Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 18:11 “So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?’”
John didn’t record the healing of Malchus’ ear. Luke revealed that detail in his gospel. For John’s purposes, Jesus’ words to Peter were more important. John wanted his readers to know that Jesus’ death was intentional and sacrificial. Jesus willingly gave up His life for our highest good—the salvation of our souls. Furthermore He wanted it to be crystal clear: Jesus’ death was the Father’s will for the salvation of sinners.
John recorded a part of Jesus’ prayer time that Matthew didn’t record, and vice versa. In Jesus’ prayer, John focused Jesus’ desire to do the Father’s will, love those given to Him, and the glory of God shared with them, revealing the divinity of Christ. Matthew told about Jesus’ grief and internal struggle, revealing the humanity of Christ. John hadn’t mentioned the cup that Jesus mentioned in this moment after healing Malchus’ ear, but Matthew did. Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’”
This verse shows us clearly that Jesus had gotten up from that prayer time determined that it was the Father’s will for Him to drink the cup of suffering and wrath, performed by Satan’s hands, to satisfy justice on behalf of all whom the Father gave Him. And this is how we know what God’s love is. It is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost. From the “Amen” of Jesus’ prayer until the “It is finished,” Jesus never wavered. He would, He did, drink the cup which the Father gave Him to reveal the love of God to save sinners. It is for this reason that I say that our purpose in life is to live to love with Jesus—to lay down our lives for the highest good of others no matter what the cost. It is the cup the Father has given us to drink. Shall we not drink it?

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 18:10 “Simon Peter then, 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.”
This verse begins a parenthesis, so to speak, in this narrative. It’s a parenthesis focused on Peter’s relationship with Jesus. It begins with Peter’s initial reaction to Jesus’ arrest and continues to his denials before the rooster crowed. Apparently John wanted to draw his readers into Peter’s failures in order to highlight the love, mercy, and grace revealed in Jesus toward Peter later in the gospel. So let’s attempt to enter into what’s happening between Peter and Jesus.
Have you ever wondered what Simon was thinking when he attempted to remove Malchus’ head while facing a host of armed soldiers? By the mercy of God, Malchus ducked and only lost his ear. Regardless of Peter’s intent, it seems to be a rash and uncalculated act considering the odds. However, if we pause, put ourselves in Peters’ sandals and mind, a couple of very diverse possibilities come to mind.
1. Peter was filled with faith. He thought that Jesus was launching of the Messianic kingdom. Hadn’t Jesus told him to take up a sword and that one was enough? Just moments before he heard Jesus say, “I am,” and he saw the entire Roman cohort along with the temple guards fall flat on the ground. It’s similar to Peter’s jumping out of the boat onto the Sea of Galilee once he saw Jesus walking on the water. Peter was all in with Jesus. If this was going on in Peter’s mind, then it was an expression of radical faith. In stark contrast is another explanation.
2. Peter, Jesus #1 disciple, was used by Satan in an attempt to discourage Jesus and take out His disciples at the same time. Do you remember this interaction between Jesus and Peter? Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man’s.’” This hour was Satan’s hour to throw everything he had at Jesus, and it makes sense that once again he would go after the hearts of Jesus’ followers, especially Peter.
I’m inclined toward the second alternative explanation because the disciples fled and Peter continued under Satan’s spell as he denied Jesus 3 times. I don’t guess we will know the answer to this on this side of heaven, but it should cause us to humble ourselves and be on the alert. Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (Peter’s caution by the way, 1 Pet. 5:8). Let’s abide in Christ. Be on our guard. Resist the devil, and live to love with Jesus.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 18:7-9 “Therefore He again asked them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ And they said, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,’ to fulfill the word which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.’”
In verses 7-8, it seems as if the entire crowd, after having fallen to the ground were like patients waking from an anesthetic sleep, grasping to reorient themselves to the real world. Once Jesus saw that they were recovered, He restated the original question. Do you wonder with me if all of them were afraid of another retreat and fall? If in their minds they were saying, “Oh no, here we go again.” But this question had a different purpose than the first one. Rather than setting the stage for a stunning revelation of who He is, it was asked for the purpose of clarifying that they were not after His disciples. John inserts the comment that Jesus was aware of what He had said to His Father only minutes before. It’s recorded in John 17:12, “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” John summarized Jesus’ prayer. “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.” It’s amazing to think that in the enormity and stress of this moment, Jesus remembered what He had prayed.
