Return from Betrayal John 18:1–11

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was betrayed that we might be forgiven and restored.

Our Lenten theme is Return to the Lord. Last Wednesday our theme was Return to Prayer. We walked with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He poured out His heart in prayer. 

Then He rose from prayer to see His disciples fast asleep, and the temple guards, guided by His betrayer, coming up the Mount of Olives with torches and weapons, to arrest Him to stand trial and die. 

This is where our message tonight begins, at the arrest and betrayal of Jesus. Our theme is Return from Betrayal, based on John 18:1-11, which we’ll look at in a just minute.

First, let’s back up a bit, to a few hours earlier in the Upper Room. During His Last Supper, Jesus made it known to Judas that He knew what he was up to, that he had been in contact with Jesus’ enemies about handing him over to them for 30 pieces of silver.

In John 14 Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me… It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it… So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot… Jesus said to him, What you are going to do, do quickly… So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

Judas went out into the darkness, both literally and figuratively, the darkness of the night, and the darkness of sin and betrayal, to arrange for Jesus to be captured.   

Jesus then finished celebrating the Passover and instituting the Lord’s Supper with His disciples; He summarized his teaching to them; and He promised to send them the Holy Spirit; and He prayed for them; and then they left the Upper Room to go to Gethsemane. 

This is where our text from John 18 picks up: When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, 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. 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.” 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?”

In the Garden, just before this, Jesus had prayed to His Father in Heaven, If it be possible, take this cup from me; yet Thy will, not mine, be done. 

While the idea of His Son having to suffer and die broke God’s heart, He knew it  was the only way to bring salvation the world. And Jesus knew it, too.

So, John says, knowing all that was about to happen to Him, all the suffering and anguish, Jesus left the Garden to meet His betrayer.

He boldly stepped up to the soldiers who had come to arrest him, and asked them, “Who is it that you’re looking for?”. He made them own their actions.

They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth”. Jesus said, “That’s me. I Am He.” 

By saying “I Am”, Jesus was claiming to be the divine Messiah. 

This goes back to John 8, when Jesus told the Pharisees, “I Am, the light of the world” and, “Before Abraham was, I Am.”  

When the Pharisees heard Jesus say that, they tried to stone Him, because they knew He was claiming to be God’s Son. Remember, God had revealed Himself to Moses as, “I Am”. “Tell the Israelites, I Am, sent you.”

The temple guards sent to arrest Jesus would have been Jewish, and probably familiar with “I Am”, referring to God. So maybe they knew that they were arresting the Messiah, and maybe that’s why they backed up and fell down. 

Maybe it was in reverent fear, or maybe just fear of what Jesus might do with His miraculous, mighty power, that He might call down fire from heaven to consume them, or do something else to destroy or injure them. 

Whatever the reason, the soldiers stepped back and fell down. Although Jesus had a brief moment of advantage, He didn’t take it as an opportunity to run away. He knew what he had do for the world, so he stood His ground.

Again, He asked them, “Who do you seek?” Again they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 

Jesus said, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”

At this point Peter got involved. He grabbed a small sword he had been hiding, and slashed out with it, cutting off the ear of the servant of the High Priest.

It’s possible that Peter was trying to prove Himself to Jesus. Hours before in the Upper Room, Jesus had told him, “Before the roster crows this morning, you will have denied me three times.” 

Perhaps wanting to prove Jesus wrong and himself loyal, Peter struck out with a knife, meaning to defend His Master. But Jesus intervened. He said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” And they all ran away to leave Jesus face His enemies alone.

Luke’s Gospel gives us another significant detail of Jesus’ arrest. It tell us that Judas identified Jesus for the soldiers, by greeting Him with a kiss. Jesus said to Judas, “So with a kiss, you betray the Son of Man?” 

How is it that you and I betray our Lord? 

Adam and Eve betrayed God’s trust by doing the one thing God told them they couldn’t do, because it was the one thing that would bring ruin on them and God’s good creation. But they distrusted God, and trusted the enemy, the serpent, the devil, and they ate the fruit that would bring them and their children and all their descendants down.

With our sins and disobedience, we betray our God. Our Lord died and rose to forgive us, He sent us His Spirit, and baptized us, to wash away our sins. And what do we do? We sin against Him every day. 

Why would we do that? Because, as we confess, we are by nature sinful and unclean. It’s the weakness of our flesh. As Jesus said in the Garden, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”.

Not only do we betray our God with our sins, we betray each other. There are those times when we do something awful to betray the trust of our friend or neighbor or loved one. 

But beyond that, each and every sin against our neighbor, our friend, our family member, even our enemy, is a betrayal, both of God and of that person. 

God created us to do good and be a blessing to others. Every sin against another person betrays him or her. 

We’ve sinned against God and each other more times that we can count. The ledger is full. Who can save us from this full slate of betrayal? 

The One who was betrayed in the Garden for us, and died on the cross for us; who forgives us our every sin, our every betrayal; and helps us to be more loyal and true, more godly and pure, more loving as He is.

May the One who was betrayed for you, who has saved and forgiven you, keep you steadfast in faith, and loyal in love for God and one another, and may the peace of God, which passes understanding, guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our faithful Lord and Savior. Amen.