John 18. John gives us a vivid picture of Jesus' arrest. The fact that the soldiers and officials fall to the ground when he identifies himself gives us powerful evidence of who is actually in control; they couldn't arrest him unless he allowed it to happen.
Peter's denial of Jesus is a sobering reminder of our frailty and fickleness. He moves almost instantly from defending Jesus to denying him. But this ugly picture is, like everything else about our lives, repainted by Jesus. His forgiveness and restoration of Peter is coming!
"What is Truth?" Pilate's famous words are as relevant today as they were then. For Pilate and the Jewish leaders on this night, truth is whatever is most convenient at the time. But Truth personified is standing before them. Jesus confronts them just as he has done every person he has come in contact with over the last three years, forcing them to make a decision about him. It's no coincidence that the same question has been asked by everyone all along: who is Jesus? Is he a king, a prophet? Is he God? And as these men make decisions about Jesus that they believe will determine his destiny, it is actually their own destiny that hangs in the balance.
We are not in control. Evil men are not in control. The great powers of this world are not in control. Although it may not always appear so, Jesus is in control!
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