Let us turn once more to the
Word of God in the chapter that we read, the 18th chapter in
the Gospel of Constant John. And I'll read for our text from
verse 4 through to verse 9. Considering these verses in John
18 verses 4 to 9, Jesus, therefore, knowing all things which would
come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then
asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am He. If therefore ye seek Me, let
these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which
He spake of them which they gave us Me, I have lost none. Now last Lord's Day we were considering
something of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in that
prayer that's recorded in the previous chapter. We took for
our text those words, in particular to verse 9, I pray for them,
says Christ, I pray not for the world but for them all, but for
them which have us given thee, for they are thine. And amongst other things we remarked
on the significance of the particular verb that he uses when he says
here I pray for them I pray not for the world as I said that
there are in fact two words that have the basic meaning of to
ask and the one indicates that it is a request that is being
made from an inferior to one who is superior to himself. It's a person coming then to
supplicate some higher power than self. Well, it's not that
word that the Lord uses here. In fact, this word indicates
where one comes to ask And there is an equal dignity between the
person who is making the request and the one to whom that request
is being made. How the Lord Jesus can speak
to the Father as one who is equal to the Father. And we see it
of course, and we said this later in that same prayer, verse 24
of chapter 17, Father I will, He says. I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they might
behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world." And we can speak then with authority
even when he comes to address the Father in prayer. And now As we come into the next
chapter I want to say something with regards to that authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ as He is facing death itself. Christ's authority to death is
set before us in the words that we have read. The Lord Having
prayed in this manner, doubtless that must have been in the upper
room when he instituted the Holy Supper. It was his last Passover,
remember? And it was on that occasion that
he instituted what we celebrate as the Lord's Supper. When he
had spoken these words, we're told at the beginning of chapter
18, spoken those words of prayer, he goes forth with his disciples
over the brook Kedron. and enters into the garden of
Gethsemane. And remember how in the other
Gospels we do have the record of his prayers there in the garden. In many ways the prayers that
he prays in the garden are somewhat different to what we have here
in the 17th chapter of John. There he is now entering into
the state of Israel humiliation how he pleads with the father
concerning that bitter cup father he says if it be possible let
this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done
as a man he is altogether subject to the will of the father and
how his prayer was repeated he prayed we're told in Matthew
he prayed the third time saying the same words and that was no
vain repetition on the part of the Lord Jesus when he instructs
his disciples with regards to prayer he says not to use vain
repetitions as the heathen do who think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking it's not a multitude of words
and repeated words that make real prayers But it doesn't mean
that there's no place for repetition. Even the Lord prays the third
time using the same words. And that is indicative to us,
surely, of the reality of His prayer and the intensity of those
wrestlings as we see Him there in the garden of Gethsemane. This is that one, of course,
who meets with Jacob back in Genesis 32 at the brook Jabok. Remember, there we're told that
Jacob is confronted by the angel and there's wrestling. There's
wrestling between the angel and Jacob. Well, it's the same person. that is there in the garden of
Gethsemane himself wrestling with God in his prayers and what
remarkable prayers they were he fell on his face says Matthew
in pride he is prostrate in his humiliation does he not say in the psalm
I am a worm and no man Oh, he grovels on the ground, he's like
a worm now before God. He's in an agony of prayer. Being
in an agony we're told he prayed more earnestly and his sweat
is like drops of blood falling to the ground. This is the context
that we're brought into here in this 18th chapter. It's the
Lord Jesus now there in the garden of Gethsemane and we see so much
of His manhood, we see the humility of the Lord Jesus
Christ as He comes to accomplish that great work that the Father
has sent Him to fulfill in the eternal covenant. We read of
Him in the days of His flesh when He had offered up prayer
and supplication with strong crying and tears unto Him that
was able to save Him from death and was heard. in that he feared,
though he were a son, yet learned the obedience by the things that
he suffered." Or the Lord Jesus. He is heard in that he feared.
