Moody Church Hour

Guest (Male): The legal proceedings against Jesus before he was crucified were rigged, as are many trials in our day. But ultimate justice was always in the hands of Jesus, who underwent betrayal that we might find freedom.

Today, the events that led to a dark night in the Garden of Gethsemane. There, he said, "Take me, let them go." He protected his disciples so that he might protect all who would ever believe in his name. Stay with us.

From Chicago, this is the Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller. Today, another in a long series of messages from the Gospel of John, a series we’re calling Loved by Jesus. Our focus: The Betrayed. Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford and executive pastor Bill Birch.

Pastor Philip Miller: Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Moody Church. We’re so grateful that you’ve joined us today as we join Jesus on one of the darkest nights in his life. As we’ve gone through the Gospel of John, we finally come to the evening when Jesus is betrayed, when he’s arrested, and when everything seems so dark. And yet Jesus is in full control, and he knows exactly what’s coming, and everything he’s doing is on purpose because he’s working for us redemption, our own salvation.

This is the night when everything began to go dark, but the light was just beginning to dawn. And so, as we gather, would you bow your heads and join me in prayer as we begin and give this service to the Lord? Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus’ courage, that he would go through the darkness for us to bring us light. And Father, help us to see his courage, see his bravery and tenacity, his willingness to suffer on our behalf because he’s our savior and he loves us. And that salvation could not have been accomplished in any other way.

And so, Father, help us to have Jesus’ courage as we look to him. Come and meet us and show us more of Christ. We pray this in his name. Amen. Amen.

Choir: (Singing)

Tim Stafford: Amen. Amen. He is so worthy, and that is why we are here to praise the Lord. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the fact that you are indeed worthy for all of the reasons that we just sang and for countless reasons more.

We are here to praise the Lord because you are indeed worthy. You are good, you are great, you are majestic. Be glorified in our lives in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Amen. Please be seated.

Choir: (Singing)

Tim Stafford: We worship you today this morning, Lord. We realize that we can hear our own mocking voices among those who mocked and betrayed Jesus. We were guilty; we were the guilty ones.

But you saved us. You raised him from the dead. We inherit all these things as sons of the King. We’re so grateful this morning. Teach us as we look to your Word now. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Thank you.

Pastor Philip Miller: Well, the board is set. The pieces are moving. The religious leaders have baited their snare. The traitor Judas is in their pocket, and darkness shrouds their sinister plot. And we come to it at last, the gathering storm is about to break, and Jesus steps out into the night. Grab your Bibles. We’re going to be in John chapter 18 today, looking at verses one down to 27. If you’d like to use the Bible in the rack by your knees, you’ll find today’s reading on 904.

In today’s passage, we will see John’s account of the betrayal, arrest, and preliminary interrogation of Jesus. You’ll recall that of the four Gospel writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—in the New Testament, John is writing the very latest. He’s writing at least some 20 to 25 years after the others are in circulation. So John is not supplying the story for us; that’s already been done. What he’s doing is supplementing the story. He’s sort of filling in the gaps, if you will.

This is especially relevant when we come now to this last night of Jesus because some of the moments in this evening are marked out for us by John in vivid, rich detail, and other things are surprisingly omitted and glossed over. And so, to get our bearings as we come to this passage and this night, this last night of Jesus, I want to look at this through three sets of lenses.

First, I want to use a wide-angle lens, and I want to see the sequence of the storm, how all of these events are unfolding and how they fit together as we look at all the different Gospels. Then I want to look with a normal lens, a standard lens. I want to look at John’s particular focus in this passage as we see the betrayal in the night.

And then finally, we’re going to zoom in. We’re going to get a telephoto lens, and we’re going to zoom all the way in and we’re going to see the heroism of Jesus up close and personal. So we’re going from wide angle all the way down to focus: the sequence of the storm, betrayal in the night, and the hero in the shadows. Would you bow your heads and pray with me as we open God’s Word together?

Heavenly Father, we ask now as we watch in almost like slow motion the events that we cannot stop—we know they must happen, these horrific moments in history, and it’s part of our story as well. And so Father, we pray that we would see our place in this story and that we would be drawn in worship, love, and admiration and praise of our beloved Jesus. We look to him. It’s in his name that we pray. Amen. Amen.

