I’ve Got It Under Control! - Part B

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. The greenest pastures in the hottest summer months are in the deepest valleys.

The place of the most refreshment is down deep in the valley. I know that you all have testimonies. You could say, you could testify that in the darkest times of your life, even when at first you thought God is nowhere, you discovered the sweetest nectar of God's fellowship. Like you've never experienced it before where you said, wow, God is now here, even in this place. So that's Gethsemane. Jesus was in control of the places. Second thing I want you to look at is the people.

He's in control of the people. Now, there's two groups of people here in our story. There's enemies of Jesus and there are friends of Jesus.

Those are the two types. Now, there is a third group. Not an enemy, not a friend. I'm going to call him a frenemy. You know what a frenemy is? A frenemy is somebody who pretends to be your friend but isn't.

But really acts behind the scene as an enemy. That's Judas. He's a frenemy. He said, Jesus, I love you.

You're my friend. But he's conspiring behind the scenes to get Jesus arrested. He's a frenemy. He's siding with the enemies. Well, let's look at the enemies of Christ.

First of all, look at verse 3. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came with lanterns, torches, and weapons, it says. They're looking for trouble. Or they're expecting the worst, you might say.

They're prepared for the worst. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, Whom are you seeking? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. And Judas who betrayed him also stood with him. There's something you need to know. It says a detachment of troops.

That's what my Bible says, a detachment. The Greek word denotes a cohort, a Roman cohort. I don't know what you pictured in your mind if you've read this before, but you probably pictured, I don't know what, five, ten soldiers, maybe, max. A cohort is a tenth of a Roman legion headed by a Roman tribune. A cohort, a detachment, is 600 armed men.

They mean business. It's the SWAT team of the Roman army. Now, I will grant you that in a couple of places, the word that is used, spiria, for cohort or detachment, denotes a third of a cohort or 200 men. But, okay, whatever you want, 600 men, 200 men. There's a lot of guys, right? Armed men.

Can you imagine how intimidating it would look? You're just a few guys. You're just praying together. You're in the garden.

It's quiet. And you look up and you hear the rattle of sabers and shields and helmets, very intimidating with that number of men, and torches lighting the way. And they come in and they surround.

The SWAT team surrounds the Garden of Gethsemane. They've got the scopes on Jesus. It'd be very intimidating.

And your first impression would be, this is totally out of control, right? This is out of control, or it's in their control, until you look at verse 4. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward. He didn't go backwards. He didn't hide. He didn't cower. He went forward. They fell backward. He went forward and said to them, What do you want? What are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth, I'm sure with great force and great authority.

After all, they had the weapons and there was a lot of them. And He said, I am He. Now, look at the word He. In my Bible, it's italicized.

Is it in yours? It's slanted a little bit to the right. Whenever you see something in italics, it just means it's not there in the original. It was added by the translators in their hopes to make it clear. I don't know if it really makes it clear, because according to them, Jesus said, I am He. In the original, this is what Jesus said, I am.

Now, that puts a different spin on it, doesn't it? Because that takes us back to the statement of deity when Moses was in front of the burning bush and he said, Well, who are you? Who will I say sent me? And God said, I am that I am. And several times in the Gospel of John, Jesus has used that statement. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world.

I am the Good Shepherd. Now He just says, I am. And momentarily, He displays His majesty. And whatever it was that caused them to do this, they all fell backwards.

This great military cohort, each carrying a macaria, a Roman short sword, well armed, fell backward. They're off their game for a moment. He said to them, I am. That same voice that said to the Sea of Galilee, Peace, be still.

And it went. The same voice that said to sick people, Get up, carry your bed, run home. The same voice that said to dead people, Live. Is the same voice that says to them now, I am. Now, does that sound to you like a man who looks around goes, This is totally out of control? No, he is totally in control. He's writing the script here. He's the manager moving all the stage pieces where he wants them. He steps forward, and he says, I am.

One commentator put it beautifully. They came to arrest Jesus. They didn't arrest Jesus. Jesus arrested them.

He arrested them. They're like, Whoa. Now, when I read this, I thought of a scripture. It came to my mind, and I think it fits perfectly. Have you ever read a scripture, and it just fits perfectly with where you're at? Listen to this scripture.

It's Psalm 127. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my foes, and my enemies, they stumbled and fell backwards.

Fits perfectly, doesn't it? Now, I want you to turn to another Psalm. I want you to look at it. Turn to Psalm 2 in the Old Testament. Psalm 2.

Now, I'm not having you turn there just because, well, this really fits. I'm having you turn to Psalm 2 because it is this very Psalm that the disciples will quote, referring to what happened the night Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and then crucified. Psalm 2.

