so called, of chapter 17, and with that backdrop we begin in chapter 18, where we read verses 1 through 11. This is God's inspired and inerrant word. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the review of the kindred. where there was a garden into which he himself entered and his disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with his disciples. Jesus then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them, Whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus, the Nazarene. And he said to them, I am he. And Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with them. When, therefore, he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Again, therefore, he asked them, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus, the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. If, therefore, you seek me, let these go their way, that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke of those whom thou hast given me, I lost not one. Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. And the slave's name was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter, put the sword into the sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever. Amen. Please be seated as we join in prayer for the healing and for the preaching of God's Word. Lord God Almighty, we give you thanks for the revelation that you've given us. We thank you for the way your Spirit has worked in the writings of Holy Scripture. We pray now, remembering your promises of the Spirit's help, we pray that you would assist us in you, and that you would assist in the preaching of your Holy Word, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. There's a repeated theme that runs through modern day superhero books and films. It goes like this. The hero faces overwhelming odds. He's surrounded by the enemy who outnumbers him many times over. The superhero's death would spell certain defeat. a certain doom for the world. And yet, even though the odds are stacked against him, he remains cool, calm, and collected, and proceeds to decimate his enemy. No matter what happens to the hero, he's always in control. Nothing can shake him. No one can defeat him. He's the master. of his situation. One of the things that John wants to communicate to us is that Jesus is the master of his situation. That's the emphatic point of our text, that Jesus was supremely in control of the situation that he faced in the Garden of Gethsemane. All of the odds are stacked against him. He faced an overwhelming mob of armed men. He and the disciples were outnumbered by many times over. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, isn't it? Because he knew what was coming as well. He knew that his hour had come. And when Jesus speaks of his hour, he speaks of the approaching of his death. He knew that that was coming. But John will not let us miss the point that Jesus was not defeated in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was arrested by this band of aggressors. Our Lord and Master did not, to be sure, overwhelm his enemies in superhero fashion. But this confrontation didn't spell the defeat of the head and king of Christ's church. Nor would his death spell doom. But on the contrary, doom is certain for his people if he didn't die for their sins. Our text ushers us into that period known as the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, the last week of his life on Earth, into his sufferings, into the crucifixion of the Savior. In the 18th chapter of John's Gospel, we're entering into the closing scene of our Lord's life and ministry on Earth. The Apostle moves us from the instruction of the Upper Room to that high priestly prayer which Jesus uttered, recorded for us in John 17, and then into the sacrifice at Golgotha. And as he does that, we find that like the other gospel writers, John enters in fully into the passion of the cross, but in, by the Holy Spirit's direction. He does it in a way as to add another dimension to gospel revelation. It all began in the garden. I want to look together this morning with you at three things from our text. Christ's retreat to the garden. Judah's betrayal at the garden in Christ's dominion. in the garden. Christ's retreat to the garden, Jesus' betrayal at the garden, and Christ's dominion in the garden. And the first thing that we'll look at together this morning is Christ's retreat to the garden. This is by way of background because The other gospel writers don't spell this out for us. John really doesn't spell it out in any detail, so to speak. It was the garden that we know as the Garden of Gethsemane. John doesn't call it by that name, but he's the only gospel writer that tells us that Jesus went to a garden. Matthew and Mark call the place Gethsemane, which means olive press. And so it seems to have been an olive grove at the foot of the Mount of Olives and there was an olive press there. That's where, that's the setting of this scene in John 18, 1 to 11. It was a customary meeting place for Jesus and his disciples. They went there to pray They went there to receive teaching from the Lord Jesus. It provided at least something of a respite for our Savior. from the hostility that he faced at the hands of the Jews at Jerusalem. And now it provided at least to some degree relief from the rising pressure that he felt of the cross, that the cross is coming. He knew his hour had come. He was able to confess that to these 12 men. And here he retreats to the garden with them. But because the hour of his death was near, this particular retreat to the garden wasn't solely a respite. It wasn't merely a time of rest for Jesus. The other gospel writers tell us how Jesus agonized here. They tell us how he came aside with three of his apostles. and called upon them to pray with him, how he prayed with such intensity that