John 18 Devotional

A King Who Chose the Cup

““Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?””John 18:11 (BSB)

Soldiers and officers come to the garden armed and carrying lights. Knowing all that is coming, Jesus steps forward and asks whom they are looking for. When he tells them he is the one, they stagger back and fall (18:3-6). He is not caught. He gives himself up, and he asks only that his disciples be allowed to leave (18:8). Even while being arrested, he is keeping the ones the Father gave him, just as he said he would (18:9).

Peter swings a sword, and Jesus stops him, asking whether he should refuse the cup his Father has given him (18:10-11). Then, while Jesus stands bound and is struck in the face, Peter denies him three times in the high priest's courtyard (18:17-27). Before Pilate, Jesus says his kingdom does not come from this world (18:36), and the crowd asks for Barabbas instead (18:40). Friends and enemies alike fail him, and he goes on toward the cross anyway, of his own will. Your failures were no surprise to him, and they did not turn him back.

To think about: Which of your failures do you assume must have turned Jesus away, and what does this chapter say to that?