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7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” 12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. ~ John 18:7-14
While laying on the ground, these religious posers get the same question from the Lord Jesus, “Who is it you want?” The question was asked in order to protect the disciples as v.8 bears out. v.8 reads, "Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” Thus, the fulfillment of the Lord Jesus' prayer for these disciples in John 17.
A second time in v.7, the Lord Jesus identifies Himself as "Jesus of Nazareth." The Old Testament prophecies told us the coming of the Messiah would be of humble origin and would be despised and rejected. These Old Testament prophecies prepared us for a Messiah who would be of low and despised conditions and would be rejected. These were fully fulfilled in His being an inhabitant of Nazareth.
The phrase “Jesus of Nazareth” is first used in the Bible by Phillip who, after being called by the Lord Jesus to follow Him, told Nathanael, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45). By calling Him "Jesus of Nazareth," Phillip made a statement about the lowliness of His birth.
The character of the people of Nazareth was such that they were despised and condemned. Nathanael’s response, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) would seem to indicate such. To come from Nazareth, therefore was the same as to be despised, or to be esteemed of low status. The Messiah who would come to save His people would be “like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2). No wonder it takes a humble disposition to recognize and follow Him.
Jesus of Nazareth was born and grew up in humble circumstances, but His impact on the world has been greater than anyone ever born before or since. He came to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), an accomplishment that could be accomplished by none other than God incarnate.
According to v.9, this happened as it did in order “that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” You will remember that in John 17:12, He said, “Of those whom You have given Me, I lost not one.” So the Lord Jesus is protecting the disciples, in a moment when if they had been taken prisoner they would have been lost.
He protects them, so that He will fulfill the Scripture that they will not be lost. Had He allowed them to get arrested, their faith would have been completely overwhelmed. It was hard enough as it was. They scattered, and Peter denied knowing the Lord Jesus three times. And, the third time Peter denied knowing Him, he used a bad cuss word in order to protect himself. The disciples were known to be fairly moral, but it is not morality that really sets us a part. No, it is our faith in Him, but their faith was quite shaken in this moment.
In v.10, we read, “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.” We are all so much like Simon Peter. The Lord says to us, “I’ll protect you.” Then, we take things into our own hands. Note that Peter is referred to by John as "Simon Peter." This is strategic, due to the meaning of Simon which is weakness. The coolest thing about Peter is this: in His second epistle he refers to himself as Simon Peter. He finally got it ... "less of me, more of Him."
I find that I, like Peter, want the notoriety the world has to offer. I find myself imagining the limelight, and yet, that is not God. No, His way is the unpopular way. His way is the self-minimizing way. His way leads to death to self. His reaction to Peter's boneheadedness is consistent, and it is the same response He gives me when I lose sight of His culture.
In v.11, the Lord Jesus tells Peter, “Put your sword away!” The kingdom of the Lord Jesus is not of this world, otherwise He would have ordered His disciples to fight. We don’t fight. We die voluntarily.
Then, at the end of v.11, the Lord Jesus says, “shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" The Lord Jesus was no victim. This is the Son of God, willingly, voluntarily, in an act of supreme obedience to His Father in Heaven, giving Himself up for our sake. How can we help but love Him when He loved us so?
The Lord Jesus spent a lot of time with the losers and the outcasts. He talked about the last becoming first and the first becoming last. He embraced the meek and the broken, the humble ones who felt swamped with heavy burdens. He died alone, bitterly forsaken by all.
This upside-down approach to life is the way of His grace. We live in a world where the biggest, best, and brightest succeed, while the littlest, last, and least get trampled. But the Lord Jesus disrupts and interrupts our quest for power and our lust for significance. The ways of our world are rebuked by the inverted way of Jesus. Because of this, Christianity has from its beginning prized weakness. For us, embracing weakness is so contrary, yet so good.
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