his sweat became as drops of blood falling to the ground. So Jesus is struggling with the intensity of the cross as it approaches. It certainly wasn't then a retreat from his sufferings. Indeed, here we're shown Christ's willingness to go to the cross, his willingness to take out the cup of suffering. And of course, neither was it a time of rest, mere rest for his disciples, because you remember Jesus called them to watch and pray, to be diligent, to be vigilant, and none of them were able to stay, even able to stay awake. Nevertheless, having just finished an intense discourse in the upper room, we've dealt with that the last couple of weeks, Jesus is, having spoken of his departure, by way of the cross, and having prayed a remarkable prayer that highlighted the significance of the suffering he was about to endure, as well as the critical role that the disciples were going to have, the apostles would have, in redemptive history. Jesus retires to this garden spot with 11 of his 12 disciples. It is the last place that Jesus was with his men. It was the last moment of communion with his beloved band. It's very similar to what we experience when we're saying goodbye to close friends or family members. We know these are the last moments that we have with them. Jesus knew this, certainly. The disciples should have known this. Even if they didn't know it fully, they knew something was coming. So this is, in a sense, this is their last goodbye. And it reminds us, doesn't it? of the communion that we have with Christ. That communion is sweet. The Savior comes to us and speaks to us. He's gentle with us, but it's in the midst of life's pressures. That's the sweet pressure cooker, if you will. that these disciples were in, and their Savior was there with them, right in the thick of it all. Such was Christ's retreat to the Garden. And that's the first thing that we want to highlight here. But secondly, is Judas' betrayal at the Garden. Judas knew where to find Jesus. And the Gospel writer tells us that. Judas knew that he would be here. Judas also, who was betrothed to him, knew the place. Not only did he know the place, but he knew Jesus' comings and goings. And he knew that Jesus would be there with the other eleven before he came out. He knew that they often met there. And Judas himself had often met there with Jesus. He'd often receive refreshment from the Savior there. During retreats, he'd receive teaching from there. And he used this knowledge of the Savior and his patterns. to betray the Lord, to leave Christ's enemies directly to Him. Judas, therefore, you notice the way that Judas has betrayed me. He's betrayed as the one who's leading the Roman cohort. He's the one who's leading the chief priests, the Pharisees. They came there. Having received them, the cohort, the officers and the chief priests came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. It's as though as John is telling us that it's at Judah's behest that they're coming to the garden. He's standing there in the midst of Christ's armed assailants. One of the twelve apostles And we're told he was betraying Jesus. Judas was betraying. John designates him as the one who betrayed the master. That's what Judas is known best for. Now, there are many notorious traitors in the history of the world. Mention the word traitor to an ancient Roman, and we would think of Marcus Butus, Julius Caesar's own nephew, who betrayed him. Mention traitor to a Brit, and we would think of Guy Fawkes. who plotted to blow up most of England's aristocracy in 1608 as he sought to plant bombs under the Parliament. If you mention the word traitor to an American, you would think of Benedict Arnold, the general who plotted to turn over the American fort at West Point to British forces during the American Revolution. But Judas. is the world's most notorious traitor. Everybody knows who Judas was. We even use the word Judas to designate a traitor. He's a Judas, we sometimes say. This is a man that fell from a privileged position. He's a man who'd been with the Son of God, a constant companion to the Son of God, for three years. He'd heard all the best sermons. He'd seen all of the greatest miracles. He'd even healed himself and cast out demons. As did the rest of the 12. And if nothing else in the Bible teaches us that we can't rest our hope for salvation in religious knowledge or religious experience, the life of Judas does. The Marcus Brutus's, the Guy Fawkes, the Benedict Arnold's of history teach us the importance of loyalty and patriotism. But the Judas of history is meant to teach us an eternal lesson. It's given to us as a warning. You can receive the best theological training available. You can know every doctrine of scripture inside and out. You can be a gifted teacher of others. You can attend church faithfully your whole life long. You can do the best preaching and teaching known to man. You can give millions of dollars to help the poor, volunteer to serve at every church function, participate in every church activity, and show up every day at the soup kitchen to help feed the hungry, but still go down to the pit of hell with Judas. That's a shocking revelation, isn't it? Religious experience, religious service, doesn't save a man's soul. Faith in Jesus Christ does. It's faith, and it's faith alone, in Christ alone, by the grace of Christ alone. That's what saves. And you know, if we get right down to the nub of it, it's not even our faith that saves. It's Jesus Himself that saves. That's what Judas is teaching us here. And we shouldn't miss the point. Unless you have a deep and abiding trust in Jesus Christ. And one, we're not talking about a mere profession. We're talking about a faith that's lived out. We're talking about a faith that bears the fruit of what one confesses. Not perfectly, never so in this life. But