They saw what happened to Jesus as a fulfillment in the book of Acts. Look how Psalm 2 begins. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth have set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together.

These are the government authorities making their plans. Against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. What a pathetic picture of the world all united against God. All the world and the world rulers shaking their fists at God.

It sounds like a massive ACLU convention. How does God react? Does God cower? Does He cringe? What is God's reaction to their shaking their fists? The world rulers shaking their fists.

What does He do? It says, He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall 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. First of all, God didn't even get up in heaven. He just sits there. He didn't like stand up and go, let me look. He just sits there and goes, well, whatever.

He sits and He laughs. So here's a man on earth that ruled it out, God, I'm going to write my books. And God goes, ha!

Whatever. I'm in total control of this. I'm going to set my King, my holy one on Zion. By the way, when it says, against the Lord and against His anointed, see that? It's the word Messiah, Christ.

Against the Lord and against His Christ, God will sit in heaven and laugh. Now most of you know that throughout church history, the Roman government persecuted believers intensely, violently, killed a lot of them, tortured many of them. One of the rulers was a guy by the name of Diocletian, and Diocletian prided himself in taking all of the remnants of Christianity away from the Roman Empire. He minted a coin, and he had a monument made that in effect said, I have been successful in eradicating the Christian religion from the areas of Rome. Well, he died, and Christianity grew massively around him. But there were other emperors that came to take his place. Who hated Christians? One historian by the name of William Plummer writes this, of the 30 Roman emperors and officials known for persecuting Christians, one became deranged, one was killed by his own son, one became blind, one was drowned, one was strangled, one died in miserable captivity, one died so loathsome a disease that several attending doctors couldn't stand the stench that accompanied it. Two committed suicide, a third attempted, but had to call for help to finish it.

Five were assassinated by their own people or servants, eight were killed in battle or taken captive, and several died of diseases. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before we return to Skip's teaching, if you want to understand something, it's important to examine its foundations. That's why studying the book of Genesis is so vital to understanding the rest of the Bible. In Skip Heitzig's book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, he takes you on a fascinating journey to where it all began, from Adam and Eve and the fall of man to the birth of the nation of Israel so you can understand the amazing story of God's love and our redemption in Christ. We'll send you a copy of You Can Understand the Book of Genesis as thanks for your gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. One of those who died was a man by the name of Julian the Emperor called by believers Julian the Apostate because his whole gig was to restore paganism back to the Roman Empire after Constantine died.

What are you going to do? I'm going to bring paganism back. He hated Christ. In one battle it is said he drew his sword and pointed it to heaven and challenged the Son of God and blasphemed Him. He was wounded in that battle and as he lay there dying he took clots of his own blood and threw it up to heaven and said, Thou hast conquered, O thou Galilean. On his death, he was recognizing I fought against you, Christ, and I lost. You are in control.

So back to chapter 18 of John, the Roman soldiers, the enemies, are in the garden. They think they're in control. Jesus says, I am.

They fall backward and here's the deal. They cannot arrest Jesus unless He gives them permission. He is totally in control. He will go with them willingly, not violently. Those are his enemies. Look at his friends, verse 7. He asked them again saying, Whom are you seeking? I think they probably answered a little more sheepishly, Jesus of Nazareth.

Please. Jesus answered, I told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these, these friends of mine, these eleven who are cowering over here, let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled, which He spoke, Of those whom you gave Me, I have lost none. That's what he prayed in John 17. And now John says, it happened.

So here's the deal. 600, 200, let's just say 200 conservatively, armed soldiers came to the garden and their intention was simply to arrest the whole gang. Not just Jesus, the whole gang. That's what they wanted to do. They were intent on arresting everyone. Jesus speaks up and whatever it was, whatever display of power that caused them to fall backward, gives them enough incentive to not press the issue, but to do what this prisoner they're going to arrest wants them to do, like let these guys go.

Now this was very untypical. Martin Luther says this is the greatest miracle that happened that night in Gethsemane. Because typically, armed soldiers that work for the government who come to arrest a prisoner will disregard any request by the prisoner, especially to release what they would call co-conspirators in the crime.

These are part of it. Arrest them all. Didn't happen. Jesus was in total control and said let these go that it might be fulfilled, what Jesus said in the previous prayer. Now look at verse 10. Then Simon Peter having a sword.

Uh-oh. Not good when a fisherman has a sword. And he struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear and the servant's name was Malchus. Now, we'll say a lot more about Peter later on, but let me just say this. Peter was a great fisherman. He had a fishing business.

He knew what he was doing when it came to fishing. He was not a good swordsman. I don't think Peter was aiming for the ear.

Do you? I don't think he said, Matthew, 10 shekels, I'm going to get his right ear on the first blow. Watch this.

