The Failure of Man & the Triumph of Christ
Download MP3I invite you to open your bibles to John chapter 18. If you don't have a bible with you, the the text there is there in your worship guide. John 18, and we'll be reading the first 27 verses. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. Now, Judas who betrayed Him also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
Joel Brooks:So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priest and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Then Jesus said to them, I am he. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
Joel Brooks:And 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.
Joel Brooks: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.
Joel Brooks:Shall I not drink the cup that the father has given me?' 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 court of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door.
Joel Brooks: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 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 and his teaching.
Joel Brooks:Jesus answered him, 'I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what heard what I have said to them.
Joel Brooks: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.
Joel Brooks: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. This is the word of the Lord. If you would pray with me.
Joel Brooks:Our Father, right now we ask that through your Spirit you would open up your word to us and may we see Jesus as glorious. May you open our hearts to to see him for who he is, and open our hearts to see us for who we are. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Joel Brooks:I like to go running 5, 6 times a week, or I I don't like it. I do it. And, one of my my favorite places to run, there's a trail behind the Jewish community center that, essentially nothing but switchbacks up this hill mountain. And it's in the woods or in the shade, and you're kind of away from people. So, I run that 2 or 3 times a week at that place.
Joel Brooks:And last week, I'm running this trail and and so, really swimming in this trail. It was so hot and humid. And, I go around one of the switch backs and I'm coming back. And so I could look down at where I came from, and there's a lady also on the trail running. I was like, Okay.
Joel Brooks:So somebody's running here. And so I run and do the switch back again, and I get to look down, and I realize that she's going the same pace as I am, which is a problem because she's a woman. Alright? And I'm a man, and and I have these issues that I'm not gonna let a woman run faster than me. Talk to me later.
Joel Brooks:I know the hate mail's coming in, but that's this is pride here. And so I increase the pace and I go and I do the little switch back. I come back and I realized she had increased the pace. She was looking at me as like, I was her goal. She was going to get up to me.
Joel Brooks:So this happens several times. I keep increasing the pace and I'm like, no, not on my watch. You are not gonna beat me. And I keep going and going. And then I have this thought, I'm like, what what kind of sick person am I?
Joel Brooks:Alright. Why am I doing this? What what kind of evil and pride is in me? And and I think, I don't know anything about this woman. Maybe maybe she just had a child, and she's trying to get back in shape, and this is like I'm I'm really defeating her.
Joel Brooks:I'm really putting her down in this. And then I started thinking, well, if that's her, I need to be crushing her. What does it say about me? And so I go even faster. And so I I go faster.
Joel Brooks:And not only this, not only this. When I get to the switchback, I cut the corner by 10 yards. I do that 2 or 3 times and I'm looking way down at her and I'm like, man, I have crushed her. I showed this person who I never I don't know and will never see again who's boss. And as I'm continuing to run, it just hits me.
Joel Brooks:What am I doing? Have you ever had a a time like that where, like, you were surprised by your own depravity? It just comes up and you're like, I I thought, you know, don't you just have to deal with pride once and you put it aside and never again? And it comes roaring back and and the evil that's in there and you're just surprised at what you're capable of. We might be surprised when this happens, but Jesus isn't.
Joel Brooks:I might be surprised by my own heart and the pride that bubbles up, but Jesus isn't. In John chapter 2, Jesus said that He did not entrust Himself to men because He knew what was in men. He knew the evil that was in there. He knows our hearts better than we know our own hearts. And so he's not surprised when we fail.
Joel Brooks:And what we see here before us is failure. We actually get to see Jesus at his very best, and then we get to see the very best of man at his worst. Jesus at his very best and the very best of man at its worst. Now, I know as we were going through the Psalms this past summer, we talked a lot about how how Jesus is one of us. He has the same emotions as one of us.
Joel Brooks:But then we come to a text like this and we realize he's really not like us. He's really not like us at all. And I don't know of any other passage in scripture that so clearly displays really who Christ is and who we are. One that it humbles us so much and yet exalts Christ as supreme. So when we are looking at Peter here, I want you to see the best that humanity has to offer is wrapped up in Peter.