There's reverence here. There's that gracious submission
to the will of the Father, and yet, and yet at the same time,
we're not to lose sight also of His authority. There is still something here
of the glory of Him, who is never anything less than God. God strangely
manifests in the flesh. The Word was made flesh, says
John, and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. In everything that the Lord Jesus
is doing, there is something of that glory that belongs to
the mystery of His person. Or do we not love that incarnate
mystery? As Isaac Watts says, I love the
incarnate mystery. And there, I fix my hope. It's in this person. And here,
again, even as we see him in the Garden of Gethsemane, we
see something of his authority as God. And that's really the
theme that I want to take up this morning. Christ authority
and it reaches ultimately to the death of the cross. That's what we have in the passage
that I've read for a text from verse 4 through to verse 9 of
this 18th chapter. Look at the opening words. Jesus,
therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth. He is going forth. They're not
going to take his life. He's going to give his life.
He is that one who, in many ways, is to be seen completely in control
of this situation. His sacrifice is going to be
a voluntary sacrifice. And so, knowing all things that
should come upon him, he goes forth and he goes forth to die. First of all, I want to say something
with regards to Christ's knowledge at this time, and then, secondly,
to make some remarks with regards to His miracles. In a sense, He declares His deity,
He declares His Godhead, and He demonstrates it. First of
all, though, to say something with regards to the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're told quite clearly in the
words at the beginning of this fourth verse that he knows, Jesus
therefore knowing all things that should come upon him. Now, looking at the passage we
might immediately want to ask the question, why then Does Christ
put that question to them at the end of verse 4? Whom seek
ye? He knows all things. He knows
for well who they're seeking. He knows all that's going to
come upon Him. Why does He put that question at the end of the
fourth verse? He knows. And He did not at any
should testify of man We're told he knew what was in the hearts
of men. Why? Why ask the question? Well, he's
asking the question for a purpose. Because he is now going to declare
something of his deity, and that's what he does. And he does this
immediately in the verses that follow from verse 5 right through
to verse 8. And as we've said many times
before, The remarkable thing is the statement that we have
in verses 5, 6 and 8. When they say to him in verse
5 that they are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, what does he say
to them? He says, I am He. And we observe the pronoun in
italics, In other words, it's a word introduced in the translation. Literally, He says to them, I
am. Again, then at verse 6, as soon
as He had said unto them, I am, the He in Italians, interpolated. He literally says, I am. They
went backwards and fell to the ground. Verse 8, Jesus answered,
I have told you that I am He, or I am. If therefore you seek
me, let these go their way. What is the Lord doing in repeating
this great statement, I am? I am. I am. Why? As we know, it is the very
name of God. It is that name that we have
back in Exodus chapter 3 when The Lord God reveals himself
to the man Moses and calls him to be the deliverer of the children
of Israel and Moses asks after God's name and God declares,
I am that I am. It is that great name, Jehovah.
This is the God of Israel. And how John brings this out
so clearly in his Gospel, he sets before us the wonder of
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We go back to the 8th chapter.
And again we have it three times there, at verse 24. He says to the Jews, if you believe
not that I am, I am He, He in italics, if you believe not that
I am, ye shall perish in your sins. They don't believe in Him
to be that One who is Divine, not only the Christ, but the
Son of the Living God. And then again at verse 28, He
says, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you
know that I am heard. Or literally, then shall you
know that I am. Or even in His crucifixion, they
shall know. And then right at the end of
that 8th chapter, He tells them plainly before Abraham was, I
am. And there at the end of that
8th chapter, there's no pronoun at all. It does literally say
that. Before Abraham was, I am. He
is the God of Abraham. He is the God of Isaac. He is the God of Jacob. Oh, He is the God of Israel. The only living and the only
true God. This is what the Lord is doing
here. He is declaring Himself. Of course
in John's gospel we have those many great I am statements throughout
this gospel in which he is that one who comes to reveal God.
He's the image of the invisible God. He tells us much about God.
I am the good shepherd. I am the door of the sheep. I
am the way, the truth and the life. I am the resurrection and
the life multitude of those remarkable I am saying scattered throughout
this gospel and so here even as he comes to the end he's been
now there in the garden he's been wrestling in his prayers
to God and they come to to take him they come to arrest him and
what does he do he declares himself oh no wonder as we see there
At verse 6, when He says unto them, I am, they went backward
and fell to the ground. They don't come and fall before
Him in abeyance. They're not worshipping Him.
