When we hear the word, “arrested”, we think of criminals. Criminals are an unusual sort, as far as I can tell.
I hear tell of a set of criminal brothers who did all sorts of crime. As a matter of fact, if a crime occurred in this small community, one, if not both, of these boys had something to do with it. With a good lawyer, they seemed to get away with everything.
One day, one of them was killed in the commission of a robbery. The other was working with the funeral home on arrangements. He told the funeral director to find a preacher, with one stipulation. The preacher must call his brother a saint. The living brother would pay up to $15,000 to the preacher who would agree to that.
But preachers turned it down flat, except one old, retired preacher.
The living brother questioned him. “You must call my brother a saint somewhere in your eulogy. If you do, I will pay you the $15,000.”
The old preacher assured him that this would be no problem and accepted the funeral.
During the funeral, he said, “This man in this coffin was a liar, cheat, thief, gangster, full of evil and totally wicked. But he was a saint compared to his living brother.”
When we see someone arrested, we typically think the worst. But when Jesus was arrested, the worst was around him. Let me show you:
Mar 14:41-52 And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand." 43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard."
45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi!" And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled." 50 And they all left him and fled. 51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
The disciples had a very wonderful worship service, but it included the prophecy of betrayal. Then there was a time of prayer which was too much for the disciples to stay awake. That was followed by a late night arrest by Temple guards and Roman soldiers. There was much happening around Jerusalem that night. Some we understand, some we wonder about.
I started with verse 41 to give us context of when this was occurring. Thus, we know this drama was taking place in the Garden of Gethsemene, on the Mount of Olives, after the Lord’s Last Supper Passover celebration.
The disciples had gone to the garden to pray. Jesus had agonized in prayer, but the disciples continued to lose their battle with sleep.
Jesus had prayed, “Lord, you can do anything you want, for all things are possible for you. If there is any other way, let this next series of event not happen. Nevertheless, Father, what you desire is what I will do.”
The third time Jesus returned from praying this prayer, he woke His disciples and warned them, “Now is the time I get arrested. You can hear the mob coming.”
Suddenly, there appeared from the brush and trees Judas, leading Temple guards and Roman soldiers. According to law, the temple guards were leading in this “cultural” arrest, carrying clubs and sticks. The Roman soldiers followed up to control any uprising that might occur during the arrest. They were armed with hand swords for up-close combat and crowd control. Although it was a moonlit night, the olive trees of the garden cast shadows that could make arrest of the right person difficult, so some of the soldiers carried burning torches.
As they approached, the soldiers quieted down and probably fanned out. Judas continued to approach Jesus, addressed Him respectfully and kissed him on the cheek. He had told the guards to watch his behavior because he would identify the rebel with a kiss. Thus he did. And the guards moved in to seize Jesus.
Jesus responded, “"Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled."
Mark includes what he understood about some token resistance of Peter, as described more fully in Luke. But it soon became apparent that resistance would be futile, since Jesus was going to go willfully.
The disciples scattered like fallen leaves in a wind storm. There were some apparent attempts to grab a few of Jesus followers, as we get an unusual incident recorded only by Mark in the Gospels. A young man, wearing not much more than his nightware, was grabbed and pulled out of his nightshirt as he fled in the confusion. Much has been made of this story, and most do not take up what happens in context. Some have suggested immorality among the disciples. But we are told what the disciples were doing prior to this and this character was not a part of it. He shows up after Jesus surrendered himself.
Many believe this to be either Lazarus, John Mark, or a young man who lived at the house used for the Passover meal. The Greek for “young man” indicates that he was somewhere between the age of 24-40.
Also, I have mentioned to you that the Garden of Gethsemene and the Mount of Olives could be nicknamed KOA Campground of Jerusalem. If there was no place to stay in the city to stay, this is where people would camp out. This was right in the middle of the holiday season when Jerusalem exploded to more than five times its normal population because of the required pilgrimage to the holy place.
Josephus says that some years, the town would swell from 40,000 to over 2 million visitors through the week. There was no place to stay in the city. It was packed and the hotels had no vacancies. Many would come with plans to stay in the Mount of Olives.
