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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. We know that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are the called according to His purpose. That is Romans 8.28, one of your favorites.
It's a soft pillow for a tired heart. It's the truth we lean on. It's the truth we rest upon, because it tells us of the sovereignty of God. And one of the most encouraging truths in the universe is that God is sovereign. He is in control. There's nothing out of His control. God never goes, oops. God never says, uh-oh. He's in total absolute control.
Charles Spurgeon said there's probably no other teaching or truth or doctrine that is more comforting to the child of God than that of His sovereignty. And we have seen it displayed on the very night we have been studying about the Passover evening with Jesus and His disciples. In fact, the whole Passover season we have seen where Jesus is not a victim of circumstance. He's orchestrating the circumstances.
He's the director. Like when He says to His disciples, go in the village opposite you and you'll find a donkey tied up. Bring the donkey to me. And when somebody asks you, what are you doing, just say, the Lord has need of it.
And they'll let it go. And they went, untied the donkey, and wouldn't you know it, somebody's going to go, hey, what are you guys doing? And the disciples looked at each other like, let's try that line. The Lord needs it. Okay, take it. Now wouldn't that be great if you could walk in a car lot and just say, I think the Lord needs that one.
I'll take the keys. Then when it was time to celebrate the Passover meal, and they were wondering where that was going to take place, Jesus said, well, when you go into the city, you're going to see a man carrying a clay pitcher of water. Go ask him where the room is to be prepared. And the owner of that house is going to show you a large furnished upper room.
There make ready. And so they did. And so they ate. And Jesus taught them.
And we've been studying that. And then at the end of that episode, when the Lord on the divine time clock knew, it was now time to get this show on the road. He said, arise, let us go from here.
And they rose up. And then as we have been studying last time, the Lord was walking his men from the upper city of Jerusalem down the descent of the Temple Mount toward the Kidron Valley, which faces the Mount of Olives. And he's going to take them there beyond the Kidron Brook into the Garden of Gethsemane.
Why? Because he has a rendezvous to keep. He has an appointment to keep. Judas is behind the scenes thinking he's come up with a conspiracy to get Jesus arrested so that he can get 30 pieces of silver. But this was all prophesied. This was all arranged. And Jesus fully knew. And he wasn't a victim.
He was a volunteer. He said, no one takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself.
I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again. So he is in sovereign control of this evening and all of these circumstances of the Passover. And so in chapter 18, verse 1, when Jesus had spoken these words, that is that prayer that we saw last time. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the Brook Kidron where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. I wonder if later on, surely not at this moment, but if later on the disciples would have put two and two together thinking back to this night, the night they walked with Jesus down that descent over the Brook Kidron and into the Garden of Gethsemane. And I wonder if they wouldn't have thought of 2 Samuel chapter 15 when David, because of a revolt of his son Absalom, was betrayed by his trusted counselor Ahithophel. He was betrayed by his friend and then rejected by his nation and so David crossed over the Brook Kidron up the Mount of Olives and out to the wilderness. And I wonder if they wouldn't have thought, wow, isn't that amazing that David did that, rejected by the nation, betrayed by a friend, Jesus the Son of David, rejected by the nation, betrayed by a friend. And then even to make that similarity more similar, Ahithophel went and took his own life, just as Judas will take his own life. But at this point, Judas is somewhere in the distance. He's with Roman soldiers. He's with temple officers and they're coming to get him. So Jesus crosses over the Kidron Brook like David did.
But something would have been interesting. You'd never see it if you were to cross over the Kidron Valley today and you wouldn't have seen it during David's day. But during Jesus' day when the temple was up on that 35-acre complex, that plateau we know as the Temple Mount, when the temple stood there, every Passover when the lambs were killed, the blood of those animals was drained into the altar. And we are told that a stone receptacle collected the blood and a conduit went from underneath the Temple Mount into the Kidron Brook. And it was a lot of blood. The historian Josephus tells us that on one of the Passovers during this era, not during this particular Passover, but one that happened 30 years later, there were 256,000 lambs slain in Jerusalem in one single Passover. And I'm bringing that up because what I want you to picture in your mind is the Lamb of God is crossing over a brook that was filled with the red blood of lambs that could not take away sin.
And He saw that and He knew what that meant and He knew what He had come to fulfill. Like Hebrews said, the blood of those lambs could never take away sin, but the Lamb of God would and did. And He crossed over that with the disciples.
