John Chapter 18:1-6

In the opposition you encounter in work and different situations, who do you stand with? The life lesson here is we should stand with Jesus. We should stand with Jesus. That's who we should be standing with because see we have a choice. We can stand with Jesus or we can stand with the enemies.

Jesus made it very plain. He said, you're either for me or you're against me. Those are the choices and some of us go through life trying to sit on the fence.

That's not a choice. Jesus is saying, you know what? You're either with me or you're against me. If you're on the fence, you're against me. We can't live lives on the fence as Christians. We need to live that passionate Christian life and say, you know, Jesus, I'm with you.

I may mess up sometimes. I may make mistakes, but I'm with you, Jesus, and stand with him. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is a senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina, and today we are blessed to have one of his associate pastors, D.A.

Brown, with us. Welcome, Pastor D.A. Glad you're with us today.

Oh, Bob, this is a good one. I'm glad to be here. As Christians, we should be standing with Jesus. We all stand with something or somebody. The question is, who are we standing with? But today, Pastor David asked that question as he continues in the Gospel of John, Chapter 18.

Sounds good. So let's listen as David McGee starts his teaching, The Betrayal. John, Chapter 18, Verse 1. 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. Now, it's interesting to me to note John's approach to the next events in the ministry of Jesus. There's four Gospels. There's only four Gospels, and we have them here in this book. John's Gospel is a little different than the other three.

The other three are referred to as the synoptic Gospels. What that means is they tend to move parallel in the events that they report and explain, and John doesn't exactly follow the parallel. And we'll see that. We see that actually in this chapter because notice that John spends a little time talking about the Garden of Gethsemane.

As a matter of fact, this is pretty much it. He doesn't talk about the prayer. He doesn't talk about falling asleep. He doesn't talk about those things. Why does he not discuss those things? Well, I'll be honest, I think that perhaps because John so loved Jesus to relive those events and reporting them was just too painful.

And perhaps by this time, he understood that the other Gospels had covered them, and he didn't spend a lot of time in them. Now, the Brook Kidron of the Kidron Valley, perhaps you've heard these words. Kidron is from the Aramaic, and it means dusky or gloomy.

Now, we get that word from an interesting place. What you see is there's several places where there's holes, drainage holes, if you will, from the Temple Mount down, and they go into the Brook Kidron. Now, there are seasons where the drainage is for rain. But understand, at this time, Josephus reports that during the Passover season, they sacrificed 256,000 lambs. You had basically one lamb for every 10 people, and there were roughly about two and a half million people in Jerusalem for this Passover. So they would have sacrificed about 256,000 lambs. Now, what they did when they sacrificed them is they didn't put all the blood on the altar or all the blood on the doorpost. They would drain it. And as they would drain it, Josephus and other historians wrote that that valley, that brook, would run red with the blood of the lambs.

Quite the graphic picture in it. That as Jesus walked over this brook into the garden, he would have looked. He would have seen the blood of those Passover lambs that had been sacrificed. And he knew.

He knew that very soon, the blood that was in his body, flowing in his veins, would be spilt as a sacrifice, not just as a Passover lamb, but as the Passover lamb. And they go into the garden. Now, it's interesting when you consider that all this is happening in the garden, because it reminds us, it reminds us of the Garden of Eden. Yeah, east of Eden, but anyway, we'll call it the Garden of Eden.

And what happened there? Because it was in a garden originally that a man rebelled. He made a conscious decision to rebel against God. And here it was in a garden that God made a conscious decision to pursue man. It's interesting, sometimes we, seems like we hammer Adam for his mistakes. You know, we're not told how long they were in the garden before they fell.

Do you realize that? Might've been days, might've been hours, might've been weeks, might've been years. I kind of doubt that, to be honest. But before you throw stones at Adam, let me ask you a question. How long do you go without sinning?

And if it had been you in the garden, how long would've the whole thing lasted? It's kind of convicting to stop and consider. But that's what happened in that original garden. And God makes a willful decision, Jesus, to do that. And that's what made the decision, Jesus, to lay down his life that we might be redeemed. Just like a single act of disobedience had doomed man to separation from God, a single act or life of obedience now would offer us hope and joy and forgiveness.