So first, let’s look at the sequence of the storm. All four Gospels report on the events that we see today, the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. You will find this in Matthew 26, in Mark 14, in Luke 22, and here in John 18. As John is supplementing this story, he omits some details that we’re accustomed to seeing in these events.

So, for example, John does not give us Jesus’ agony in prayer and his final surrender to the Father—"not my will, but yours be done." He simply doesn’t have it here. He also omits a famous detail that we know from all the paintings, and that is Judas’ traitorous kiss.

But John does include some details that we only get here; we don’t get them anywhere else. For example, that Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley on his way to the Garden of Gethsemane. John is the one who identifies Peter as the one who wielded the sword in the garden. John also gives us the name of the guy whose ear got cut off as Malchus.

It is John who reveals this preliminary interrogation by Annas, and it is also John who gives us the particular dialogue that took place between Pilate and Jesus when he is on trial there. Now following his betrayal and arrest, Jesus is going to face two different trials. One is a Jewish trial, and one is a Roman trial.

The Jews in the first century had a significant degree of political autonomy; they could govern themselves. But Rome reserved the exclusive right to capital punishment. So even though it is the Jewish leaders that Jesus is most in trouble with—they’re the ones who are most upset at Jesus—if he is to be executed, it will have to be a sentence that is carried out by Rome.

And so this leads us now, as John tells us in John 18, to the interrogation by Annas. This is a unique feature to the Gospel of John; he alone preserves this little bit, this interrogation. John calls Annas the high priest, which is more of an honorary title at this point. He was technically no longer high priest at this moment in time.

He served as high priest from AD 6 down to 15, and per Jewish law, the high priest appointment was supposed to be a lifetime appointment. But the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus had deposed him at the age of 36. Now fortunately for Annas, he had five sons and a son-in-law who served as high priest after him.

And so at this point in time, Joseph Caiaphas was the high priest in Israel, although Annas continued to wield substantial authority from behind the scenes as the patriarch of the family. After Annas’ interrogation, Jesus will be sent to Caiaphas, his son-in-law, for a trial before the Sanhedrin. And the Sanhedrin trial is recorded for us in Matthew 26, in Mark 14, and Luke 22.

The Sanhedrin was the ruling body who was in charge of Jewish internal affairs. It was traditionally made up of 70 elders and was presided over by the high priest himself. The charges that Jesus faces come down to basically two. The first charge is blasphemy. They claim that Jesus has blasphemed against God because he has claimed that he and the Father are one; he claims to be God.

The second charge is for false teaching, that he’s leading the people astray. So these are theological charges against Jesus. And Jesus’ guilt, you’ll notice in all of these passages, is a foregone conclusion. The religious leaders have staged this trial under the cover of darkness. They have bought and paid for their witnesses, and they will summarily condemn Jesus to death.

But because they cannot authorize capital punishment, they have to send him at dawn to the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. And then we see Pilate’s questioning. You’ll find this in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and here in John 18. Pilate’s job was relatively straightforward. He was to keep the peace and keep revenue coming into Rome. That was his job. So, as a result, he was charged with squashing any rebellions that might occur, and they happened from time to time.

So when the Jewish leaders bring Jesus to Pilate, they modify their charges. It’s very interesting. Their issue with Jesus up until this point has been theological, right? Blasphemy, false teaching. But now that they’re before Pilate, they shift the charges and they accuse Jesus of being an insurrectionist who was attempting to set himself up as a Jewish king as a rival in defiance of Rome. In other words, they accuse him of treason against Caesar. And so it’s a political charge before Pilate.

Now what’s interesting is in all of the accounts that we read, Pilate seems to smell a rat. He doesn’t think these charges are merited, but he also realizes he has a political mess on his hands. He doesn’t want to condemn an innocent man on one hand, but on the other side, he doesn’t want to offend the Jewish leaders, as that will likely turn into a disturbance of the peace during a major high holiday.

And Pilate doesn’t need this on his resume. So Pilate does his best to disentangle himself from this mess. When he realizes that Jesus is from Galilee, he thinks that might be my out because Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, is in town for the feast. He’s in Jerusalem.

