We're turning in the Bible tonight to the Gospel of John, the Gospel of John. Last Sunday morning, it was looked at from chapter 12 of John. We're going to continue in John and look at chapter 18, and then Sunday morning, we'll come and look at the resurrection from John chapter 20. But tonight, I'd like to consider with you, beginning at verse 12, and we'll read through verse 27 of John chapter 18. Let's hear the word of the Lord, beginning at verse 12. So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. First, they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. Peter stood outside the door at the door. So the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, you also are not one of this man's disciples, are you? He said, I am not. Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold. And they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. The high priest then questioned Jesus and his disciples about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews come together. I've said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them they know what I said when he had said these things one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand saying is that how you answer the high priest Jesus answered him if what I said is wrong bear witness about the wrong but if what I said is right why do you strike me Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, you also are not one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, did I not see you in the garden with him? Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. Let's pray together. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we now listen to the Word and consider this powerful, powerful narrative, we ask that You would guide our understanding, that You would open our minds to properly understand the Scriptures of what had to be, and that we all the more would believe and trust you the way that you desire and see what our Lord Jesus Christ actually accomplished for us. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. My deepest desire, I'm sure your deepest desire in life is now as believers to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength. You know that is the first and greatest commandment. The frustration, and you know this, we've emphasized this a lot from Romans and Genesis, the frustration is that we just don't do it. We just don't do it the way that we should do it, and assurance really, really becomes a struggle because of that. You read these verses in the Scriptures, you read certain verses in the Scriptures, And it doesn't help things, does it? Who can forget the Lord's great indictment against Israel? Remember what the Lord said about Israel? They are a people who always go astray in their hearts. That doesn't help things. When I read that, that's distressing. In fact, when I read that, it makes matters worse for me. Because am I to look at that and say, well, I just hope that I don't do that. I hope that I'm not like Israel in the wilderness. I really hope that I don't do those kinds of things that they did, of having straying hearts. Well, you know by now that if that's what we're supposed to do, to just be better than Israel was in the wilderness, we have a big problem tonight. because the reality is you are constantly going astray in your hearts. And what kind of message would I bring tonight if I stood up here and pushed you to say, okay, you need to be wiser than Israel. You need to do better than Israel. Especially when we have Romans 7 that says, the things that I really want to do, I don't do. I struggle doing what I really will to perform. I have a great will in my life. The great will, the great desire is that I'd love the Lord, my God, with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and still I don't find myself doing it, says Paul. I find myself going astray from that. I would lose hope, and I would absolutely fret tonight if we had no doctrine of assurance. Absolutely. I don't know what I would really be celebrating. if it were up to me. And when you look at the big picture and you begin to think like this and answer these kind of questions, you really do see how bad our predicament really is. And until we really grasp that, until we see that about ourselves, what we're celebrating tonight, what we're doing tonight, what we're going to hear tonight, it really will not impact us the way that it should. It really will not grip us the way that it should. It really will not take a hold in the deep seat of our hearts the way that it should. And you have to realize how unstable you are, that we do go astray. And tonight, I want to consider that with you in light of John chapter 18, of how astray one of Jesus' disciples really did go when His greatest desire was to love the Lord, his God with all of his heart. And here was Jesus at that very moment stepping in to help the helpless. And that's tonight. In the heart of Isaiah 53, we all love Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is a wonderful passage, especially for coming together tonight and gathering and celebrating this and thinking about the table, the Lord said something. It wasn't just Israel that's gone astray. All we like sheep have gone astray. Every single one of us has turned to his own way. And in the next breath, the Lord said something way back in Isaiah 53. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Do you want to see when he did that? That tonight is what we're considering. What you have in John chapter 18 and 19 is Jesus stepping into your place. You have the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 to take on and do what we could never do and never face. And the marvel of it is that he did this for his most loyal follower. And that most loyal follower turned his face and shame away from the Lord as he did this. In chapter 18 and 19 of John, what we have here is Jesus going to trial. Jesus is being put on trial. There's a lot of detail that John gives us tonight, and we don't want to miss this. I believe it's helpful to look at the structure of this passage. In fact, some of the most exciting things are taught to us in the passion narratives. When we look at Jesus going to the cross, when we look at what is woven into the narrative, what is interjected in the midst of this, if you can step aside and ask the question, why is the Lord weaving it in like that? You have something very beautiful that is set before you. At the beginning of chapter 18, you had a cohort of troops come to arrest Jesus. And the thrust of chapter 18 is really demonstrating that what Jesus is doing here, and John is really showing this, Jesus is purposely and willfully and directly stepping forward to the cross. There's no shrinking back from it. It's a choice. He is relentless in pressing forward to it. He is going to it. The hour had come. Now was the time. And so he crosses over the brook Kidron, which throughout history was known as the brook of dead bones. What they did was burn idols and threw them into that brook throughout history. It was a valley of the dead. This garden was not a live garden. It was not a lush garden. He crosses over to the brook Kidron, stepping forward to an oncoming army and the army is is is fully armed they are all armed with notice clubs and all sorts of things to take what they believe is some kind of criminal a threat to them and you'll notice in verse 4 that it says knowing the time had come he went forward did you see that in verse 4 he came forward and said, who do you seek? And in verse 8, you'll notice when Jesus was, when they arrest him, he says something that I believe is really now being unpacked for us in the events of, and that lead up to the crucifixion. He says something very beautiful in verse 8. I told you that I am. It was a revelation. Then he says this. So, if you seek me, let these men go. This is the great exchange right here. You'll recognize that word. There is a reason we looked at forgiveness the other night here. It's the word for forgive. if you seek me, let him go. That was not some kind of plea. That was an authoritative command from God himself, release them. And the whole picture we have is as a great exchange occurs, and he voluntarily steps into what should have been theirs and ours. It's a great exchange. And so notice the picture here. John is very purposeful. There's no detail in John's gospel that lacks importance. He's in a garden. It was the first Adam who failed in a garden. And here in a garden, the last Adam has come and he has forgiven them in a garden and he has instead stepped into their place in the garden to be bound and led away. what would that original scene have looked like in Genesis chapter 2 and 3 after the sin? We would have been bound and led away. This exchange occurs. And Jesus says right at that moment that when that exchange occurred, a great fulfilling happened. What was the fulfilling? I have lost not one. It's a great moment in John. a great moment. He just became the substitute in a very plain and real sense, didn't he? He just released his own and authoritative power as the Son of God, and he stepped forward. He stepped forward into this. Now, what I want to focus on for a moment is that Peter doesn't grasp this yet. This whole time, Peter has been following, and he still doesn't grasp this. He still doesn't understand this. And I believe what makes this so moving is, and we'll really see this Sunday, is that there is a love for the Lord, but he really is trying to stop this whole thing in concern that Jesus is being bound and taken by mistake. I'm not going to let this happen. And so, boys and girls, he takes out the sword and he cuts off the servant's ear, doesn't he? he's ready to fight. He's ready to give it his all to take down the Roman cohort for Jesus. And when you step back from this and you realize the sword was drawn, the first thing you realize about Peter is, is that he has no understanding yet of the necessity of it. He doesn't yet grasp the necessity of why Jesus has to step forward. And at that point, That's why Jesus says, are you able to drink this cup? Are you able, Peter, to take on what I've come to do? Peter, I don't think you understand this yet. It makes me wonder, do we understand this yet? Do you know what I saw today on the news? I saw hundreds of people in the Philippines being nailed to crosses. And they were big nails, and they were putting them up on the cross, and they were pounding them in and people were yelling out in agony. And all I could think of was this, they don't get it. They don't understand it. You can't drink this cup. And Peter still has not grasped the necessity of this. In fact, you'll remember earlier this week, Jesus had come to wash their feet and Peter still was fighting against it. You're not going to wash my feet, I'm going to wash your feet. And Jesus says, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me. You have no inheritance. He hasn't accepted it to the very last moment. Now, Peter had said, he not only didn't understand this, but there's something else he didn't understand. When Jesus openly spoke about what he had come to do, do you remember how Peter fought against it specifically? Remember what he said? Jesus said, all will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Peter said to him, even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be. And Jesus said to him, assuredly, I say to you, even this night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he spoke more vehemently, if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. Oh, that was so sincere, wasn't it? Not only does he have no concept of why Jesus has come to do this, he has no concept of himself. And now all that's about ready to change. He's going to learn here very quickly how needy he is, how desperate the situation is. Verse 13 tells us that Jesus was led away to Annas, and they led him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. John is, again, being purposeful here, and he wants us to understand. The other