This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day two of our look together through John chapter 18.
As we look at verses 3 to 11 today, we're going to begin our look at the trials
of Jesus. We're going to see in these trials Jesus standing before four specific
people or groups of people.

And some of these are literal legal trials. Those are personal trials. All of
them involve people making judgments about who Jesus really is.

And all of them involve Jesus showing the clear truth of who he really is, even
in the midst of their human judgments. In the first of these groups of people
that Jesus stands before, we see him standing before the Roman army. Listen to
how this is set up in John 18 verse 3.

So Judas came into the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some
officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches and
lanterns and weapons. They came to arrest Jesus.

And who came? Well, Judas was there, the betrayer, and a detachment of Roman
guards was there. And the Jewish temple police were there.

They all came to arrest Jesus. The temple police needed the Romans because the
Romans could carry weapons and the temple guard wasn't allowed to. Remember the
Romans were the occupying power over Israel.

And the Romans, they brought a whole detachment or cohort. This Greek word for
detachment is spiera and it can mean several different things. It can mean a
group of 600, it can mean a group up to 2000, it can mean a group of 200.

Some think it may have been part of even that smaller group of 200, but at the
very least, when you read all the commentators, they think that at least 60 to
100 soldiers were in this Roman battalion that came to arrest one lone teacher
who was guarded by 11 terrified fishermen who had between them, we read in Luke,
two swords. And they brought with them torches and lanterns and swords. They
brought torches to find the light of the world.

They brought swords to arrest the Prince of Peace. And in the end, this huge
band of people ends up looking pretty silly. The most foolish of all, of course,
was Judas.

It's interesting, as you read in John's Gospel, he doesn't give Judas a lot of
notice here. Judas is sort of in the shadows. He says he's there, that he led
them, he stood beside them, but he doesn't even talk about the kiss that Judas
gave to Jesus to identify him.

He just says he led them there and then he focuses on this Roman army. Jesus,
before this Roman army, shows us who he really is. Let's look at what happens.

Jesus overpowers them, he commands them, he protects his own in the midst of
this great force that's been brought against him. First of all, he overpowers
them. Listen to what happened in John 18 verses four to six.

"Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked 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.

When Jesus said, 'I am he,' they drew back and fell to the ground. " And notice
what happened here. Jesus, knowing what was going to happen, he goes out to meet
them.

That's a surprise. They came to arrest him. Most people, when they're going to
be arrested, they don't usually run towards the arresting officer.

That doesn't usually happen, but Jesus walked out towards those who were going
to arrest him. Why? Because he was confident, confident of God's will.

So he went out, he asked them, "What is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth," they
said, and he said, "I am he. " And did you see what happened?

They all drew back and they fell to the ground. Isn't that awesome? Here's this
huge army.

They've come to arrest one man, and he alone stands before them, and they fall
to the ground. Are they terrified he's going to leap at them and attack them?
No, they're Roman soldiers.

Are they getting into a defensive position of some kind? Probably not, it's just
one man. Why did they fall to the ground?

They fell because of what Jesus said. Jesus said, "I am he. " He used those
words that we've come back to again and again in the Gospel of John, "I am.

" God's name. "I am the light of the world," Jesus says, "I am the good
shepherd, I am the door. " This means I am God.

And these Roman soldiers, they understood power. They represented the might of
the great Roman Empire, and so when Jesus said, "I am," they reacted to his
power. They knew power when they saw it.

It was the power of his person, the recognition of who he was. It wasn't that he
spoke in some strange voice or magnified voice. It was what he said, and that
they recognized the truth of what he said.

The arrest in this garden shows us where true power really is. The religious
leaders thought they had true power because they voted on whether they should
arrest Jesus. The Roman soldiers thought they had true power because they
brought swords.

Peter thought he had true power because of his great zeal. Judas may have
thought he had power in his betrayal, but Jesus shows them all, "I am. I am the
one who has power in this situation.

" Jesus overpowers them. And then the second thing that Jesus does is he
commands them. Listen to what happened in verses 7 to 9.

"Again he asked them, 'Who is it that you want? ' And they said, 'Jesus of
Nazareth. ' 'I told you that I am he,' Jesus answered.

'If you are looking for me, then let these men go. ' This happened so that the
words he had spoken would be fulfilled, 'I have not lost one of those that you
gave me. '" You notice he's telling them what to do.

He's in charge. He says, "Fine, arrest me, but you have to let them go. " And
the Bible tells us that this happened, that the word might be fulfilled, "I have
not lost one of those that you gave me.

" Those you gave me are the disciples that followed him. And because of Jesus'
orders, none of them are arrested to be crucified with Jesus. Isn't this a
little strange?

They came to arrest Jesus and Jesus is telling them what to do and they follow
his orders? They don't arrest any of the disciples because Jesus has the power
of command. He overpowers them.

He commands them. And because of that, number three, Jesus protects his own.
Verses 10 and 11, that protection becomes even more dramatic.

Let me share with you what those verses have to say. And then Simon Peter, who
had a sword, drew it and he struck the high priest's servant cutting off his
right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the
Father has given me? " Simon Peter had a sword.

Remember, they brought two swords into the garden and you would guess that Simon
Peter would have had one of them. I don't know who had the other one, but Peter
had one. And he drew the sword and he swung and he cut off this high priest's
servant's ear.

First, he was smart enough not to swing at one of the Roman soldiers who had the
armor on and who had a sword himself. He swung at a high priest's servant. And
second, he probably swung to cut off his head and missed.

This is one of those moments as you read the scripture that shows you that this
is an eyewitness account. He cut off the right ear of a guy named Malchus. And
Luke tells us that not only did Jesus command Peter to put the sword away, but
he also picked up that ear and he put it on the servant's head and he healed
him.

Peter wants to fight and Jesus stops him. With 100 or so soldiers, maybe more,
Jesus is clearly the one in command and he's protecting his disciples. You see,
Jesus wasn't taken by this garrison of Roman soldiers.

He gave himself. And Peter in the midst of this is trying to be courageous, but
he looks foolish. Jesus heals this servant and he saves Peter.

I've always liked what Ray Stedman asks about this incident with Peter cutting
off the servant's ear. Have you ever lopped off somebody's ear hoping to do good
for the Lord? You ever tried to do what you thought was right in your zeal and
you ended up doing the wrong thing?

Well, here's the good news. Jesus can heal the cut off ear and he can give us
the wisdom not to cut it off again. As we read through what Jesus and these
Roman soldiers experienced in this moment in this garden, there is a verdict in
this moment.

There is a verdict in this confrontation with the Roman army and the verdict is
Jesus is Lord. Even as they arrest him, he's still in charge. He's still the
Lord.

And even as we look at him, getting ready to give his life for us, we realize
he's the Lord that we need for our lives today. As we take a moment today to
pray to talk to him in prayer, I encourage you to recognize that Jesus in one
sense is on trial in our everyday lives, in the choices that we make, whether we
depend on him or ignore him. So just ask yourself in prayer today, Jesus, who am
I going to look to for power, myself or to you?

Jesus, you are Lord. Ask yourself in prayer, Jesus, who am I going to allow to
command me today? The circumstances around me, the opinions of others or you?

Jesus, you're Lord. And ask yourself in prayer today, who am I going to look to
for protection today? To something that will not last, some lesser power, lesser
strength or to you?

Jesus, only you can protect my heart from worries, from pain, from doubt,
anxiety. Jesus, you are Lord. And so I look to you.

I look to you as the Lord that I need for my life today. I pray these things,
Jesus, depending on you in your name. Amen.

Well, join us tomorrow. We're going to take a look at Jesus standing before the
religious courts. Amen.