Now, the disciples had been fairly quiet since families were camping nearby. But the guards were not so. It is most reasonable to me that one of the campers saw the soldiers and wondered what was happening. He probably stayed in the distance to watch the drama that played out before him.
Mark wanted us to know about the chaos that occurred as disciples ran this way and that way, and one of the onlookers who got out of his bedroll to see the disturbance, was accidently grabbed, and he, too, began to run.
The Roman soldiers were simply looking for someone who would rise up against them, so they didn’t grab anyone. But the Temple guards probably started to grab some disciple, a follower of this so-called threat to peace.
I want us to look at those who were involved in this fracas to see what important lessons we can learn. Let’s look at the type of people that were there.
The Enemies of the Cross.
Php 3:18-19 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
There were several types of enemies that were at this arrest that night.
I. There were those who opposed Jesus for religious reasons.
The Temple guards, probably accompanied by the scribes, Pharisees and some priests, were looking to protect their faith system. Jesus has taught things that shredded those beliefs and was gaining a following, as demonstrated by His triumphant entry to Jerusalem. He was considered the most significant attack of their worship system within the Jewish nation. He had overturned money tables and released the animals that were being sold. That was symbolic of His overturning the things traditions had added to pollute the worship God had instructed.
Just as things added by mankind to worship today are not to be held as sacred, we need to allow God to remove what HE wills from our worship, and from our lives.
The Temple gang was not concerned with holiness, righteousness and pure worship. They just didn’t want their pet systems to be upset.
In opposing the removal of what WE have declared as holy, we often find ourselves opposed to Jesus. Jesus put it this way: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Mat 12:30.
To be for Jesus is to recognize Him as Lord in every area. It is to obey Him, not our traditions, preferences, habits, or religious practices. It is to let Him lead in every area, not blending our belief and love for Him with the worship we like.
These religious zealots were about religion, but they were not about HIM. You stand with these if there is a comfortable practice of your religion that you do not want to be upset.
If you value your religious life more than complete surrender and dependence upon Jesus, you are an enemy of the cross.
II. There were those who opposed Jesus for political reasons.
There were, in other words, Roman soldiers. This may also have included some of the Temple guards. They simply didn’t want trouble and they saw Jesus as a troublemaker. Jesus was divisive, and this was worrisome for the guards. Jesus divided love from hate, good from evil, and light from darkness.
This really bothers some people. Christians are called intolerant by those who do not tolerate Christians. God never calls His people to be tolerant, but to be Holy. He calls us to live sanctified lives, set aside for His use and purpose. The never smiles on compromise, but simply commands us to take up our cross and follow Him. Much of what we teach and believe will be politically incorrect but heavenly approved.
If you are pulling away from the truth because it creates social problems, you are much like the Roman soldiers. You are still an enemy of the cross.
III. There was one who opposed Jesus for personal reasons.
These fall into several categories.
A. First, there are those who find it personally too expensive.
Here, I see Peter. He said he would go all the way with Jesus. Yet, at this point in his life, he ran as he determined that this was asking too much of him.
He had tried to defend Jesus, but was rebuffed by the one He was trying to protect. See, he had said he would go all the way with Christ as long as he could maintain some sense of control. But this was out of control. His way was, again, chided. His gifts and strength, in a sense, were refused. Therefore, since this could not be fought on his terms, he was out of there.
This is where I find myself too many times. “Lord, I have much to give you. Can’t I do some of this my way?”
Jesus said, “My way or the highway.”
This is discouraging. See, all the fellowship would admire and commend me for my way. I am very proud of what I can do for the kingdom. But God is saying that to go His way, I must give up my way?
I believe there comes a point in all of our lives where we look at what God is asking us to give and say, “Now that is too much. I’m using this for you, Lord. Everybody know it.”
But we hear the voice of Jesus saying, “That won’t be necessary, so it is not welcomed here.”
Yes, it hurts. It’s painful to hear. But God’s way only goes one way. His way, His strength, His battle, His victory.
Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that the best we can do is to produce filthy, soiled garments. My righteousness is only righteous in my eyes. It is filthy to God and suspicious to others. The only righteousness that cannot be questions from my life is when He performs through me, when I walk by faith that He is doing it through me and in me.
That is always according to His Word, and always living dependently upon His power. It is never accidental, but intentionally concentrating on allowing Him to live through me.