nevertheless, one that shows the sign that the Spirit is at work. And you remember those three parts of faith as we have traditionally learned them, handed down to us through the ages. There's a knowledge. You can't be saved unless you know who Christ is. You can't be saved without the knowledge of Christ. I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. That's what the Bible teaches. When there's a saint, we agree with it. We have to agree with what the Bible tells us about Christ in order to be saved by him. You can't believe in another Christ, the Christ of your own imagination. You have to give a saint to what the Bible clearly teaches. And more clearly than anything else, the Bible teaches us about salvation through Christ alone. The third receiver has to be that third element. It's trust. It's faith. It's a deep, abiding trust in Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus said that many who had known great privileges, as Judas did, would come on the Judgment Day and plead their religious resume to Him. That seventh chapter of Matthew's Gospel is really quite amazing. Jesus says, not everyone who says to me on that day, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, Did not we prophesy in your name? And in your name cast out demons? And in your name perform many miracles? Now, Judas could say all of this, couldn't he? Listen to these foreboding words, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me. you who practice lawlessness. We don't know all the reasons why God permitted, why he decreed that Judas should betray Christ. But one reason is to warn everyone who professes to be a follower of Jesus Christ to examine their faith. and to ensure that it's a sincere, living, working, loving, reliance upon Jesus Christ. To ensure that they're not contenting themselves with an imitation. You see, that's what Judas' profession of faith was. It was an imitation. It was an imposter. It wasn't real. to ensure that they're not contenting themselves with that imitation faith that will, in the end, disqualify them from the very life they seek through their profession of faith in Christ, and instead relegate them to everlasting destruction in hell. We've considered Christ's retreat to the Garden, Judas' betrayal of Christ in the Garden, and finally we'll consider Christ's sovereignty in the Garden. This is evidenced in at least five ways, and these are brief. In the first place, the divine knowledge that Jesus showed in the garden evidenced him to be in Sovereign Control. In chapter 18 and verse 4, we read that Jesus, therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon him. Now that's much broader, of course. Jesus did know all things. He knew his hour was coming. He knew he would be crucified on the cross. But in particular, he knew that Judas was going to betray him. Do you see how John is emphasizing for us Christ's dominion? Jesus knew that Judas was coming to betray Him, and yet he went to the garden anyway, because he knew that that's where he'd be found. John is telling us that Jesus wasn't caught by surprise here. It came as no surprise whatsoever that Judas came to betray his Lord. Even one of Christ's own apostles coming to betray him is evidence of Christ's dominion. Secondly, I want you to notice the boldness that he exhibited before his adversaries. Now all the gospel writers show us this band coming to Jesus into the garden, coming after him. But John shows us Jesus going out to them and asking them that question, whom do you seek? Who are you looking for? That's what Jesus asks them. They had come to arrest a man that they thought they would find hiding in the corner of the garden somewhere. But instead they're confronted by a commanding figure who boldly advances to meet them and to inquire what their business is. And to that bold question came the response, Jesus the Nazarene. John portrays Jesus as the aggressor in this scene. But then thirdly, notice the awe that he produced in his adversaries in verses 5 and 6. Jesus responds as he asked the question, and do you seek? And they answered, Jesus the Nazarene. He said, I am. Now your translations might, like mine, add the word he in italics, but that's not there in the original language. He said, I am. And that, dear Christians, is significant. That's the covenant name by which God revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush at the foot of Sinai. Jesus said I am and when you read in the Bible when you read those words when you hear Jesus saying I am you sit up and take notice Because what Jesus is doing is declaring himself to be God God in the flesh God incarnate I Am the blood of life I am the way the truth and the life I Jesus is saying to these men, I'm God. Jesus, the Nazarene, is divine. And he's proclaiming that to these men. And that was too much for them. We don't know how many men were there. So it's a cohort, which is part of a legion. A legion is a thousand men, a cohort is six hundred, possibly just a part of that cohort came out. Whatever the case is, in combination with all those Jewish officers that came out with the cohort, this was a lot of men. And they were all alone. And this one man who stepped forth and said, whom do you seek? Jesus, the Nazarene. When he said, I am, they all fell back. They all fell to the ground. What a beautiful picture John's painting for us here. of the command, the sovereign command that Jesus had in the garden. This is nothing less than a display of divine power. Even in the moment of his arrest, Jesus asserted his messianic kinship. Already, death was being swallowed up in victory, as Paul puts it at the end of 1 Corinthians 15. So divine knowledge, boldness, awe, all of these are things that evidenced Jesus as the one who's in sovereign command of this situation. And John is desiring in this text to