Have you ever had a really special place - a place where you could go and clear your mind, think with precision, gain perspective? For me, that place is on the water. I grew up about 25 minutes from the ocean and about the same distance from the Chesapeake Bay. For someone who lives life at 100 miles an hour, having life slow down to a stop from time to time is very important. On the water, especially on my boat, is where that happens for me.
For Jesus, it was this olive grove called the Mount of Olives.
Now, personally, this doesn't look all that awesome to me. Then again, it probably was somewhat different then. In any event, John tells us that Jesus and his friends frequented that place, which made him easy to find for Judas and the Roman soldiers.
There is a good bit of speculation around v.6. No one really knows what happened there. It might be a good place for you to spend some time meditating and praying.
I also find the story of Malchus very interesting (v.10). Only John tells us his name. And only Luke tells us that Jesus heals the guy's ear. We can read between the lines by what is there (in the text) and by what is not in the text. John wants us to know the injured soldier's name, but doesn't find it important that Jesus puts his ear back on. Why would these two things be significant? And rest assured - they ARE significant. They go to John's message. See if you can discover some answers. Ask God to help you.
Note also that Jesus - who has avoided capture to this point - now embraces it, knowing that he has to 'drink of the cup'.
Chapter 18 is consumed with capture and trial. It is the at the heart of the Easter story as we know it. You should read chapter 18 and know the characters and the 'plot line' of the story.
1 comment:
In my study bible, it mentions that the other evangelists probably didn't mention the name of the servant or Peter because they were both alive at the time of their writings, where they had both been dead by the time John wrote his book. Still, it does seem to me to be a pretty big deal for Jesus to have performed this miracle right at this particular time. It makes it one of the most magnanimous things Jesus had done thus far in his life. To me, fixing this dude’s ear is way to big a detail for the other three writers to have left out.
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