God is in Control

No matter what you've been through, God knows your name. And that's just one way of indicating his great, infinite knowledge of everything about us. He knows our name. He also, the Bible says, knows the number. He numbers the very hairs of your head. I know what some of you are thinking. He knows the numbers of those you used to have, too. He knows us so thoroughly and so completely. One of the joys of preaching through books of the Bible is to see God's timing. There are times when it is clearly, you trust that it always is, but there are times when it is clearly God's hand that you come to a certain passage in the flow of moving through a book that is timed perfectly for the events and circumstances of the life of the flock at that particular time. And that is so true this morning. I love preaching expository, which means you just go through books of the Bible and see what God has there for you. And we started this series in the Gospel of John a year and a half ago, almost 17 months ago on January 12, 2014. And it was before that, back in the latter parts of 2013, I was working on putting this series together and figuring out which verses I would preach when and how long each passage would be. I would be covering each week and that kind of thing. So the planning for this series, in my mind, has been going on for a couple of years. And then I take it in segments. And three months ahead, I flesh out enough of each sermon to know what the theme will be so that I can give it to Jim Naufsinger and he can pick appropriate music to go along with the theme of the service. And I know a lot of folks look at that kind of planning for preaching and say, that takes the Holy Spirit out of the equation, doesn't it? And I've found just exactly the opposite. The Holy Spirit is still very much in the equation. Because when we plan out a series of messages like this, we plan for the normal, expected interruptions like communion services. And mission Sundays when I will not be preaching and times when I'm away or things like Mother's Day or Easter when I'm preaching something else. And so all that's kind of scheduled out. And then there are the unexpected interruptions like the two Sundays this winter, we had to cancel services for weather reasons. So given all of that, given all of that time frame and all of the stuff that kind of messes up my schedule, to know that you come to a particular Sunday and you are exactly where God wants you to be in His Word. And His Word for you and for a church is exactly what He wants it to be, is to me humbling and awe-inspiring. And I followed His feet at His control of that schedule. Many of you have been very closely involved with what's been going on this week in the life of our church and particularly the life of the Meadows family. And many of you, so much more than I, I have an opportunity to weave the story into the message this morning, but I do not at all seem to indicate, want to indicate that I have been the major contributor to ministering to them. Many of you have ministered to them very deeply this week. But if you had not heard the news, Kenneth Meadows, one of our faithful members, a small group leader in our church, fell 25 feet from the roof of a house on Tuesday. Numerous injuries, the most serious of which is broken back and punctured spine, which the doctors believe has left him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. And so their family is facing incredible challenges that they had no way of knowing would come their way this week. And when things like that happen, and there have been other instances like that, before the first service, someone told me about a great granddaughter, two years old, that died in her sleep Friday night. Just before this service, the gentleman told me about some tragedy in his family, his own personal health as well. And that could be multiplied many times. I hear dozens of stories like that every week and you do too, I'm sure. There are times when life seems to be spinning out of control. When what you had planned and hoped on and dreamed about crashes to the ground, and life just seems out of control. And so in God's providence, we come in our journey through John to a section of Scripture that to the human eye, to the unregenerate eye would look like things are out of control. It is the story of the arrest of Christ in John chapter 18. So I invite your attention to that passage where we find a story that to every untrained observer, unregenerate heart, unbeliever, and even to many believers, it looks like things are spinning out of control, way beyond Jesus control. But exactly the opposite is true. Albert Schweitzer, who was a well-known famous missionary, but was a rank liberal in his theology, wrote a book in 1906 called The Quest for the Historical Jesus. I have it in my library. It's one of the worst volumes ever written on Jesus. It is a liberal's attempt to try to strip Christ of all of his deity and any divine working at all in his life. It paints him as a mere man who was caught up in this expectation that he could somehow bring in God's kingdom. And finally, in desperation, tries to force it to happen and loses control in the process. Here is how Schweitzer actually says it in that book. He says, there is silence all around the Baptist appears, speaking of John the Baptist, and cries, repent for the kingdom of heaven as it hath hand. Soon after that comes Jesus, and in the knowledge that he is the coming son of man, and by that he does not mean what the Scriptures mean and what we mean by that. He's talking about he's just a good man, maybe the best of men. But in the knowledge that he is the coming son of man, he lays hold of the wheel of the world to set it moving on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. It