The Beginning of the Execution (John 18:3-4)

Lesson #293

The stage has been set and now comes the action: “So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:3 ESV). Judas, the betrayer, enters the garden with a band of soldiers. How large this band was, is uncertain so I will not speculate. The soldiers were probably those Roman soldiers given by the governor for the defense of the temple and the officers were those belonging to the Sanhedrin.

These came with lanterns and torches and weapons. At this time in the month of Nisan there should be a bright full moon, so why the lanterns and torches. They were probably for the possibility of searching for Jesus if he was hiding in the garden, but surely he would not be hiding because he knew this was his time and he knew what was going to happen and what should happen. The weapons were probably swords and clubs (Mark 14:48); the swords probably those of the Roman soldiers and the clubs belonged to the chief priest’s officers.

As Judas and the band of soldiers and officers arrived, “Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” (John 18:4 ESV). Jesus, being the Son of God, was the omniscient, so he would have access to all information. The One who can speak the universe into existence would know what was going to happen to him because he and his Father worked out the plan of salvation long before creating humans. They knew sin would enter into their creation through them, but that would not stop them because out of that rebellion would be create something even better. Jesus, as the sacrificial Lamb, knew of the suffering that lay ahead and he knew what was to happen next.

As Judas and the band of soldiers and officers arrived, Jesus did not try to hide from them, but instead stepped forward to intercept them and engaged them with the question, “Whom do you seek?” Jesus knew who they were after and he knew this was the time to give himself to them and not escape from them as he had in the past. Jesus is still in control and will be, even up to the point when on the cross he says it is finished and takes his last breath.

Prayer

Father, what an adventure and what a thrill it has been to develop nearly 300 Bible studies in following Jesus on his way to the cross. I don’t feel that I just followed him, but in so many ways I walked with him. Father, I feel the same way as I study those under persecution. At times when I suffer, I feel a unity with them and I join them in prayer for encouragement, endurance and steadfastness. As Jesus was crucified on the cross, by faith I am crucified with Christ that he might live in and through me. Father, thank you for this great plan of salvation that is unfolding before our eyes and in our lives as we work out our salvation.