show us that very thing. But then finally, the protection that he gave. I'm sorry, not finally, but fourthly, the protection he gave to his beloved disciples. Jesus, again, repeats the same question. He says, whom do you seek? To the same question came the same answer, Jesus the Nazarene. But now, he's revealing the purpose for that question for this exchange in verses 78 says in verse I told you that I that I am if therefore you see me let these go their way What's he doing? He was protecting his apostles he knew that that would be too much for him to bear at this point He knew that they couldn't handle it and we read in that this was done, that the word might be fulfilled, which he spoke, verse 9, of those whom you have given me, I have not lost one. Now that's what he had prayed in that high priestly prayer. He said to his father, chapter 17 and verse 12, while I was with them, I was keeping them in my name, which you have given me, and I guarded them. And not one of them perished, but the son of perdition. Judas himself, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Now, dear believer in Christ, the same is true for you and for me. That Christ keeps us. He keeps us. He protects us. He is the angel of the Lord who encamps around those who fear him. He is the one who protects us. But you see, it's more than that. It's far, far more than that, isn't it? Because Jesus says back in chapter 10, in that passage in which He shows Himself to be the Great Shepherd, I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hands." What a tremendous encouragement this is to the leaders in Jesus Christ. Why do you think we pray? Why did Jesus teach us to pray, lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil? Do you pray that? I hope you do. Because apart from that help, apart from that leadership, apart from that protection, You're hopeless in the battle against sin. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." And then finally, and really finally this time, the submission that he showed to his father's will, evidenced Jesus' sovereign control in the garden. Peter, always overzealous and overconfident, took things into his own hand. He let his zeal get the best of him again, and he cut off the ear of the high priest's slave. John alone tells us who the players are in this cutting off of the ear. Peter drew the sword and Malchus, the high priest's slave, lost his ear there in the garden. Christ told Peter to put the sword away. Luke, who was a doctor, you'll remember, supplies the detail not recorded anywhere else, namely that Jesus touched the ear of the servant and healed it. And if they would already in awe, that certainly must have produced awe in them. I'm sure it would for you and it would for me. And then Jesus makes clear In the last verse, in the last clause in our text, the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? It had to be. Just as surely as the betrayer had to come, just as surely as Christ had to face these aggressors in the garden, He had to take the cup, and the cup is the cup of suffering, and the cup is the cross of Jesus Christ. He could have squashed this mob with 12 legions of angels who were at his disposal. Matthew tells us that he said that. He could have done so if that were the way of victory, but it was not. The way of victory was through the cross. Christ didn't overcome overwhelming odds as the modern day superhero does in our fictions, in our fantasies. But the victory was his that day. He was in sovereign control over everything that took place in that garden. Now, easy for us to conclude. that Christ's arrest, His trial, His condemnation, and His crucifixion spell certain death for the Savior. But John won't let us come to that conclusion. Not even in the garden. John's Gospel shows us the King, even as He's coming into His darkest hours on earth, exercising His dominion. And it would be easy for us to come to the conclusion that since Christ died, and isn't any longer present with us, that he's no longer in control, and no longer able to assert his power in the world today. Certainly the disciples came to that conclusion as they were cowering in that upper room after Christ's death, afraid, the doors were bolted shut, But we should leave this text with even greater confidence that Jesus is on the throne. He was taken along with this mob that came out to arrest him with weapons. He was treated shamefully and scornfully. He was wrongfully accused of things that he did not do. He was beaten. He was spit upon. A fan of crowds was placed upon his head. A row, a row put on him in mockery. He came before the high priest. before the Sanhedrin, and was examined, was put on trial, falsely accused. He came before Pilate, who washed his hands of innocent blood, and he went to the cross. And he died for my sins and for yours, if you're trusting in Christ today. And He rose from the dead. And He ascended into heaven. And He sits at the right hand of God the Father. And He rules, He reigns over all the earth today. It's just not a figment of anyone's imagination. God says that we will one day reign with Him. And I hope that gives you greater confidence, even as it does me, that your Jesus and my Jesus is on the throne. Let's pray. Gracious God, we thank you for the constant reminders that you give us of our Savior, who is not perished, who did not die, only to remain in the grave, but who rose again, who ascended to heaven, and who now exercises the same dominion that we see him exercising in the garden over all creation from heaven. We pray that you would restore our confidence and that you would relieve our doubts about these things. and that you would show us, O God, our reigning Christ, and that you would instill in us greater confidence, greater hope, that we shall one day reign with Him. We ask in His name. Amen.