John 18:1-14 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden… They bound Him only as to His hands, for they led — not carried, nor dragged — Him to the high priest. Those hands were the hands indeed of the Nazarene that had held the hammer and the chisel and the plane; but they were also the hands of the Christ that had been laid upon the sick to heal them; that had touched the bier on which the widow's son was being borne to his burial; that had taken hold upon the hand of Jairius's daughter and raised her to life; that had been laid upon the eyes of the blind to impart sight to them; that had touched the tongue of the dumb and restored to it its speech; that had blessed little children; that, but even now had been placed upon the wound of an enemy to heal it; that this very day should be nailed for their advantage to the bitter cross — hands full of mercy. Note — I. CHRIST'S VOLUNTARY REPRESSION OF POSSESSED POWER. His enemies had often sought to take Him. They had even had Him in their hands — had been about to east Him over the brow of the hill; but with perfect ease He had passed through the midst of them and escaped. One word from His lips had just driven them back affrighted. One petition breathed in the ear of the Father would have brought to His aid "more than twelve legions of angels." These bound hands, then, teach the hollowness of the sentiment that "self-preservation is the first law of life." Self-renunciation is life's supreme law. Jesus saw before Him enemies. His law was, Love your enemies; and the law of His lips was the law of His life. He knew that hostility was conquerable, not by might, but by love. And so He offered no hindrance. Like the mighty Judge of Israel, He could without effort have snapped the cords that held Him. He would not. These His enemies were ignorantly the ministers of His to do His service, binding the sacrifice with cords, by whose death the world was to have life. II. THE PERMITTED TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS TEMPORARY AND BUT THE OPENING OF THE DOOR FOR A WIDER GOOD. 1. The triumph of the enemies of Christ seemed complete. Little thought this rabble, as they clamoured for the death of this prisoner, that when those hands should be unbound to be nailed to the cross, there would be an eternal unbinding of that truth which was to plunge the sword into the heart of Judaism. The binding of those hands was the accumulation of power within them. The bound Jesus was mightier than the unbound. Hearts that have not been touched by the words that He spoke, are broken to see Him led as a lamb to the slaughter. 2. Looking out upon the woful evils which ravage earth — physical, intellectual, moral; diseases, superstitions, sins — one can scarce forbear to cry: Are the hands to which all power in heaven and on earth is committed still bound? But ever cometh the answer, "What I do thou knowest not now," &c. And "we trust that, somehow, good will be the final goal of ill." III. A MINORITY, WHILE SUBJECTED TO APPARENT DEFEAT, MAY CONTAIN THE PROMISE AND THE POTENCY OF VICTORY. The voice of a majority is not of necessity the voice of God. Mere might does not constitute right. There, in the Garden of Gethsemane, 1800 years since, stood One against a crowd — against the world. With Him there was one thing which was not with them: not merely the conviction — for doubtless they had their convictions, as have all majorities — but the absolute knowledge that He was in harmony with the will of God. They were clamorous for political expediency and for the rights of their religion; He was silent for love. Jesus proclaimed the truth throughout His public life, and stood to it there in the garden — One against many — that the basis, the only true basis of the social structure, is self-renouncing love. True, His was not an enviable position regarded humanwise. But one with God is not merely a majority, but victory; which is not measurable by immediate results, but by the fruitage of eternity. (N. W. Wells.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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