Whom Do You Seek?

I invite you to please turn in your Bibles to John chapter 18. John chapter 18, you'll find that on page 1150 in your pew Bibles. We'll read the first 11 verses of this well-known account of Jesus' betrayal and arrest. And so much wonderful truth here about what Jesus has come to do for us and what he accomplished. John chapter 18. This is the word of the Lord. We'll begin at verse 1. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, Who do you seek? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing there with them. When Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. So if you seek me, let these men go. This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken. Of those whom you gave me, I have lost not one. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into its sheath. shall i not drink the cup that the father has given me and there ends the reading of god's word in the previous chapter you know uh is this beautiful section of what we know is the high priestly prayer what a wonderful prayer to think about um as we hear come tonight to the table and think about all that jesus was accomplishing uh it's such a beautiful prayer because in that prayer he lifted up his eyes to heaven and with full passion he cried out to his father and he said something so so anticipatory that had been happened all throughout john that had been looking for this when he said the hour has come it's come from the beginning in john 2 when he was at the wedding in cana he had said my hour has not yet come the hour of my wedding feast with my with my people with my bride well now the hour has come for him to lay down his life for his bride and he says in the middle of that prayer glorify your son that your son may also glorify you as you have given him authority over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him i think that was an amazing verse we just read a moment ago wasn't it that he did these things to fulfill what was spoken he wouldn't lose one he would not lose one and he prayed in the prayer that very thing that you oh father would give eternal life to as many as you have given me beautiful it's beautiful it's the doctrine of election it's all over the place it was this that drove the lord he was going to save his sheep and nothing was going to stop him. That his father had given him sheep to save, he had come to this earth to complete their salvation and he was going to do it and he was going to fulfill everything that needed to happen to even drink that cup to the full. There was nothing that could stop him. There was nothing that could stop him. He didn't come to make salvation possible. He didn't come to hope people would be saved. He came to make it so, So that when He said, it is finished, there in AD 30 in the month of Nisan at about the sixth hour of the day, it was finished. He saved them. He saved us. He accomplished it. It's beautiful. There's no passage that I think so powerfully captures that. Like John 18 in the verses that I read a moment ago. The hour had come where Jesus had spoken of from the beginning of His ministry, and here it was. And what we see in this passage is him being delivered over on purpose into the hands of sinners to be hauled off and crucified, that they would crucify the Lord of glory. This was what all the law and the prophets had talked about. This is what we looked at last week, if you were here in the sermon from Isaiah 53, that moment when he would be wounded and bruised for all of our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace would be upon him. His soul would be poured out into death. So he finishes the prayer and his face is now set to the cross. He's going there. He's going there. And you'll see that in verse 1. When Jesus had spoken these words, tied it to what came before, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. And Judas who betrayed him also knew the place for Jesus often met there with his disciples the important point to notice right at the beginning of this particular passage is that none of this has caught Jesus off guard it is what he has come to do the passage and the way that John records it is so determined to show us that and that connection is is is strong the other gospels at this point tell us that Jesus had entered into the garden of Gethsemane, but not John. John doesn't mention that. John doesn't talk about that. John is silent about the name because he has something that he wants us to think about. He crosses over and it says in verse 1 that he went over the brook Kidron where there was a garden. There was a garden. This is the garden in the midst of the valley that lay between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. You think of when, boys and girls, you hear the word garden. Gardens always have certain connotations and things that come into our minds when we think about gardens of something lush and beautiful and place of flowers and trees and happiness and everything that's nice. It's interesting that the brook Kidron is mentioned. Kidron, of course, had a long history to it. Its name means dark or black. If you were to go back to the Old Testament, the brook Kidron had a larger history, and you'll find that it always was associated with idolatry, a place of idolatry. In fact, King Asa, when his mom set up the idol, when he ground it into bits, he would sprinkle the idol's ashes into the brook Kidron. It was known as a place throughout history of death and dead bodies and ashes. Jeremiah even calls it that, the Kidron, a valley of dead bodies and ashes. Interesting, isn't it? That Christ has to first pass through what the Scriptures have described through us throughout history as a place of dead bodies and ashes. John, from the beginning, has had creation and fall on his mind. John is a very fascinatingly crafted book. It's no surprise that the Scripture calls Christ the last Adam for a reason. And that theology is not just in the book of Romans. Theology is in the Gospels. The one who had come to relive perfectly, the one who had come to complete what the first Adam lost, what the first Adam threw away. Well, he wouldn't be surprised then before he goes on then to take the penalty of death, which is exactly what God pronounced in the garden to Adam, the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. Before he takes that penalty on, he passes through a garden. That's not coincidental. The first man, Adam, fell in a garden that was lush and beautiful. The