John 18:1-11

John 18:1-11 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  You can tell the first century Jews didn't know what to make of Jesus -- they with swords to arrest a man who could raise the dead.  They were clearly nervous, uncertain what Jesus might do, but they brought their torches and weapons and arrested the man who commands armies of angels.  What's more amazing is that it worked, but not because of their power.  It was because of his willingness to accept the role of the sacrificial lamb.  The Jewish leaders were looking at him as a threat, not as the Messiah, and they got it terribly wrong.  Somehow, through it all,  Jesus loved them.
  Jesus offers us everything.  In Him, there is eternal hope and joy and peace.  We have life, a complete life that finally basks in the light of the eternal King.  It's all a free gift -- we don't have to earn it.
  But we don't know what to make of this offer, and so we settle for so much less.  We settle for giving Jesus an hour on Sundays and little pockets of time elsewhere.  We settle for letting Jesus be Lord of part of our lives, but we hold on to the rest, afraid of what might happen if Jesus was Lord of all.  We don't know what to make of Jesus, and so while we don't arrest him, we don't fall completely at his feet, either.  We hold back.
  Jesus is willing to give everything for us.  What shall we give back?