MEMORIAL MESSAGE



SURRENDER

(John 18:1-11)

SUBJECT: Trusting Christ.

F.C.F: How can I know that I can trust Christ in everything?

PROPOSITION: Since Christ surrendered himself for us, we can trust him.

INTRODUCTION:

A. The word “surrender” often carries the negative connotations of weakness, a lack of courage, and taking the easy way out. During the Second World War, the Japanese were especially brutal toward their captives. They prized bravery and self-sacrifice above all. To die in battle against hopeless odds was a great honor. Don’t forget that toward the end of the war, young pilots gladly flew to their deaths in kamikaze strikes. To run away or surrender was to lose face. So they despised their captives who had obviously chosen to surrender rather than to die, and they were often treated mercilessly, without honor.

However, surrender and sacrifice can hold great power and can be very strategic. In the same war, the Russians surrendered large amounts of territory to the invading Nazis. As they fled and gave ground, they either burned or carried off anything useful. And then, when the Nazis had advanced far ahead of their supply lines and the brutal winter set in, the well-supplied Russian army attacked the freezing, starving Nazi forces to great effect. A victory was achieved through surrender.

B. Here in this turning point in John’s gospel, we see Christ deliberately leading his remaining eleven disciples into a trap where he would surrender, or at least attempt to surrender himself. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talking and boasting and making empty promises. But just as Jesus has prayed consecrating himself for his atoning death on the cross, now he immediately takes the bold steps to put the plan into action.

All through chapters 18 and 19, which is often called John’s “passion narrative,” John, the sole eyewitness to it all portrays Jesus in strength, not in weakness; in control, rather than helpless; and victor instead of victim.

C. Jesus surrendered himself—but it was his calculated strategy. The war of the ages could only be won through his surrender. Victory was achieved through his seeming defeat.

I. JESUS SURRENDERED TO HIS CONSTANT CRITICS AND ENEMIES.

A. Notice had been published by the authorities seeking his arrest. The ancient equivalent of wanted posters were tacked up, a standing warrant for his arrest. It seems remarkable to me that if you would have strolled into any Judean post office, there on the wall, among the FBI’s most wanted list would have been a flyer bearing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. We want to maintain a positive reputation and try to stay on the right side of the law, but our Lord Jesus Christ was an outlaw in the most righteous and law-abiding nation of his day.

B. Jesus was constantly dogged by his enemies. They falsely accused him, twisted his words against him, and were actively seeking to kill him, and there can be no question at all that he was in the right and they were in the wrong. There were two things that kept him out of their clutches: flight and his popularity among the crowds. Jesus was a fugitive. He was relatively safe up in Galilee, away from their jurisdiction. Lately he had been holed up in an out-of-the-way place beyond the Jordan. And now, approaching the Passover feast, he came near at the summons of his dear friends, Mary and Martha at the death of their brother. Jesus publically raised him from the dead, to the wonder of the crowds and the horror of his enemies.

And so, during the week of the Passover, Jesus first entered Jerusalem in great triumph among the accolades of the adoring throng. And each day he taught in the temple courts under the very noses of the authorities who sought his life. They were powerless while he was surrounded by the tens of thousands of those who followed him. Each night he would retreat into the darkness with his disciples camping out in this familiar Garden of Gethsemane.

And this night, while Judas rounded up his posse, and Jesus knowing it full well, he deliberately led his disciples back to their familiar camp where he knew Judas would be able to find him. And there, he surrendered, or at least attempted to surrender, to these cruel enemies. “1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.”

Of all the gospel writers, John alone mentions that Judas brought Roman soldiers with him for the arrest. A Roman cohort was composed of 600 men. This number was likely enhanced during the festival, but it was doubtful that all of them were present. What this does tell us was that Pontius Pilate was aware of this impending arrest, and that a large force of well-armed soldiers and guards had been dispatched to arrest Jesus.

C. And Jesus surrenders to them. One of the remarkable features of John’s account is Jesus’ great willingness to go with them and their great reluctance to lay hands on him. “4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Why did they fall back to the ground when Jesus announced himself? Some point to natural causes and they may well be right. Jesus surprised them all by revealing himself rather than running away. And undoubtedly they had heard of his great popularity and his alleged power—superstition may have caused them to cower in fear. But more likely, they perceived for a brief moment the majesty of his divinity. His glory shone through the veil of his human flesh. And Jesus actually had to rouse them and encourage them to discharge the duty they had been sent to accomplish.

Jesus surrendered to his enemies, but here and in the rest of the chapter, he also exposed his enemies for the cowards and pretenders they were.

D. John’s first readers were facing a similar threat from the official Jewish establishment. I think this would have been immensely helpful to them, to see those who opposed Jesus and those who opposed them in this cowardly light. Sure, they held the reigns of official authority. They had the backing of both the Roman and the Jewish authorities of the day. But they were craven and spineless. As one scholar observed, they needed torches to find the light of the world, and that at full moon. They came with swords and clubs to subdue the Prince of Peace who surrendered quietly. His composure and their alarm signaled his ultimate triumph and their ultimate defeat, which was the eventual outcome.