And so Pilate then sends Jesus to him because this is Herod’s jurisdiction, right? And so we have the interrogation by Herod, which is recorded in Luke 23. Luke is the only one who records this interrogation. This is Herod Antipas, if you’ll recall; he’s the son of Herod the Great, who is the Herod we meet in the infancy stories of Jesus, who tries to kill Jesus then.

Pilate attempts to toss this political hot potato into Herod’s lap, and Herod tosses it right back at Pilate. And so then we get to Pilate’s verdict, which is recorded for us in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and also in John 18. All four of the Gospels record Pilate’s various attempts at avoiding the sentencing of Jesus, but how in the end he eventually caves to political pressure and authorizes Jesus’ crucifixion. And so that brings us now to the cross.

So that’s the sequence of the storm that is breaking over Jesus’ life over these chapters. And it all begins with this betrayal in the night. Let’s give our attention to John as he recounts the arrest of Jesus. John chapter 18, verse 1: "When Jesus had spoken these words," referring back to his big high priestly prayer of chapter 17, "he went out with his disciples across the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered."

"Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons." So Jesus and his disciples leave the upper room, they make their way through the city, they pass by the temple, they go through the Kidron Valley across the brook to the other side, rising up on the other side.

There’s a garden called Gethsemane. And Jesus is a frequent visitor of this spot, and Judas has anticipated that they will head there after supper. So Judas shows up with his band of soldiers. The word "band" here is a technical term that refers to a great host of battle-hardened Roman soldiers. They are joined by some officers, probably temple police, who are under the authority of the chief priests and the Pharisees.

So here they are; they show up heavily armed, ready to make quick work of this troublemaker. Now we have to ask the question: Why this show of force? Why this big show of force? It’s just 11 guys plus Jesus, 12 guys in the garden. I mean, what can they do? Well, it’s likely that the Jewish leaders are already posturing. They’re already setting things up. They ask for a Roman detachment of soldiers in order to signal in advance what a threat to Rome this Jesus is.

Verse 4: "Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?' They answered him, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus said to them, 'I am he.' Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. And when Jesus said to them, 'I am he,' they drew back and fell to the ground." So these soldiers are dispatched to subdue a dangerous insurrectionist.

They’re going to take down Jesus by force, and they’re prepped for a conflict, right? The adrenaline is pumping; they’re on high alert. They’re expecting an ambush from the bushes, from the shadows. And up walks this friendly and helpful guy. "Hey, can I help you? Do you need directions? Who are you looking for?"

And they’re like, "Get out of here! There’s a dangerous criminal on the loose! There’s a rebel in the bushes! Jesus of Nazareth." And he’s like, "I am he." And in shocked panic, they wheel around, reel back, bump into each other, trip over themselves, and fall to the ground.

At one level, this is quite ironic, isn’t it? Here are these battle-hardened Roman soldiers who accidentally let Jesus slip into their ranks, and when he finally identifies himself, they fall all over themselves, right? But I think there’s something more than sloppy soldiering going on here.

What you can’t tell in English is that the phrase "I am he" in Greek is *Ego Eimi*, "I am." "I am." Now it is fair to translate it "I am he," but it can also be simply translated "I am." And I would argue that given John’s theological attention to *Ego Eimi* throughout the book of John as a reference to the divine name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14—"I am who I am"—that it should be properly translated here, "I am."

Remember in John chapter 8, Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am," and they picked up stones to stone him because they knew what he meant, that he was claiming to be God. That’s the same phrase here, *Ego Eimi*. And I think the reason the soldiers stumble and fall is that Jesus is flexing just a little bit. He’s just flexing, just a little.

He’s showing just a hint of his true nature. He’s revealing just an ounce of his true power. He’s giving just a glimpse of his true glory. "I am. I am the one you are seeking, and I am who I am." And they tremble and quake in the presence of Almighty God. He flexes, and they fall, you see. Jesus shows just enough strength to show his disciples and us that he is in full command of the situation.

Not enough to overpower his opponents, but just enough that we know that everything that happens next is 100% voluntary. Verse 7: "So he asked them again, 'Whom do you seek?' And they said, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus answered, 'I told you that I am. So if you seek me, let these men go.'" This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: "Of those you gave me, I have lost no one, not one."