They didn't pick up on that at the moment. They're just following Jesus and they come to a garden, a garden we know as Gethsemane. It means the olive press. It was, after all, the Mount of Olives.
And on the Mount of Olives was an olive farm. There were several of them and there were presses because olive oil was like gasoline is today. It was for fuel. It fueled oil lamps. It was used for anointing.
It was used in cooking. The country lived off of it and so there on that spot was a press where olives were crushed to get its fruit out, the olive oil. Jesus goes to that place of crushing the olive press, Gethsemane, as the sin of the world is being placed upon Him and He voluntarily accepts the cup as He will say if I get to it.
I will drink this cup that the Father has given Me. It's interesting that, and I think John brings it up for a reason, that there was a garden. Did you know that life began in a garden? The Garden of Eden. But did you know that eternal life began in another garden?
Gethsemane. When Jesus said, not My will, but Your will be done. That's when it all began. Life began in a garden. New life began in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the Garden of Eden, Adam sinned. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the last Adam, that's what Paul calls him, the second Adam, the last Adam, Jesus, conquered sin, overcame it by the willingness to go to the cross. In the Garden of Eden, Adam hid from God. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus presents Himself to the Father. And life, having begun in a garden, will also end in a garden. In the New Jerusalem there is a garden-like environment with the tree of life.
That's for another study we don't have time to even remark. And Judas, verse 2, who betrayed Him, also knew the place for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. The Garden of Gethsemane was Jesus' spot to hang out.
It was quiet. It was one of His favorite places to go with His disciples. He did it a lot. Luke tells us that during that week of Passover, He was teaching in the temple and healing, and then He would go away and He would sleep on the Mount of Olives. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that He was camping out. He loved to go there. Because it is one of Jesus' favorite places, it has always been one of mine. And because of that, almost every time I've gone to Jerusalem, I like to take a walk from the upper city, through the Kidron Valley, into the Garden of Gethsemane, just to be reminiscent of all of this that we are reading.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, starting the year with a structured Bible study can shape your spiritual journey for the months ahead and help align your life with God's truth. We want to help you do that with Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, and companion workbook. Journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, gaining a deep panoramic understanding of God's Word that helps you understand the big picture of Scripture with greater clarity. These resources are our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. Now Judas comes with a lot of people, many troops. We are told he received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees. Matthew just says a great multitude. It was a cohort. A cohort is a tenth of a legion or that would be 600 men.
Now we don't know if this was a representative group of the cohort, but evidently it was a large group. And why would they bring a large group to arrest somebody like Jesus? The Lamb.
So gentle. Well, they had tried to arrest him while he was in the temple, if you remember, a couple of times and they were unable to do it. He just vanished out of their sight. Not only that, but Jesus, well, he stirred things up twice in his ministry, once at the very beginning, once at the very end. He walks into the temple and overturned the tables by himself, ran people out by himself and that authority they saw and they knew. And so they thought, let's bring back up as if that would do any good. And so they brought back up and they probably brought so many troops because it's not that they were afraid that Jesus was going to pounce on them, but there could be a revolt. You may remember that one of the biggest fears of the leaders was that if they were trying to arrest Jesus in a public place, that it would cause a rebellion in the temple mount.
So to protect from that, they brought back up. Jesus therefore, now look how this is worded, Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, he went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? They answered, Jesus of Nazareth. He said to them, I am he. Are you looking at your Bible? Can you see that sentence? Is he italicized?
It's because it's not there in the original. Whom are you seeking? Jesus of Nazareth. I am.
I am. The Greek construction ego, I am me. Ego, I am me. If you had a Septuagint version of the book of Exodus and you were reading the spot where Moses was at the burning bush and God commissioned him to be the leader of Israel and Moses scratched his head and said, what's your name? When they asked me, the children of Israel say, who sent you?
What name do I give? If you were to read that in the Greek Septuagint, God says, ego, I me. I am who I am.
Same construction. An unmistakable use by Jesus of the divine title known by the Hebrews as the tetragrammaton, the divine YHVH or WA, Yahweh. I am, he said. And Judas who betrayed him also stood with them. Now when he said to them, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground. See, this is not a victim. This is a volunteer who is in absolute control and just by speaking a word can make people fall down just like the Bible says he will destroy the lawless one in the end times with the breath or with his word.
