Trust Christ in crises

Big Idea: We who serve Christ pledge to walk according to, and to pray expectantly for, God’s faithful kindness.

1.      A snitch brings a Jesus-seeking squad

2.      A fighter foolishly seeks some control

3.      The Christ Jesus keeps His Father’s gifts

One of the most iconic mountains in the world is Mount Fuji in Japan.

My family and I went there last year, and it was great to see this incredible mountain on a Sunny Day.

This photo was taken in Owakudani (大涌谷) in Hakone.

That whole area is an active volcanic zone with sulfurous fumes and hot springs.

That’s a great place to visit!

However, Mount Fuji is still an active volcano, and it’s impossible to predict when the next eruption will be.

To prepare its people for the possibility of an eruption, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government produced an AI depiction of what a Fuji eruption would look like.

It showed that the ash from the volcano would come to Tokyo in about 2 hours.

It also showed what people need to do if the eruption does occur.

They don’t know when it’s going to happen, but they’re preparing their people for the day if it does come.

While we don’t have a volcano eruption to worry about, we all have our own crises that we face time to time.

One Crisis that Christians often face during their crises is the crisis of faith.

For the non-believer, who do not believe in God, they might just think about how the crisis might affect them in the here and now.

But for the discerning believer, who believe in God, we know that there is a God who is in charge of all things.

When we ask God’s role in our crisis, we often have a crisis of faith.

How can God let that happen?

As crises will happen in our life from time to time, crises of faith will also happen from time to time.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has a plan for a potential Fuji Eruption crisis, do we have a plan for a potential Faith Explosion crisis?

How do we prepare for our next crisis of faith?

That’s what we’re going to look at in today’s Bible passage.

If you have your Bible there, please open up to John chapter 18, beginning from verse 1.

For the past few years we’ve been going through the Gospel of John.

God willing, we’ll finish it later this year.

In today’s passage, we’ll see three things:

1.    A snitch brings a Jesus-seeking squad

2.    A fighter foolishly seeks some control

3.    The Christ Jesus keeps His Father’s gifts

Before we look into it, let’s pray, “Father, you are our Rock and our Strength. We pray that you will take away the worries and the busyness of our lives, that so easily distract. By your Holy Spirit, please open our hearts as we listen to your voice and as you guide us home. We pray that we will remain in Jesus, who remains with us through the storm and who teaches us by his Holy Spirit even now, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

1.   A snitch brings a Jesus-seeking squad

In John chapter 18, we see what happened on the night before Jesus died on the cross.

Please open up your Bible with me to John chapter 18, verse 1, “After  Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.”

Jesus and his disciples just had the Passover meal as recorded in John chapters thirteen and fourteen.

Jesus then told them to leave that place.

Where did they go?

They went to the garden across from the Kidron Valley.

We know from the other gospel accounts that the Garden is the Garden of Gethsemane, where there were many olive trees.

In fact, there are still many olive trees there today.

Here’s a photo of it when Jenny and I visited Israel quite a few years ago.

Just before he started teaching the disciples all these things, before they went to the garden, while they were still having supper, Jesus shared some horrible news.

One of them would betray Jesus; one of them would be a snitch. 

A snitch is someone who gives information about others, often to authorities, to the harm of the person they talked about.

For example, when you play hide and seek, the person seeking has to find all those who are hiding.

Someone who is a snitch would be someone who was already caught.

Rather than staying silent, he or she would tell the person doing the seeking where the other people are hiding.

You do not want friends who are snitches!

And you do not want disciples who are snitches either!

But that’s exactly who Judas was. He was a snitch!

Look with me at chapter 8, verse 2-3, “Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials  from the chief priests and the Pharisees  and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.”

Judas took a company of soldiers, which would have been at least 200 men, possibly even up to 600.

Among these were officials, most likely Temple Police, from the chief priests and Pharisees.

The chief priests and the Pharisees sent their officials to arrest Jesus by the hands of the Roman soldiers and Judas the betrayer.

In most situations, a person would be surprised, terrified even.

Imagine you are in Jesus’ position, looking at Judas, your disciple, your friend, coming towards you and kissing you not because he cared, but to identify you as the mob’s target.

It would feel like checkmate, would it not?

It would feel like it’s game over. A KO (knockout).

However, instead of running away, instead of fleeing, Jesus went out to them. Jesus wasn’t cornered; he wasn’t outplayed.

