“A friend loves at all times” (Proverbs 17:17), even when he is on a cross. In the Garden, Jesus protected his disciples from being caught up in the fray. After all, he was not leading an insurrection against the Jewish nation or Roman rule. This was his job alone, which had to do with an entirely different kind of “kingdom.”
He healed the severed ear of Malchus (John 18:10; Luke 22:51). Was Malchus a lead attacker as servant of the high priest there at Caiaphas’ behest? He was close enough to the front of the action for Peter to attack him.
Read Essay →Resisting temptation is as much a part of life as “doing the right thing.” Jesus did not call the more than 60,000 angels available to him to disperse the mob in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:23). He could “even now” ask the Father to send them, having already prayed earnestly three times to the Father not to let him get crucified.
He did not use any personal powers to drive his attackers away. John 18:6 does indicate that “they drew back and fell to the ground” when he confirmed that he was the One they were looking for. Interesting!
Read Essay →Truth is reality, and grace identifies the kind of reality Messiah brought for us to embody. “Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Messiah” (John 1:17). The point is not that the Law was false but that it was not the real thing; it drew a picture of the real thing, approximated it, prepared for its real expression in us: relationship to God and each other based on grace.
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