And just like that, friends, Jesus voluntarily surrenders himself. There’s no fight. There’s no flight. There’s no flinching. And Jesus gives himself up, and in doing so, he ensures his disciples’ safety. "I’m the one you want," he says. "Let them go." Now normally you would arrest all the followers, wouldn’t you? You don’t arrest just one criminal.

If you get the whole gang, you get them all, right? You arrest them all. But there’s something in Jesus’ peaceful surrender which wins their trust and protects his followers, just as he promised. Jesus is the good shepherd, remember, who lays down his life for the sheep in order that none of them might be lost.

But Peter—I love Peter—so oblivious to Jesus’ intent, springs into action. Look at this, verse 10: "Then Simon Peter, having a sword," of course he had a sword. Who brings a sword? Peter brings a sword. "Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, 'Put your sword in its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?'"

So Peter, I love this guy, he’s got a concealed carry, right? He’s concealed carried his dagger here, and despite being desperately outnumbered, he decides he’s going to go down with a fight, you know, down in a blaze of glory. And he has one shot, right? With a whole entourage, you get one shot, one blow. You get the surprise attack.

And he swings quickly, right? He swings either for the throat or for the head. He misses both and hits this guy’s ear, right? Malchus screams, the soldiers charge in, the bloody ear is flying through the air. And in all the chaos, Jesus takes command of the situation. "Put your sword in its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?"

Peter, this is not the hour to pour out judgment on these people. This is the hour when judgment is poured into my cup, into the cup the Father gave me, and I must drink it to the dregs. This is the cup of God’s wrath, of his judgment. If you were to look up in Psalm 60, verse 3, or Psalm 75, verse 8, or Isaiah 51:17 or verse 22 of Isaiah 51, or Jeremiah 25:15 and a few other places in the Old Testament, you will see the cup as connected with the wrath and judgment of God.

"Peter, put your sword away. I have to drink this cup. My Father gave it to me, and I will drink it to the dregs." Now Luke tells us that Jesus miraculously heals Malchus’s ear right then and there. He puts it right back on. That’s quite a day for Malchus, right? But nonetheless, they arrest Jesus. Verse 12: "So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him."

Notice, friends, Jesus is not subdued. He voluntarily gives himself up. No fight, just surrender. And in doing this, he protects his disciples. Now we see the interrogation, verse 13: "First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people."

So they take Jesus to Annas, the former high priest and the father-in-law of the current high priest, Caiaphas. John reminds us that this whole plot is Caiaphas’s idea. Remember, in John 11:50, he had said, "Don’t you know anything? It is better that one man dies for the people than that the nation should perish." And Annas is the one now, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who will question Jesus first.

They have to wake everybody up; it’s the middle of the night. They have to have a quorum for their big meeting in secret in the middle of the night, right? So as they gather the emergency meeting and get everyone together, Annas will do the preliminary interrogation. Verse 15: "Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door."

So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door and brought Peter in. So Peter, according to the other Gospels, fled the garden at the arrest of Jesus. But now he is surreptitiously following Jesus, along with another anonymous disciple.

Now because John, our author, keeps his identity consistently quiet in the Gospel of John—he calls himself "the beloved disciple," "the other disciple," "the disciple Jesus loved"—many scholars surmise that this is in fact John, our author, who’s mentioned here anonymously. Assuming this is John, apparently he had connections at least enough to gain entry into the high priest’s courtyard without being seriously questioned.

And apparently he has enough clout to go get Peter as well. But as Peter is coming in into the courtyard, the servant girl questions him. Verse 17: "The servant girl at the door said to Peter, 'You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?' And he said, 'I am not.'" So this is denial number one.

Verse 18: "Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself." Meanwhile, Jesus is being questioned by Annas. So the camera pans to Jesus. "The high priest," verse 19, "then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

Jesus answered him, 'I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews come together. I’ve said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.'" Now Jesus’ response here is functioning at two different levels.

