Monday, March 5, 2012
John 18:3-4 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?"
JESUS SUFFERS WILLINGLY
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was in bitter anguish. Jesus knew fully, "all things that would come upon Him." He was not going into this blind. He knew every last bit of torment and suffering that lay ahead of Him. He knew that He would bear the wrath of His own Father for the sins of all the world. Just the thought of it all was enough to make Him sweat so profusely it was like great drops of blood falling from his face. Yet none of this changed his resolve.
There in the garden, He sees his enemies coming with their torches and lanterns, and their weapons. Instead of hiding, or fleeing, Jesus walks up to meet them. Can you imagine? Would you go out to meet the people who are planing to kill you?
What could possibly make Jesus go up to meet His captors and set in motion the ordeal that He had just prayed for the Father to take away from Him? The answer is YOU! It is Jesus' love for you that drove Him forward. His desire to save you at all costs made Him ready to endure all the torment of hell to save you from that punishment.
Such incredible love produces an incredible response. It is that love of the Savior that moved Peter and the other Apostles to consider it an honor and a privilege to suffer shame for His name. By Jesus' love and salvation, they did not try to hide from the Sanhedrin but stepped up to preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus even when they commanded them not to speak any more in Jesus' name.
May Jesus' love and the assurance of our salvation in Him also make us bold to step up and proclaim Jesus to the world, even in a world that is trying to silence the voice of Jesus.