He'll just speak a word and it's over. So just his word commands them and they fall backwards. And he said to them, whom are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
So this is take two. Jesus answered, I've told you that I am. Therefore if you seek me, let these, the disciples, go their way that the same might be fulfilled which he spoke of those whom you gave me.
I have lost none. Where did he say that? In the previous prayer in John 17, he says, Lord, all that you have given me, none of them have I lost except for one, the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Later on they remembered that by the Holy Spirit prompting John and he wrote that down that it might be fulfilled which he spoke, all that you gave me, I have lost none. There is a psalm that is a messianic psalm and when I say that, it has always been regarded from its inception almost by Jewish people for centuries, generations as messianic. And that is the second psalm.
Let me read it to you and see if this doesn't just sound familiar. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ or anointed saying let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. Let's get rid of God's control. Let's usurp his power and authority. Let's have it our way, our agenda. We'll do our thing.
We'll govern ourselves and do what we want. Now listen to God's response. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. Ha, ha, ha, God would say as puny man shakes his fist and says he who sits in, God didn't even get up. He just sits back. God rules the universe with his feet up. He didn't even get up.
He didn't cringe in fear. He's just like, oh, that's all you got? The Lord will hold them in derision. He shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion.
Wow. The rulers gathered together against the Lord. It's speaking of this convocation coming together against God. It sounds like a massive international ACLU convention or something, trying to push God out of life. God laughs.
God has got it all in control. And so here, that the saying might be fulfilled. Then verse 10, then Simon Peter, you remember him.
We love him, don't we? Simon Peter having a sword. So I don't know if he got it from one of the soldiers or he had concealed carry or what, but he's got a sword. He drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's ear was named, or the servant's ear. Yeah, they named their ears back then. It's a weird thing.
You may want to try it. The servant was named Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath.
Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? We love Peter. Peter was a great fisherman. Peter was a poor swordsman. Peter wasn't precise. He wasn't aiming at his ear.
Are you kidding? Peter is going ballistic. He's all ISIS on these people. He wants to cut their heads off. He's going for Malchus, just like to do them under. He misses being a good fisherman, not a good swordsman, and cuts his ear off. This could have been a problem. If Jesus does not heal him, and he will, there would have been four crosses on Calvary.
This is a capital offense. Jesus says, put your sword up. Shall I not drink? See, once again, he realizes this is the Father's plan. This is sovereign will. God's sovereign will was being worked out that evening. God had a plan, and everything's going perfectly to plan. Now, yes, the soldiers have their plans.
The officers have their plans. Judas has his plan. There is a conspiracy afoot, but their plan and God's plan is coming together. In fact, God is using their plan. They're like little pawns on his chessboard simply to enact his sovereign plan.
That's all that is. God's plan is that his Son provide forgiveness. Now, Peter is there. Peter is the guy with the sword. Later on, bless Peter's heart.
That's what they say down south when something's wrong with somebody. Bless his heart. Later on, Peter will get this in his head. He'll get this in his heart.
He didn't get it now. He's got a sword. Pretty soon, the sword will be down.
The Bible will be open. And Peter will say to the people of this city in Acts chapter three, speaking of Jesus, him, Jesus, him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God you have taken by wicked hands, crucified, and put to death. You killed him. You put him to death.
You are responsible for your choices and your actions, but this is all part of God's divine sovereign plan. The foreknowledge of God, the purpose of God was enacted. Finally, Peter will click for him. But at this point, Peter's hurting inside.
He's hurting inside. This is a reaction to something Jesus told him. Remember, Jesus said, Peter, I know you love me or you think you love me more than you really do, and you swear that you'll never deny me and you'll always follow me.
You remember, Peter said, you know, these guys are flakes, Jesus, but you can count on me. I'm with you to the end. I'll never deny you. I'll always be with you. Well, you're going to deny me three times, actually, tonight.
And he denied that he denied his denial. No, I'll go to death with you. Even if all others do it, I won't.
He is trying to prove Jesus wrong by taking out the sword. I am here for you. I am going to take over.
I'm going to muster my way through this, hack my way through this. How often we're like Peter, trying to hack our way through lives, trying to just get stuff done with an ax instead of letting the Lord, who tells us, I got this covered, I got it handled, let him show himself. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you gain a deeper understanding of the sweeping story of scripture. Pastor Skip's book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, and The Companion Workbook are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