And we can take heart as well. In a day when our American culture is running hard and fast from God and his commandments and rewriting all the rules and revising thousands of years of history, we might be tempted to throw up our hands in numb despair and conclude that all is finished. Instead, we must roll up our sleeves and present the risen Christ to the increasingly hemorrhaging world in the throes of death and call men and women, boys and girls to find real life through surrendering to the Lord of life.

II. JESUS SURRENDERED TO SUPREME INJUSTICE.

A. Having studied through the Gospel of John up to this point, we are well aware that every charge against Jesus was completely unfounded and unsupported. Here we finally have for the first time in the history of our race a truly innocent man. They could not lay hands on him during the day because the crowds knew of his goodness and knew the charges brought against him were born of jealousy on the part of the Jewish authorities. The only way they could get at him was just like this: the betrayal of a trusted friend, the arrest after darkness, the private and illegal trials through the night, and the early-morning condemnation by their Roman overlords before most of the people knew what was happening.

Almost everything about Jesus’ arrest and trials was illegal. Certainly there never has been nor could their ever be a greater injustice than this. And this is not mere speculation. Since Adam’s fall, the world has never met a truly innocent man ever before or after Jesus. There could be no human being in all of history LESS worthy of death. If you complain about getting that speeding ticket, perhaps you should be grateful for all the tickets you deserved but did not get! A criminal may be falsely found guilty of one crime, only to have escaped prosecution for many others.

B. But here we have the very definition of injustice. It is outrageous, beyond imagination. Yet Jesus did not protest, but willingly submitted to this inequity. Isaiah wrote long before: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

C. Again, I think of John’s first readers, unfairly targeted and punished by their fellow Jews. What should they do? Should they fight back? Should they spread rumors of their own and institute slanderous allegations? What did Jesus do? He went willingly. He endured the shame and disgrace and maddening unfairness of it all, not because he was weak and helpless, he was the great King. But rather, he went willingly all the way to the cross and the grave so that he by his atoning death might save his people.

It may seem strange, but some of those very enemies who opposed him and later opposed the church were also saved by his willing death on the cross. And perhaps our non-resistance, our unwillingness to seek revenge, our love even for an enemy might lead to their salvation as well. The Apostle Paul could testify to being a bitter foe of Christ, actively seeking to destroy his church, and was changed in an instant by the power of God.

III. JESUS SURRENDERED TO UNIMAGINABLE SUFFERING.

A. Our Lord Jesus had one thought in mind as he marched onward toward the cross. He had come to save his people. And even in this moment of personal need, he was still thinking of them. John writes: “7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” 12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him.”

Did you know that of all the gospel writers, John alone identifies Peter as the assailant against the high priest’s servant? Most likely it was because Peter was finally beyond prosecution, having been killed for Christ years before. Also, John alone names that servant, Malchus, most likely because John, who was known to the high priest’s household, also knew Malchus. Luke alone records that Jesus touched the man’s ear and healed him.

B. Jesus’ great concern was to protect his flock. John comments that This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” And this creates a puzzle. Jesus before had spoken of protecting his flock from spiritual error and loss, even though, eventually, all of them would suffer death for his sake. Now here does he merely speak of protecting them from physical danger? And if so now, why not later?

Rather, Jesus was talking about protecting them in this hour from ultimate spiritual ruin and loss. Had they been captured and tortured as well, he knew that their faith was so weak that they would have fallen as well. John Calvin is especially good as he comments on this text:

“This passage appears to be inappropriately quoted, as it relates to their souls rather than to their bodies; for Christ did not keep the apostles safe to the last, but this he accomplished, that, amidst incessant dangers, and even in the midst of death, still their eternal salvation was secured. I reply, the Evangelist does not speak merely of their bodily life, but rather means that Christ, sparing them for a time, made provision for their eternal salvation. Let us consider how great their weakness was; what do we think they would have done, if they had been brought to the test? While, therefore, Christ did not choose that they should be tried beyond the strength which he had given to them, he rescued them from eternal destruction. And hence we may draw a general doctrine, that, though he try our faith by many temptations, still he will never allow us to come into extreme danger without supplying us also with strength to overcome. And, indeed, we see how he continually bears with our weakness, when he puts himself forward to repel so many attacks of Satan and wicked men, because he sees that we are not yet able or prepared for them. In short, he never brings his people into the field of battle till they have been fully trained, so that even in perishing they do not perish, because there is gain provided for them both in death and in life.”

CONCLUSION

Jesus surrendered to shame, to mockery, to exposure and torture and horrific death. Jesus willingly, gladly suffered in our place, that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God. The greatest victory in the history of the world was won through surrender. (

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