Jesus Is He | John 18
John 18
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Chapter Notables:
Jesus gets arrested - verses 1-14
Peter denies Jesus the first time - verses 15-18
Jesus interrogated by the high priest - verses 19-24
Peter denies the Lord the second and third time - verses 25-27
The Jews take Jesus to Pilate, the Roman prefect of Jerusalem - verses 28-32
Pilate interrogates Jesus - verses 33-38
Pilate releases Barabbas instead of Jesus under the request of the Jewish leaders instead - verses 39-40
The One | Lemuel Ayudtud
Is there something that you would do that no matter if you were going to get in trouble because of it, when someone asks who it was that did it, you’d be proud to say it was you? Do you have something so valuable or something you hold so dear that you’d refuse to deny it no matter the consequence? We should all have something like that right?
On the night that Jesus was betrayed, Judas had brought the soldiers from the Sanhedrin to arrest Jesus. Interestingly, the Bible tells us that the place where Jesus was is a private place where the disciples and Jesus would spend time to pray. (How terrible is it to be betrayed by one of your closest friends in the place that was a sacred to you and only a handful of people including that “friend”?)
Judas had given the soldiers a sign that the one they should arrest would be the one he would kiss on the cheek. (Of course it was dark, and so they needed a signal for the person they were arresting.) The band of officers and soldiers came to Jesus’s place of prayer with swords and weapons to take Jesus by force, probably thinking that He and the disciples would put up a fight.
Instead of a fight, though, Jesus confronted them asking them who they were looking for. They responded, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered them, “I am He.” After Jesus said that, the soldiers were taken aback and fell backwards to the ground. In a sense, the power of Jesus telling them who He was caused them to fall to the ground in shock. (Maybe when Jesus said “I am He” it hearkened back to when Moses asked God as he spoke to Him through the fiery bush, “Who should I say sent me?” God answering, “Tell them I am that I am. Tell them that I am have sent you.” So the soldiers didn’t fall backwards because they were afraid of Jesus, they fell backwards because of the Power of the name of God.)
After the soldiers had composed themselves, He asked them again who they were looking for. And again they said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” in which Jesus replied, I told you it’s me.
Jesus knew that He was being arrested that night. He knew that Judas came to betray Him with a kiss. He knew what was going to come after they take Him from that place of solitude and prayer. He knew He was going to be led to judgment and ultimately die. But because His calling was right and His word was true, Hw was not afraid of death nor was He afraid to confirm that it was He who they were seeking for.
At times the pressures of life and even of the world can cause us to deny the very thing we believe. Sometimes peer pressure and wanting to please others can make us betray the very thing we hold dear to us. Some of us may say, “Not me. I would die for what I believe in,” yet Peter betrayed Jesus and almost all the disciples left Him when He was arrested.
There are more ways to deny Jesus than just giving Him up in betrayal. Sometimes denial is just not standing for what’s right, or giving into what the world desires, or even allowing our flesh to take the lead in the way we live. It could be allowing anger to take over, or unforgiveness, or lack of grace. It could be giving excuses why you can’t serve or putting your comfort and convenience above God’s work. It could be refusing to be faithful in your giving or not making time for God when you can.
Like Peter, some of us may say we would never deny Jesus, yet when push comes to shove we lean on our own feelings and concerns instead of God’s leading and commands. And like Peter who said, “I’d die first before I deny You,” when the rubber-meets-the-road and the threat and discomfort comes our way, we may even act as though we don’t know Him.
“Knowing” Him is beyond His Name. Knowing Jesus is knowing His mission and His call for us to be disciples and disciple makers. Knowing Jesus is acknowledging His place in our lives—He should be first in everything we do. Some of us may not deny Him verbally, but we deny Him our time, our talent, our treasure, our involvement, or even our attention.
Let’s not front, what we just read is hard to read and more difficult to swallow. But if we can’t serve Him now when death is not on the line, what would it look like if it was?
Knowing that His destiny was Golgotha, Jesus adamantly said “I am He.” Why?