refuses to turn, and he throws himself upon it, then it does turn and crushes him. Instead of bringing in the eschatological conditions, and by that he means the coming kingdom that he thought he could bring in. Instead of bringing that on, he has destroyed it. The wheel of history, the wheel rolls onward, and the mangled body of the one, a measurably great man who was strong enough to think of himself as the spiritual rule of mankind and to bend history to his purpose, that body of that man is hanging upon it still. And that's Albert Schweitzer's view of the events that would take place that we're looking at this morning, and on through the weekend of Christ's death. In Schweitzer's view and in other liberal theologians view, Jesus is simply a mistaken idealist who tried to turn the wheels of history to fit his vision, but was crushed by them, was out of control, did not have control over the events, even as good as he was, he could not control the outcome of history. And so this mistaken idealist, this good man, is crushed in the events that he tried to start. I want to tell you this morning, with all the passion I can possibly muster today, that is not the way it happened, and that is not the way the Bible records the events of the arrest of Jesus and the events leading to his crucifixion. It is not at all how the Bible tells the story. The Bible pictures a Christ, the Lord, the Son of God, who is in complete control. Bringing history to its greatest moment in a weekend that would change the world. The weekend of his death burial and resurrection. That's the way the Scriptures paint the picture. And that ought to give us hope. It does give us hope to know that Jesus was in control and not out of control on that night when he was arrested. Everything that happened was completely under his control, even though it looks awful. It looks terrible. It is completely under his control. That gives us this hope. The arrest of Jesus shows us why we contrast him when life seems out of control. As John tells the story in John chapter 18, he paints four pictures of Jesus, four characteristics of Jesus that show his absolute and utter control over the situation of his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The first of those is his knowledge. If you're in John 18, look at verse 1. When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidren Valley. When he had finished praying the prayer that we saw in chapter 17, that great high priestly prayer of Christ, when he finished praying that he leased with his disciples, crosses the Kidren Valley. On the other side, verse 1 says, there was a Garden and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who had betrayed him, knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the Garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests in the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, who is it you want? His knowledge. Now John doesn't tell all the story. You have to fit all of the gospel records. They have to get all the story. John begins the story by talking about the finishing of the prayer of chapter 17 and Jesus leaving the city of Jerusalem to go across the Kidren Valley and the Brook Kidren and up part of the side of the mountain of Mount of Olives to the Garden called Gethsemane. But he does not describe what happens next. The other gospels tell us that Jesus went to a solitary place and there he prayed while his disciples were waiting for him. That may have lasted an hour or two because on three occasions Jesus goes and pours his soul out to God, comes back to find his disciples asleep and then goes back to pray again. That happens three times and Jesus ends up submitting himself fully to the will of God. That great prayer. If it possible, let this cut pass from me. But not my will. Thy will be done. That's the resolution of Jesus to go through with the cross. John doesn't tell us that. But John picks it up with what's happening with Judas. Judas, in the meantime, this is the middle of the night on Thursday night, Judas is gathering all the people he needs to carry out in his dastardly plot to betray Jesus. He had earlier left the upper room and now he's carrying out that plot that he's devised to get the people he needs to come arrest Jesus. Verse 3 says that he came guiding a detachment of soldiers, literally a Roman cohort, which was 600 soldiers. I get the picture here. This is not a half dozen soldiers. 600 soldiers, along with religious leaders, priests, religious Pharisees, religious leaders, because they want nothing more than to see this happen. They have picked what seems to be the perfect time and the perfect place. It is the middle of the night. So there are no crowds of Jerusalem around to bother them or interrupt what they're going to do. It is outside the city a little ways and so it is away from anybody who may be present. They think the only opposition they may face is this Jesus and the leaven of his disciples. And they are more than prepared to handle that. 600 Roman soldiers. They're more than prepared to handle what it looks like. The perfect trap. There are the ones in power. The arrest will take place under their control, right? Wrong. They are not in control because Jesus knows exactly what's going to happen. Notice, first of all, verse 1 indicates Jesus knew where he was going. His knowledge is expressed in that he knows where he's going. Verse 1 says, he crosses the Kidren Valley and on the other side there was a garden. I believe that Jesus purposely chooses a garden. Deliberately chooses a garden. For the event of the arrest to take place, the arrest could have happened anywhere, but the timing and place are at Jesus choosing. He is in control of this and he chooses a garden. Why? Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 calls Jesus the last Adam. He makes it clear, Paul does in his description of 1 Corinthians 15, that Jesus, the last Adam, came to undo the damage that the first Adam did in the Garden of Eden. So Jesus chooses a garden. The first Adam faced a battle in a garden. Jesus will face his battle with Satan in a garden. The first Adam sinned in a garden. The last Adam overcame the Tempter in the Garden. The first Adam fell in a garden. The last Adam conquers in a garden. The first Adam hid in a garden. The last Adam will purposely and publicly present himself to those who have come to arrest him in a garden. This is not an accident. Jesus is showing that the last Adam will choose the same venue for a battle that the first Adam fell in, but he will not fall. He will move triumphantly toward the cross, defeating Satan in the Garden, and purposefully moving on to the cross. So he chooses the time in the place. He is in control. He knows where he is going, but there is more beautiful symbolism involved in what Jesus is doing here than just the Garden. Notice in verse 1, to get to that garden, he had to cross the Kidren Valley. You see on the eastern edge of the city of Jerusalem is the temple. It sits up on a mount, up on a little hill, and that hill drops off sharply from the temple down into the Kidren Valley, which has a little creek running through it, or for us, West Virginians, a creek running through it. The Kidren Brook, and that immediately goes up then on the other side on the Mount of Olives, and the Garden of Gethsemane is about halfway up the Mount of Olives. And so Jesus goes out of the city, goes down into that valley, crosses the Brook Kidren, and up to the Garden of Gethsemane. The interesting thing is that the Brook Kidren actually becomes the drainage ditch for the blood from animal sacrifices from the temple. The temple is right above it, and the blood drains out into the Kidren Valley and down the creek. There was no EPA in those days, okay? On Passover, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us there would be as many as 200,000 lambs who have been slain with their blood drain going through those drainage systems out into the Kidren Valley. Jesus walks across a blood stained valley because he is the one who will ultimately fulfill all of that that is pictured there. He is the Lamb of God who will give his blood, shed his blood, give his life for our sins, and fulfill all of those Old Testament sacrifices. This is no accident. Jesus is not just saithering over in San Diego. I think it's a big good place to stay tonight. Let's just camp out in the Garden of Gethsemane tonight. No, no. Jesus knows where he's going, and he purposely sets the time and the place because he will cross that blood stained valley to begin the journey of shedding his own blood for us. He will come victorious out of a garden to undo what the first Adam lost in a garden. Jesus knows where he's going, but he not only knows where he's going, he knew what would happen. Jesus knew what would happen. Did you see it in verse 4? Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him. That is an amazing statement. Jesus knows that he will be arrested. This is no surprise to him. He's not caught off guard by this. He knows what's going to happen. He knows that he will be arrested. He knows what's going to happen the rest of that night and early morning in the trials and the beatings and the scourging and the suffering he will endure. He knows all that. He already knows what will happen. He knows what he will endure on the cross. He knows, he knows all, not just a part, not just a faint glimmer of supposition, but he knows all that was going to happen to him. And so he is in control of this situation. For that reason, he goes out purposely to meet those who come to take him because he knows exactly why they are there and he knows what will happen in the next three days. There are no surprises. He is not caught off guard and that gives me the confidence to be able to see and to say that he knows all about your life too. The same Jesus who knows where he's going on the night of his arrest and does so with purpose and intent, the same Jesus who knows all that's going to happen to him that night and the next three days. The same Jesus also knows everything that's taking place in your life. He is not caught off guard. He knows where you are today. He knows exactly what's going on. He knows what is happening now with you and he has known that from eternity past. And he knows what will happen in the future. He knows all of that already. All of that is already under his control. His infinite knowledge. The same knowledge that God the Father has is absolutely incredible. And so he knows you. He knows where you are. He knows where you're headed and he knows what's happening to you. He knows what will happen to you today and tomorrow and in every part of your life in talking with with Kenneth and Gina this week and many of you have found this out. Their faith is strong and they recognize this. They know that God knows all things and that he knew what was going to happen on Tuesday when Kenneth went to work expecting to go to work as he has he does for his life to climb up on buildings and do windows on university campuses and hospitals in Cleveland and Knoxville and around this area. That's his livelihood. I mean he just expected to go do that again like he's done for years and come home that evening. He had no knowledge of what would happen to him on Tuesday afternoon. But God knew. And Kenneth knows that. Kenneth is not questioning that. He knows that God is in control that God knows all of those things and that gives great comfort, great encouragement. One of the most encouraging things about being with them right now is to see the reality