Tag Archives: arrest

Jesus repels the guards (John 18:4-8), April 19, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever played with magnets? The picture of Jesus facing the guards in the garden remind me of those.
Scripture
1. John 18:4-8

Jesus: Whom are you looking for?

Judas’s Entourage: Jesus the Nazarene.

Jesus: I am the One.

Judas, the betrayer, stood with the military force. As Jesus spoke “I am the One,” the forces fell back on the ground. Jesus asked them a second time:

Jesus: Whom are you searching for?

Judas’s Entourage: Jesus the Nazarene.

Jesus: I have already said that I am the One. If you are looking for Me, then let these men go free.

Devotional
1. I’m sure you remember playing with magnets when you were a kid.
  1. In science we learned about the north and south poles of those magnetic fields and how the opposite ends attracted but like ends repelled each other.
  2. The stronger the magnet, the harder it was to try to push like ends together
  3. There are scientific principles that govern those magnetic fields and explain why they attract and repel each other.
  4. Explains why light bends near the earth
  5. Explains the aurora borealis
  6. Explains parts of electrical currents
  7. Explains a lot of what looks like mysteries around our world
  8. Might even explain the migration of animals at different seasons of the year or why they can sense dangers faster than we do or can find their way home from great distances
2. Picture that experiment you did with magnets as a kid as you tried to push the north pole of the magnet against its polar like north pair
  1. With some effort you might get them to touch
  2. As soon as you release pressure they push apart
  3. If strong enough, can’t push them together
3. Now picture the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane
  1. Guards come to take Jesus
  2. Armed with spears, swords, shields, armor
  3. Jesus dressed in His tunic and sash and bare hands
  4. As they try to approach they are repelled as easily as those magnets trying to approach each other
4. Jesus could not be taken by any force men could put against Him
  1. Satan tried His best throughout His life
  2. Herod killed all the boys in Bethlehem – Jesus escaped
  3. Pharisees plotted to kill Him throughout His whole ministry
    1. Tried to stone Him – slipped away
    2. Tried to throw Him from a cliff – slipped through the crowd
5. Jesus gave Himself up willingly to the guards that came into the garden
  1. Allowed Himself to be taken
  2. Allowed Himself to be beaten
  3. Allowed Himself to be crucified
  4. No one could touch Him unless He let them
  5. He loved us enough to let them
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Where will you meet Him? (Mark 14:48-49) September 14, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – -Psalms 108-110

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 14:48-49
Jesus: Am I a thief or a bandit that you have to come armed with swords and clubs to capture Me? I sat teaching in the temple every day with you. You could have taken Me at any time, but you never did. Let the Scriptures be fulfilled.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus talks a lot about light and darkness in His messages. He talks about Himself as the light of the world in fact. He says God’s children live in the light. He tells us that Satan’s minions slither around in the dark, but that those true to God stay in the light. They are not afraid to have their actions seen by all. They do not worry about being seen by others because they know their actions are good, honest, righteous. They have nothing to worry about in terms of the rightness of their behavior.

Not so those who do their work in the dark. Those who hide their behavior, most often do so because they don’t want others to see it. And they don’t want others to see it because they know it is wrong. They try to cover their behavior with darkness. It seems the dark brings out the worst in people for some reason.

It’s why I gave my kids a curfew. Even when they were older teens. Even when they came home from college. I live by a simple rule and taught them the same rule. “Nothing good happens after midnight.” So even as twenty-something college kids, the rule was be home before midnight. Period. There is little reason for anyone to be out after midnight unless you must work one of those jobs that require those kinds of shifts.

But to be out partying, driving around, even just talking with friends, nothing good happens after midnight. Think about it. After midnight, when you’re tired, your resistance lowers. Your emotions get keyed up. More fights happen after midnight. More people lose control over their drinking and drug habits. More people lose control over their sexual drive. Bad things happen after midnight. So the kids had a midnight curfew.

Am I too strict? Am I an old fuddy-duddy that doesn’t understand the way of the world? Am I just old fashioned and behind the times? Maybe, but I don’t think so. I prefer to think I’ve learned a little about this thing called light and dark. I want to be able to operate in the light and let anyone see anything I might do without hesitation. I want my life to be an open book to others. There shouldn’t be anything I’m ashamed of in my life if I’m following Jesus. But when we sneak off in the night to try to cover our behavior, we’re just not acting like our Lord.

I think that’s the message He’s giving the priests and their guards in the garden that night. He has been praying and now they come after midnight to arrest Him. They come when most people are in their beds asleep. They want to make sure their actions are unobserved. They don’t want the populace to see what’s going on because they’ll be found out. And Jesus was too popular with the people to risk taking Him in front of them. So they capture Jesus in the middle of the night. Under the cover of darkness. When no one can see their actions.

But there is a problem with their plan. Light dispels darkness. Light isn’t the absence of darkness, but rather darkness is the absence of light. Have you ever thought about that? Just the tiniest spark of light dispels the dark. And Jesus is so much more than a spark. He is the light of creation. He is brighter than the noonday sun. He illuminates our every action. He uncovers our heart. Nothing stays hidden when He is around. So when the guards come in the middle of the night, their purpose is clear to Him. The wickedness in their heart is clear to Him. Their fall from God’s law is crystal clear to Him. He sees it all, because His light shines on them and they cannot hide.