We can be eternally grateful for Jesus’ intercession and care for us. He made sure that His disciples were not to be swept up with Him. The suffering which He was to endure was to be His alone. May this serve as a reminder to us to keep our purpose to live to love with Jesus in the forefront of our minds so that we can think of others when we are in trying circumstances.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 18:5-6 “They answered Him, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ He said to them, ‘I am He.’ And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. So when He said to them, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”
Jesus had just asked the soldiers and officers, “Whom do you seek?” Apparently He wasn’t addressing Judas, for he would know whom they were seeking as he was leading them to Jesus, but the Holy Spirit through John wants us all to understand the stunning and authoritative statement Jesus made to them. “I Am.” was His response. Contrast the difference between whom they think they are seeking and who He really is. “Jesus the Nazarene” may be considered a name of embarrassment or shame. It was apparently well known that nothing good could come from Nazareth for Nathanael remarked to Philip, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus’ reply was shocking. His reply was literally the name of God, “I am.”
Upon hearing Jesus say, “I am,” the entire entourage drew back and fell to the ground. Let’s try to imagine this. Besides Judas, there were the officials from the chief priests and pharisees (we don’t know the number, but these were “police” officers of the temple). A Roman cohort could be anywhere from 480-600 men according to my research. So imagine the 500-600 men in battle gear on the hillside of Gethsemane marching in military order up the hill with Judas and the temple guard at the head. Coming down the hill are Jesus with His disciples trailing Him. They meet, and these words are exchanged, “Whom do you seek?” asks Jesus? Some of the crowd answer, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Then Jesus replies, “I Am.” Now watch this! 500-600 armed soldiers draw back—step back?, take many steps back? Then fall to the ground. This is not like Moses falling on the ground of His own will to worship God. Their falling on the ground isn’t a collective bowing down to offer honor to a king—at least not intentionally. They fell to the ground in response to a statement of divine authority. Jesus’ words were accompanied with power and glory. It’s something like what Paul declared will happen at some point with all humanity when he wrote to the Philippians. Phil. 2:8-11. He wrote of Jesus, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
In the garden, this was, in a sense, a premonition of the glory of Christ to come. We aren’t told that the disciples fell to the ground. Isn’t that interesting. It seems it was only His enemies that were struck by the authority of God’s declaration, “I Am.” That great day is coming again soon, when Jesus will appear, will go forth as He did that evening, and upon His approach, all will fall down, awe-struck with the glory and authority of the Son of God. May we live to love today aware that we love in the authority of the great I Am.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 18:4 “So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"
Did you notice the words “went forth” in this verse? Jesus didn’t walk into the garden and then become passive, waiting to be taken into custody. He went on the offensive. When He saw Judas and the crowd with torches and weapons, instead of running, hiding, and protecting Himself, He went forth. What gave Him such confidence when He knew it was the hour of darkness and that they would take Him into custody, strip Him, abuse Him, whip Him, shame Him publicly, and crucify Him naked on the side of a busy thoroughfare? This is not left for us to guess at the answer for Heb. 12:2 informs us where His heart was focused. We read that Jesus, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.” What joy was set before Him? I think it was the joy and pleasure of His Father as He obeyed and glorified Him by laying down His life for those the Father gave to Him. He had just expressed this joy in the prayer in John 17.
What a stunning greeting Jesus gave this crowd. “Whom do you seek?” He was setting them up for an even more stunning display of who He is, which we will consider tomorrow. But today, these words inform us that these men really didn’t know who they were seeking. I mean they didn’t know who He really was. That is also true today. Many people think Jesus is like a common man. They think He is like they are. And furthermore, when they seek Him, they aren’t seeking Him to become a follower, they are seeking Him to find something wrong with Him. Looking for a reason not to believe in Him. People with that attitude rarely respond to the love of God revealed in Christ. These will view true followers of Christ as threats to their earthly kingdom and desires. May God give us discernment today as we live to love with Jesus.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com