of trust and confidence and faith. Sure they're not perfect and there will no doubt be times of struggle. But they are strong in their faith because they know that God knows and this is not caught him by surprise and if he knows what was happening on Tuesday he knows how things will work this week and next month and next year he already has that all planned out. He knows. So Jesus is in control. He has not lost control. He didn't in the garden and he hasn't with you. He hasn't with me. His knowledge shows that he's in control. But secondly I want you to see his power. His power also indicates that he has not lost control. In verse five Jesus has just asked the question in verse four. Who is it you want? In verse five comes the answer. Jesus of Nazareth they replied. I am he. Jesus said and Judas the traitor was standing there with them. When Jesus said I am he they drew back and fell to the ground. This is an amazing event. What you find here is quite clearly that he demonstrated his power. Jesus demonstrated his power. Please get the scene in your mind. This dark garden is now a wash with light from the torches and lanterns being carried by those who have wound their way to find Jesus. Judas knows where he will be and that light reveals eleven shadowy figures but one commanding figure who steps out to meet those who are coming to arrest him and that commanding figure who steps out to meet them may appear to be putting forth a challenge. I am sure that the hand of every Roman soldier was was clearly on his sword ready for whatever might happen but Jesus simply asks a soft spoken question. It's all he wants. Who is it you want? And when they identify who they are therefore Jesus of Nazareth Jesus says I am he if you have some of your translations will have the word he and italics which means it was not in the original text and that's true it is not in the original text the Greek text just has two words echo I me I am that's it I am and so what Jesus said when he said I am is he claimed the mighty name of Jehovah God from the Old Testament and he was proclaiming I am God I am Jehovah I am the son of God that's who you have come to arrest and that was like a shock wave when he said those words this is the voice claiming to be God this is the voice who has still storms this is the voice that has fed multitudes this is the voice that has called people from the dead this is the voice that has healed the sick and now this is the voice that says I am and they fall backwards 600 Roman soldiers and religious leaders fall on their backs with the shock wave of the almighty power of Jesus Christ let me ask you who's in control of this situation they have come to arrest him but they have found themselves arrested by him they are not in control the Roman soldiers are not in control the chief priest is not in control Judas is not in control the circumstances are not in control Jesus is clearly in control and his power demonstrates it it shows that he is the one in control but then something just as incredible happens Jesus demonstrated his power but then just as certainly and just as quickly Jesus restrained his power you see what we have seen is that Jesus words to them only to I am those words are a warning that they are in way over their heads I don't care if there have been six million soldiers they were in over their heads they were no match for the eternal son of God and with one more word he could slaughter every one of them I think they know that by now as they clamber back up to their feet but Jesus does something amazing there is no further demonstration of his power there is no further word that slaughters this group of soldiers he yields himself to be arrested so he restrains his power as he lost his power did he show too much at one time is it all gone now no Jesus is acting purposefully as he always did in line with the Father's plan so that scripture would be fulfilled look at these two verses Jesus had said back in chapter 10 of this gospel the reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life they want to make he wants to make it clear that he's going to voluntarily give his life so he says only to take it up again no one takes it from me but I lay it down notice of my own accord I have authority the word for power I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again this command I received from my father Jesus is fulfilling that nobody is going to take Jesus against his will from the Garden of Gethsemane no one is going to arrest him he will agree to go with them that's how it plays out because they're not in control they are not arresting him he is willingly voluntarily on the command of his father laying down his life and no one has the power to change that or to take that from him so he has the power to do that now let's translate that to our experience what about his power in your situation Jesus may at times demonstrate his power and when he does it's amazing it's amazing what he does we know that he has all power we know that's not the question we know that he can do anything possible but there are times when Jesus does not express that power or demonstrate that power there are times when Jesus restrains his power Tuesday could God have kept Kenneth from slipping and falling on that roof of course he had the power to do that you know what God had the power to keep him from falling and even if he fell to keep him from hitting in a way that would damage anything God had the power to do that and you know what God has the power that he could touch him right now in healing that's not the question that's never the question the question is never God's power or the demonstration of it the question is God's purpose and sometimes God's plan involves the demonstration of his power the I am shockwave of power and