Great Presence of Mind • John 18:1-26

Teaching begins 21:24

Notes

When you see Jesus being arrested and tried and crucified you marvel at His presence of mind. That is the only word for it.

It means self-control so maintained in an emergency or embarrassing situation, that one can say or do the right thing. That’s the best word for it. Jesus has presence of mind here in these next chapters of John.

When you see Peter during this same time you see him making mistake after mistake. He wants to follow Jesus with all his heart, but that’s not enough and he is intimidated and crumbles in fear.

How is it that Jesus stays calm throughout and Peter flops like a dying fish? Well, you say, He is Jesus! He is the Son of God! He’s super competent!

But really this takes us back to John 17. Everything Jesus prayed for us is demonstrated in His relationship with the Father. He has the love of the Father in Him. He commits His life to the care of the Father.

To have the presence of mind of Jesus we are to have the love of the Father in us, and Jesus in us.

We are reading in John chapter 18.

1. Jesus is betrayed and arrested, yet shows great presence of mind.

A. Jesus and the disciples have been on the way to the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had set a habit of meeting there often with His disciples so Judas would know where to find Him.
B. Judas shows us his real unbelief concerning Jesus.

1. One one hand he knows that Jesus is an amazing person. He arranges to have a cohort of Roman soldiers. That’s 600 soldiers. Plus temple officers, plus Pharisees. All this to arrest one man! Superiority of numbers means we ought to be able to pull this off, hopes Judas.

2. What Judas doesn’t believe is that this one person is really the Son of God. All those miracles he saw, calming a storm, healing the sick, casting out a legion of demons, raising the dead, knowing the thoughts of men. They prove that Jesus is from God the Father.

3. So Judas leads a cohort of soldiers to arrest Jesus. That shows some understanding, but complete unbelief that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.

C. Look at the presence of mind Jesus shows.

1. He knows all things that will come upon Him. Arrest, trial, scourging, mocking, crucifixion. This is the end of His life.

2. Yet He goes forth in complete presence of mind to give Himself up voluntarily. If He didn’t want to nobody could make Him do it.

D. Jesus acts to save His disciples as He gives Himself up.

1. They could all be arrested, all charged, all killed, but Jesus said to the Father, of all those whom You have given Me not one is missing. His word must be fulfilled because He is God!

2. So He asks who are they looking for. They say, Jesus of Nazareth. Official tone of voice. Cool, businesslike. “Do not fuss with me” tone of voice.

3. Jesus says, “I am He.” And that pushes all 600- plus men backwards to the ground. “Who are you looking for?” He says.

4. Different tone of voice, this time. “Jesus of Nazareth, Sir.”

5. Jesus says, “I told you that I am He. If you seek Me, let these go their way.” The gentlemen getting up off the ground figure that’s a reasonable idea.

E. So at His arrest Jesus is thinking of His disciples and is protecting them. That takes great presence of mind.

F. Peter almost messes that up by cutting off Malchus’ ear! We know from Luke 22 that Jesus heals Malchus’ ear and calms everything down. Presence of mind.

G. But this last word to Peter shows where that great presence of mind comes from: The cup that the Father gives Me, shall I not drink it?

1. This is from the Father. It’s not from Judas, not from the Romans, not from the high priests or the Pharisees. He alone is Lord in My life.

2. This is the Father’s will for My life. I delight to do His will. I know that His will is everlasting life. That the world may know that I love the Father, even so I do. And He commits His life into the Father’s hands.

2. Now, both Jesus and Peter experience tremendous intimidation. We’ll look at Jesus first.

A. Jesus is arrested and bound like a dangerous criminal. There’s the appearance of having done something wrong. It looks like you’re guilty already. It’s intimidating and humiliating.

B. But then Jesus is standing in front of Annas. Annas is the kingpin of Jerusalem.

1. He is called high priest, but he currently is not. He was made high priest in the year 7 A.D. and was deposed by the Roman governor in 15 A.D. Now it’s 33 A.D. and he hasn’t been high priest for 18 years but they still call him high priest. Five of his sons became high priest, and also his son-in-law Caiaphas. He is the power behind them all. He is the unofficial head of the Sanhedrin.

2. He is also the power behind the temple market where everyone buys temple approved sacrifices and changes currency into temple-acceptable currency. He is very wealthy. When Jesus kicked out the sellers and money-changers in the temple that was Annas’ operation.

C. So there is the power behind everything in Jerusalem, very rich, and he begins asking Jesus, “So, tell me about Your disciples. Tell me about Your teaching.” The strategy is to get Jesus talking and twist everything He says and hand Him over to the Roman governor.

D. Jesus has great presence of mind and doesn’t accommodate Annas at all.

1. I’ve spoken openly. There’s no need for Me to speak. Let’s get witnesses.

2. What they will say is that Jesus has never spoken anything except against the evil and corruption of the Sadducees, that’s Annas, and the Pharisees. Last Tuesday Jesus publicly turned all their trap questions back on them so that they were afraid to ask Him any more questions. So, let’s get witnesses.

E. But then the officer slaps Jesus. Is that how You talk to the high priest? Physically abusive, trying to put Jesus in His place. How dare You not respect the high priest. Who do You think You are?

