John 18:1-14

Today I want us to consider a question together. The question is: what is the most important subject of the Bible? What is the subject that is presented the most both in the Old Testament and the New? Is it baptism, or repentance, or the 10 commandments, or Christian rules for living? What is it? Before we answer that question, I want to share with you that behind a church in the small town of Flint Hill, Virginia, you will find the grave of a young seminary student named Albert Willis who died on October 14, 1864. Albert Willis and his best friend were captured by the 2nd U. S. Cavalry and they were both falsely charged with treason, and sentenced to die by hanging. Albert Willis, however, was offered a Chaplain’s exemption as a ministerial student. But because his friend was married and had 2 small children, young Willis offered himself as a substitute for his friend to die in his place so that his friend might go free. As Albert Willis was brought to the gallows he stated his love for Jesus Christ, he prayed for his executioners, and then he was hanged, and he died in the place of his best friend. Do you realize that each one of us can relate to this story? We were under a death sentence for our sins, and those were not false charges. God’s justice demanded payment for our wrongs. But just as Albert Willis gave his life for his friend, and died as his substitute, Jesus died for us, the just for the unjust, to pay the price for our sins, that we might go free and live forever.

And that is the main subject of the Bible: the teaching of a substitutionary sacrifice runs through the whole Bible as the main subject. You could start in Genesis chapter 3 after Adam and Eve had sinned in the garden, and were deserving of death, God put a substitute to death in their place, and he clothed them with the skins of that sacrifice. And down through the history of the Jewish nation God gave laws which allowed for the penalty of a person’s wrong to be paid by another. For instance, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would put his hands on a goat, symbolically transferring all the sins and the guilt of the entire nation of Israel onto that goat, then he would raise the head of that goat, and slit it’s throat; thereby teaching the value of a substitutionary sacrifice.

And the book of Isaiah taught that that substitutional sacrifice pointed forward to an individual who would come to take the place of sinners, to pay for the crimes they committed. Isaiah says this Person would be “wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities”, and the punishment that would bring us peace would be upon Him.

And moving into the New Testament the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ became the final substitutionary sacrifice as He died on the cross. His death was for us, it was in our place, it was to make payment for our sins. Jesus Himself says, “greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life, for His friends.” And when we come to the Epistles Paul writes, “²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And Peter speaks of this substitutionary sacrifice in this way: “¹⁸ For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” And when we come to the last Book of the Bible, we are taken up into heaven where we see every living being lying prostrate before God in worship, and they are singing a new song. Why are they worshipping, why are they singing? Because of substitutionary sacrifice. They sing “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God.” Revelation 5:9

And we have now come to John chapter 18 for our study, and we have two very clear examples of this teaching of substitutionary sacrifice. The setting is a dark night, and the soldiers come out loaded with weapons, and Jesus says in vs. 8 “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” And Jesus was taken, and the disciples went free. And there is another place in this passage where substitionary sacrifice is taught. When Jesus was arrested He was taken to the Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, and John reminds us of something this High Priest said earlier. In vs. 14 it says: “¹⁴ Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.” The main subject of the Bible is taught very clearly in the chapter that we have now come to for our study.

Let’s begin our study of John chapter 18 today by looking at the setting: Vs. 1 tells us that Jesus and His disciples crossed over the Kidron valley and went into the Garden. This is the garden of Gethsemane. But before we look at what is described in this story, I want us to notice what is not described, because that helps us understand the purpose of John’s writing. Now in chapter 18 we have Jesus going into the Garden of Gethsemane, and all 3 of the other gospels record that Jesus fell down before His Father and He sweat great drops of blood, and He cried out to God to let the cup pass from Him. Yet nowhere in John’s gospel do we find Jesus crying out to His Father, nowhere does it mention the human agony, the bloody sweat, nor the wrestling with His Father in prayer. All this is left out of John’s gospel. Why?

And the answer is in remembering the purpose of why John wrote his gospel; if we go back to John chapter 1 and verse 1 we read “¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). John focuses on the Deity of Jesus. In chapter 2 Jesus changes water into wine, showing His power over all nature. Notice in chapter 3 what is said about Jesus in vs. 31: “³¹ The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.” John is focused on the Deity of Jesus, the One Who is “from heaven” and “above all”. In chapter 5 Jesus heals a man in one second, who had been sick for 38 years, showing His power over all human disease, and then declares in vs. 21 that “the Son gives life to whomever He is pleased to give it” indicating His sovereign power over all of life. In chapter 8 vs. 58 Jesus says, “before Abraham was born, I am” thereby taking upon Himself the very Name of God in the Old Testament, the Great I Am.

