As we spend this week focusing on the betrayal and arrest of Christ, I want to begin by reading Scripture. Please read John 18:2-12.
There is so much packed into this short section. In verse 4, we see the knowledge that Christ had of what was to come and He still chose to endure it. He was not surprised by any of it but saw beginning to end and chose to allow it to continue. In verses 5 and 6, as Jesus answers, “I am he,” Judas and the soldiers fall to the ground. By Jesus’ words, they fell to the ground. Where I want to focus today is verses 8 and 9, “Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.’ This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: ‘Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.’”
When I think of Jesus fulfilling prophecies, I think of the Old Testament. Throughout His life, He fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies (that is by conservative counts, there are arguably many more than that). Not a single prophecy did Christ contradict. He fulfilled all of them! However, here in John 18:8-9, the words Jesus is fulfilling are His own.
The words Jesus is fulfilling are from John 17:12, where He says, speaking of His 12 disciples, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Jesus spoke these words only hours before this and fulfilled them at this moment. Charles Spurgeon makes a beautiful observation here in saying, “It is not the age of God’s Word but the truth of it that constitutes its power. What Christ had said that night in prayer was as true and as much the Word of the King as what God had spoken by his Spirit through holy men ages before.” This is the beauty of God’s Word. Because it is from God, all of it is true. The red letter verses (the words spoken by Jesus) are no more Scripture than every word of the Old Testament.
Reflecting on the words of Christ, like a good shepherd, none of His sheep were lost, only the one that chose to betray Him. Even when His disciples could have been arrested with Him, He defended them, as a good shepherd does. If you are a follower of Christ, He is your shepherd and your defender. When the evil one attacks, Christ will not lose you to Him because He is the one holding your salvation. Stand strong against the attacks of the evil knowing you have a Good Shepherd who watches over you.