John 18:12-24

12-14Then the Roman soldiers under their commander, joined by the Jewish police, seized Jesus and tied him up. They took him first to Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the Chief Priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.

15-16Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was known to the Chief Priest, and so he went in with Jesus to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Peter had to stay outside. Then the other disciple went out, spoke to the doorkeeper, and got Peter in.

17The young woman who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, "Aren't you one of this man's disciples?"

He said, "No, I'm not."

18The servants and police had made a fire because of the cold and were huddled there warming themselves. Peter stood with them, trying to get warm.

The Interrogation

19-21Annas interrogated Jesus regarding his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered, "I've spoken openly in public. I've taught regularly in meeting places and the Temple, where the Jews all come together. Everything has been out in the open. I've said nothing in secret. So why are you treating me like a conspirator? Question those who have been listening to me. They know well what I have said. My teachings have all been aboveboard."

22When he said this, one of the policemen standing there slapped Jesus across the face, saying, "How dare you speak to the Chief Priest like that!"

23Jesus replied, "If I've said something wrong, prove it. But if I've spoken the plain truth, why this slapping around?"

24Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to the Chief Priest Caiaphas.

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Our desire to tie up Jesus has been causing us problems since this event. We want to tame him, have him close by and able to fix our problems. We want Jesus under our control, so he will bless our actions and not push us any farther than we are willing to go.

We cannot bind up Jesus in our desires to live free of the demands of Christianity. If we live according to a Scripture that doesn't continue to challenge the way we live and think, the way we spend our time as well as our money, then we are trying to tie up Jesus. If we live in constant prayer, with an attitude of constant worship, and a constant awareness of the love of God that calls us to be Christians in every time and place, then we are allowing Jesus to be free in our lives, pushing and challenging us, while always loving us more than we can ever imagine.

Blessings

John 18:1-11

1 Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples entered it.

2-4Judas, his betrayer, knew the place because Jesus and his disciples went there often. So Judas led the way to the garden, and the Roman soldiers and police sent by the high priests and Pharisees followed. They arrived there with lanterns and torches and swords. Jesus, knowing by now everything that was coming down on him, went out and met them. He said, "Who are you after?"

They answered, "Jesus the Nazarene."

5-6He said, "That's me." The soldiers recoiled, totally taken aback. Judas, his betrayer, stood out like a sore thumb.

7Jesus asked again, "Who are you after?"

They answered, "Jesus the Nazarene."

8-9"I told you," said Jesus, "that's me. I'm the one. So if it's me you're after, let these others go." (This validated the words in his prayer, "I didn't lose one of those you gave.")

10Just then Simon Peter, who was carrying a sword, pulled it from its sheath and struck the Chief Priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. Malchus was the servant's name.

11Jesus ordered Peter, "Put back your sword. Do you think for a minute I'm not going to drink this cup the Father gave me?"

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Weep for a moment. Stop and let the tears fall for the Son of God; here we stood, before the purest gift that has ever been given. Here we were, before God incarnate, glimpsing through the holes of heaven into the eternal and trying desperately to understand what it means that God has come to us, and we betrayed him, turned him over, for being too different than what we expected. Weep for a moment. Let the tears fall for humanity, who didn't recognize a Savior and when it did, didn't want it. Those few who did ran for safety, but most were so opposed they stormed into the garden, ready to put an end to the Savior they didn't want, who gave them a glimpse into a life they weren't ready for. Weep for a moment, and as the ground grows damp with our tears of sorrow, weep with joy, for in spite of all of this, inspire of our best efforts to kill Jesus of Nazareth, we are saved by His blood today.

Blessings

John 17:13-26

13-19Now I'm returning to you.
I'm saying these things in the world's hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn't join the world's ways,
Just as I didn't join the world's ways.
I'm not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I'm consecrating myself for their sakes
So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.

20-23I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.

24-26Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.

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This is a prayer of a God who aches for us, who longs to be near us, with us in our midst. When we talk about our God, we don't have to point high into the heavens; we can point to the cross, and to this prayer, and say that, yes, our God loves us so strongly that God comes to us, holds us and sustains us, loves us beyond measure, treasures us each and every day, prays for us, cries with us, laughs with us. Our God loves deeper than the ocean and higher than the highest mountains. God created us out of joy (Can you hear God's excitement: "It is good!") and sustains us out of joy (Can you hear God's joy: "The same glory you gave me, I gave them") and promises to be with us forever (Our God is joyful: "So they might be one heart and mind with us"). Indeed, we proclaim Good News of great joy in our God!

Blessings

John 17:1-12

1-5 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
Father, it's time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.

6-12I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world;
They'll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

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What were you thankful for this past weekend? What are you thankful for right now? I hope that one of the things you are thankful for is the prayers of Jesus Christ. He hasn't forgotten you. He hasn't abandoned you. He still prays for you. He still aches when you ache. He still celebrates when you are glad. He still longs to hear your voice directed towards him in prayer, in conversation. He loves you and wants you to be faithful to the Scriptures, for Christ knows the only way we can be fulfilled, the only way we can live up to our potential is to recognize how dependent we are on God and live like created beings, faithful to our Creator. Christ wants this for you, prays for this for you, works with the Holy Spirit to guide you so this might be true. Christ loves you more deeply than you can imagine. It's a wonderful thing to be thankful for.

Blessings