No, they are repulsed. They cannot approach Him. They
cannot touch Him. He's revealing to them something
of the otherness, the greatness, the glory that belongs to Him
as God. All the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus said, He knows all things. Jesus, therefore, knowing all
things that should come upon him, went forth. He knew. He knew that now was
the hour. The hour when all that has been
determined in the eternal counsels of God, all His covenant engagements
must have their complete and utter accomplishment. We go back
into Matthew's Gospel. We have Peter's great confession
of Christ there in Caesarea Philippi, Matthew 16. Now what the Christ? The Son of the Living God. Oh, what a confession it was!
And from that time forth, we're told, the Lord Jesus begins to
speak plainly to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem.
He speaks of all those things that must come upon him. He's
going to be rejected of the Jews, he's going to be crucified, the
third day he's going to rise again from the dead. And Peter,
Peter had just made that remarkable confession, he cannot understand
this. He begins to rebuke the Lord.
He won't have it. The Lord has to turn and speak
sharply to him, get thee behind me Satan. Thou savest not the
things that be of God, but the things that be of men. We will
now speak clearly to the disciples concerning those things that
must come to pass. Ultimately, He is to die, that
occurs, death of the cross. And so what do we read later
in Matthew 17, 22? While they abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into
the hands of men, and they shall kill Him. And the third day he
shall be raised again, and they were exceeding sorrow." All it
fills them is sorrow, this talk of his leaving them, his departing
from them. Why, even here, see how he speaks
so clearly to Simon Peter, this impulsive man, at verse 10, Simon Peter, having the sword,
drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right
ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put
up thy sword into the sheaf, the cup which my father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? Well, he knew he must drink that
cup. And he must drink that cup to all the bitter dregs. He must
suffer. He must bleed. He must die. He
knows it. Luke tells us how it came to
pass when the time was come that he should be received up he steadfastly
sets his face to go to Jerusalem all he knew the time was come
and so he sets himself he'll go to Jerusalem he'll make that
final journey up to Jerusalem and so we have it here in the
text Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon
him, went forth. Christ knew that he must die,
but also there is this with regards to his knowledge. The Lord Jesus
Christ is that one who knows his own. He knows his own. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. He knows why He must go this
way, why He must suffer, why He must die. Or there was a people
that the Father had given to Him. He can take up the language
of Isaiah, Isaiah 8, 18, you remember around there, the Prophet
speaks of the children which God hath given unto Even the children born to the
prophetess are part of the ministry and part of the message of the
prophet, the names that he gives to his child. A remarkable name,
Meher Shalalashbas, part of the message to Israel and Syria.
Well, those words are taken up by the Apostle in Hebrews 2.13
in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, I am the children
which God hath given me. He knows. Back in chapter 13, John tells
us, having loved his own which were in the world, he loves them
unto the end. these are those that are in the
world but the Father has given them to him out of the world and the Lord speaks of these
people he will not lose any of them
verse 8 I have told you, he says, to these who have come to arrest
him, I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me,
let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled
which he spake of them which thou gavest me have I lost none."
That was part of his prayer there in 1712. Those that thou gavest
me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition. that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Here is the son of perdition,
Judas, which betrayed him. He knows the place. Because Jesus
oft times resorted thither with his disciples. He's the son of
perdition. And yet, it's awful. It's all
part and parcel of the great purpose of God. Christ must be
betrayed. Christ must go that way of a
mock trial and a cruel death. But he will not lose any of those
that the Father has given to him. That's what he is saying
there in his prayer. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept. None of them is lost, but the
son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Oh, the Lord! The Lord is that One who will
save His people. He gives them eternal life. Oh,
remember the language that we have back in the 10th chapter. In verse 28, Christ says, I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them
Me is greater than all. and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Here we see the blessed unity
of the Godhead as they are those who are chosen by the Father
before the foundation of the world and being chosen of the
Father, committed unto the Son, so the Son will come and He will
do all that is necessary for their salvation, He will redeem
them by the shedding of His precious blood. Oh, there is a glorious
unity, you see, when we contemplate that salvation which is of the
Lord. It involves all the persons in the Godhead, the electing
love of the Father, the redeeming work of the Son, and then the
gracious ministry of the Spirit. And the Lord has been speaking
of that ministry of the Spirit, of course, in the previous chapters
14, 15 and 16. The one who comes to reveal the
things of Christ. Or we considered something of
those things, did we not? That wondrous ministry. The Lord
said it's expedient for you. that I go away, if I go not away
the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send
him unto you. Oh, and when he is come, what
shall he do? Yes, he'll reprove, he'll convince, he'll convict,
but he shall also glorify me, says Christ. For he shall receive
of mine and shall show it unto you. He is the Spirit of truth,
the one who guides into all truth. He doesn't speak of himself.