first man gave into temptation in a garden, didn't he? And as soon as he hid, sinned, what did he do? He ran the other way. He hid from God. God had said that in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. God came searching for Adam, and if his purpose had been to judge him, right then and there in the garden, what do you think that scene would have looked like? You ever thought about that? What do you think that scene would have looked like? You would have had the angels coming and arresting him. He would have had the heavenly army arresting Adam. And he would have faced wrath and judgment. The whole human race would have suffered that forever. Hell would be the end in the sad story of the human race plunging itself into misery in the first garden. Well, fast forward to John 18. You have the scene. The second, the last Adam has come, and he has picked up where the first Adam left off. The scene is awful. We have the Gospels tell us that as soon as Jesus enters the garden, the Gospels make clear that upon entrance, something immediately happens. Remember, he took Peter and two of the sons of Zebedee and began to say, I am exceedingly sorrowful unto death. three times he had come to his disciples and they were sleeping when he had called them to watch and to pray. He was alone and death and darkness was overcoming him in this garden where a place he cries out, in the middle of this garden, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. And it was here that he would say, Father, if it's your will, let this cup pass. let this cup pass this is the place where his sweat became like great drops of blood what's happening now he's being arrested for us he's being arrested for us keep the first garden scene in my in mind adam had run god had said where are you and instead god showed mercy to the first Adam but he's not doing that here that's not happening then Judas having received a detachment of troops who betrayed him knew the place so Judas having procured verse 3 a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons remember Satan had entered him Jesus told us that Satan had entered him satan's there then jesus knowing all that would happen to him came forward and said to them whom do you seek a roman it's it's interesting here that actually the greek word spear on is used we were actually part of a roman legion there's some debate as to how many hundreds of men this was but you can just imagine it is a heavily armed troop that has come with lanterns and torches and weapons, weapons for battle, weapons for war, they have all come together and they have the temple police, all of these people, come together to arrest the Prince of Peace. They have come to take the One who had never hurt anyone. They have come to arrest the Lord of Glory who in His whole life on earth had only done good, who had blessed, who had helped, who had forgiven who had restored untold amount of people john would say if the books could record we couldn't even record all the good works that he did but these are written so that you believe they've come to kill him but here's what so impresses me about this particular section of scripture it's always overwhelmed me to some degree is verse four jesus knowing all that would happen to him knowing everything that is about to befall him you ever lived in anticipation of death knowing it's coming in a few hours have you ever lived in anticipation of death knowing that on the way you're going to face the wrath of god of course not you have no idea how to fathom that knowing all that would happen to him came forward and said to them whom do you seek wow he looks up and he sees a military coming at him and knowing all of that he steps forward steps forward first Adam ran last Adam stepping forward the Lord's had the Lord has clearly and John is working from this idea of a substitutionary propitiation, a substitutionary atonement. He has stepped into your place. He doesn't run. He doesn't hide like Adam. He steps out into the open. It's hard to process, isn't it? A cheap way to look at it is to think of a boxer like Rocky Marciano who just constantly stepped into all of his fighters. He was the strangest boxer ever. They couldn't figure out how he could do that. And he just kept stepping into it. Jesus steps to it. He knew what he had to do for those standing there next to him. He's looking at them. I've always thought, what sort of love is that? What sort of love is that? Should be the greatest source of strength to you tonight. How many times do you go backward in life? How many times do you go backward in your sin? We call them besetting sin. Don't you feel like it's one giant step forward and then 15 back at times? Isn't that the experience? How many times in the walks do we go back? Do we go back to the same sins so carelessly? How many times have we abused God's patience to us? How many times have we trampled His love? How many times have we been hard to His call? How many times have we despised Him and His Word when He's only meant good for us? How many times have we lived without recognizing Him in the course of a day? That's the sort of gratitude, right, we often give Him. Jesus knows it all. He knows every back step you would take. And in your place, he goes forward. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that wonderful? He just stepped forward for you to the judgment that you deserve. The question's interesting tonight. Whom are you seeking? Who do you seek? How do you take that? It's an interesting way you could take it. Jesus wasn't asking that because he wondered if they were seeking somebody different, was he? Of course not. Jesus asked it in this sort of way. Who do you think you've come to seize with torches and weapons? Who do you think? Who do you think you've come at? Who do you think you're coming at? It's kind of a scary question, isn't it? Probably one of the most scary questions in John. Who are you seeking? do you know who you're seeking obviously it was jesus of nazareth nobody had regard for nazareth nobody cared about jesus from nazareth it was despised and he was despised and this is a huge application in the text isn't it judas had walked with christ and the multitude had heard him and all the authorities have come to kill him and they have no idea whom they've come to seek who do people think they're rejecting when God sends his son who comes to us and says come to me and people say no who do people think they're playing fast and