Jesus’ Words in Red
"Who
is it you want?"
When the soldiers
came to arrest Jesus
Jesus asked the
question
"Who
is it you want?"
Do you want Jesus to
surrender to you?
Or, do you want to
surrender to Him?
Surrendering to Jesus
will mean
“…anyone who does not take his cross and follow
me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it.”
Matthew10:38-39 NIV
You will struggle for
what you want in life
But your struggle
without following Jesus will be meaningless
"Who is it you want?"
Jesus was in an olive grove that
He and His disciples went to often.
Judas guided a
detachment of soldiers and
some officials from
the chief priests and Pharisees.
“They were carrying
torches, lanterns and weapons.”
Jesus with full knowledge of
what was happening ask them…
"Who is it you want?"
They said they wanted “Jesus of Nazareth”.
And Jesus answered…
"I am He"
Twice Jesus asked…
"Who is it you want?"
This question is the hardest question
and the most important question there is.
What is it the soldiers really wanted?
What is it the religious
officials really wanted?
They wanted more than a man.
So what did they want?
Everyone who comes to
Jesus is asked this question.
You may not hear the words…
"Who is it you want?"
But the question is still asked…
Most of us answer the question very ubiquitous.
Everybody wants what feels good.
Everyone wants to live a carefree, happy and easy
life,
to fall in love and have amazing relationships,
to look perfect and make money and be popular
and well-respected and admired and a total baller
to the point that people part like the Red Sea
when you walk into the room.
Everyone would like that—
it’s easy to like that.
We answer the question…
“I want to be happy and have
a great family and a
job I like.”
It’s so ubiquitous that it
doesn’t even mean anything.
We all want the same thing
in life, we want to be happy.
Happiness requires struggle.
In the olive garden Judas, the soldiers
and officials wanted to lead Jesus.
They bound Him.
For many, they see Jesus as a
hindrance to what they want.
Jesus brings conviction to sin.
Conviction does not make us happy.
So we change the question from…
"Who is it you want?"
to
“What do we want?”
Like a child who can’t wait till they
are old enough to be on their own.
We don’t want a “Who”
we want a “What”.
You and I may not want
to remove Jesus from our lives.
But we may be removing Him
by how we answer the question.
"Who is it you want?"
Oswald Chambers wrote the classic,
“My Upmost for His
Highest”.
He says…
Are you seeking great things for yourself,
instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer
relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get
to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it
goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than
getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek,
but only what He can give you.
If you have only
come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of
understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a
Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, “I asked God for the
Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected.” And
instantly God puts His finger on the reason– you are not seeking the Lord at
all; you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be
given to you…” (Matthew 7:7).
Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong
thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things
altogether. “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”
(Matthew 6:8).
Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.
The question is…
"Who is it you want?"
Do you want Jesus to surrender to you?
Or, do you want to surrender to Him?
Scripture Reading
John 18:1-9 NIV
18:1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his
disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive
grove, and he and his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus
had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the grove, guiding a
detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees.
They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went
out and asked them,
"Who is it you
want?"
5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.
"I am he," Jesus
said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said,
"I am he," they drew back and fell to the
ground.
7 Again he asked them, "Who is
it you want?"
And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."
8 "I told you that I am he,"
Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me,
then let these men go." 9
This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have
not lost one of those you gave me."
