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John 3:16-17
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John 3:16-17
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12 friends have opened a study shared with them.
I showed up for RZIM's beloved Christmas party. We played fun games, received our Christmas bonuses, and heard that we were family. But then came the Bible teaching, and we were asked to pledge ourselves to be like Ravi Zacharias. I understood the devotion to him, but this was the breaking point before I resigned.
John 18:1-11
After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, "Who is it that you're seeking?" "Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "I am he," Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. When Jesus told them, "I am he," they stepped back and fell to the ground. Then he asked them again, "Who is it that you're seeking?" "Jesus of Nazareth," they said. "I told you I am he," Jesus replied. "So if you're looking for me, let these men go." This was to fulfill the words he had said: "I have not lost one of those you have given me." Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) At that, Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?"
After praying for them in the Upper Room, Jesus takes his disciples across the Kidron Valley into the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a secret place where Jesus often prayed with them. As the bright moonlight of Passover cast shadows through the olive trees, Judas brings a company of soldiers and religious officials, grasping lanterns and torches, to find Jesus. He knows where to look. The armed men move quickly to overpower the disciples. But instead of running away, Jesus walks up and asks who they're seeking. They say, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus declares, "I am he." They think they're looking for a human, but find they're walking in the garden with God. The same words that God spoke to Moses from a burning bush knocks burly soldiers to the ground. Jesus is about to be imprisoned. Before he surrenders himself, he orders his disciples released. Then suddenly, to prove his allegiance to Jesus, Peter attacks Malchus, the servant of the high priest. This is how the world works: swords drawn, a fight to the death. Everyone facing danger fights or flees, but Jesus breaks expectations. He sees the arrest as a divine gift. "Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?" The temptation of spiritual leadership is to use power for your own benefit. Whether it's arresting Jesus or fighting to free him, we're willing to kill to defend what's ours. No other founder of a world religion accepts defeat like this. A crowd came to seize Jesus. They found an unarmed man ready to go.
What does it tell you about the cross that Jesus had the power to escape, but willingly surrendered?
Jesus' last act as a free man was to free his friends. What does that tell you about his priorities?
What's your version of Peter's sword?
Ask a friend, "What kind of God allows himself to be arrested?"
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