that moment, in the confusion and the shuffling, in the tight formation, some step back to get out of the way and allow more important people to respond to this surprising situation and a few stumble backward, falling into those behind them, causing a large number to get knocked down. Verse 6 tells us that they drew back and fell to the ground.
- Now, what I’m about to say is speculative, but I believe it is faithful to the narrative. Imagine as they all scramble to get back up that there is this moment when Jesus is standing there and all these religious leaders and soldiers who have fallen down are scrambling back to their feet and for the briefest of moments as they try to get back up, they are all on one knee before Jesus. [Demonstrate this, falling on your back, then having that moment of (inadvertently) bowing on one knee before rising to your feet.]
- What does that remind me of? It reminds me Philippians 2:10 that every knee will bow to Jesus.
- And here we are, in this moment where the Gospel of Might looks so strong and the Gospel of Jesus looks so weak and even here (!) there is a hint of what is to come. Don’t believe the Gospel of Might – it is the Gospel of Jesus that will triumph!
