He Did It For Me, He Did It For Love

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Recap of 3/24/13 (John 19:4-30):

1.  The Jews insist on Jesus’ death.  Their charge against Him was blasphemy because He claimed to be equal to God, thus making Himself God.  He had indeed made that claim and if His claim were not true He would indeed be guilty of blasphemy.  But it is true He is God incarnate.  “He is either an imposter or Divine” (Erdman).  Those are the only choices.

2.  Pilate, out of self-interest, and in the interest of His position with Rome, condemns Jesus to death though he knows Him to be innocent.  Jesus had often warned in His teaching about the temptation to choose worldly success and acclaim over God’s approval.  This is a temptation we all face, especially those at the start of their careers.  A question we must ask ourselves is: “What am I willing to sacrifice for worldly success?”  It boils down to a question of priorities, choices, and goals.

3.  Jesus was crucified between two thieves, one of whom came to faith during the hours on the cross.  As he saw Jesus’ demeanor through-out the ordeal, an ordeal Jesus did not deserve, and as he heard Jesus repeatedly forgive those who treated Him so, he came to faith.

4.  From the cross just preceding His death, Jesus said “It is finished,” a Greek term found in the papyri of that day which meant “paid in full.”   The work of redemption was complete.  The price of sin had been fully paid.  As the innocent Lamb of God, Jesus suffered and fully paid the penalty of sin, our sin.  “the Greek word translated “It is finished!” was a familiar word in that day.  Bankers used it when the final payment had been made on a debt. Jesus completely paid the debt we owed, and it will be remembered against us no more forever. “  (Wiersbe)

Deny Him?

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Recap of 3/17/13 (John 18:24-19:3):

1.  John (as the synoptic gospels do) records Peter’s failure.  Peter’s denial of Jesus engenders a wide array of reaction as the following quotes show:

-“I feel inclined to spend some time on Peter, because he has such a great place in my heart.  He is so much like the rest of us, and we’re so much like him.” (Mitchell)

-“The Lord never said to Peter, ‘I’m sorry, but because you failed Me, I just can’t use you anymore.’ No, He appeared personally to Peter after His resurrection, and He elected Peter to preach the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost.  There has never been a sermon like it!  Thank God for a Savior and a Lord like that.  He will always take you back!” (McGee)

-“The essence of the matter was that it was the real Peter who protested his loyalty in the upper room; it was the real Peter who drew his lonely sword in the moonlight of the garden; it was the real Peter who followed Jesus, because he could not allow his Lord to go alone; it was not the real Peter, who cracked beneath the tension and denied his Lord.  And that is just what Jesus could see.  A tremendous thing about Jesus is that beneath all our failures He sees the real man.  He understands.  He loves us in spite of what we do because He loves us, not for what we are, but what we have it in us to be.” (Barclay)

-“Since all men fail and even many noted Christians stumble greatly, the record of Peter’s denials (and his subsequent restoration; cf. Ch. 21) is of great pastoral comfort.” (Blum)

2.  Jesus had predicted Peter’s recovery at the “Last Supper” according to Luke 22:32 when he told Peter that when he returned he should strengthen his brothers.

3.  Peter had to fail so that he could succeed.  For his future usefulness to God he had to: now his limitations, to know God’s forgiveness, and to know the wideness of God’s mercy and grace.\

Of Swords and Silence

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Recap of 3/10/13 (John 18:2-23):

1.  In John 18:1-11, John recounts the arrest of Jesus in the Garden.  Judas leads the Roman soldiers (up to 600 of them, a cohort) and the Temple guard, to the spot very familiar to him and all the disciples.  The Garden of Gethsemane is where Jesus would typically stay in the evenings when He was in Jerusalem.  Jesus was “hiding-out” or trying to avoid capture.  He knew that His hour had come when He would become the sacrificial lamb, slain for our sin.

2.  Judas had prearranged a signal by which they would know who to arrest, a kiss.  Though John doesn’t mention this, we know it from the synoptic gospels.  Vance Havner soberingly writes: “Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss, not a slap.  Our Lord is betrayed with a show of affection perhaps more often than in any other way.  We call Him Lord, Lord, and do not do what He says.  He who keeps His commands is the one who loves Him, not just he who sings ‘O, How I love Jesus.’”  Again it’s important that we live out what we say we believe.

3.  Though Jesus willingly gave Himself up to the soldiers, Peter mounted an anemic (as it turns out) attempt to prevent Him being taken.  He slices off the servant ear (“right ear” John tells us).  Jesus reattaches the ear and rebukes Peter for his action.  Jesus came from the Father for the express purpose of going to the cross.

4.  “The church has never made advances by physical warfare, and every time it has tried, the cause of Christ has been severely harmed.  There are no holy wars.  Every war fought in the name of Christ has been utterly unholy, contradicting and undermining everything His word teaches.  The kingdom of God does not advance with fleshly weapons or by fleshly strategy.  The battleground is spiritual, and it makes no sense to fight with physical weapons.” (MacArthur)

“Prayer, Treachery, & Valor”

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Recap of 3/3/13 (John 17:20-18:1):

1.  In John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for future disciples (us!).  He is vitally concerned for the unity of believers.  It would be the oneness of the church predicated upon love which would be its (our!) greatest witness in the world.

2.  “A world characterized by selfishness, greed, strife, and division needed to have evidence that believers were rightly related to the Father and to the Son by the unity they displayed in their relationships with each other.” (J. Dwight Pentecost)

3.  The unity of which Jesus speaks is not unity of organization, or of worship styles, or of government, or of philosophy of ministry.  It is rather spiritual unity which is meant, not uniformity or organic union.  It is a unity expressed in love, patience, gentleness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering exhibited toward other believers. The question for each of us is “what is our tipping point?”  What is it that can cause us to act unlovingly toward other believers, others in general? Is it a perceived slight to us, our spouse, our children?  It is not getting our own way?  Do I want the good of others or just to have my own way?

4.  John 18 begins the fourth division of the book of John.  There is: Prologue (1:1-18); Public Teaching and Miracles (1:19-12:50); Private Teaching (13-17); Passion and Resurrection (18-20); and Postlude (21).

5.  John’s account of the Garden of Gethsemane differs from the other gospels in that He does not include Jesus’ agony, His sweating great drops of blood, telling His disciples to pray, or taking Peter, James and John further into the garden with Him.  In character with John’s purpose, he focuses on Jesus’ deity and power in His encounter with those coming to arrest Him.  It was He who was in charge of the situation, not them, despite the overwhelming force arrayed against Him and their weapons..