Jesus Arrested
Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples, yet he was also Jesus’ betrayer. Satan had entered his heart to lead him to betray the Lord. Judas guided a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees to where Jesus and his disciples were. The soldiers and officials were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Yet, Jesus was not afraid of them or their weapons. He knew all that was going to happen to him, because the Father had revealed it to him. So, he merely said to them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
10 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.)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (vv. 5-11 NIV ’84)
There will be times in our lives when we will be mistreated, misjudged, will be the objects of injustice, we will be betrayed, even at the hands of one of our own, and we will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of his gospel. We are not to yield to sinning against God. We are not to bow to other gods. And, we are not to deny the name of Jesus or to stop speaking in his name. In other words, we are not to compromise our faith in Jesus Christ in any way, shape or form out of fear of man and what man might do to us.
Yet, we must willingly submit and surrender ourselves to the sovereignty of God over our lives. We must joyfully accept mistreatment and persecution, understanding that we are being asked to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. This does not mean we will not answer our accusers, or anyone inquiring about our condition, if they ask us questions, and if God leads us to respond to them. Jesus responded to his accusers’ statements or questions, unless the Father directed him to be silent. There are times when we need to put our swords away and to accept what God has for us, but never, ever to accept sin into our lives, to never bow to other gods or men as gods, and to never compromise our faith.
Peter’s Denial
The detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Just as Jesus had predicted, Peter denied Jesus Christ three times, and then the rooster crowed, signifying to Peter that what Jesus had said about him had come true. In other gospels it tells us how Peter was thus filled with remorse over his sin and that he wept bitterly (see Matt. 26:75). Later, after Jesus had been resurrected from the dead, the Lord had Peter affirm his love for the Lord three times, equal to the number of times he had denied the Lord, and the Lord reinstated Peter. He told him to “Feed my sheep.” And, God used Peter greatly in the beginning of the NT church.
We are all human beings. Not one of us is perfect. We are all subject to sin and to failure. Where we get into trouble is when we think we are standing firm and that we cannot fail. Peter thought he would never deny Christ. We regularly deny Christ in our lives anytime that we reject his rule and authority over our lives, when we refuse his words, when we refuse to repent of known sin in our lives, and/or when we bow to other gods out of fear of men instead of fearing God enough to make him our only God, etc. Not one of us is above another in this respect. We are all sinners and have the propensity to sin against God. So, we must be on our guard against the attacks of the enemy and we must stand strong in our faith in the strength of the Lord, in his power and in his might at work within us, realizing that in ourselves we don’t have what it takes to stand strong during great opposition.
Jesus Before Pilate
Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. (vv. 28-40 NIV ’84)
For Such a Time
All that happened to Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies of scripture concerning him, including the words Jesus Christ had spoken about himself indicating the kind of death he was going to die. Yet, Jesus had not yet given up his spirit. The Father led him here to answer those who were questioning him, though at other times he was led to be silent. The people who arrested him and who were putting him on trial did not see Jesus for who he was. They were looking at his situation only through human and natural eyes. They looked at him merely as a man accused of a crime, which is why his people had handed him over to the authorities. So, they wanted to know the wrong he had done.
Jesus responded to the lies he knew were being spoken against him by telling those he was brought before the truth. He let them know that man was thinking of him in terms of this world, but that Jesus was not of this world. His kingdom was from another place – heaven. If his kingdom had been of this world, his servants would have fought to prevent his arrest, but since his was a spiritual, not an earthly kingdom, and since he knew that this was the Father’s will for his life that he go to the cross for our sins, he did not fight the arrest. Yet, that did not stop him from telling them the truth about himself and why he came to the earth. He told them that he was a king, and it was for this reason he was born, and for this he came into the world, to testify to the truth. He said that everyone on the side of truth listens to him. Yet, the people were not willing to listen to the truth. They released a murderer and sent an innocent man to the cross, instead.
We learn in Psalm 139 that God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit – created our inmost being, i.e. he made us who we are and were created to be for his purposes and for his glory. He knit us together in our mother’s wombs. In other words, God placed me in the family he wanted me to grow up in even knowing full well what I would encounter in that household, because he had a greater purpose for my life that necessitated that I go through much suffering and persecution. So, I am thankful for my upbringing, even though it brought me much suffering.
I praise God because I was fearfully and wonderfully made by him, and his works are wonderful. I was not hidden from God’s sight when I was made in my mother’s womb. I am no mistake or some accident of nature. God made me to be who I am for his purposes. All the days ordained for me were written in his book before one of them came to being. God knew and planned out who I would become and what I would be doing at this very moment from before I was even formed in the womb of my mother. Blows you away, right?
So, when Jesus said that the reason he was born was to be a king of a kingdom not of this earth, he was saying that this was his eternal destiny. Of course, he is God, yet he was also born as man so that he could be our sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world. He was born for a very specific purpose, and he fulfilled that purpose for which he was born, and he did not sin against God the Father in all that he did.
Each one of us is born for a specific purpose, too, and we must not allow the fear of man to keep us from fulfilling the purpose for which we were created, as well. I believe with all my heart that I was born into the family God had designed for me, that I lived the life I lived, with the exception of my willful sins against God, that God had planned for my life even before he knit me in the womb of my mother, and that I am presently doing exactly what he created me to do for his purposes and for his glory. For such a time as this I was placed upon the earth (see Esther 4).
God has a specific job for me to do, and I must obey him in doing what he has called me to do, even if my obedience to him meets with the rejection of man, with misunderstandings of my motives and/or actions, and even if it means me being severely persecuted and/or even killed for my faith in Jesus Christ. I will not sin against my Lord by bowing to the gods of men, to making men my god, by willfully sinning against my Lord in order to please or appease men, and I will not deny my Lord, by his grace and through his strength within me, and not of myself and my own strength, lest any man should boast.
As he gives me strength and courage, I will continue to speak his words and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those whom he would have me to share them. And, daily I will put on the armor of God in my struggle against the enemy of my soul who would try to tempt me to compromise my faith and to compromise God’s calling upon my life. I have to be who God created me to be, and I have to do what he created me to do, all within his perfect will and purpose for my life, and in agreement with scripture and with God’s divine nature. I will not go silently!
To My Beloved / An Original Work / November 14, 2011
Based off I Pet. 5:6-9; Eph. 6:10-20; Jms. 4:4-10
Be strong in the grace of Christ, and
Put on His full armor in your fight
Against the enemy of your souls,
And resist him with all your might.
Take up the shield of your faith within you.
Salvation’s helmet – you put it on.
Put on the belt of truth,
And walk in the Spirit,
And you’ll not be ashamed.
Love your Lord Jesus; call His Name.
Call on your Lord and Savior, Jesus, and
Make Him Lord and King of your hearts.
Obey all of His teachings He has given
To you to follow in all His ways.
Repent of your sins. Return to your God.
Follow Him where’er He leads you now.
Humble yourselves in full
Surrender to His will
For your lives today.
Bow before Him, and humbly pray.
Be strong in the grace of Christ, and
Obey your Lord in ev’rything, always
Keeping His teachings in your hearts near you.
Walk with Christ in ev’ry way.
Resist the devil. He will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and He’ll be near you.
Wash your hands you sinners
And double minded.
Weep and wail o’er sin.
With Christ, your new lives begin.
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