Jesus knew exactly what was happening as well as what was about to happen. While it looked like a complete crisis on the surface level, Jesus was in total control.

And so, he asked them a question, “Who is it you’re seeking?”

They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth”.

Jesus then replied, “I am”.

That seemed like a fairly simple and straightforward answer.

You can’t get much simpler than this: I am.

But when Jesus spoke these words, they stepped back and fell to the ground.

The phrase “I am” has been used simply as a way to identify yourself.

It’s like saying, “Peter, are you here?” “I am”.

But throughout the Bible, the phrase “I am” is rich with meaning.

When God revealed himself to Moses, and Moses asked God what name he should use to describe God, God himself said, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14).

God calls himself “I Am”.

When the Pharisees were questioning who the father of Jesus was, and they made a reference to Abraham, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

The Pharisees immediately understood Jesus’ reference.

Jesus was referring to himself as equal to God, the Great I am.

Who is Jesus? Yes, he’s the Jesus of Nazareth, but He’s also the Great I am.

Jesus has said that he was the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Jesus is the Great I am!

It was true that they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth, but they were unknowingly seeking the Great I am, not to bow down and worship him, but to capture him.

They were seeking to capture God!

Suddenly, the size and their weapons didn’t seem that threatening at all!

Jesus merely identified himself, and they fell back on the ground.

The terrifying crisis suddenly shrank to the size of pin in the presence of Christ Jesus.

When a crisis comes into our lives, we can feel so overwhelmed, can’t we?

It may be a physical condition that we suddenly find ourselves in, be it an accident or a disease.

We could be well one day and find ourselves unable to get out of bed the next.

Or it may be a financial situation that we landed in, and we have to say goodbye to our dreams because we can’t afford them.

Or it may be a close friend who betrayed your trust, selling you out for their own gain.

However, as much as we want to avoid crises, they are inevitable in our lives.

Of course, there’s much wisdom in being careful and avoiding unnecessary risks where possible, but as sinners living in a fallen world, we will face crises in our lives, no matter how hard we try to avoid them.

When we do face crises, we must remember we’re not facing them on our own, but with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like the crisis that is the combo of Judas, the mob and the temple policemen, not one of the crises we are facing right now is ever a credible threat to our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is not one crisis we face that will take Jesus by surprise.

Mere words of Jesus are enough to conquer any crisis that comes our way.

As Martin Luther puts it so well in his hymn, A Mighty Fortress is our God, “One little word shall fell him”.

One little word shall fell Satan, and that little word is the name Jesus.

When, not if, crises come, see the crises as they truly are.

They might be big, impactful and costly, but they all fall away at the name of Jesus.

Jesus has the power to take them away at any time.

If they’re still there, it’s only because he allowed them to.

And so, don’t be a stitch and abandon Jesus.

Trust him to take you through it.

He’s in full control, he loves you fully and he knows exactly what he’s doing.

What more could you possibly want?

2.   A fighter foolishly seeks some control

Even after they had shown themselves to be no threat to Jesus, the mob got up on their feet.

Look with me at verses seven to eight, “hen he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

 “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.”

There was no way these men could’ve stopped Jesus if Jesus had chosen to resist them.

But instead of resisting, Jesus chose to give himself up so that none of his disciples would be taken away with him.

He did this to fulfil what he said earlier.

Verse nine, “This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”

Jesus gave himself up to protect his disciples.

However, one of these disciples, Simon Peter, decided that he was not going to take this lying down.

He was going to fight for it.

Look with me at verse ten, “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)”

He was aiming for the head, but he missed and got the ear instead.

The head wasn’t the only thing Peter didn’t get.

Peter didn’t get why Jesus would give himself up so easily.

He’s been following Jesus a long time, and he’s seen Jesus did some amazing miracles. He’s seen Jesus walking on water, he’s Jesus calmed the storm and he’s even seen dead people raised to life again. Peter’s seen a mob of people fall backward at Jesus’ words; they were no match for Jesus.

He couldn’t understand why Jesus would choose to look like a loser, not realising that Jesus was in absolute control the whole time.

Instead, Peter decided to take matters into his own hands.

He foolishly thought that Jesus wasn’t in control, and so he wanted to take control instead.

Over the past two weeks, we’ve updated our fire extinguishers around the Church. For all the KOGKids (and their parents too!), let’s see if you can see where the new fire extinguishers are.