Adam brought sin and death to mankind. Jesus would bring hope and forgiveness. And notice what Jesus did during this time. He prayed. He prayed. He went to spend time in prayer. Now, Jesus himself desired during this time of troubling to spend time with the Lord.

How much more so should we spend time with the Lord during those difficult seasons? And that's the first life lesson. A life lesson. During difficult times, follow these three steps. Pray, pray, pray.

When you get to number three, go back to number one. See, we wanna come up with all these plans of how to fix this, fix that. When we get into time of trouble, what do I do?

What do I do? Pray, pray. Nothing will more effectively change you in the situation than prayer. What we tend to do is run to other people. We get on the phone, we get on this, and certainly there's a place for that. But make sure that you're spending time in prayer with the Lord.

Lord, this is what's going on, crying out to God. Now, verse two reads, and Judas who betrayed him also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. See, that tells us something else. Jesus often went to the garden of Gethsemane with his disciples to pray. And the garden of Gethsemane is still there. There's olive trees. They say that one could be as old as 2,000 years old. Olive trees live a long, long time.

I don't know about that, but it's very, very old. And as you go there, there's just a sense of as you think about what transpired there. And to be honest, being among those olive trees for me was more impactful than going into the church there that is very ornate and has all this stuff.

I mean, it's beautiful, but just looking at these olive trees, considering what happened on that ground and may have happened around that tree is incredible. But they lived there often. And that tells me something else, that Jesus enjoyed fellowship with the disciples. Now, he enjoyed being in Jerusalem, I'm sure, and ministering to the people. Although scripture doesn't report that he ever spent the night in Jerusalem, he would go elsewhere. And so he would kind of get alone with his disciples and they would have these prayer times and they would have these fellowship times. That's an awesome thing. And let me encourage you, you should do that.

You should find brothers and sisters to hang out with and to talk about God and to pray with. That's one of the reasons that we encourage everybody in small groups because it helps you to grow. And again, the training analogy that I mentioned last week, if you're training, if you're training for whatever, some sport or fighting or whatever, you can't train once a week. If some of you guys and ladies probably work out, if you work out once a week, not a lot's going to happen.

It takes a lot more of working out to help your body develop and you develop in that sport. So it's important. Now, Judas who betrayed him. This is the ultimate betrayal in it. I mean, every other betrayal in history pales to this one. You know, Brutus with Julius Caesar or any of those things, pale in comparison to what Judas did.

Let's read on. Then Judas having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees came there with lanterns, torches and weapons. It's amazing the vanity of man in it. They're showing up to take Jesus down with these weapons. It shows me that either they haven't seen or they haven't been paying attention to his power. Now, the amazing thing is you understand that according to this book, it's going to happen again. Man is going to try to fight against God with man-made weapons. It's amazing, isn't it? You can read about it. It's all in there.

And once again, it will not work. Now, these soldiers came and there was probably somewhere between 300 and 600 of them. They came from what was called the Antonia Fortress, which was named for Mark Anthony of Anthony and Cleopatra fame or whatever. And that was where the troops would gather. And of course, they had a lot of troops there during Passover because there was a lot of people there and they wanted to make sure nothing went terribly wrong.

But it's interesting. And I thought about this when we were in the Kedron Valley, in the Garden of Gethsemane, you can look up and literally you're looking up hundreds of feet to the temple mount, to the city of Jerusalem. And it says they had lanterns and torches. And even though Passover is on full moon, you would have seen the trail of these lanterns and these torches heading towards the garden. Jesus had plenty of time if he was wanting to bail, if he was wanting to run, to leave. Well, here they come. Let's go.

Let's all hide behind trees or something. He didn't do that. He saw them coming.

He stayed right where he was. It's interesting. And Judas, may I never understand Judas completely? Oh, parts of me identify, I guess, with him like I identify with Peter in that sometimes I betray my beliefs, perhaps deny the Lord with my actions or with my words.

I think we all can relate to that. But the depth of Judas and his betrayal is what's really scary. And I'll tell you as a pastor teacher, there's part of this that's really sobering.

And I'll tell you why. See, Judas saw the miracles. He heard the words. And yet Judas can't do that.