Joel Brooks:I know we we see Peter in a different light because we know he's he's gonna deny. We know all these things, but at this point, at this time, Peter is the best that humanity has to offer. Peter gave up his job. He went to go follow Jesus. He's made many sacrifices.
Joel Brooks:He's he's been hearing Jesus teach over and over. He's clearly got a lot of faith. He had enough faith to where he could walk out on water. And and right before this, he just renewed his vows. Jesus, I don't know what all these other people think or believe, but know that I will follow you to the very end.
Joel Brooks:Even if everybody else denies you, I will not deny you. So he renews his commitment and his vows to Jesus. Then he gets to go to a prayer meeting led by the Son of God for hours. And he's coming out of this prayer meeting with the son of God after having renewed his vows and after 3 years of culmination of discipleship. This is man at its best.
Joel Brooks:At his absolute best. And yet he fails miserably. We need a savior. We need Jesus where we fail, Jesus triumphs. Now outside of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, this story here is the only non miracle that Jesus does that's recorded in all 4 Gospels.
Joel Brooks:But the early church, the authors of the New Testament, they saw this story as crucial for us to understand both who we are and to understand who Jesus is. John writes this because he wants to know, you are not the hero of your story. Jesus is. It doesn't matter how many vows you make. It doesn't matter how much you know.
Joel Brooks:It doesn't matter how great you think your faith is. You need a savior. Alright. Let's dig into this text. Let's read verse 1 again.
Joel Brooks:When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. There's actually so much just even in this opening verse here. And what we're going to see is John is painting a picture for us, or really a painting for us, in which he's going to start throwing lots and lots of images at us. In this chapter and in the chapters ahead, he's going to begin weaving together all of scripture and bringing it together and and saying, do you see how Jesus is central to it all? And here, he's gonna throw out a bunch of images that are gonna be more than we can digest this morning.
Joel Brooks:You're gonna need to take the week weeks ahead to just sit in front and absorb all the images that John brings up in this text. There's so much just right here in this very first verse. Jesus, he leaves the upper room and he walks about a mile to the Garden of Gethsemane. John gives us this unusual detail that he crosses the Kidron Valley, which probably means nothing to you, but there would not have been a 1st century Jew in Jerusalem who would not have missed the significance of this. King David crossed the Kidron Valley after he had been betrayed by someone dear to him and when he was rejected as Israel's king, he had to flee.
Joel Brooks:And here we see the same thing happening to Jesus, the greater David. Another image that should come up as we see this is the Kidron Valley is where it served as the drainage for all of the temple sacrifices. This is the Passover week. There would be 265,000 sacrifices made. The Kidron Valley would be flowing with blood, all from the temple, and Jesus walks over it.
Joel Brooks:Can you imagine, like, what's going through his mind as he does this? What's going through his mind is what we talked about last week. He has set his face to the cross. He has sanctified Himself, and He's looking boldly at what awaits Him. And then Jesus, he he crosses this in order to go to the garden.
Joel Brooks:Now, it's not an accident and it's not a coincidence that Jesus goes to a garden, that He chooses this as the place for His arrest. It's also a garden is gonna be the place of his resurrection. And he chooses a garden because it all began in a garden for us. That's where it all began. Man failed in the garden.
Joel Brooks:It was in the garden that man looked at God and said, my will be done, not yours. And now Jesus goes back into the garden and he says, not my will, but yours be done. Yours be done. Where where Adam was just thinking, I want my way, Jesus says, I know what I want. I don't wanna go to the cross, but more than that, I want what you want, father.
Joel Brooks:Your will be done. Paul picks this up in Romans, that Jesus is this new Adam, this new representative of the human race. Says, therefore, as one trespass led to the condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to the justification in life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Jesus is now the new Adam, going back into the garden to once again be tempted.