sometimes his power is restrained in order to fulfill his purpose and plan in other ways now I don't have the right to choose which it's going to be in my life although I try to do that with prayer don't you don't we typically pray that God will demonstrate his power Lord heal Lord deliver Lord protect Lord help Lord get me out of this jam demonstrate your power is it possible that the better prayer is Lord glorify yourself if you choose to do so by demonstrating your power yeah I'm human I would love that if you choose to do so by restraining your power your will be done it is your glory and whatever you have a purpose for in the future that I cannot possibly understand now that's what I want to happen and I will tell you that's exactly where Kenneth and Gina are right now they're trusting in God to accomplish his purpose even through this I must have heard Kenneth say that it doesn't times on Friday and I even challenged him a little bit those of you who are in the room that they may recall I I told him said Kenneth I am so glad to see the strength of your faith and I am grateful to see that that what we believe in the Bible really does work in life I found that to be true on maybe a more limited scale at times and you're finding it be true now and I rejoice in that I'm grateful for that but Kenneth I said you're not perfect you and I both know that by the way his sense of humor is just as sharp as it's ever been I said there may come times Kenneth when you'll question when you'll struggle without when you'll wonder why and he looked at me and he said that's one question I will not ask I will not go there I will not ask why so I said you're telling me rather than why you're going to ask the question what what God do you want to do what God do you want to see happen through this and he said yes that's the question I'll ask now that's the way a believer ought to respond my friend I don't always respond that way maybe you don't either but that's the way a believer ought to respond with just as much confidence in our Lord when he restrains his power as when he demonstrates his power because in both cases he has the power but he also has a purpose for either demonstrating it or restraining it and we trust him not just in the demonstrations of power but we must trust him to accomplish his purpose even when he restrains his power and allows seemingly out of control circumstances to happen in our lives he is in control his power shows that but I want you to also see something else that shows his control of the situation this is beautiful notice if you will his compassion his compassion for his disciples verses seven through nine verse seven again he asked them who is it you want Jesus of Nazareth they said Jesus answered I told you that I am he if you're looking for me then let these men go now notice the purpose of all this verse nine this happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled I have not lost one of those you gave me okay if you'll notice Jesus compassion for his disciples there's there's little question in my mind that the Roman soldiers and the religious leaders came to arrest twelve people not just one yes they wanted Jesus that's their focal point but they would have arrested the the other eleven too I think they would have arrested all the disciples and mop up this whole religious movement try to quell it and destroy it in one brilliant stroke put them all to death I think that's indicated or at least implied in what Jesus does and why he did it according to verse nine so they come and and Jesus asks again he raises a question a second time here's here's focus here's there's Jesus causing the those who are there to arrest him to focus their minds on exactly why they are there who's the focal point so the second time he asked them in verse seven who is it you want when they say Jesus he says I told you I am he and they're getting ready for the shockwave again I'm sure her and and and so he says let these men go let these other men go now verse nine makes it clear that Jesus was doing this so that the scriptures would be fulfilled which he has said in John chapter six and verse 39 I have not lost one of those you gave me those eleven men will not be arrested tonight they will not die on the next day Jesus still has work for them to do the book of Acts so they will not be arrested that he is protecting them by the way Jesus requests to let them go seems pretty reasonable to these soldiers by now after what he has just said so yeah okay we'll let them go he is protecting his men in compassion for them but he also has compassion for you and his compassion for you is contained just like in that for his men is contained in his promises he had promised in John six he would lose none of them and obviously that's a statement of eternal security but it's also a statement of protection through this we find this is one of the ways it's fulfilled so it's bound up in a promise Jesus has also made promises to you of his compassion and protection in your life his compassion to see you through whatever he has for you in your life notice if you will on the screen first Corinthians 10 13 here's one of the promises no temptation has overtaken you except what is common demand kind way than that good to know isn't it easy to think somehow I'm singled out I'm getting a raw deal nobody else seems to suffer like this it's easy to think that isn't no temptation is taken you except what is common to man and got us faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but when you're tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it he provides a way to escape the temptation and the temptor a way of victory a way of obedience there's nothing that will happen in your life but we have temptation or it's to extend his verse even