As they were installing the fire extinguishers, the fire safety people reminded me of the importance of using the right fire extinguisher for the right fire.

For example, when there’s a fire, we might just instinctively grab the first fire extinguisher we can find.

However, if the fire was started by an electric fault, don’t use a fire extinguisher that uses water.

Why? Because water conducts electricity, using water to put out the fire will make it even more dangerous.

As well as getting burned, you might get electrocuted!

In a sense, that’s what Peter was doing.

He thought that Jesus wasn’t in control, perhaps he even thought that God wasn’t in control, and so he instinctively thought he’d better take over.

Even though Jesus had just given up himself to save the disciples, including Peter, Peter didn’t want to go along with Jesus’ plan.

Peter was going to take the whole mob on, with his little dagger, all by himself.

What did he achieve? He wasn’t a great swordsman because he missed the head and cut off Malchus’ ear.

In the other gospel accounts, Jesus healed Malchus’ ear, and so Peter really achieved nothing.

But imagine if he did achieve what he had set out to do.

Imagine that he did manage to strike down and kill Malchus.

What next? He would have to fight the rest of the mob, who would almost certainly overpower him.

He, along with Jesus and the disciples, would be taken and all tried and convicted as terrorists.

Even if Peter did the unthinkable thing and overpowered the whole mob.

What next? He, along with Jesus and the rest of the disciples, would be fugitives, running for the rest of their lives.

Peter was a fool to try to take control instead of trusting Jesus, who was standing right there, who was actually in absolute control.

Listen to what Jesus says to Peter, in verse eleven, “At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

The path of suffering, the path of the cross, was the cup that God the Father had given Jesus to drink.

Through Jesus, God will save not just the disciples, but everyone who will now come to trust in Jesus.

Peter wasn’t helping Jesus at all; he was an obstacle to Jesus’ path to the cross.

We can be so much like Peter, can’t we?

When things seem out of control, we instinctively want to take control of our own lives.

When things don’t go as planned, we instinctively want to control the situation instead of asking if our will aligns with God’s will.

Now, I don’t mean to say that we necessarily want evil things to happen.

In fact, in almost all the conversations I have with people who struggle to trust God’s will, many give what they think are good reasons, wise-sounding reasons, for them not to trust in God’s will.

But that’s right there, is the problem, is it not?

We want to take control over things that we can’t control, even as we say that God is in control of everything.

If God’s in control of everything, and if we know that he’s good and loving, why won’t we trust in his control?

That was Peter’s problem, and it’s still the same problem for many of us today.

It’s the problem of us not trusting God enough, and so we start waving our own proverbial sword, trying to get rid of our problems, trying to fix our lives, even when Jesus is standing right there with us.

Instead of trusting Jesus, we trust ourselves instead.

Back in the 80’s and 90’s, there was a phenomenon in Churches called the Seeker Service.

Basically, it’s a gathering at Church that’s a lot lighter than the usual Sunday services.

There are a few modern songs, maybe a testimony, and a very short Bible talk.

It’s a service designed to make strangers feel comfortable at church.

And it makes so much sense!

People don’t like to listen to Bible talks, or sing hymns, and so we make our Church more accessible and more relevant to them.

To use the phrase back then, it was seeker sensitive.

However, that whole movement stalled after a while.

Why? Because it’s giving the people what they want instead of what God said they need.

They needed to hear why it’s good to trust in Jesus, despite not being in control of their lives.

They need to hear that following Jesus, denying ourselves and carrying our cross, is uncomfortable.

They need to hear that the Church is about Jesus and not about them.

Like Peter, I’m sure they had good intention to begin with – they wanted more people to come to Church.

However, without trusting Jesus’ lead, without praying and asking for his guidance, many, probably most, seeker churches ended up like Peter – an obstacle rather than a tool for Church growth.

Even though what Peter did was foolish, I’m glad that it was recorded in the Bible.

It’s a reminder for us to keep trusting in Jesus, even when life seems out of control.

It’s a reminder that not trusting the Lord Jesus is always foolish, even if you had good intentions to begin with.

3.   The Christ Jesus keeps His Father’s gifts

After Jesus told Peter to put his sword away, the company of soldiers arrested Jesus and tied him up.

They led him to Annas, Caiaphas’s father-in-law.

Annas had been a High Priest from Anno Domini (AD) 6 to AD 15.

However, in that year, Caiaphas was the High Priest.

John then reminded us, his readers, that this was the same Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.