Anything else I do, anything, is not righteousness. But I have to die to myself to do that. I have to take up my cross and follow Him.
B. There are those who consider it personally too dangerous.
As far as we can tell, there was the remainder of the disciples. These recognized the danger of staying with Jesus and ran. The text reads, “They all fled and left.”
There were soldiers there with swords, clubs and staves. It was dangerous and they determined it would be a good time to leave.
Jesus told us that Christianity would be dangerous. But He encouraged us to persevere; in other words, stay with Him.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
If you stand for Christ, things are going to get tough. Jesus says, “hang in there.”
Some of you are having your commitment questioned right now. Some of you youth are being asked why you meet at the flag pole and pray every morning. There may be some people laughing at you. You may see your popularity in some circles slipping. You may be looked at like an fanatic, like you’re going crazy about this Jesus stuff. You may be sensing that this is costing you more than you thought it would.
Jesus said, “Hang in there. I hope to reach even those ridiculing you now in my time by my work in you.”
Gal 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
C. There are the curious that find it too involved.
I am certain you, like me, can imagine camping out, and you had just settled into your sleeping bag, when all of the sudden police show up with lights flashing. Several cars pull up quickly and peace officers fall out of the vehicle in a rush to a neighbor camper. They cuff the poor guy and begin to lead him away.
We would all be curious and wonder what was going on. How would you feel if you moved close enough to see the action and then realize you are too close. Suddenly, officers are grabbing you by the pajamas and saying come with us.
That would terrify me. It did this poor camper on the Mount of Olives. They grabbed his pajama sleeve and, in terror, he pulled away, kind of. There was a guard holding an empty sleeping robe and an embarrassed, terrified man running away in his birthday suit.
There is a comical side to this story of a man who got too close. But it reminds me that many come to Church to watch the action. They want to see what this is all about, but have no desire to get “into it”. They have heard about, young Christians, you praying every day at school and wonder if it is real. They have heard about friends being “saved” and then getting baptized, and they are curious.
So maybe you have come to see, but now you feel like something has grabbed your heart and it scares you. Maybe you want to run away because you came in curiosity, but you find yourself too close.
I know it is scary and your temptation is to run and not come back, like this young adult. I know how this makes you feel like you are exposed beyond comfort and getting away is your best option.
But there is another. Come to Jesus. That is the call of the discomfort. That is the reason for the pressure inside your chest. It is His voice calling you to freedom. He wants to show you the authentic. He wants to fill your life with the peace of God, more peace than you have ever experienced.
It’s kind of odd, because peace is not what you experience when you get close enough to look. And you know now that “close enough to look” was closer than you were comfortable with.
But that discomfort is an invitation. It is the invitation to decide.
Ill. A business owner wanted to get to know Christianity, but in his own terms and from the distance he chose.
So he began to hire applicants that he could tell were Christians to watch them.
He said, “You know, I was naturally drawn to God by observing Christian workers who were conscientious and kind and thorough and aggressive on the job. But I’ll tell you what really impressed me. One day a guy who I knew to be a fresh convert asked if he could see me after work. I agreed to meet with him, but later in the day I started to worry that this young religious zealot might be coming to try to convert me, too.
"I was surprised when he came in my office with his head hanging low and said to me, ’Sir, I’ll only take a few minutes, but I’m here to ask your forgiveness. Over the years I’ve worked for you I’ve done what a lot of other employees do, like borrowing a few company products here and there. And I’ve taken some extra supplies; I’ve abused telephone privileges; and I’ve cheated the time clock now and then.
"’But I became a Christian a few months ago and it’s real - not the smoke and mirror stuff. In gratitude for what Christ has done for me and in obedience to Him, I want to make amends to you and the company for the wrongs I’ve done. So could we figure out a way to do that? If you have to fire me for what I’ve done, I’ll understand. I deserve it. Or, if you want to dock my pay, dock it whatever figure you think is appropriate. If you want to give me some extra work to do on my own time, that would be okay, too, I just want to make things right with God and between us.’"
That is what turned that business man to God through Jesus Christ. He wanted to get close enough to see, but found out that God was watching and calling him.
Is that where you are today? Is God calling you?
