Jesus: Peaceful in Crisis
"Put your sword back into its place....Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Than all the disciples forsook him and fled. Matt. 26:52-56, RSV).
As the scene in the garden comes to a close the Jewish leaders finally have the troublesome Jesus in their hands.
But before exploring the trials of Jesus, we need to take one more look at the Gethsemane scene. We have already discussed the kissing Judas and Peter of the bloody sword. But there are others.
First, we see the Jews delegated to arrest Jesus. One would think that they would have woken up at the events that had taken place. After all, a supernatural force had knocked them to the ground. And then there is the case of the ear. It is easy to slice ears off, but quite a different thing to put them back on. They had witnessed a first-class miracle. Having always asked for a sign, now that had two of them. But they were not pleased. Acting like the blind, they completed the arrest. Only Malcus, the man of the ear, had apparently begun to think about the meaning of the events of that night.
Second, there were the disciples. Events had shattered their world. They had apparently believed that Jesus would summon legions of angels to rescue Him and set up His kingdom. Now, terrified and completely disorganized, all they can think of is saving their skins; and now they desert their Lord in His hour of need.
And then there is Jesus, who is calmly in control of the situation. How can that be when just a short time before He was in fierce agony in his Gethsemane prayers? The answer is that He had finally come to a full surrender. He had struggled mightily with His will in the face of the Father's and had chosen God's. And with that surrender came a peace that allowed Him to become "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter" (Isa. 53:7, RSV) so that Scripture might be fulfilled.
Surrender to God's will was the key in Jesus' life. It is only through surrender that we can obtain the peace that Christ had as He passed through life's crisis.
"Put your sword back into its place....Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Than all the disciples forsook him and fled. Matt. 26:52-56, RSV).
As the scene in the garden comes to a close the Jewish leaders finally have the troublesome Jesus in their hands.
But before exploring the trials of Jesus, we need to take one more look at the Gethsemane scene. We have already discussed the kissing Judas and Peter of the bloody sword. But there are others.
First, we see the Jews delegated to arrest Jesus. One would think that they would have woken up at the events that had taken place. After all, a supernatural force had knocked them to the ground. And then there is the case of the ear. It is easy to slice ears off, but quite a different thing to put them back on. They had witnessed a first-class miracle. Having always asked for a sign, now that had two of them. But they were not pleased. Acting like the blind, they completed the arrest. Only Malcus, the man of the ear, had apparently begun to think about the meaning of the events of that night.
Second, there were the disciples. Events had shattered their world. They had apparently believed that Jesus would summon legions of angels to rescue Him and set up His kingdom. Now, terrified and completely disorganized, all they can think of is saving their skins; and now they desert their Lord in His hour of need.
And then there is Jesus, who is calmly in control of the situation. How can that be when just a short time before He was in fierce agony in his Gethsemane prayers? The answer is that He had finally come to a full surrender. He had struggled mightily with His will in the face of the Father's and had chosen God's. And with that surrender came a peace that allowed Him to become "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter" (Isa. 53:7, RSV) so that Scripture might be fulfilled.
Surrender to God's will was the key in Jesus' life. It is only through surrender that we can obtain the peace that Christ had as He passed through life's crisis.
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