And we could keep going through all of John like this seeing that the purpose of John’s writing was not as much to show the humanity of Jesus but rather His Deity. And so when we come to the Garden of Gethsemane we don’t find the events that show His humanity, rather we see the events that show His deity. For instance, the other gospels show Jesus falling to the ground before His Father but John shows that those who came to arrest the Savior falling to the ground before Him. John shows that Jesus is God, which we can clearly see from vs. 4 which says, “Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him…” well how did He know? As God He knows all things, He is omniscient, all-knowing.

And again we see the Deity of Jesus in vs. 8 when the soldiers who are armed with weapons come out to get Him, He gives them a command which they obey. Jesus is in control here, because Jesus is God. He knows all things, He is in control of all things and all people. And this is John’s point. He is proving that Jesus, as God, is not being taken against His will, He is going with them freely. He is proving what He said earlier in chapter 10: “¹⁸ No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:18). John’s purpose is to show us Jesus as Almighty God, the glorious Son, the Lord of heaven and earth.

And the setting of chapter 18, is at night, in a garden, and Jesus along with His few close followers, passes over a brook, a small river, to get to the garden, and the name of the Brook is the Kidron, and the meaning of Kidron is “Dark Waters”. Now if you can imagine walking along at night, in the dark, trying to go through Dark Waters, this is what Jesus is doing. And look at this as a foreshadow of what Jesus is about to do as He makes His way to Mt. Calvary to go through the dark waters of God’s wrath, in the pitch blackness of the cross.

But why is Jesus going here? Why is He passing over the Brook Kidron and going into the Olive Grove? Vs. 2 tells us because Judas knew Jesus met here often with His disciples. Judas thought Jesus would be here, and so Jesus was there. Again showing that He is God and that He is going willingly. But there is another answer too, and I hope that as we’ve been studying through the book of John we have seen clearly that everything Jesus does is a fulfillment of Scripture. And the same is true here. Look with me if you will at 2 Samuel chapter 15: now here is the setting of this chapter. In 2 Samuel 15 David is fleeing from his son Absalom, because the hearts of all the people are with Absalom and he has taken over the throne of his father. And notice where David goes, in vs. 23 it says, “²³ The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the desert.” So here is David crossing the Kidron valley, and the brook Kidron, accompanied by his close followers. And then it shows that he goes to the mount of olives, in vs. 30 “³⁰ But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.” Now one of the reasons for all of the tears here is because David has discovered that one of his close friends was betraying him. David was friends with a man by the name of Ahithophil, they had broken bread together and fellowshipped together often, and this close friend was now betraying the king. You can see that in vs. 31 ³¹ Now David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” Wow, David’s close friend, whom he had shared bread with, was conspiring against him.

And so here is a summary of 2 Samuel chapter 15. At the time of his betrayal by a close friend, David crossed the brook Kidron, he crossed it in tears, accompanied by his faithful followers as he went up to the mount of Olives. Now listen to John 18:1 “…Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.” And all this happened as Judas, the close friend of Jesus, the one Jesus had fellowshipped with, was about to betray Him. 2 Samuel 15 is a foreshadow, a preview, and Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament. All Jesus did, He did to fulfill the types and foreshadows of the Old Testament.

And so Jesus comes into this garden. And I just want to mention that Jesus in the New Testament is called “the Last Adam”, and so Adam here comes to a garden. Sound familiar? The first Adam had a delightful garden, this garden is terrible. In the first garden Adam took the fruit from Eve’s hand, in the last garden Adam willingly took the cup from the Father’s hand. In the first garden Adam sinned, in the last garden the last Adam suffered. In the first garden, Adam fell and was defeated, in the last garden the Redeemer conquered for all of Adam’s fallen race.

And there He is, at night, and here comes the small army of soldiers with their weapons, you can hear the clinking of chains and the glint of swords reflecting off the light of the torches. And Jesus asks them who they want and they say “Jesus of Nazareth” and when He says, in vs. 5, “I am He” they all fall to the ground under the power of the Word of Jesus the Nazarene. Again, this is proof that He is God. At His voice they fall to the ground. What a powerful voice! I invite you to look with me at Psalm 29 because Psalm 29 is all about the voice of the Lord. That’s the subject of Psalm 29. Note what it says:

¹ Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. ² Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. ³ The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. ⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. ⁵ The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. ⁷ The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning. ⁸ The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. ⁹ The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

Why are they crying “Glory?” Well in context it’s because of the powerful, majestic voice of the Lord. The church worships a God Whose Word is powerful and glorious.