Because He was not going to deny His calling. His hour was come. His time to die for the sake of mankind was at hand. He was not going to turn His back from His purpose.
Because He was not going to deny Himself. He was Jesus of Nazareth, the one from the hood, called to be the Messiah of the world. This is who He was. He was the Son of God and He was not going to deny that even if it was going to cause Him His death.
Because He was not going to allow somebody else to take His cross. He told the officers at that time that it was He that they were looking for and that they should leave His disciples alone. The cross that He was going to bear was going to be on Him. He was not going to allow another person to pick it up; He was not about to put His responsibility on another.
Every day we are invited to our Golgotha, The place of death for our own personal desires, whims, and plans. And in our place of solitude and personal time the question is asked, “Are you a disciple of Jesus?“
Like our Lord …
We shouldn’t deny our calling. We cannot put our divine purpose on the shelf because we have our personal plans on our minds.
Taking the lead of Jesus, we must not deny who we are. We are sons and daughters of God, ambassadors of righteousness, children of the light. We cannot cower to the demands of the world. We cannot allow the world to take over who we are. We must stand firm and let the world fall back.
We must be like our master—we must take on our cross and our responsibility. Every single one of us in God’s Church is called to do something and partake in the mission of Jesus. Sitting down in the pew and allowing others to take on responsibility that we can take on ourselves is not the plan of God for us. We are not called to just twiddle our thumbs and just show up. We have to carry the cross of the calling of Christ in our world.
Yes it’s demanding. Yes it’s consuming. But no one else can do what God has called you to do. If you’ve been given mercy, extend your gift of mercy. If you’ve been given the gift of organization, extend your gift of organization. If you’ve been given the grace of friendliness, go and reach out to those that are new in Christ. If you’ve been given the privilege to speak His word or to prophesy, don’t deny your responsibility. Claim it and let distractions fall to the ground.
Yes it’s not for the weak, that’s why He has given us His Holy Spirit so that we can have the power to be witnesses everywhere we are. And when you think of yourself incapable, know that He that began a good work in you is able to complete it. You’re not doing this in your own might and power, it’s by the Spirit of God! And He’s not asking you to die for Him in the flesh, He’s calling you to live for Him daily.
Every single one of us has the “hour”; it’s that moment in time when who we are and what God has called us to do will be actualized. If you are not ready to take on that moment, you will miss the opportunity to be who God has called you to be. You will miss the chance to be the blessing that God has called you to become.
Our reasoning and our excuses should not be our own enemy. We must resist the notion that we can just attend a gathering without being attentive to God or be in place without being a part. We must ask God to help us affirm who we are in Him when discomfort and fear asks us who we are. And if there be any sense of personal cause that come against God’s purposeful call, then we deny ourselves because Jesus is He!
He is our redeemer, our Master, our soon returning King. He is the great I am, the Truth, the Life, the Way. He is Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the everlasting Father. He is the One that takes our tears of sadness and gives us hope. He is the Light unto our feet and the Lamp unto our paths. Jesus is our salvation, He is the Door, and the Shepherd. Jesus is He who heals all our diseases, who hears our prayers, and gives our mouths good things. Why are we? Because Jesus is He.
Lord, sometimes I feel weak. Lord, sometimes I feel inadequate and not ready to take on what You’ve called me to do. Sometimes I feel like the disciples who ran away when the time finally came to be. Lord, at times I’m bold as a lion, swearing that I would never deny You. Yet in moments of doubt and weakness, I deny my connection to You by refusing to take on Your mission with the inadequate reason that it’s inconvenient.
So, Lord, give me the strength. I need it. I’m not perfect. Sometimes I’m a coward. Most times I’m just full of excuses. Lead me to the pathway that You’ve called me to. Let me embrace Your “hour” in my life. Let me be ready to take up my cross and follow You. Give me the same strength You had there in Gethsemane’s garden to say “I’m the one.” In Your Name Jesus I pray, amen.