I'll be so accurate. He reacted. Peter was trying to cut his head off and he missed and got his ear.

Whoa, ouch. So here's Peter and in effect what Peter is saying is, Jesus, I've got it under control. This is Peter getting it under control. He makes a worse scene than it already was because he wants the control.

We hate to lose control. So Jesus calms Peter and he heals graciously the servant of the priest. So Christ is in control of the places, the people. And finally, we look at the last verse, verse 11, the plans.

He's in control of the plans that night. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given me?

Did you get that? Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? What cup is he speaking of? The Calvary, the cross, his soon coming death that he knew he was going to face. It was all part of the plan for Jesus to say, Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? Implies everything that has been happening tonight is all part of the script. It's all part of the plan. I knew this night was coming. I knew it was going to come down this way.

The cup that the Father gives me, I will take and I will drink. It's the plan. There were a couple of plans going on that night. There were their plans, the enemy's plans. Their plan is let's arrest Jesus and the disciples.

Let's kill Jesus and let's squelch this whole cult that's going on, this new Christian thing happening. That was their plans. It was not God's plan. God's plan was that Jesus would voluntarily offer Himself as a sacrifice, being able to forgive mankind for their sins because He was sinless and perfect, rise from the dead, and that gospel message of forgiveness would go around the world. That was God's plan. Whose plan won? God's plan won. Let me remind you, we read it in John chapter 10.

I know that was 30 years ago, again, a long time ago since we've been there. John chapter 10, Jesus said this, nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself.

I have the power to lay it down and to take it again. And here we have Jesus willingly laying it down and in a few days He will take it again. Peter was there that night.

He's watching this whole thing come down. He'll remember this and in a few weeks He will stand in Jerusalem and Peter will say to the crowd in Jerusalem concerning Christ, Him being delivered by the determined foreknowledge and purposes of God you have taken with wicked hands and crucified and slain. Yeah, you crucified and you slain Him. That was your plan. But it was all according to God's plan. His predetermined plan.

He was in charge of the plans even on that night. So sum it all up, wrap it all up. Do you know that all of the places, all of the people around you, all of the plans that are going on, in the midst of all of that, you serve a God who can say to you, I've got it under control. It's all under control. There's a Jewish proverb that I've remembered because I liked it.

I found it to be true as well. The Jewish proverb says, Man makes plans and God changes them. It's very simple. Man makes plans, God changes them. You know why God changes them? God has editing rights over your life.

Have you given your life to Christ? Oh Lord, here's my life. Okay, good, thank you. I'm going to write the script for it now. I've got some plans of my own for you. Go ahead and make your plans.

I can change them if I will because my plan is better than your plan. Here's a few scriptures that help reinforce that. Proverbs 16, A man's heart plans his own way, but God directs his steps. Proverbs 21, Many plans are in a man's heart, but the Lord's counsel that will stand.

Also Proverbs 21, The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and like the rivers of water, he directs it wherever he wishes. So the Garden of Gethsemane was not a purposeless accident. It was a purposeful incident all under control. It was not a tragedy.

It was a victory. And Jesus takes the cup that the Father gives Him. Now in your life, you're going to be drinking some cups that you're not too happy with.

God's going to go, Here, drink this. I don't want to drink it. It's bitter and sour.

I hate it. You'll be in gardens that aren't that peaceful. You feel pressed and pressured and it's hard and it's painful and you cry out. And there will be people in your life that will impose their plans and plot behind your back and you're going to be tempted to say, God is nowhere. And here's the temptation you will face and your point of greatest vulnerability is when you're in those situations where you think life is spinning out of control, you're going to be tempted to take your sword out and do one of these numbers. And you'll just make things worse because you want to be in control so you're just slicing and dicing and yelling and shredding. Jesus will say, Put it away.

I've got it under control. If you can recognize two things, you'll walk out of here a better person. Recognize, number one, your inadequacy without God. Recognize, number two, your invincibility with God. That first little truth, your inadequacy without God.

I wonder if we really believe that. I know the Bible says, Jesus said without me you can do what? Nothing.

I don't know if we really are into that. There's a few things I can do without them. If you're still there, you need to deal with that. Your inadequacy without God. Once you get to that point, then your invincibility with God. Do you know that you're invincible as a Christian? You are invincible till God's done with you on this earth.

Nothing can happen to you. But when God's done with you, why do you want to hang here anywhere? I mean, when God's done with me, let's go, right?

I don't want to be here anyway. Your inadequacy without Him. Our invincibility with Him. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Pastor Skip's insightful book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, to help you better understand the story of God's great love and His amazing plan for our redemption. To request your copy of You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com slash store. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His Word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.