“¹⁰ The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. ¹¹ The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” Psalm 29:1-11

 In John 18 the voice of the Lord is powerful and majestic. As a King, when He speaks, His subjects fall down, even if they are in another kingdom. How much more should the church fall down in worship at the majestic voice of our God?

And in vs. 7 He asks them again who they want, and about now having just fallen down, they say with a little trepidation…“uh, Jesus of Nazareth”. They might be bracing for impact right here, because it might happen again! “He might speak and His Word might cause us to fall to the ground again.”

But this time Jesus uses His Words to defend and protect His disciples. As we’ve already seen He says in vs. 8 ⁸ “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. And then He says those precious words, “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” John 18:8

How beautiful this is. His first thought in danger is not for Himself and what He is about to suffer, no His first thought is for His disciples and their safety. Here is the Shepherd protecting His sheep. And they would probably remember for the rest of their lives that the very last thought Jesus had before He was made a prisoner was for them and their safety. And how the Savior’s majesty here shines forth again! He was about to be taken prisoner, but He is not acting like a helpless captive, but rather like a king. “Let these men go” was a command. He’s saying, “Here am I, take Me; but I’m telling you, don’t mess with my people — touch not Mine anointed!” He speaks as Conqueror, and that is what He was; for He had thrown them to the ground by a word from His lips.

“If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” John 18:8 There is so much for us to learn here. But I just want to close today by giving us 5 things to learn from Jesus Words here:

First, His command here gave another proof of how easily He could have saved Himself had He wanted to: He Who saved others could have saved Himself; He who had authority to command the soldiers to let the men go, had authority to command them to let Himself go. But He didn’t, because His purpose was not to save Himself, but to save them. His statement is proof that He could have saved Himself, but instead He went willingly.

Secondly, we learn that Christ was to suffer alone. This great work of atonement had to be just between Himself and His Father. Nobody could follow. Listen to Leviticus 16:17: “¹⁷ No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for the whole community of Israel”. The High Priest had to be alone with God as He made atonement. He was to tread the winepress alone, so He said, “Let these men go.”

Third, we can learn that Christ had other work for these disciples to do, and until that work was done their enemies had no power over them. You know what? As long as God has something for His servants to do the Devil himself cannot kill us. We are as safe out in the world amongst Muslims and people who hate Christians, as we are in our own bed.

Fourth, Jesus was showing His disciples how capable He was to protect them amid the greatest dangers. I don’t have any doubt but that these Roman soldiers intended to take the disciples as well — Mark 14:51, 52, strongly indicates this — but the Word of power went forth, “let these men go,” and they were safe. And when you and I get to heaven, we will learn just how many times that powerful word went forth to keep us safe as well.

And fifth, and this brings us back to where we started today, this statement illustrates substitutionary sacrifice. “Take me and let them go.” “I will die and they will go free.” And so the righteous one was taken so the guilty ones could go free. He who promised freedom to others was Himself made a captive, so that those who were captive to sin and to Satan could be set free. He Who was the author of life, was taken to die in the place of those who are born dead in sins and trespasses, that we might have life.

And I might give a sixth thing we can learn from this as extra credit. We can take His statement here as pointing forward to His work on the cross. It’s the heat of the day, and Jesus is walking up the hill of Golgotha, carrying His own cross on His back, and sinking under the weight of the sin of the world, and He comes once again to some Roman guards. Maybe the same ones. We can practically hear Him saying these same words, “Take Me, and let all these people go.” Substitutionary sacrifice.

Well Vs. 9 tells us “⁹ This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” He is referring to what He said in chapter 17 verse 12. He was again fulfilling Scripture, His own Words this time. And while this was said of these 11 men (His closest disciples), it applies to all God’s people, who are the love gift of the Father to the Son. None of us will be lost, because we are the heirs of salvation, the purchase of God, born of His Spirit and washed in His blood. Praise His holy Name.

Barabbaas. Jesus had lived and moved among the people. He had restored broken lives, healed the sick, raised the dead, forgiven sins, replaced despair with hope, and fear with peace. He had wronged no one. And yet the crowd chose Barrabas to be freed. Can you imagine the words coming to Barrabas? “Barabbas you’re free to go.” “What do you mean I’m free to go?” “Yes it’s true Jesus of Nazareth is dying instead of you, He’s taking your place and you’re free.” And Jesus died in the place of this notorious bandit, this rebel who got to go free. And Barabbas becomes a picture of you and me. Just like Jesus took Barabbas’ physical place, Jesus took my spiritual place. For it was I who deserved to die. It was I who deserved that the wrath of God should be poured on me. He was delivered up for my offenses. He was handed over to judgment because of my sins…. Christ was my substitute. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.