loose with who do people think they're sinning against whom had they come to seek who do you think you've come with clubs to take it's really a dreadful question because now jesus does something that only john records that i believe that every mouth would drop it's really a a remarkable passage because as soon as the um he asked the question and they say jesus of nazareth what does jesus say he says i am he and i hope you know by now that and i think this is so in the esv um the same thing it's not in verse 5 but that little word he is not in the original he he is using the holy name of the god of israel i am whom have you come to seek jesus of nazareth i am uh-oh this is the name revealed in the burning bush and then comes this phrase now when he said to them i am they drew back and fell to the ground you don't find this in the other gospels it's it's a remarkable verse what do you do with it you just had pictured all of the cohort of soldiers and the temple police and the pharisees and judas himself coming here with clubs and lanterns and ready to take him and beat him. And all he says is his name and they fly backwards and land on their knees before him. The word means much more than just a simple stumble. It means they were thrown down to the ground as in devotion. They bowed the knee right then and there. I mean, that's what you have. You have Jesus speaking his name and this happens. It's really a precursor to a scene of judgment, isn't it? I love what Luther said. Luther's so witty and wise when he comments on this particular passage. He said, had Christ not addressed them again, they would still be lying there to this day. That's Luther. What a picture of every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that the I am is Lord. That Jesus Christ is Lord. Well, they fly back and they bow the knee and in this humble state, the hour of judgment had not yet come upon the world in that kind of way. So imagine the disciples sitting there watching the whole thing and in verse 7 to show that the hour was for him. The hour was for him. He asks again, whom are you seeking? I might have been scared to answer that after that. Shows how hard Judas' heart was that he answered. And he says, I've told you that I am. And here's such a wonderful section of Scripture and the most beautiful verse in the whole section tonight. And this is all I really want you to take as you come to the supper. I have told you that I am. So, if you seek me, let these men go. You see, not only does Jesus have the power to lay down his life, not only has all authority been given to him over all flesh, he is the great I am, but he has the power to release his own. The word that is used here in the Greek means to forgive. forgive them. Forgive them. So in exchange, Jesus, this is the great exchange right in front of your eyes tonight, the great exchange that we've talked about, how we try to explain justification by faith, that right then and there they bind up Jesus and they seize him and they haul him off and he faces the awful dread of the cross and all the beatings and slander and mockery and open judgment of God upon his body and his soul as we confess in the very place of a garden where the first Adam threw it all away the second Adam comes to recover by laying down his own life and in the process he looks at his own and he looks at those who want to judge them and he says I will go you let them go forgive them well that's good Friday that's why that's why we call this good friday wasn't so good for jesus was it but what a marvelous day for us because that's the day he let us go that's the day we were forgiven and all the curses of the law and all of your sins the sin of adam everything that you've done to offend the father he took on his shoulder and he led was led away as a lamb to the slaughter and all he cared about in the whole time was to make sure he went forward to do this to drink this cup because nobody else could so that he would release you to tell you tonight i didn't lose one i didn't lose one that's what we're celebrating that's what we're celebrating the lamb of god who has come take away the sin of the world and he calls you tonight to believe this and receive it by faith alone and you being justified by faith, the same message is given to you this night, let them go. Let them go to not fall backward into a stance of judgment but let them come to my table. Let them enter my kingdom. Let them know that I love them. So that's the beauty of this passage. I leave you with the most beautiful words I found on this from a man named John Willison years ago. Take a view of his willingness to suffer all these things for us. He quickens Judas to do his work. And he goes out to meet his persecutors and boldly tells them that he is the man they sought. He will not allow Peter or the angels to do anything for his rescue because of his desire to drink the cup which the Father had given to him. And God knows how bitter that cup was being all mingled with guilt wrath and curses heaped up and running over a cup which if men and angels had tasted they would have staggered and fallen back headlong into hell yes how cheerfully did he drink it for us oh what affection should the consideration of these things stir up in the souls of communicants are you going up to mount calvary to see christ crucified and will you not think on his sufferings and be affected with them before you go? Can you look on Him whom you have pierced and not mourn bitterly for your sin that did it and that it is the most ugly thing in the world? Well, the great God has taken His only Son, and sacrificed Him to justice that we might thereby be persuaded to leave off all fighting against heaven. May that so overwhelm your heart with love and fear? Whom do you seek? Whom do you seek? That's the question. And may we all say tonight, Jesus, my Lord and my God, as Thomas said, and He doesn't throw you down, but tonight He lets you go. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for such wonderful words tonight. Thank you for showing us on all the pages of Scripture the great exchange, the substitutionary atonement, the freedom that you give, that you have let us go and forgiven us for the sake and righteousness of your Son. We bless your name tonight and praise you for your goodness. As we come together tonight to commune, may we think about these things and be a thankful people for so great a salvation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.