He bears testimony to Christ. In all that John is saying, we
see the wonder of that salvation there, the unity of the Godhead
in the execution of the salvation of sinners. And here, as I say,
we have Christ declaring, declaring His own deity, we see His authority. I am, He says, I I am, the great Jehovah Jesus. But as He declares the truth
of His deity, we also see here how He demonstrates it. He demonstrates it. In a sense, it's in that simple
statement that we have here in verse 4, where we're told, He
went forth. He went forth, He presents Himself. And as He presents Himself, what's
the reaction of Judas? And all these, this band of men
and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, they've come with
lanterns and torches and weapons. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ,
we know how all His disciples forsake Him, they flee, And the
Lord Jesus stands forth before these who are armed, as we see it there in verse 6.
As soon as He said unto them, I am, they went backward. They went backward and fell backward
to the ground. They repulsed. They cannot lay
a finger upon Him. Oh, this is a remarkable incident. It's a demonstration, not just
a declaration, but a demonstration of the power and the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were previous occasions
when they would have taken Him, and they couldn't take Him. Look
at what we're told in Luke chapter 4, this is the beginning of the
ministry of the Lord Jesus, remember. The first part of Luke, chapter
4, we see the Lord Jesus after His baptism, led by the Spirit
into the wilderness, tempted, 40 days, then He returns in the
fullness of the Spirit, goes into the synagogue in Nazareth,
and reads there in the Book of the Prophets, the Spirit of the Lord is upon
them. We read that whole passage from
Isaiah 61. Concerning himself this day is
his scripture fulfilled in your ears. And they all bear record
or bear witness and wonder that the gracious words have proceeded
out of his mouth. And then in that same chapter
later, what do we read? Verse 28, All they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst,
passing through the midst of them, went his way. and came
down to Capernaum, the city of Galilee and taught them on the
Sabbath days. Right at the very beginning of
his ministry they would have sought to kill him and they even
take him to the brow or the edge of the hill and they will cast
him down headlong and they are going to kill him. But what does
the Lord do? He passes through the midst of
them and they are unable to do anything. We've referred to those
I Am statements throughout the 8th chapter here in John. And
look at what we have at the end where he makes that remarkable
statement concerning himself and Abraham. Verily, verily,
I say unto you before Abraham was I Am. Then took they up stones to cast
at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going
through the midst of them, and so passed by." They can never
do anything. They're unable to take his life.
No man could take it from him. Oh, that is the wonder of the
Lord Jesus and his ministry. When would he die? He would only
die when his hour was come. Only then could He die. And so
back in chapter 7 and verse 30, again in chapter 8 and verse
20, we have that statement, His hour was not yet come. There is a time to be born. There
is a time to die. It was true of the Lord Jesus
as it will be true of each and every one of us. There's a time
to be born. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law. And as that fullness of time
came for His incarnation, His coming into the world, so the
fullness of the time must come with regards to His crucifixion,
the very purpose of His coming. And the Lord knew it. And He
steadfastly sets His face and go to Jerusalem. And so here
now, even there in the Garden of Gethsemane, we are told how
we went forth. The comments, I like the comment
of George Ucherson, one of the Old Scots commentators. He says,
concerning Christ, the evidence is His great power even in infirmity. And we do see so much of the
infirmity of the Lord Jesus when he comes to the end of his life.