Joel Brooks:And now we know from all the other Gospels that what happens when Jesus goes into the garden, that he begins praying for a long time and the disciples fall asleep. And it was here in the garden that really the dread of what was about to happen hits Jesus in full force. When he looks at the cross and he looks and he knows the wrath of God that's about to be poured out on him there, he is so filled with fear, his capillaries begin busting and he literally sweats drops of blood, yet he still sanctifies himself for the cross. John doesn't repeat what's already been repeated before there because he has a new agenda. He wants to tell us something new about what happened that night.
Joel Brooks:He wants to highlight just how in control Jesus is in this final hour. He's in control of His arrest. He's in control at His trial. If you think of this as a drama that's going on, and you have all these players playing different parts of the drama, Jesus is the director, directing how everybody moves and what everybody does, even Judas. Remember the last time Jesus talked to Judas?
Joel Brooks:They're in the upper room together and Jesus leans over and whispers in Judas's ear, if you're gonna do it, now is the time to do it. And essentially, the trigger's pulled and Judas runs off. And then Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane because he knows this is the place Judas is going to look for me. He goes to the garden in order to be arrested, in order to be betrayed. Jesus is in complete control here.
Joel Brooks:Look at verses 23. Now, Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So, Judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priest and the Pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Here we see a representation of all of humanity coming to arrest Jesus. You've got Jewish religious leaders.
Joel Brooks:You've got Roman Gentile soldiers. You even have a former disciple of Jesus. You really get to see all of humanity represented here uniting together in their hostility towards Jesus. And and it's not just a few people that are here. This is a huge group of people.
Joel Brooks:The word band of soldiers there, that cohort of soldiers is is anywhere between 200 soldiers to a 1000 soldiers. We're talking about hundreds of soldiers coming to arrest Jesus and His disciples. There needed to be this many here because I'm sure they were expecting a fight, or maybe they were expecting a riot. I mean, the Romans would have had their eye on Jesus from a week earlier on Palm Sunday as He rides into Jerusalem like a king, with people lining the streets shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, save us, save us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Joel Brooks:And with it being the Passover week, Jerusalem was ripe for a revolution. And so these soldiers, they wait until Jesus is secluded, away from people at night, and then they come with overwhelming force to arrest him. They come with all their lanterns and their torches to come and arrest the light of the world. It's another one of those little images that John just puts up there. They have lights and they have torches because they expect Jesus to be hiding, maybe hiding in the garden or or fleeing away.
Joel Brooks:Adam hid in the garden. Jesus won't hide. And it's here that we begin to see that Jesus, as this is beginning to unfold, that he is nothing like us. Look at verse 4. Then Jesus, knowing all that what happened to him, came forward and said to them, whom do you seek?
Joel Brooks:Jesus came forward. He doesn't wait for this band of soldiers to come to him, but instead, he goes to meet them and then he questions them. Whom are you seeking? Whom do you seek? You can actually see all of John through that one question if you wanted.
Joel Brooks:The gospel of John begins with this question. When Jesus calls his first two disciples, he says, what are you seeking? You have Jesus repeating the same question later here. When Jesus meets Mary at an empty tomb, he asks her, whom are you seeking? Many scholars, they they point out that they think this is the question of life.
Joel Brooks:Whom or what are you seeking? It's a probing question. It's not a throwaway question. It's a probing question. Because the thing is, whomever or whatever you are seeking after, you will ultimately become like.
Joel Brooks:That's going to be your destiny. Whom are you seeking? The soldiers say that they are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus the messiah, not Jesus the son of David, but Jesus of this podunk little town that nobody's heard of, Nazareth. It's not even mentioned in the old testament, Nazareth. To which Jesus responds, I am he.
Joel Brooks:And then when he says this, you get this this pretty interesting reaction. They all fall to the ground. They fall to the ground. Look look at verses 5 and 6. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.
Joel Brooks:And, Jesus said to them, I am He. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, I am He, they drew back and fell to the ground. I mean, what in the world's going on here? This is this is this is incredible that hundreds of soldiers would just fall to the ground.