Caiaphas was merely being politically pragmatic at that time.

He wanted Jesus to die so that his nation wouldn’t get into political turmoil.

However, God, in his infinite wisdom, turned that comment into a prophecy.

Yes, it was good for Jesus to die for the people, but not for political reasons.

Jesus died for those who had put their trust in him so that they would have eternal life.

Jesus’ sacrificial death for those who belong to him is seen as two gifts that God the Father has given to Jesus.

The first is not a gift in the sense of it being a present.

In fact, it was a gift that Jesus didn’t want to take from God the Father.

Look with me again at verse 11, “At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

 God has given Jesus the cup.

This is the cup of God’s wrath against sin; It is the cup of his fury (Isa 51:17).

This is the wrath that Jesus was going to experience on behalf of sinners like us, even though he himself had never sinned.

Jesus was determined to drink the bitter cup of God’s fury for us.

I said earlier that not one of the crises we face will be a threat to our Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s true, but only because Jesus has faced the greatest crisis that we were originally meant to face.

There is one crisis that has rocked Jesus to his core, and it’s the crisis of facing God’s wrath.

This was by far the most terrifying crisis for Jesus to face because he was facing the full fury of God’s wrath against the sins of the world.

That’s what we deserved, but Jesus took God’s fury for those of us who trust in him.

This is how much Jesus loves us.

He drank the bitter cup that God the Father has given him to drink, so that we don’t have to drink it.

That’s the first thing, first gift, that God gives to Jesus.

Second, God gives Jesus’ own to Jesus.

Jesus’ said, “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”  

We, the Church, are those who have been saved by Jesus.

We are gifts from God the Father to God the Son.

We are precious to God the Father the Giver, and we are precious to God the Son the Receiver.

It’s as if God the Father had made each one of us for His Son, and he carefully passed us to Jesus, who has promised not to lose one of those whom the Father has given him.

Even though He’s not mentioned in this passage, we know from earlier chapters of the Gospel of John that God the Father and God the Son have sent the Holy Spirit to us, to live inside of us.

This is our God.

God the Father gives us to God the Son, who gives us His Holy Spirit.

Tell me, if God so loved us, what crisis can separate us from the love of God?

This is what the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 verses 35-39, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction  or distress or persecution  or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36  As it is written:

            Because of you

            we are being put to death all day long;  

            we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.  

Romans 8:37    No, in all these things we are more than conquerors  through him who loved us.  38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,  nor angels nor rulers,  nor things present nor things to come,  nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God  that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Crises of faith will come to us in different parts of our lives.

Whether you’re a young Christian or old, there will be times when your faith will be challenged, when you will wonder whether God is really in control or not.

When those times come, remember that the Lord Jesus is faithful.

He has faithfully drunk the bitter cup of God’s fury, and he will faithfully keep us in his hands, not losing any one of those whom God the Father has given him.

How do we prepare for our next crisis of faith?

Before the next crisis of faith comes, we make it our ambition, our goal, to trust in Jesus, no matter what.

Don’t wait until the crisis comes before you put your trust in Jesus.

Trust in him now, whether you’re doing your chores at home, or working through the accounts at work, or even as you talk to different people at church.

Trust in Jesus, follow his lead.

Don’t try your own thing without asking Him first.

He’s drunk the bitter cup of God’s wrath for you, he has taken the greatest crisis you would’ve otherwise faced.

You can trust him to carry you through any other crises you face in life.

Don’t snitch, fight or flee when crises come, for Christ Jesus has drunk the Father’s cup and will keep his Father’s gifts.

Here are three questions for us to think about:

1.    Can you think of a time when your faith in Jesus was tested? If you are still trusting Jesus, how did you get through it?

2.    What is the difference between trying to take control of a crisis by ourselves and trusting the Lore Jesus through it?

3.    How does the fact that Jesus’ determination not to lose those whom the Father has given him give you:

a.    Comfort?

b.    Caution?

Friends, don’t snitch, fight or flee when crises come, for Christ Jesus has drunk the Father’s cup and will keep his Father’s gifts.

Let’s pray, “Father, thank you for giving us your Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, thank you for drinking the bitter cup for people like us. Thank you that it’s you who keep us to the very end. Even so, Lord, keep me close to you. When crises come, let me run to you.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,prone to leave the God I love;here’s my heart; O take and seal it;seal it for thy courts above.

Amen.”