The Gospel of John - Outline Part 42 - Human Versus Divine Strength

TITLE

John 18:1-11 – Human Versus Divine Strength

EXPLANATION

Having finished His final instructions to the disciples and having concluded His prayer to the Father, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane.  He knew that the time had come for Him to be arrested, and so begin the sequence of events that would lead to His crucifixion.  Judas, being one of the twelve, also knew that this garden was a favored meeting place of Jesus and His disciples.  Anticipating that the Lord would be there, he brought soldiers from the chief priests to capture Him. 

Jesus boldly went forward and asked whom they were looking for.  The soldiers responded, “Jesus of Nazareth.”  This One who was God in the flesh simply said three words, “I am He.”  The power and authority implicit in Jesus’s words must have been astonishing.  The crowd facing Him fell to the ground.  Almost as if He was taunting them, Jesus again asked who they were looking for.  When they gave Him the same answer He indicated that He had already told them once that He was who they were looking for.  There is an implied hint of “What’s wrong, what are you waiting for?” in the Lord’s dialogue here.

Then Peter, ever the headstrong and impulsive one of the group, drew a sword and attacked.  He accomplished the severing of a servant’s ear, but not much else.  Jesus quickly rebuked His wayward disciple and indicated that He had to proceed according to the will of the Father.

APPLICATION

I think there is a tremendous contrast here between Jesus’s response and Peter’s response.  Jesus responded with a word.  Peter responded with a sword.  Jesus placed His faith in His lips and trusted to His Father for strength.  Peter placed his faith in his sword and trusted himself for strength.

Obviously, Jesus followed the correct course of action here.  It has always been through the word of God that His power has been made manifest.  It was by His spoken word that He created the heavens and earth and revealed Himself to Abraham and Moses.  It was by His written word that He revealed Himself to the nation of Israel.  And, it was through His incarnate Word that God has revealed Himself to all mankind.

There is a tremendously important principle for Christians in this.  It is not through strength of arms that the apostles achieved victory over the world.  Rather, through the proclamation of the word of God they set the world on fire for the gospel.  Nothing has changed in 2,000 years regarding how we should conduct ourselves.  It is the word of God we should preach, not the word of physical strength, belligerence, and revenge.