Joel Brooks:What you're seeing here is Jesus' last display of power before He goes to the cross. This is His very last display of power. And for just a second, just this this second, you can see the same power that could look at a hurricane and say, peace be still, and a hurricane stops. Here Jesus, he says just two words. I know it's translated as 3, I am He, it's only 2 words in Greek, ego, emi.
Joel Brooks:He simply says, I am. I am. And then they fall to the ground. For Jesus' last display of power, he reveals his name as Yahweh, I am, and the people fall before him. What a what a glimpse, just a little glimpse into that day, which at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.
Joel Brooks:Every knee. These guys are not arresting Jesus. Jesus is arresting them. Jesus is the one who has all the power. He has all the control over what is going on here.
Joel Brooks:This is why Jesus had said earlier in John chapter 10, in which he said, no one takes my life from me. I'm the one with the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back. The question is why why does Jesus do this here? Why does he knock these men down? Why is this his final display of power?
Joel Brooks:Well, we see this as we read ahead. Look at verses 7 through 9. So he asked them again, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I told you that I am He.
Joel Brooks: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. When they replied, we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth again, Jesus, once again, he says, well, I am, but this time, there's not the display of power. But then he does tell the officers what to do. You need to let these people go.
Joel Brooks:He doesn't beg for the lives of his disciples. He doesn't ask. Jesus commands, let these people go. Even after Peter pulls out his sword, strikes one of the servants and cuts off his ear, he is still let go. That is amazing.
Joel Brooks:He is still allowed to run away. I mean, at the very I mean, he should have been struck down right there or at the very least arrested, But these men obey Jesus. A number of New Testament scholars have suggested that outside of the resurrection, this might be the greatest miracle that Jesus does in which he preserves every life of his disciples. I mean, Jesus this is what's happening here. He essentially he steps forward, so he steps in front of his disciples, asks them a question, whom are you seeking?
Joel Brooks:Jesus of Nazareth, I am. Power falls out. They fall to the ground. Who are you seeking? Jesus of Nazareth.
Joel Brooks:Well, that's me, I just told you that. And you know what? Let these men go, because if you want to get to them, you've got to go through me. And they're let go. And we see that so clearly here, but this has never stopped happening.
Joel Brooks:Any evil, any darkness that wants to get to you has to go through Jesus. He is in absolute control even when all seems like darkness. I love too what Jesus says. It's another one of these images that just floods out there. When Jesus says, let these people go, it should sound familiar to you.
Joel Brooks:It's what Moses said to pharaoh. Let my people go. And after Moses said those words, judgment came down. After Jesus says these words, judgment is gonna come down, but it's not gonna go down on the people. It's gonna fall down on Him.
Joel Brooks:He's the greater Moses, but every person in this room is freed because Christ has declared that we be let go and judgment has fallen on him. After Jesus tells the soldiers to let the disciples go, we then start seeing this repeated failure of Peter. Poor Peter. In all the Gospels forever. This keeps being brought up.
Joel Brooks:And so, he whips out this sword and poor Malchus, probably the first guy there, and he strikes Malchus who's just a servant. He doesn't take on one of the big soldiers, just one of the servants there, and and he cuts off Malchus's ear. You know, I I don't know what Peter's thinking in this moment. He accomplishes through his act of violence just what every crusade or every act of violence has accomplished in the name of Jesus. All it does is cut off the ears of the people who need to hear the gospel.
Joel Brooks:That's it. It ruins the testimony. This is a this is denying who Christ is, and his failure continues after this. I think John, by the way, he just names Malchus. It's kind of unusual detail because Malchus is probably alive and it's one of those things that just screams eyewitness testimonies.
Joel Brooks:Like, remember Malchus? Go ask him about this. He's a guy with a reattached ear. We find out in Luke that that Jesus reattaches it. Perhaps he became a follower of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:And that's why John names him, but he's essentially saying, ask. Go find this man, Malchus. He'll tell you this happened. Alright. Peter's failures get worse.