Neither can we. We can attempt to cover our actions by participating in behaviors under the cover of darkness or behind closed doors or in places we think are secret, but they are not so secret. God knows everything. He knows our actions. He knows our thoughts. He knows our heart. He sees us in the light and in the dark. And what we think we hide from Him, He still sees. There is no where to hide. His light shines through the darkest places in our lives to show us where we stand in relation to Him.

So He poses the question to us that He posed to those who met Him in the garden. We can come to Him in the temple and the synagogues and the market places and meet Him in the daylight or we can be like those guards and try to sneak in to overtake Him in the garden. Only one problem with trying to overtake Him. As John describes the scene, when they tried to take Him, the guard fell to the ground. He cannot be taken, He gave Himself up to them. He gives Himself up to us too. Will you meet Him in the light or in the dark? It’s your choice.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

He gave Himself (Matthew 26:52-56) June 28, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Kings 19-22

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 26:52-56
Jesus: Put your sword back. People who live by the sword die by the sword. Surely you realize that if I called on My Father, He would send legions of messengers to rescue Me. But if I were to do that, I would be thwarting the scriptural story, wouldn’t I? And we must allow the story of God’s kingdom to unfold. (to the crowds) Why did you bring these weapons, these clubs and bats? Did you think I would fight you? That I would try to dodge and escape like a common criminal? You could have arrested Me any day when I was teaching in the temple, but you didn’t.
This scene has come together just so, so that the prophecies in the sacred Scripture could be fulfilled.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Did you ever stop to think about the resources Jesus had at his disposal to protect Him from those who would try to harm Him? If you look back through His ministry, you’ll find plenty of opportunities for His enemies to destroy Him but they didn’t. His home town elders wanted to push Him off a cliff, but He slipped through them. The chief priests went after Him several times, but failed in their attempts. Even Satan tried to get Jesus to fall, but he too failed in his schemes against the Son of God.

Time after time, Jesus slipped out through the crowd, confounded the leaders in front of crowds so they couldn’t take Him in front of them. Disappeared in the night as He walked across the water or to another town in the middle of the night. Jesus was elusive to the and just couldn’t be caught.

In fact, John describes this scene a little differently than the other gospels. He records that as the guards came forward to take Jesus, they fell back and fell to the ground. Only after Jesus asked as second time who they were looking for and Judas betrayed Him with a kiss did the soldiers come forward and take Him. The power and protection surrounding Jesus made it impossible for those Roman soldiers to arrest Him until He allowed them to come near and grab hold of Him.

Jesus knew no one could assault Him until He allowed the events to unfold. But He had already talked to His Father about the matter. He was ready to sacrifice Himself for our sins. He was ready to do the Father’s bidding and become the atonement for us. So Jesus gave Himself up to that crowd of soldiers and priests and the betrayer.

The spiritual battle ended in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus already prayed through on the matter. He settled everything with His Father and His Father’s will trumped His own. He would be the sacrifice for us. I think He could still call on the angels of heaven to rescue Him if He chose, but He willingly gave Himself us for us. The soldiers who took Him were helpless against Him as John records, and it was Jesus’ willingness to give Himself over to them that led to the brutality they inflicted against Him.

But we must remember Jesus could have called for relief at any time during that whole ordeal. At the first strike of the whip, He could have broken His chains and turned on the Roman guard with immediate justice at the hands of an avenging angel. When the crown of thorns was being woven by the soldiers, He could have escaped the pain inflicted on His brow by calling on His heavenly attendants to deliver Him and they would. Before He carried the beam for the cross to Golgatha, Jesus could have called for the army of heavenly hosts to come and destroy those who wanted to crucify Him and they would have done just that.

But instead, Jesus endured the pain, the humiliation, the agony of the cross to pay the death penalty required by our sins. He didn’t ask for relief, but instead sacrificed Himself for us. He didn’t have to, but He did. He could have escaped it all, but He remained for each of us.

Where is the so what in there for us today, though? First, we recognize His indescribable love for us. The fact that He would allow all of these things to happen to Him when He could easily escape them and get full retribution against those who tried to harm Him demonstrates just how much He cares for us. Second, We owe Him a great deal, more than we can every repay. He gave His life that we might live. Paul tells us our reasonable worship is to give ourselves as living sacrifices for Him. Anything less than that is unacceptable. It is out reasonable sacrifice for Him.

Third, when we walk with Him and He adopts us into His family, those legions of angels are also at our disposal. We need not fear circumstance around us. We need not feaar the things going on in the world or the politics and trends that seem so evil. God is still in charge. He will take care of His children. We can call on Him and He will be there. Will He immediately transport us from the problem and let us escape the pain and ridicule and persecution we might be under? Maybe not. But He will be right there with us to the end.

Finally, Jesus went through more than most of us will ever endure in our lifetime. He voluntarily gave Himself to the agony for us. When we suffer the slings and arrows society throws at us because we follow Him, it’s nothing compared to what Jesus went through. So when you think you’re under pressure, stress and strain for you faith, think about the cross. If Jesus could endure the cross, surely we can endure the little suffering the world gives us for His sake.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.