At one level, he’s simply saying, "I’ve got nothing to hide here. Everything I’ve said and done is a matter of public record. I’m not one thing in public and another thing in private. There’s no secret agenda to my life. It’s all above board; it’s all in the open." But the second level of his response here is he’s actually calling their bluff.

If all the high priest really wanted to know was what Jesus taught, he could have got that information anyway. He could have asked around. He could have easily discerned that from any other source. The fact that Jesus is bound and hauled in by an armed guard in the middle of the night means they’ve already decided his guilt.

This is not just a simple inquiry. They’ve accused him of having a secret agenda, of conversations behind closed doors, but it is they, they are the ones with the secret plot and the clandestine meetings. And so you see, Jesus calls them out on what they’re doing, which explains the harsh retaliation.

Verse 22: "When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, 'Is that how you answer the high priest?'" So apparently Jesus touched a sore spot here, and so they resort to physical violence and abuse. Verse 23: "Jesus answered him, 'If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong. But if what I said is right, why do you strike me?'

If what I said was wrong, press formal charges, you see? But if I spoke the truth, why the abuse?" See, Jesus doesn’t take retaliation into his own hands, does he? But neither does he take this lying down. What he’s asking for here is a fair trial. "I want a formal trial, formal charges. I want bona fide witnesses. I want an above-board process." But they will give him none of that.

They’ve already decided his guilt; his death is a foregone conclusion. Everything’s planned out to the letter. Verse 24: "Annas then sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest." And with that, the camera pans back to the fire and to our friend Peter. For the betrayal, the betrayal, verse 25: "Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, 'You are not one of his disciples, are you?' He denied it and said, 'I am not.'" Denial number two.

Verse 26: "One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, 'Did I not see you in the garden with him?' Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed." Denial number three. At once the rooster crowed, and it dawns on Peter and on us: Jesus predicted this would happen.

Remember John 13, verses 37 and 38. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, why can I not follow you? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times." And it’s remarkable, isn’t it?

Jesus isn’t even on the scene anymore. He’s been hauled off into the shadows, into the darkness to Caiaphas. But once the rooster crows, he’s the only one we can think of because he’s the hero in the shadows, you see. He’s the hero in the shadows. In many ways, Peter attempted to be the hero of this story, didn’t he? When Peter said, "I’ll lay down my life for you," he meant it.

And in the garden, when he wielded his sword, I’m sure he thought, "This is my moment! My moment to prove myself to Jesus." But Peter’s confidence was sorely misplaced, friends. He trusted in himself. He trusted in his own strength. He trusted in his own commitment. Peter thought salvation would come as he stood side-by-side with Jesus in battle.

He didn’t understand yet the way of Jesus, did he? He didn’t understand that salvation would come not through conquest, but through surrender. The glory would come through shame, that life would come through death, that salvation would come not by the sword but by the cup. In some strange irony, friends, Peter had the courage to wield the sword when there was an entourage of Roman soldiers right in front of him, but he faltered in front of a servant girl.

See, the bold frontal attack, he was ready for that. It was when he had let his guard down that he fell. And in doing so, Peter joins the ranks of a long line of human beings who know what it is like to have great intentions and to fall flat on our faces. Peter’s professed intentions fall terribly flat, don’t they?

I don’t know about you, but I know exactly how that feels. The people I profess to love the most deeply, I end up hurting the most. I believe in the beauty of truth, but I find it far too easy to shade the truth whenever I’m under pressure. I value the goodness of sacrificial living, but I end up spending too much of my life on myself.

In other words, there’s a gap. There’s a gap in my life, a gap between who I think I am and who I turn out to be. We all have that gap. Some of us see it, some of us don’t, but it’s there. And it is on this night that Peter comes face-to-face with the gap. He couldn’t run, he couldn’t hide, he couldn’t deny it anymore.

The other Gospels tell us he went out into the night and he wept bitterly. See, Peter thought he’d be the hero of his own story. He thought he’d be the one to stand up for Jesus, but he had a gap. It turns out Peter needed a hero to rescue him. It turns out Peter needed someone to stand up for him. It turns out Peter needed someone to stand in the gap for him.

