Uncle Steve
Member
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2007
- Messages
- 35
“I told you that I am He, “ Jesus answered. “If you are looking for Me, then let these men go.”- John 18:8
Jesus is showing that He is the One in control once again. He basically tells the crowd to let His disciples go. He is not asking. He is telling them to release His disciples. They ended up doing this. This not only shows the control of Jesus in this situation, but it helps us see the character and heart of Jesus as well.
Jesus was always concerned about others before He was concerned about Himself. His coming to the earth shows this beyond any doubt, but many of Jesus actions show this as well. This is one of those times.
Jesus is facing what He knows will be a very difficult experience. He knows that He is about to undergo and lengthy trial and He is going to be ridiculed and harassed non stop for hours. He is then going to be beaten and ridiculed some more. He is then going to be crucified and separated from His Father on the cross when He becomes sin. He had plenty to be thinking about and to be concerned about, but He went beyond just thinking of Himself.
Jesus in the midst of all of this thought of His disciples and the continuation of the gospel. He was not going to loose any of those that were His except Judas who was never really saved in the first place. The message had to be proclaimed so the disciples had to survive. It would accomplish very little for them to go on trial and be killed with Jesus. Jesus knew this and so He told the crowd to let His followers go.
We know that two later followed Him and were outside at His trial, but they to were spared arrest. The heart of Christ was to look out for those that were in need even when He was in greater need. We see this when He was on the cross as well, when He looked at John and said that Mary would now be his mother and looked and Mary and said that John would be her son. He was looking out for the two of them, even when He was in His greatest agony and suffering.
We would do well to learn from Christ in this aspect of His life as well. We are a very selfish and self-centered society. We have even become selfish and self-centered in the church. We are all about the blessings we can get and the good the church and God can do for us.
We have forgotten that our Lord said that He came to serve and not to be served. We have forgotten that Jesus always was concerned about others even when He was in greater suffering than they were. We need to look beyond the blessing we can get and try to see the blessing we can be.
Jesus was always seeking ways to reach out to others and to help them. We as His followers need to do the same. We need to do this even for those that betray us.
Jesus knew that these same men would all desert Him soon for a time and yet He was concerned about them and their well being. Even Peter who followed would deny Him three times as Christ Himself had predicted and yet Jesus was concerned about him.
Jesus didn’t just reach out to those who deserved it and to those that would do Him good. He reached out and helped those that had done nothing to merit it and who might in a moment turn on Him. Jesus had a heart to love and help others in whatever circumstance. Of course His heart was to do the will of God above all else and the gospel had to go on. Yes, He was going to win salvation for us all, but the disciples would be the witnesses of that in the years to come. Jesus was looking beyond the now to the future.
Jesus is showing that He is the One in control once again. He basically tells the crowd to let His disciples go. He is not asking. He is telling them to release His disciples. They ended up doing this. This not only shows the control of Jesus in this situation, but it helps us see the character and heart of Jesus as well.
Jesus was always concerned about others before He was concerned about Himself. His coming to the earth shows this beyond any doubt, but many of Jesus actions show this as well. This is one of those times.
Jesus is facing what He knows will be a very difficult experience. He knows that He is about to undergo and lengthy trial and He is going to be ridiculed and harassed non stop for hours. He is then going to be beaten and ridiculed some more. He is then going to be crucified and separated from His Father on the cross when He becomes sin. He had plenty to be thinking about and to be concerned about, but He went beyond just thinking of Himself.
Jesus in the midst of all of this thought of His disciples and the continuation of the gospel. He was not going to loose any of those that were His except Judas who was never really saved in the first place. The message had to be proclaimed so the disciples had to survive. It would accomplish very little for them to go on trial and be killed with Jesus. Jesus knew this and so He told the crowd to let His followers go.
We know that two later followed Him and were outside at His trial, but they to were spared arrest. The heart of Christ was to look out for those that were in need even when He was in greater need. We see this when He was on the cross as well, when He looked at John and said that Mary would now be his mother and looked and Mary and said that John would be her son. He was looking out for the two of them, even when He was in His greatest agony and suffering.
We would do well to learn from Christ in this aspect of His life as well. We are a very selfish and self-centered society. We have even become selfish and self-centered in the church. We are all about the blessings we can get and the good the church and God can do for us.
We have forgotten that our Lord said that He came to serve and not to be served. We have forgotten that Jesus always was concerned about others even when He was in greater suffering than they were. We need to look beyond the blessing we can get and try to see the blessing we can be.
Jesus was always seeking ways to reach out to others and to help them. We as His followers need to do the same. We need to do this even for those that betray us.
Jesus knew that these same men would all desert Him soon for a time and yet He was concerned about them and their well being. Even Peter who followed would deny Him three times as Christ Himself had predicted and yet Jesus was concerned about him.
Jesus didn’t just reach out to those who deserved it and to those that would do Him good. He reached out and helped those that had done nothing to merit it and who might in a moment turn on Him. Jesus had a heart to love and help others in whatever circumstance. Of course His heart was to do the will of God above all else and the gospel had to go on. Yes, He was going to win salvation for us all, but the disciples would be the witnesses of that in the years to come. Jesus was looking beyond the now to the future.
