John 18:7

Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. THEN ASKED HE THEM AGAIN, WHOM SEEK YE? - giving them a door of escape from the guilt of a deed which now they were able in some measure to understand. AND THEY SAID, JESUS OF NAZARETH. The stunning effect of His first answer wearing off, they think only of the necessity of executing their orders....

7._He therefore asked them again. _Hence it appears what is the powerful effect of that blindness with which God strikes the minds of wicked men, and how dreadful is their stupidity, when, by a just judgment of God, they have been bewitched by Satan. Oxen and asses, if they fall, are touched with some kind of feeling; but those men, after having had an open display of the divine power of Christ, proceed as fearlessly as if they had not perceived in him even the shadow of a man; nay, Judas himself remains unmoved. Let us learn, therefore, to fear the judgment of God, by which the reprobate, delivered into the hands of Satan, become more stupid than brute beasts. Nor can it be doubted that Satan hurried them on, with wild fury, to such a desperate hardihood; for there is no insanity that drives a man with such viohnee as this kind of blindness; Wicked men, after having been _given over to...

1-12 Sin began in the garden of Eden, there the curse was pronounced, there the Redeemer was promised; and in a garden that promised Seed entered into conflict with the old serpent. Christ was buried also in a garden. Let us, when we walk in our gardens, take occasion from thence to mediate on Christ's sufferings in a garden. Our Lord Jesus, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and asked, Whom seek ye? When the people would have forced him to a crown, he withdrew, ch. John 6:15, but when they came to force him to a cross, he offered himself; for he came into this world to suffer, and went to the other world to reign. He showed plainly what he could have done; when he struck them down he could have struck them dead, but he would not do so. It must have been the effect of Divine power, that the officers and soldiers let the disciples go away quietly, after the resistan...

EXPOSITION B. THE HOUR HAS COME. JOHN 18:1 John 19:42.—1. _The outer glorification of Christ in his Passion_. JOHN 18:1 (1) The _betrayal_,_ the majesty of his bearing_,_ accompanied by hints of the bitter cup_. JOHN 18:1 WHEN JESUS HAD SPOKEN THESE WORDS—_i.e._ had offered the prayer, and communed with his Father touching himself, his disciples, and his whole Church—he went forth

THEN ASKED HE THEM AGAIN, WHOM SEEK YE?.... This supposes them to be risen up again and on their feet; no hurt being done to them; for Christ always did good, and not hurt, to the bodies of men; he never disabled any, or took away life, or limb: he only did this to show his power, and not to do them any real damage; and the same divine person that struck them down, suffered them to rise, and gave them power and strength to get up; which showed his great clemency and goodness: but they, on the contrary, persisted in their wicked intentions, and were still seeking after him; a plain proof of that judicial hardness of heart, under which they were; and that even miracles wrought will not bring hardened sinners to repentance without powerful and efficacious grace. When Christ, as fearless of them, and to show that this action he had no design to make his escape them, though he could easily ha...

John 18:1. _When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place:_ He was familiar with the Master's place of retirement for private prayer and he had, doubtless, heard the Master pray there. Yes, and many a Judas knows the place where the saints meet for worship, and knows the communion table too, and knows some of the most hallowed gatherings of God's people where they pour out their hearts in private prayer; and the pity is that, knowing all that, too, the ancient Judas and the modern one do not savingly know the Master himself. John 18:2. _For Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples._ If ever any man might hav

III. “I LAY DOWN MY LIFE, THAT I MIGHT TAKE IT AGAIN.” Chapter s 18-21 CHAPTER 18 _ 1. The Arrest in the Garden. (John 18:1 .)_ 2. Before Annas and Caiaphas; Peter's Denial. (John 18:12 .) 3. Before Pilate. (John 18:28 .) 4. Not this Man, But Barabbas. (John 18:39 .) The hour of His suffering had now come. With His disciples He went across the brook Cedron into the garden. It is the Kidron mentioned frequently in Old Testament history. When David fled from his own son Absalom, he passed weeping over this brook. (2

JOHN 18 F. THE ARREST, THE TRIAL, AND THE PASSION. John 18:1. The Arrest. Jesus leaves the room, or the city, and crosses the Kedron (_cf._ 2 Samuel 15:23) to a garden where He often went, so that the place was known to Judas. Contrast the careful arrangements for secrecy in the preparation of the upper room. Judas guides hither Roman and Jewish soldiers. In Mk. Roman soldiers are not mentioned till after the condemnation. As the Jews represent Jesus-' influence over the people as a serious political danger, there is nothing improbable in the use of Roman troops to prevent disturbance at the arrest. The word used, _speira,_ is the usual description of the cohort, but it is also used more generally. Jesus, knowing what His action means, comes out from the garden or His place of retirement in

LET THESE GO THEIR WAY. After the guard had recovered from its sudden terror, perhaps wondering how it could have been so smitten to the earth, but still standing as if they did not know what to do, Jesus again asks whom they seek, and on their answer, repeats that he is the one they seek, adding the request that, if their object is to take him, they should lot his disciples go. In this hour his thoughts were not on himself, but concerning the safety of his followers. In their safety the Scripture would be fulfilled, his own words, uttered in his prayer (John 17:12). The present deliverance of the eleven would be the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise, and the same power that protected them now, would protect them to the end....

When Jesus had said these things he went out with his disciples across the Kedron Valley to a place where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered; and Judas, his betrayer, knew the place for Jesus often met with his disciples there. So Judas took a company of soldiers, together with officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, and went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus knew the things which were going to happen to him, so he came out and said: "Who are you looking for?" They answered: "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them: "I am he." And Judas, his betrayer, stood there with them. When he said to them: "I am he," they stepped back and fell on the ground. So Jesus again asked them: "Who are you looking for?" They said: "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said: "I told you that I am he. If it is I for whom you are looking, let these go, so that the word whic...