And although Peter’s professed intentions fall terribly flat, friends, Jesus’ understated courage heroically prevails. Jesus’ understated courage heroically prevails. Friends, Jesus is the hero of this story. In every moment, he exhibits unimaginable courage, doesn’t he? He identifies himself. He turns himself in. Verse 4 tells us that he knew everything that was going to happen: the slapping, the slander, the whipping, the mocking, the thorns, the nails, the cross, the agony, the death.

Knowing all of it, he walks right up to the posse and turns himself in. And he’s in total command of the situation. Remember, he told Judas, "What you’re about to do, go do it quickly." He identifies himself to the soldiers. When they fall down, he doesn’t run for cover. When Peter attacks, Jesus talks him down off the ledge.

Under interrogation, friends, Jesus is exposing their guilt. He’s so courageous, he’s so poised, he’s so unflappable. He’s the hero of the story. And what does the hero do? With all of his power, all of his authority, all of his courage, what does he do? At every point, Jesus protects his disciples.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus stood alone at his trial, why there were no witnesses called to defend him? Peter and John were right there. Jesus knows they’re right there. Luke tells us Jesus made eye contact with Peter. Jesus never called them to the stand as witnesses in his defense. Why? He was protecting them.

When Peter drew his sword, Jesus intervened. Do you realize if Jesus didn’t intervene, what would have happened to Peter? They would have cut his throat in the night, wouldn’t they? The soldiers would have mowed him down. You don’t pull a sword on Roman guards. But Jesus stood in the gap for Peter.

At his arrest, remember Jesus said, "If you seek me, let these men go." "If you seek me, let them go." This phrase "let them go" has a wide semantic range. It can mean "let them go free," but it can also mean "let them be forgiven," "let them be pardoned," "let them be acquitted." Don’t you see? Jesus offers himself for them.

He’s arrested that they might go free. He is bound that they might be liberated. He is condemned that they might be pardoned. He is crucified that they might live. And don’t you see, it’s a picture? It’s a picture of the Gospel. Take me, let them go. Take me, let them go. Friends, Jesus faced the darkness alone that we might go free.

Jesus faced the darkness alone that we might go free. Friends, when Jesus gave himself up to protect his disciples, it was a beautiful picture of the cross and all that Jesus is about. Friends, on the cross, Jesus died in our place and for our sake. He bore all of our sin and shame in his body on the cross. He stood in the gap to cover our gaps.

He drank the cup of judgment to the dregs for us, to the bitter end. And he rose again to give us life that we might be free, we might be covered by his perfect righteousness, we might be reconciled to the Father, we might be children of God now and forever. Friends, this is the Gospel. Take me, let them go. Take me, let them go.

In the end, there’s only one hero of this story. In the end, there’s only one person with no gaps, who sees the gaps and looks us in the eye. We who ought to be left alone in darkness, weeping bitterly in the night, but who instead stood in the gap for us, who died in the dark and drank the bitter cup to the dregs and said, "Take me, let them go."

Friends, this is your Jesus. This is the Gospel. Would you bow your heads and pray with me? Father, we get Peter: great intentions, lousy follow-through. We too have walked out into the darkness and wept bitterly in the night. Who would have ever thought that in that moment of utter failure that Jesus would step up, that he would face the storm, that he would die in the dark, that he would drink the bitter cup of sorrow for us?

Father, we thank you that this is not just good news when we come to you. This is good news for every moment of our lives because our failures are not just past, they’re present, and there are failures in our future. But Jesus has seen them all, and in love, he has given himself for us. Take me, let them go free. We trust in his saving work. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): On today’s Moody Church Hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with another message in a series he’s calling Loved by Jesus, the book of John. We heard about the betrayed, the events that ended in Gethsemane where Jesus was taken into custody.

Next time, more indignity as Jesus is given the death sentence. Plan to join us for The Condemned. Paul the Apostle found joy in a prison cell. Could we? Former pastor Warren Wiersbe wrote a book on how we, like Paul, can be joyful despite our circumstances.

A copy will be sent as our thank you when you give a gift of any amount to support the Moody Church Hour. For details, call 1-800-215-5001. That’s 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to moodychurchhour.com. That’s moodychurchhour.com. Or write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Ask about *Be Joyful*. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller and the congregation of historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of the Moody Church.