We see the infirmity of the Lord Jesus very much there in the
Garden of Gethsemane. Prostrate, as we've already said,
in his pleadings with the Father concerning that bitter cup. Here
we see the reality of all that he had to endure, it wasn't just
the contradiction of sinners, it was that. Oh, it was that,
we read the chapter. And that awful trial, that mockery
of a trial, and vacillating pilot, not knowing what to do with the
Lord Jesus. But ultimately, he gives way
to the mob, and they have their way, and they they prefer Barabbas
the robber to that gracious person that man who went about doing
good the Lord Jesus Christ all of these things had to come to pass and in the
midst of all his infirmities all that he is having to endure
he still demonstrate so much of his power and we have it,
of course, in the miracle. There's a miracle in the garden,
isn't there? In verse 10, Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it
and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. And
the servant's name was Malchus. It's a real man. It's a real
event. Now, this is where, of course, we have to compare Scripture
with Scripture. I trust we do that when we read
the Gospels. We We see the importance, we
have a fourfold Gospel and there are various things recorded in
Gospels. In one Gospel not recorded in
another Gospel and it's in Luke's account. Luke 22.51 and we're told that
Jesus touched his ear and healed it. Peter had cut the servant's ear
off, clean off, and the Lord comes forth and touches his ear
and his ear is immediately restored, is healed. Isn't that a miracle? Isn't that a miracle? And the
great significance of the miracles, and John brings that out time
and again, he always uses the word a sign. right from the beginning,
right from the second chapter where we see Him there in Cana
of Galilee and He changes the water into wine. This beginning
of miracles, this beginning of signs did Jesus and manifested
forth His glory and His disciples believed on Him. There's the
beginning. Now we're coming to the end and
yet we have another sign. and what is he doing? what is
his sign doing? it's directing us to him it's pointing us to
one who is manifesting forth his glory it's the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ in all his infirmities doesn't Paul say
there at the end of 2nd Corinthians how he was crucified through
weakness? this is the mystery we have it
all the time the weakness, the reality of
his human nature, the power, the authority, the majesty of
his divine power. All he knows, all things, he
goes forth. He goes forth now to give himself. Is he not that
one who is going forth to conquer? That's what John tells us there
in Revelation 6, he went forth conquering and to conquer. And so it is here, this is the
Lord Jesus who is not this one who is able then to save to the
uttermost. We need not doubt that for a
moment. Maybe sometimes you think surely there might be salvation
for others but there can never be salvation for me. Others can
know it, others can have it. But can it really be for me?
Oh the Lord Jesus is that one who is able to save, that one
who is willing to save. Why is it that he endures all
these things? It's because he loves his own,
he loves the Father. There's the great motivation.
He will do all the will of the Father, that is his meat, that
is his necessary food. To do the will of him who has
sent him to finish his work. Oh he loves the Father. but he also loves men. Go back
to the language that we have there in Proverbs chapter 8.
He says then, As I by him, as one brought up with him, I was
daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, and my delights
were with the sons of men. He delights in the Father, but
he delights also in the sons of men, the sinful sons of men,
people like you and me, the Lord Jesus delights, He loves, and
He comes to save, and He has power to save. All power is given unto Him in
Heaven and in Earth, when He gives that commission to His
disciples and sends them forth, and they are to teach all things
whatsoever He has commanded them. This is the Gospel. And that's
what we consider here today when we think of the authority of
our Lord Jesus Christ. His authority even to death,
and that's the death of the cross. Jesus, therefore knowing all
things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto
them, Whom seek you? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus said unto them, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then
asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am. If therefore ye seek me, let
these go their way. Oh, what a word is that! You
see, Satan can now lay charge against those who are trusting
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They go their way, we're free.
We're free from all the accusations of Satan, we're free from all
the condemnations of that holy, righteous and just Lord of God,
because Christ has paid the great redemption price. All that the
Lord demanded. if therefore ye seek me, let
these go their ways that the saying might be fulfilled which
he spake of them which thou gavest me, I have lost not or the Lord
has accomplished a great salvation for sinners the Lord knoweth
them that are his or that we might be those who also have
that saving knowledge of this one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Mighty
be pleased then to bless his word to us today. Amen. We sing our closing hymn number
128, the tune Lloyd 172. Christ bears the name of all
his saints, deep on his heart engraved, attentive
to the state and wants of all his love has saved. The Hymn 128.