65. The Arrest of Jesus: Who's Really in Charge?

G'day, Dave here.

Welcome to Stories of a Faithful God for Kids.

How good are you at knowing who the boss is?

Who's in charge?

Who gets to call the shots in your classroom, at school?

Who's the boss?

It's not you, is it?

It's the teacher, I hope.

On a plane flying through the air, who's in charge?

It's the captain, isn't it?

What about if a thief is sitting at home and suddenly he hears a helicopter approaching and then sirens start blaring and 500 police cars start screeching up outside his house, and then a police tank smashes down the door and they throw smoke grenades through the windows and police with machine guns and helmets and gas masks burst into the building.

They grab the thief and they shove him down, tie his hands and feet together with zip ties and handcuffs, and they put a hood over his head and then tie his whole body up with ropes and throw him in the back of a police van.

Who do you think's in charge at that moment?

The thief or the police?

You're probably thinking the police, right?

Well, in today's story, something a little bit like that happens, but the one in charge isn't the one who you'd expect.

Get ready for our next episode of stories of a Faithful God for kids.

It's dark.

It's the middle of the night.

Jesus has been talking to his disciples about how he's going to leave them.

He's prayed that God would be glorified through what's about to happen.

And he's prayed for his disciples.

Earlier in the evening, Jesus told his disciples that one of them was going to betray him.

Soon after, Judas Iscariot slipped out into the night.

Now Jesus, with the remaining 11 disciples, also heads out.

After walking outside Jerusalem's city walls.

They walk down into a valley next to the city called the Kidron Valley, and then up another mountain on the other side of the valley called the Mount of Olives.

On the Mount of Olives, there's a garden, a garden that Jesus has visited lots of times with his disciples.

A place they all knew well, including Judas Iscariot.

There's no electric light, but the full moon is shining, casting deep shadows among the trees.

Judas has been busy.

He's been to the chief priests and the Pharisees to betray Jesus.

They've given him soldiers and guards, a big group of men to capture one single man to capture Jesus.

They've got flaming torches, they've got lanterns, and they've got weapons.

They're ready for a Fight.

And they know they'll be the boss of the situation.

Judas takes this armed group of soldiers up the Mount of Olives and into the garden that he knows so well.

The garden where he knows Jesus will be.

As he hears the sounds of clinking weapons and sees the flaming torches coming through the trees, Jesus isn't surprised at all.

He knew all this was going to happen.

He's been saying it'll happen.

He he's prepared for it to happen.

He doesn't run away into the dark.

Instead, he walks straight up to the soldiers.

In chapter 18, verse 4, Jesus asks them, who is it you're looking for?

That's not how people normally act when big armed guards come to arrest them.

Usually it's the guards asking the questions.

They're the ones in charge.

Questions like, okay, where's he hiding?

Are you going to come out or are we going to have to come in and get you?

The guards still have a job to do, though.

So they reply, jesus from Nazareth.

By now, it's pretty clear how the soldiers found Jesus.

There standing among them is Judas, the betrayer.

Jesus says to this crowd, I am Jesus.

Normally, that's when you'd expect the guards to pounce, grab Jesus, tie him up and drag him away.

Instead, something completely different happens.

As soon as Jesus says, I am Jesus, the men all move back and fall to the ground.

This is not how arresting Jesus is meant to go.

You gotta ask the question, who's really in charge here?

Who's the boss?

Well, Jesus works to get things moving again.

He knows what's meant to happen.

In verse 7, he asks them again, who is it you're looking for?

And again they say, jesus of Nazareth.

Now, Jesus knows he's meant to be arrested.

This is all a part of God's plan.

And as powerful as the soldiers think they are, they're all just doing what God expects them to do.

What's not a part of God's plan, though, is for the 11 disciples to be arrested.

And so, because Jesus is all about God's plan and because he really loves his disciples, he says to the guards in verse eight, I told you that I am he, so if you are looking for me, then let these other men go.

What?

That's not meant to happen.

People getting arrested don't usually tell the police who to arrest and who not to.

Again, you've got to ask who's really in charge here.

In fact, John tells us in verse 9 this happened so that the words Jesus said before might come true.

I have not lost Any of the men you gave me.

Jesus had said those words when he was praying to his father in the last chapter.

Jesus hadn't lost any of his disciples then.

And he's not going to lose any now.

As strong as the soldiers seem, it's really Jesus who's in charge.

No matter what the soldiers say, it's really Jesus.

Words that make all the difference.

Simon Peter, one of the disciples.

He has other ideas though.

He doesn't think that it's God's plan for Jesus to be arrested.

He wants to do everything he can to stop it.

Earlier in the night, he'd said that he'd happily die for Jesus.

Well, now is his chance.

Petyr's really brave with all these soldiers and guards right there in front of him.

He pulls out a short sword, swings towards one of the crowd.

A man who's servant of the high priest.

A man named Malchus.

The sword comes flying down and slices off Malchus ear.

What you'd normally expect then.

Is for all the guards and soldiers to draw their swords.

And start attacking Jesus and his disciples.

You'd expect all the disciples to be killed.

But again, it's Jesus who's really in charge.

The soldiers don't stop Peter.

Jesus does.

He says to peter in verse 11.

Put your sword back.

Shall I not drink of the cup the Father has given me?

That seems like a pretty weird thing to say.

But not when you know what Jesus is talking about.

Back in the Old Testament, God had used the idea of a cup to describe his anger at sin.

It's picture language.

Imagine a cup filled with God's anger at all the evil in the world.

If God decided to punish someone.

It's kind of like they'd have to drink from this cup.

Drink down God's anger.

Jesus has never sinned.

And yet it's God's plan for him to go to the cross and drink the cup of God's anger.

To be punished for sin.

So that everyone who puts their trust in him won't be punished.

We won't have to drink the cup of God's anger.

Because Jesus has done it for us.

If we trust him as our king, It's a wonderful, wonderful kindness.

Jesus is telling Peter this is God's plan.

And I am going to do God's plan.

Jesus isn't being arrested because of the soldiers plans.

He isn't being arrested because of what Judas has done.

Jesus is being arrested because he wants to do God's plan.

He's in charge, not the soldiers.

He's the boss.

Not Judas.

He decides what happens.

Not the disciples.

Sometimes you might feel like everything's gone wrong, like things aren't happening the way they're meant to.

That's certainly how the disciples are feeling that night.

It just doesn't seem right that something as awful as Jesus being arrested and killed could ever be a part of God's plan.

But Jesus is never out of control.

God is always the boss.

And sometimes even terrible things are a part of God's good plans.

We don't always understand how or why God doesn't always tell us.

What we can know, though, is that Jesus is always working towards doing what's best.

Him dying was horrible, but it was the only way to save the world.

It was the only way to bring the greatest glory to God.

It was the only way to beat death and bring his people back to life.

No matter how bad things look, you can always trust that Jesus is in charge.

Back at the Mount of Olives, the guards arrest Jesus, tie him up and take him away to see the high priest.

What will happen when they confront each other?

What will the disciples do?

And what's that rooster doing over there?

Well, that's a story for next time.

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Bye for now.