Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward... John 18:4
Routinely while preaching through John I'm stunned by the depths of truth that lay behind so many passages. For me, John 18:4 has become one of those verses. It's placed strikingly in the context of Jesus' arrest. In this chapter we see Jesus isn't running from the band of soldiers led by his betrayer Judas yet I also wouldn't say he's come to turn himself in considering he hadn't broken any laws. Rather, I suppose it would be best to say that Jesus had simply accepted the cup that JUST moments earlier in the garden of Gethsemane he had asked the Father to take away from him.
The "cup" symbolizes the Father's sovereign will and wrath. When he says to Peter after Peter had just cut off Malchus' ear “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11), he was saying to Peter that this inevitable arrest and suffering (the passion of the Christ) was ordained/planned/decreed/put into action by the Father's will. Jesus was SO confident in the sovereign will of the Father that obedience when faced with affliction was worth it.
See, in my sinful mind I think I could still have found a way to escape that scenario and be viewed by others as righteous. Think about it, they were coming to arrest him and take him to trial at night. How many trials do you think took place at night in this culture... or any culture? The answer is none. Due to the popularity of Jesus (displayed so recently in John with the triumphal entry) they were operating under the radar to dispose of Jesus more efficiently. Their illegal methods become even more blatantly obvious after his actual arrest in the line of questioning with Annas within the same chapter. That being said, Jesus could've BAILED before Judas and the soldiers ever got there and then publicly blow-the-whistle on these hooligans to come out smelling like a rose. The sinister moves of Christ's opposition made their fallacy evident. Not to mention Jesus already had the potential for a political and military take over due to the Jewish misconceptions of his messiahship, so why not walk down that road instead and outsmart these crooked leaders?
The answer is that wasn't the cup that He was given. Yes, Jesus asked for the cup to be removed from him but He also asked for something that had "trump" potential over that request.
"Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)
"Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)
Christ's obedience here stuns me. He no doubt had endless ways beyond what I can come up with to evade his capture, be revered by man and gone on to star in several more man-made triumphal entries while on this earth. If it really was simply his charm, wit or intelligence that had carried him to this point in his life (which many claim) then why not just go ahead and continue to overwhelm them with his genius? Why go to the first place Judas would look for you knowing that he had left specifically to betray you? And if that was just a lapse in judgement why not bail when you're buddy attacks the troops or lie and say you're not "Jesus of Nazareth" or something?!
I'm convinced that He could've escaped this affliction while gaining the approval of the majority and that he knew that. Yet, I'm also convinced that a path such as that was never even remotely on his radar considering earlier in John he fled when He thought people were going to force him into this type of leadership role (John 6:15). I'm left to conclude that Jesus trusted that the sovereignty of the Father had brought him to that very moment when he "came forward" in John 18:4. He prayed it wouldn't come to that, he asked for it not to happen but when the moment came he took the cup given to him and he drank it. What striking obedience!
This passage probes me. When faced with the truths and will of God in his word how often do we bail on obedience if up against some kind of resistance as believers? We can so quickly craft ways to come out smelling like a rose despite our direct defiance to His will/word, gaining acceptance and affirmation by others. However, being well-versed in the art of persuasion is a curse when opposing the holiness of God. So what if you can convince the multitudes that your sin is justifiable, there's no such thing as strength-in-numbers against the creator and His wrath.
For Paul, "to live is Christ, to die is gain." (Phil 1:21) and guys like Peter REJOICED that he was counted worthy to suffer for the name (Acts 5:41). They lived with this worldview because they were Christians, followers of Jesus, they desired to be Christ-like. It wasn't that they foolishly sought out affliction but in a pursuit to bring glory to Christ's name they were given that cup in God's sovereignty.
Oh that we at The Journey would aspire to live our lives unashamedly for His glory and with diligence in His word that we would live in obedience according to His will and for His purpose.
For the King,
Cody Parman
For more on John 18 and Christ's arrest you can check out last week's message at The Journey:
Write a Comment
Comments for this post have been disabled.