Joel Brooks:He's going to deny knowing Jesus 3 times. And what we're going to see here is actually 2 trials unfolding before us. There is going to be the trial of Peter, in which he is questioned by a little girl and a couple of men and he denies even knowing Jesus. And then you're gonna have the trial of Jesus, who's bound and he's beaten and he's taken before the the leaders of the day and surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, and he's going to clearly declare who he is. You couldn't have 2 more different trials.
Joel Brooks:As Peter enters into this courtyard, there's a servant girl at the door, and she asked him, you know, Are you one of his disciples? Now, this is a servant girl. This is the lowest of lowest class here. Are you one of his servant girls? And Peter, he just quickly says, I am not.
Joel Brooks:I am not. And I hope you got the contrast there. Jesus, in front of 100 of soldiers, is asked his identity, and he says, I am. Peter, in front of a little girl, is asked about Jesus' identity and if he can be associated with him, and Peter says, I am not. And Peter is not.
Joel Brooks:You see such a world of difference between our messiah and our savior and us. He is and we are not, even at our very best. I've been thinking a lot about the denial of Peter this past week. And you know, there's there's a chance Peter didn't even see this as a denial. He he really doesn't see it as denying Jesus.
Joel Brooks:I mean, after all, he was just kind of caught off guard and then there's this casual, you know, offhanded, not me, given to like some little girl who doesn't really matter and it was just so he could get into the courtyard. I mean, a real denial. Isn't that supposed to be where you're brought up on stage in front of 100 of people? You're like, testify to who Jesus is. Do you believe in Jesus?
Joel Brooks:And the person goes, no. I don't. That's a real denial, isn't it? Not not this, refusing to acknowledge that you know Jesus to just a little girl. This seems insignificant.
Joel Brooks:And there's a chance, perhaps in Peter's mind, he thought he just kind of needed to say this just quickly so he could get into the courtyard where he could really testify about who Jesus was. He could make up for his past failure. We we don't know if that was the case. We only know this, that this was not insignificant when he denies Jesus here. There's no such thing as an insignificant denial.
Joel Brooks:You can't come in here on a Sunday and freely worship, and freely pray, and freely confess, and not do that on a Monday. You can't do that. You can't act like a completely different person on a Monday. Denying Jesus, I realize, in the workplace or in the communities you live, it could be so subtle in the ways that we deny him. It might be subtle, but it is not insignificant.
Joel Brooks:Peter's gonna go on to deny knowing Jesus 2 more times and then a rooster is going to crow. John spares us the detail that Luke gives, which is after the rooster crowed, Jesus turns and he looks right at Peter. Peter who was trying to hide in that courtyard. He looks right at him and says that Peter wept bitterly and ran off. Peter here represents the very best of who we are, And it's not much, is it?
Joel Brooks:It's not much. But this story is not just recorded in all 4 gospels in order to show us who we are, it's also to show us who Jesus is. Jesus is the one who is in complete control. Jesus is the one who when evil and darkness surround us, he still has power over it all. Jesus is the eternal and the great I Am.
Joel Brooks:He's the good shepherd who doesn't lose any of his sheep because he lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus is our liberator. He's the one who says, let my people go and let judgment fall on me. He's the one who stands tall in the midst of this trial, and he's the one who loves us no matter how much we fail. This is the Jesus of scripture.
Joel Brooks:Is this the one you are seeking? Whom do you seek? Listen, I don't care how much you have learned, how much faith you think you have, how many sacrifices you've made, how many vows you've taken, you are going to fail. You're going to fail. Just like Adam and everyone who has come after him, you are going to fail.
Joel Brooks:But thanks be to God. Jesus has triumphed for us. His triumph for us. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, you know our hearts.
Joel Brooks:You know our hearts more than we know our hearts. And Lord, I pray that right now through your spirit, you will begin to expose some of those things within our hearts. Expose the pride there. Expose the the evil that's there. Expose all the subtle ways we deny you each and every day.
Joel Brooks:Expose that in us, not that we might live in guilt and shame, but that through the power of your spirit we might be freed. Jesus, you have triumphed where we have failed, but your triumph is our triumph. Thank you for setting your face on the cross for us. We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.