testing because the same word is used of both there's nothing that will happen in your life that you cannot bear with a faithful God to look to and so he is faithful and he will provide a way for you to escape the temptor and the temptation so that you can bear it that's a promise there's another promise in Romans 8 28 you're familiar with this one and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose in all things God is working for good and the important thing here is to remember God's definition of good God's definition of good actually is in the next verse it is to be conformed to the image of Christ you see the reason why we have trouble with Romans 8 28 is because we have an unbiblical definition of good and we think okay all things are going to work there that for good that means that means I'll never have any problems I'll never be sick I'll never have any financial difficulties things will go really smoothly that's good isn't it not in God's eyes it may be but it's not necessarily good when God talks about something good in your life he's talking about being becoming more like Christ being conformed to his image and sometimes that takes pressure to mold and shape us it takes hardship it takes trials it takes difficulty sometimes for that to happen and so God's looking for good and he works all things in our life so no matter what it is he's demonstrating his compassion to you by working all things together to produce the good of Christ like this in your life then look at these verses some of my favorites in Psalm 103 as a father has compassion on his children that natural instinctive compassion for your own children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him for he knows how we are formed he remembers that we are dust you know God loves you and he has compassion on you because he knows you he knows how weak you are he knows you're just a pile of dust he knows how weak and frail we are and how often we fail and he knows that he still loves us he still loves us he is the perfect father I recognize that sometimes his actions or what he allows in our lives may not seem compassionate but when you remember that just as he compassionately made promises to his disciples that he would keep he has done the same for you when he is working all things together to produce the good of Christ like this he's demonstrating his compassion to you his love for you when he remembers how weak and frail we are and that we're but dust and loves us with that instinctive love he's showing compassion to you when he delivers you from temptation or at least makes the way possible for you to take he's showing compassion for you he loves you and whatever is happening in your life his compassion is behind it he's in control of this situation his compassion demonstrates it and his compassion for you demonstrates also he's in control of your life and the situations that come your way but there's one other thing that shows his control over that arrest scene in the Garden of Gethsemane and that has to do with his sacrifice notice it if you will verse 10 then Simon Peter who had a sword drew it and struck a high priest servant cutting off his right ear the servant's name was Marcus Jesus commanded Peter put your sword away shall I not drink the cup the father has given me then the detachment of soldiers with its commander in the Jewish officials arrested Jesus what the text is saying here what the scriptures are saying and what Jesus is demonstrating is he will not die prematurely he will not die that evening in the Garden now you got to love Simon Peter you just got to love the guy he's so instinctive and seemingly brave the events are just too much for him he's had enough and so he pulls out this little short hidden dagger the Greek word for sword is the little dagger that you put in your belt under your robe he pulls out that little dagger and starts whacking away at the first guy he can find I mean he's ready to mow all 600 up and down the first guy finds ducks and he just gets his ear he got a love Peter you know but what Peter didn't realize is his impetuous bravery if you want to call it that his standing up for Jesus being a real man could have cost everyone in the Garden their lives that night can you imagine the scene 600 Roman soldiers go for their swords they're ready to take on Peter and whoever else and in 30 seconds 12 men could lie dead on the ground Peter didn't understand what he was doing oh it's bravado yes but Christ says you don't do that in my kingdom put your sword away God has a bigger purpose here I like what mark or Matthew excuse me says that Jesus said to him in Matthew 26 put your sword back in its place Jesus said to him for all who draw the sword will die by the sword that's the way you want to live you're going to die that way not the way my kingdom operates do you think I cannot call on my father and he will at once put it my disposal more than 12 legions of angels a legion of 6000 Roman soldiers 12 do the math 72,000 angels I could do that Jesus said but but here's the problem how then would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way you know we need more of Jesus and less of Peter in these situations we need more of Jesus view of the bigger picture of what God wants to accomplish rather than me standing up and being the the big guy and taking control of the situation myself and pulling out my sword and whacking away at everybody I can we need more of Jesus understanding of the bigger picture 600 Roman soldiers are ready to take the life of everyone in that garden it's because of Peter's supposedly taking up for Jesus wanting to do battle wanted to give these soldiers a dose of their own medicine Luke says that Jesus proclaims no more of this speaking not only to Peter but of all the Roman