F. Jesus shows great presence of mind and turns the tables on the officer.

1. Let’s just say I spoke wrongly. Now prove it.

2. If I spoke rightly, why did you slap Me?

3. Jesus has just proven to the officer, you’re wrong and we both know it.

4. Jesus has never been slapped in His life. And a slap in the face is painful and humiliating. But Jesus keeps His cool and proves the officer is wrong. That is presence of mind.

G. Annas doesn’t want to deal with Jesus anymore. It might be that he realises this is more than he can handle. Let Caiaphas work on Him.

H. Jesus has resisted intimidation from being betrayed, arrested, and interrogated. He says and does what is right despite being provoked to do wrong. He has presence of mind and keeps Himself.

3. Peter also faces intimidation and is overcome.

A. Peter has already done the wrong thing in the garden. Jesus had to fix it or else Peter might have gotten all the disciples killed.

B. Now in verse 15 Peter and John are following Jesus right into Annas’ palace.

1. You notice John goes in without a problem. He is known to Annas personally, and so to Annas’ slaves and officials. They recognise him. You can go in.

2. Peter doesn’t get in. John has to go back and say, he’s with me, please let him in. That’s pretty intimidating, to be unrecognised when your friend is recognised.

C. Then comes a shock. The slave-girl at the door says, “You’re not one of that guy’s disciples, too, are you?” Evidently she knows John is a disciple of Jesus. Peter is with John, so if they hang together maybe they are both disciples, too. But Peter says, nah, I’m not. He’s intimidated already. What if he had said, yes, I am? It might have gone badly for him. He wanted to avoid that. Never mind John.

D. So now they are warming themselves by a fire with the same guys that were in the crowd that arrested Jesus. They ask the same question: You’re not one of that guy’s disciples, too, are ya? Peter says, no!

E. But then Malchus’ relative says, didn’t I see you in the garden with Him? Total shock. Peter is already shaken up and nervous. This destroys his composure. He denies it again, he curses and swears.

F. And then the rooster crows. Peter, before the rooster crows you will deny Me three times. Peter goes out and weeps bitterly. He has no composure, no presence of mind. He fails miserably to follow Jesus.

G. What happened?

1. Strike one: Peter was depending on himself. That’s natural. That’s all we know how to do. He did not think he would deny Jesus, even when Jesus said you will do this.

2. So that was strike two. He didn’t believe Jesus. He didn’t say, wow, this could happen to me! He said, this is never going to happen.

3. Strike three was he had a chance to pray and prepare his evening. Jesus did! He prayed for three hours. He told His disciples to pray and they fell asleep. They didn’t really grasp how important it was to pray, even when they see Jesus falling on His face and praying.

4. All of these mistakes came from Peter having a higher opinion of himself than he really was. Peter wiped out because of pride.

4. So what?

A. We all wish we could have presence of mind like Jesus, but more often we have no composure like Peter. We react to situations in fear. We fail miserably to follow Jesus. Ultimately it’s because of pride. We think we’re better than we really are. Then we rely upon our own understanding. Then we get afraid, then we wipe out.

B. If we say we are going to imitate Jesus — how do we even start? We are never going to push back 600 soldiers at once.

C. Why is Jesus so confident, so calm and collected? This takes us back to John 17:25-26. “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

1. Jesus completely knows the Father. He knows the love of the Father through all eternity, full, complete, the delight of the Father to love Him with all His heart, all His soul, all His mind, all His strength.

2. Jesus believes that love of the Father. The Father will never cease to love Him. He is faithful, unchanging. That’s His stability.

3. Jesus is humble. He is aware of the Father and is depending upon Him. He is submitted to Him. Whatever the Father has for Him, He receives it, accepts it. It’s from the Father ultimately, not men.

4. The proof that Jesus depends on the father is, He prays. He prays for three hours if He has to. To have that presence of the Father is everything to Him.

D. We can’t be Jesus. But we are to have the love of the Father in us, and Jesus Himself in us.

1. Jesus is making known to us the love of the Father. It’s something we grow in, more and more realising that God loves me supremely. I know that because the Father so loved me He sent Jesus to die in my place to save me. That’s so the love of the Father for Jesus may be in me. He loves me the same as His beloved Son.

2. And Jesus Himself is to live in us. His life, His mind, His love and His zeal and His desire for the Father.

3. Do you not know that Christ is in you? Is He in you? Have you received Jesus? If you have you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.

E. When you are going into a place where you are intimidated why not pray? You have time in order to prepare that time so you do it with the Father. Ask the Father to fill you with His Holy Spirit. With your employer? Or your husband, or your wife? Some official? Pray, please fill me with Your love! Fill me with Jesus! Help me to love this poor guy, this poor person! Please give me Your presence, that I might have presence of mind.

G. Then settle it in your mind: Only the Father is in charge of your life. Not your boss or your colleague, or that minor official. Maybe you have to drink a bitter cup, but that cup comes from the Father. That’s His plan for my life. Shall I not drink it? We can pray, Father, please make this work this out for good.

And He will.

Let’s pray.