He can't do that. And yet Judas continued on his path, not caring, not making changes. The reason why that's very sobering to me is because I realize there's people here this morning. They hear the word of God. They see the miracles of the changed lives around them. Maybe they even believe like Judas might have believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They walk in and they walk out unchanged. That scares me that a heart could be in the presence of God, hear the word of God, and turn from it.

Not just once, but repeatedly. That's why we're encouraged to be doers of the word, not just hearers. When a disciple kissed a rabbi, it was a sign of devotion, a sign of affection, also a sign of obedience.

How hypocritical for Judas to use that as the symbol of the betrayal. with Pastor David McGee. We can pray for them as well just by simply going to crossthebridge.com and click on the Pray for the Lost button. All you need to do is put in the first names of the people you love that need to know Jesus as Savior, click on Submit, and immediately hundreds of people will begin praying for your lost loved ones. And what an awesome way to bring your loved ones to Jesus. Here's a word from Associate Pastor D.A.

Brown. Lord, we pray for the churches in the area that you give the pastors wisdom. Lord, I pray that people will get plugged into these churches and grow. And Lord, we pray for the city leaders, the mayor, the police chief, the fire department, the town council, everybody in leadership. Lord, that you give them wisdom and discernment, and we pray for unity amongst the government. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse four, Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? I love Jesus. I love Jesus.

They didn't come in the garden and him be hiding behind a tree. Who are you looking for? It says he went forward.

You got to love that. You know, he went forward. You looking for me? He wasn't going backwards. Are you getting the picture? Because sometimes in our minds we think, well, you know, it's just huge conspiracy and he couldn't help to be involved. No, no, no, no.

The whole thing was set into motion by Jesus. He's waiting in the garden for him to show up and he goes, okay, who are you looking for? You're looking for me?

Here I am. And the boldness. Now, understand that this is not the actions or the words of a man who is, you know, being used by the powers of Rome or the religious leaders to be railroaded. This is a man in control.

This is a man in authority. This is the ultimate leader. Sometimes we water down the leadership of Jesus. Jesus was an incredible leader.

He was a strong leader, as we see right here. And I love the question, who are you looking for? Who are you seeking? That's the question, isn't it? That's the question of the day. See, some people are looking for Jesus and they know it. Some people are not and they know it.

And they know it. I'm not looking for the stained glass Jesus. I'm not looking for the Jesus that's been presented necessarily by the church. You know why? Because let's be honest, that's got a little off-center of who Jesus really is. I don't know about you, but when I started reading the Gospels and really getting into them, I was kind of surprised at some of the things Jesus did.

Why? Because he was a radical. He was a revolutionary. And he was in opposition to the religious leadership. And I look across the landscape of the Christian church in America today and I don't see a lot of it.

You know what? I am overjoyed to be in a ministry that, guess what, is a little radical. I am blessed that I am in a ministry that's considered a little revolutionary.

Why is that? Because it identifies with Jesus. And you look at Jesus doing such things as cleaning out the temple, not once but twice.

And one time there's a little phrase in there I find very intriguing. It says, he sat and watched them as he made the whip. Now, does that blow apart some of your misconceptions about Jesus?

He sat there watching these guys, getting angry, making the whip, and then he used the whip. I don't know what kind of Jesus you grew up in Sunday school with. That was not the Jesus I grew up in Sunday school with. But that's the Jesus I am very attracted to because he's got passion.

He's got passion. And I think that's part of what's missing from churches sometimes today, is a passion. And the kids, you know, I talked about kids, kids look at us, they watch our faith and they see a lack of passion, a lack of commitment. They go, yeah, whatever.

The apathy that we see in the children somewhat reflects the apathy that exists in our lives. I mean, you don't really care, but you don't see that in Jesus. You see a radical, you see a passionate man. And he says, who are you seeking?

Let me ask you a question. Loved one, who are you seeking this morning? Perhaps you're single and you're thinking that at some point you get a spouse and everything is going to be okay in your life. It's not going to be okay until Jesus is the one you're seeking. Because see, if you don't get in touch with Jesus before you get married, you're going to be sadly disillusioned in that marriage.

Let me go one step further. If you're here this morning and you're married, be careful that you're not placing your spouse in the place of Jesus. See, because here's what can happen. You're unfulfilled in your life. Why? Because the relationship with Jesus is not right. So then you begin to look to your spouse to play that role, to fulfill that void in your life that is God shaped and God shaped only. And this begins to be a disappointment. Why? Because she or he can't fill that void.

