Image: "Betrayal of Christ” (“The kiss of Judas”) 1305 by Giotto di Bondone

Image: “The Denial of Peter” 1873 by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Message: The Betrayed

Scripture: John 18:1-27 ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

Scripture: John 18 ESV

John 18 ESV and Audio

SERMON NOTES

Sunday, June 27, 2021

The Book Of John

Series: LOVED BY JESUS

Message: The Betrayed

Scripture: John 18:1-27 ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

The Betrayed: Who is the hero of your story?

In today’s passage, we will see John’s account of the betrayal, arrest, and preliminary interrogation of Jesus.

We’ll explore three lenses:

1) The Sequence of the Storm: This is the quick overview of the narrative leading up to the crucifixion.

-Betrayal and Arrest (Mt 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Lk 22:47-53; Jn 18:2-12): All 4 gospels report on this event.

-Interrogation of Annas (Jn 18:19-23): John alone preserves this interrogation for us.

-Sanhedrin Trial (Mt 26:57-68; Mk 14:53-65; Lk 22:54-71): The Sanhedrin was the ruling body in charge of Jewish internal affairs.

-Pilate’s Questioning (Mt 27:11-14; Mk 15:2-5; Lk 23:2-5; Jn 18:28-38a): Pilate doesn’t want to condemn an innocent man, but if he lets Jesus go free, he’ll upset the Jewish leaders and possibly disturb the peace during a major holiday.

-Interrogation by Herod (Lk 23:6-12): Only Luke reports this interrogation by Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Pilate attempted to toss this political hot potato into Herod’s lap, but Herod tosses it right back.

-Pilate’s Verdict (Mt 27:15-31; Mk 15:15-19; Lk 23:24-25; Jn 18:38b-19:16): All four gospels record Pilate’s various attempts to avoid sentencing Jesus, but how, in the end, he caves to the political pressure and authorizes Jesus’ crucifixion.

2) The Betrayal in the Night: So that’s the sequence of events leading up to the betrayal of Jesus and the interrogation. Continuing the narrative, Jesus and his disciples leave the upper room, make their way through the city, and arrive at the garden of Gethsemane. Because Jesus frequented this spot, Judas anticipates they would head there after supper. Judas shows up with a band of soldiers looking for Jesus, and when they find Jesus, He responds “I am He.” In shocked panic the soldiers wheel around, reel back, bump into each other, trip over themselves, and fall to the ground. In Greek, it’s “ego eimi”. In most cases, it is translated “I am he.” But it can also be translated simply as “I AM.” It’s possible that the reason the soldiers stumble and fall here is because Jesus is flexing – just a little. He’s showing just a hint of his true nature. He’s revealing just an ounce of His true power. He’s giving just a glimpse of his true glory. Jesus is exercising just enough strength to show us that he’s in full command of the situation, but not so much strength as to overpower His opponents, because He voluntarily surrenders. And as Jesus gives Himself up, He ensures the disciples’ safety. The soldiers then take Jesus to Annas, the former high priest. And during that interrogation, Peter denies Jesus three times.

3) The Hero in the Shadows: In many ways, Peter attempted to be the hero of this story. But Peter’s confidence was misplaced. He trusted in himself, in his own strength, and in his own commitment. Peter thought salvation would come as he stood side-by-side in battle alongside Jesus. But he didn’t yet understand the Way of Jesus, that salvation would come not through conquest but through surrender; that glory would come through shame, and that life would come through death. And in doing so, Peter joined the long line of those who know what it means to have great intentions only to fall flat on our faces. Peter’s professed intensions fall terribly flat. We all have a gap. Some of us see it, others don’t, but it’s there. On this night, Peter came face-to-face with the gap. He couldn’t run, hide, or deny. And the other gospels tell us, he went out into the night and wept bitterly. Peter thought he would be the hero of this story, that he would be the one to stand up for Jesus, but then he discovered the gap. As it turns out, Peter needed a Hero to rescue him, Peter needed someone to stand up for him. Jesus is the Hero of this story. Throughout it all, he exhibits unimaginable courage, doesn’t he? Jesus’ understated courage heroically prevails. Don’t you see? Jesus offers himself up for them. He is arrested, that they might be let go. He is bound, that they might be free. He is condemned, that they might be pardoned. He is crucified, that they might live. Don’t you see? This is a picture of the Gospel. “Take me. Let them go!”

Takeaways: Jesus faced the darkness alone, that we might go free.

When Jesus gave himself up to protect his disciples that night, it was a beautiful picture of what the cross is all about: Jesus died in our place for our sake to bear all our sin and shame. He stood in the gap, to cover our gaps. He drank the cup of judgement to the dregs for us and rose again on the third day in order that we might go free.

This is the Gospel: “Take me. Let them go!”

Philip Miller Senior Pastor

PASTOR TO PEOPLE

I want to give a big shout out to Michele Forrider and our amazing TMC Kids team!

As you know, we’ve been relaunching our TMC Kids programming in stages as so many of you have signed up to partner in ministry

by pouring into the lives of our kids. I want to give a big THANK YOU to those of you who have signed up to help! Because of you, we were able to reopen TMC Kids for our youngest kids up to Pre-K during the worship service. If you’re still on the fence about serving, we still need your help to relaunch programming for all our kids. We’re looking to build a full team that will serve once a month. If you’re interested in joining the team, please visit the kiosk in the lobby on Sunday morning or visit moodychurch.org/tmc-kids for details.

Michele Forrider, our Director of Children’s Ministry, deserves our heartfelt appreciation. Not only has she served with excellence throughout this past year of the pandemic, loving and leading our kids online, she’s now rebuilding her team of volunteers, rebooting programming for the kids, and building a series of unforgettable Summer Celebration events for our kids and families throughout the summer. She’s gone above and beyond in this season, and I invite you to pause and take a moment to thank her for all she does to serve Jesus and us here at The Moody Church. You can email her at michele.forrider@moodychurch.org.

Michele, thank you for modeling Christ’s love and service to His church through your life and ministry. We are blessed by your presence in our church family. You are loved, more than you know!

Pastor Philip