Gospels, of course, stay focused on Caiaphas. They present the trial before Caiaphas. But John here does something that the other Gospels don't do. He presents the trial before Annas. Who was Annas? Well, we know from Josephus that Annas had been appointed as high priest by Corinnus in 6 AD and would later be deposed by the Romans in 15 AD. What you have happened here is that the Romans had deposed him from that office, but Annas was still alive and functioning well in that office. The Jews did not recognize what the Romans did. He was the undercover high priest. And Annas was the man. Notice his son-in-law was Caiaphas. Annas was a notorious, he was notorious, wicked, wicked man. And he would collect, it came from collecting all of his greed, the proceeds from the price of animals that were sold in the temple. Remember Jesus, he had already offended Annas by flipping over his money-changing tables. He had already provoked this man, and you'll notice, even the Talmud said of Annas, woe to the family of Annas. The whole thing in Israel, the whole high priest system in Israel was a corrupt machine. Caiaphas, the high priest, you'll notice there, he was the one, even though he had said it's expedient for one man to die for the people, he was the one who was bent on destroying Jesus. So you had both of them together plotting this. It was shrewdly argued in the Sanhedrin that he should be killed. They had been planning this. Now, why do I emphasize that? Well, because Jesus steps into it. He steps in. Now, think of who this is for a minute. He steps in to the hands of these kinds of men. They are totally corrupt. It's a legal trial, technically. He's being tried and condemned between 1 and 3 a.m. on Friday. They don't want an uproar. The arrest came as a bribe from who? Judas. Blood money. And now Jesus is being put on trial with pressure to incriminate himself. You'll notice that that comes out. Before Jesus went to the cross, you had two kinds of trials. You could essentially say church trial, and then you had a civil trial. Both trials kind of came in threes if you looked at it carefully. What is before us is the ecclesiastical trial, the church trial. The others focus in John on the civil trial. But John is looking at it, how corrupt it is before the religious community. And the most powerful and influential leaders of the day are described for us in verses 19 through 24. and the trial begins in verse 19. The high priest then asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. What are you doing, Jesus? Who are these followers of yours? What are you teaching? Tell me how these people got sucked away into your strange ideas. It's really an amazing charge. He had come forgiving. He had come healing. He had come loving. He had come teaching the way of salvation. He had come teaching the fulfillment of all the scriptures, everything that they ever... Who bought into your teachings? See what the high priest is doing. He's accusing Jesus of splitting the church. You're a rebel rouser. Teaching heresy. He's interrogating him as if he's a false prophet. This is who? the Word incarnate. Truth comes from Him. He's put Himself under this. If you're feeling the way that you should, you would think, why in the world is He putting up with this? How does Jesus respond? Verse 20, I've spoken open to the world. I had been clear about my teaching. I taught in the synagogues. I was not some kind of cult leader. I was open about what I taught. I was always where the Jews meet. In secret, I never went out and did anything. I'm no false prophet. You know how false prophets behave. Listen to the doctrine. You can ask them. You know what I taught. I taught men the way. My heart bleeds. Look what they're doing to him. He gathered on the shore and he broke bread and he fed hungry people. He gave sight to the blind. He gave the bread of life. He forgave. He loved. He never struck anyone. As soon as he says this, one of the officers pulls back his fist, punches him right in the face. Gives him a blow right to the cheek. I wonder what that man today thinks when he realizes he struck the Son of God. You know, this wasn't the only time this happened. In the next scene for Caiaphas, you remember what happens. The soldiers get in ranks, and we do this in our country. We get in ranks, and we march. They got in ranks, and they marched, and they all started marching around him. And you know what they do. They salute the military. They salute. They saluted. They started saluting him. Hail, Jesus. They saluted him. And as they did this, they had a mock coronation. Hail, verse 3, king of the Jews in the next chapter. And as they marched, they began to punch him with their hands. as they marched, hailing him in mockery. Each taking a turn, giving a blow to the face. No retaliation. None. He stands there and takes it. Only a fair question to the soldier who struck him. If I have spoken evil, bear witness. but if I've spoken well, why do you strike me? What a tender, compassionate response. You ever been struck in the face? I've been struck in the face. It's absolutely humiliating. I'm not the son of God. I'm not divine. Think of the humiliation. We read at Caiaphas' trial that some began to spit on him and they blindfolded him and they beat him. And as they're beating him, oh, Jesus, prophesy, prophesy. Hey, Jesus, tell us who's hitting you now. No resistance. Now, it's at this moment that the scene changes, doesn't it? John is very purposeful. Why is the scene changing? He's taking you right to Peter. At this very moment, woven into the narrative is mighty Peter who said he would never die. He would never deny it. I'll stand. I'll die with you. And Simon Peter, verse 15, followed Jesus and so did another disciple. The disciple was known to the high priest and went with Jesus into the courtyard. Notice here what happens. If you have any idea of this culture, you had a... Families function like a mafia. They all lived in a giant house and there were courtyards and in the middle of the courtyard would be very similar to this out here. And you have rooms, square palaces, and the rooms face the courtyard in the center so that you had to enter the gate, entering the courtyard of the home. Peter is following Christ, isn't he? And Jesus has entered what would have been known the hearing hall of the high priest's house. He's entered into that hearing hall. The cohort of soldiers have left and are now standing around. Verse 16, Peter's standing outside the door and notice what happens here in verse 17. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, you're not one of this man's disciples, are you? I'm not. Now the servants and the officers who had made a fire of coal stood there for it was cold and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. At this minute, remember, Jesus is being punched. A servant girl walks up to him. She has no sword in her hand. She's not a soldier. She doesn't have the physical strength to even punch him. And in front of a little servant girl, a slave girl, you're one of his disciples i'm not he couldn't even stand up to her verse 18 says that this fire of coals had been made in peter notice the emphasis is with them and he goes and warms himself with the officers peter can't stand up to a servant girl because of fear and now he's cold and he's he's worried about is warmth. And Jesus, of course, is going to be stripped naked and cold on the cross. And now John leaves us with the thought that as Jesus is now being hauled off to Caiaphas, what's happening in the courtyard? Peter stands and warms himself. Somebody asks, you're not also one of his disciples, are you? The soldiers ask, I'm not. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative whose ear Peter had cut. This was somebody who saw it, who knew about it. I saw you in the garden. I'm not. And immediately the rooster crows. Immediately. In fact, you know what Luke says? Luke says that as he denied the third time, Jesus had been brought out of and was heading now to Caiaphas to the other round of trials. And as he is heading out, Jesus is by the gate. Peter's warming. And he denies. And the rooster crows. There must have been roosters in there. And Jesus stops and turns around. And they make eye contact. And Peter runs out. And he weeps bitterly. Can you imagine that? you are so intent on following the Lord. You are so given to follow Him to death, but you've just realized you have absolutely no strength and power to do it. His greatest desire didn't hold a candle to his fear and that fear by a little servant girl. What he willed, he couldn't come close to performing. And he effectively denies Jesus three times. Did Peter understand a little bit now why Jesus had to come do this? Remember when Jesus was carrying his cross, all these women are weeping for him? How many people are weeping for Jesus today? Remember what Jesus said? Stop weeping for me. Weep for yourselves. He came to do this. Because unless he had stood in for us, we had absolutely no hope. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. All that grief that he ran around bearing was because of you. And he bore it, and he carried it, and yet we esteemed him, what, stricken, smitten by God. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and in the midst of it, you know what it says? We all hid our faces. Peter is you. It's me. He's me. And the pure, perfect, righteous Son of God kept His mouth closed and endured the horrible torment of the cross. The physical was nothing compared to the wrath of God poured out on His soul for sin. All the while, as He is confessing and bearing and receiving the righteous judgment that you and I deserve, Blows are being given to Him that you and I deserve. The marvel of it all tonight is that He did it for people who effectively deny Him daily. And don't tell me you don't, or else you miss this. He does it for people who act in life like they don't even know Him. And that's the marvel of the cross. All sin is denial of God. and while you denied, he stood there and confessed for you, paying for your denial, stepping in. Now you see how helpless we really are to do anything about our predicament, and when you understand that, you fall tonight in holy awe that Jesus said at the beginning of this whole scene, release them and let them go. They're already free, so that tonight you can come here and sit here in freedom and in joy knowing that you've been forgiven. Let me close with this tonight and then we'll go to the supper. Grab your, if you're visiting tonight, grab your blue Psalter hymnals and turn to the Apostles' Creed. We're going to say this together. Let's say what we believe. I believe in God the Father Almighty. maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He was seated at the right hand of God the Father, from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Catholic Church the communion of sins the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting Amen What's the most difficult part of that creed? You have no problem saying tonight I believe Jesus did that i believe he died and was raised i believe he was seated i believe in the holy spirit i believe in the holy church holy catholic church universal church i believe in the communion of saints i'm going to tell you what's most difficult to believe because of your experience i believe in the forgiveness of sin because at some point you're going to go out and weep bitterly and you're going to say i'm not a believer how could i be a believer and do this you'll wonder if god really loves you you'll wonder if he could really forgive your sins and tonight's message is this jesus didn't go through all of that, releasing ahead of time for nothing. He did this so no matter how great of a sinner you are, you can look at Peter and remember in the heart of his affliction, he had let Peter go already. And that's what the table declares to you tonight. What does he want you to believe all those things. Believe in Him. Trust Him. His person and work is enough. Amen.