Only God can. What are you seeking? Because sometimes we make unrealistic demands on our spouses, unrealistic expectations for them to fulfill the role that only Jesus can fulfill in their lives. And so it's much better if you figure that out as a single person beforehand. Who are you seeking? Maybe you're seeking a job or an occupation that's going to satisfy you.

That's not going to work either. I mean, come on. Do you really think that for 10 more cents an hour or a dollar more an hour or they change the sign on your door or on your desk that all of a sudden that's going to make you fulfilled and satisfied with life?

No. You're thirsty for the water of life. And that's the only water that will ever quench that thirst. And that's Jesus. Verse five, they answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.

That's who we're seeking. Jesus said to them, I am he. Judas who betrayed him also stood with them. Judas didn't stand with Jesus.

He didn't stand with the disciples. He stood with the enemies. Who are you standing with this way? When somebody begins to rail against Christianity, who do you stand with?

In the opposition you encounter in work, in different situations, who do you stand with? The life lesson here is we should stand with Jesus. We should stand with Jesus. That's who we should be standing with. Because see, we have a choice. We can stand with Jesus or we can stand with the enemies.

Jesus made it very plain. He said, you're either for me or you're against me. Those are the choices. And some of us go through life trying to sit on the fence.

That's not a choice. Jesus is saying, you know what? You're either with me or you're against me. If you're on the fence, you're against me. We can't live lives on the fence as Christians. We need to live that passionate Christian life and say, you know, Jesus, I'm with you. I may mess up sometimes. I may make mistakes, but I'm with you, Jesus.

And stand with him. In verse six, now when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Some of you may not agree with what I'm getting ready to say. I've heard people use this as a proof text. In other words, they point to this scripture as validation, as proof of people being slain in the spirit. Are we familiar with the term slain in the spirit? You've probably seen on television. You've not seen it here is when, you know, people come forward and somebody comes and they lay hands on them and they fall over backwards. Now, if you ask me, does God ever overwhelm anybody to the point that they're just completely consumed with his presence? I'd say, yes, but as a normal thing, I reject that practice.

Why? Because it begins to place the emphasis on man. I mean, when you're watching that, what are you thinking? I know what I've thought watching that, you know? And I don't know if you've ever been prayed for in a line like that, but you know, there's a gentle little nudge.

Sometimes it's more than a gentle little nudge, you know? And then if you don't fall over, oh, you need to confess your sin, brother. I don't see this in scripture. And if I don't see it in scripture, guess what?

We're not going to make it part of the normal practice here. And to use this verse to say, you see there, there's people getting slain in the spirit. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Nobody touched them. And these people were unbelievers and enemies of God. So how can you look at this verse and go, well, that's, that, you know, slain in the spirit. Oh, well, but in the Hebrew scriptures and Old Testament, you see people falling. Yeah, they fall forward in reverence to God. Again, you don't see people touching them or pushing them and them falling over backwards. And again, look, if you've ever been too overwhelmed with the presence of God, you fell over backwards.

Praise God. I'm not going to argue with you about that. I'm just saying, we're not going to have a prayer line where people get shoved over.

We're not going to do that. And some of you are like, oh, bummer. And some of you are like, praise God that I found a place where they don't engage in circus antics. Cause that's what happens.

And the world looks on at stuff like that and goes, what is that? You know, if you believe in that, we can still fellowship. We can still love Jesus.

You can still go to church here, but just don't look for that to happen here. And, and know this, you know, I'm not going to shy away from these things. I can't, you know, I mean, I'm a pastor teacher. I got to communicate to you guys about these things. I'm not going to shy away from these details.

You won't see these situations and think, wow, I wonder what he thinks. No, you'll, you'll probably sit there and wonder why did he tell us all that, you know, instead of sitting there wondering what I think or what we're teaching here or what we believe. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God, you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things. I have sinned. And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you. All of my days in Jesus name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him. And he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness.

Those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend, you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12-515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood, through radio, through the internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give, either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God, with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Those are terrific, and it's easy and it's free. So folks, sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.