soldiers who have their swords drawn ready to go at it no more of this this is not the way this is going to go down and then Luke tells us that he healed healed Marcus's ear that's a beautiful touch Jesus said no no we're not going to take people's heads off here in fact I'm going to replace an ear give me a couple of minutes here I'm going to put this ear back I love that he will not die prematurely he will not die with a Roman sword at his throat in the middle of the night in an isolated garden why because he has a bigger plan and a bigger purpose that Peter doesn't yet understand and Peter in all of his bravado is about to derail so that's why Jesus says no more of this put up your sword Peter you'll live that way you die that way that's not that that's not my kingdom the reason is he will not die prematurely because he will die sacrificially as the Lamb of God shedding his blood on a cross like the Old Testament in Psalm 22 prophesied that he would just like Isaiah 53 prophesied the events of his scourging and beating and all of that that has to take place yet and so he will die sacrificially and that's why Jesus says put your sword away shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me the cup is the outpouring of God's wrath on the cross you see Jesus death is not a death of a martyr in a garden somewhere standing up against a bunch of Roman soldiers that's not the purpose of his death to show how bravy is the purpose of his death is to be a sacrifice for you and for me and that must take place in the prescribed way as he drinks the cup of the wrath of God and he dies at God's hand giving up his spirit saying Father into thy hands I come in my spirit dying as a willing sacrifice for your sins and for my sins that's how he must die so he's in control of what's happening in the garden when Peter tries to take control Jesus ceases it right back from him and says no no not this way I'm going to die tomorrow in the way prescribed by the scriptures as a sacrifice for your sins you know what even for the sins of those Roman soldiers he will die sacrificially so who's in control in the garden in a situation that you would think humanly speaking is out of Jesus control he's vastly outnumbered unless you take those 72,000 angels into consideration he's vastly outnumbered from what you can see on a human level they've chosen the right place and the right time this is a no-brainer this is a hands-down victory for the Romans and the Jews but Jesus at every turn shows they are completely out of control of the situation and he is completely in control of the situation his knowledge shows that his power shows that his compassion for his disciples shows that and the fact that he knows how he's going to die and will die sacrificially shows that he is completely in control and my friend if that's the case in a scene in his life when it looks out of control I believe it is true in your life and mine it is true in Kenneth and Gina Metta's lives and their boys Parker and Lucas it is true in all of our lives that when things seem to be spinning out of control and it's not what we had hoped or planned or thought or had no idea this could happen he is still in control whatever you're facing job loss pain with a child pain in a marriage terrifying diagnosis illness of a child death of a loved one whatever it may be however seemingly catastrophic or seemingly small it may be whatever you are facing we all face times when stress seems to tear us apart when life seems out of control and we are overwhelmed at what's going on everything seems to be crashing down around us all at once and the temptation in those settings is to ask God where are you why would you do this and all the time just like in the garden he is there and he is in control I don't remember where I read this or heard this but it stuck with me don't tell God how big your problems are tell your problems how big your God is I love that I have a tendency to complain to God about how big my problems are do you maybe we need to turn that around and start telling our problems how big our God is that we know and we trust and we believe that he is in control and he has a purpose and a plan that I don't need to try to manipulate just trusting for you want to know how big your God really is anyway I would encourage you just to immerse yourself in Isaiah 40 because the 340 quintillion gallons of water in all the oceans the Bible says in Isaiah 40 fit in the palm of his hand that's how big God is Isaiah 40 tells us that the six sects tillion metric tons that form up planet earth are like a piece of dust on the scales to God that's how big God is Isaiah 40 tells us that the universe that is more than 30 billion light years as it stretches out in his expanse I can't even begin to understand that a light year light travels 186,000 miles in a second how far does it travel in a year and the width of the galaxy is 30 billion of those light years you see smoke coming out yet I can't begin to comprehend that you know what the Bible says God measures it with the span of his hand that's how big God is again I hope I've got the right numbers I can't imagine this but what I read is that there are a hundred billion galaxies each of which is made up of a hundred billion or so stars and Isaiah 40 tells us that God calls them all by name whoa calls them all a hundred billion stars multiplied by a hundred billion galaxies and every star he calls by name that's how big your God is so what we need to do when we're facing overfueling tragedy or issues in life or questions that seem to get us down or stretch our faith is we need to start telling our problems how big our God is and trust his knowledge trust his power trust his compassion trust his sacrifice on the cross that he knew what he was doing let's pray