Restraint

 

Sermon for 1^st midweek Lent, February 14, 2024

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.  Amen.

Luke 22:47-53  ⁴⁷While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared, and the man called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them.  He came near to Jesus to kiss him.  ⁴⁸But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”  ⁴⁹When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, “Lord, should we strike with a sword?”  ⁵⁰Then one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  ⁵¹But Jesus responded, “Stop!  No more of this!”  Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.  ⁵²Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as you would against a robber, with swords and clubs?  ⁵³Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay hands on me.  But this is your hour—when darkness rules.” (EHV)

Restraint

Dear children of the Living God,

            When you first saw the theme of this evening’s worship, you may have imagined that the sermon would be about Jesus being bound by the arresting mob.  Certainly, those who entered the Garden that night seeking to arrest Jesus were intent on restraining Him, subduing Him, and taking Him away from the people, and away from His mission.

On the other hand, how do you suppose we might react if put in similar circumstances?  Better yet, how do we react whenever things don’t go the way we think they should?  When people are cruel, do we find it easy to hold our temper?  When we are wronged, do we automatically forgive?

For the disciples’ part, consider how differently the evening went compared to what they expected.  They went with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane, and as so many other times, Jesus immersed Himself in prayer to His Father in heaven.  Then, the disciples did exactly what they most likely often did late in the evening—they fell asleep while Jesus prayed.  This night, Jesus had asked them to watch with Him, but three times Jesus returned from His prayers to find them sleeping.  How frustrated we might be if three times in a row our friends let us down.  A military leader would definitely reprimand any of his charges who so quickly failed in their duty.  And for sure, Jesus was doing battle for the salvation of all our souls.

Still, Jesus didn’t display any anger or even frustration; he woke His friends and prepared them for the immediate situation, and “While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared, and the man called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them.  He came near to Jesus to kiss him.  But Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’”  One wonders, how might we react if someone we had dearly loved suddenly turned against us, and indeed, set us up to be arrested, tried, and executed for crimes we never committed, or even considered committing?

Shouldn’t Jesus have been angry with Judas?  How many times had Jesus tried to turn that traitor away from his villainous, self-ruining, greedy plan?  Only to be confronted by His conniving disciple betraying Him to the authorities while pretending to be his dear friend.  Who among us could calmly react with another earnest plea for Judas to recognize his guilt and repent?  Who among us would so willingly die to save even that disgrace of a man?

I think that to a person among us, we have to admit to numerous times we have failed to restrain ourselves when anger, frustration, jealousy, or even greed caused us to rebel against God.  Restraint is often far from the mind when we feel the urge to discipline a wayward child—especially a rebellious teenager.  Restraint is hard, perhaps even impossible for us, when we feel betrayed, falsely accused, mistreated, or hurt in any other way.  We are tempted to cry out in anger, scream invectives against those hurting us, and sometimes even yell at our God for not stopping the pain.

So much hurt in our lives.  So much pain.  Call it what it really is—so much sin—our sin—the sins of others—the curse of sin—sin is the real reason we have trouble in the world, and sin is the reason Jesus was showing such great restraint that night in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus faced all that sin that was so obviously used against Him that night, but without any anger, no retribution, no disillusionment, and no rebellion against His Father in heaven.  Why?  Because in His active obedience to His Father’s will, Jesus showed restraint for all the times we do not. 

To fulfil prophecy, Jesus had made sure the disciples were armed with a sword.  Now, confronted with this arresting mob, those eleven men still standing at Jesus’ side felt the urge to defend Jesus.  When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, “Lord, should we strike with a sword?”  Then one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  I guess that’s about what one might expect from that little band of fishermen and a tax collector completely untrained for battle.  Against that mob of thugs and soldiers, Jesus’ disciples could have been slaughtered in seconds.  Thus again, Jesus shows true restraint.

Jesus responded, “Stop!  No more of this!”  Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.  Most likely, if push came to shove, we too would respond to such a great threat with as much violence as we could muster.  Either that, or we would try to flee in terror, which we will see was the disciples’ next move.  However, neither of those options was seen in Jesus.  He immediately restrained His friends excited response, and in kindness few of us could imagine, Jesus reached out His hand and restored that servant’s ear. 

Can you imagine what must have gone through that servant’s mind?  First the pain of being assaulted with a sword.  The side of his head bloodied, and his ear sliced away.  How shocking that would feel, but not near as shocking as seeing the Man I came to arrest instantly healing my wound.  Yet, did that servant show any thanks?  None that we know of.  How could Jesus not be offended by people seeing this great miracle and still being determined to kill Him?

There are times when we wish God didn’t show such great restraint.  When we observe the horrors inflicted upon our friends and neighbors by people consumed in wickedness, it is easy to wish God would intervene by destroying those who cause the hurt.  Many find themselves asking, why does God allow this to go on? 

The answer is that God does not operate in the same revenge-oriented way our sinful nature desires.  St. Peter, the man who was so quick to swing the sword that cut off that servant’s ear explains God’s restraint from quick judgement as he says, “The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness.  Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  Our God shows extreme restraint in dealing with our world, because His love desires repentance of all people so that they might come to faith in Jesus and be saved.

Now, the world may look at Jesus’ actions when He came under attack that night as weakness.  However, Jesus truly demonstrated His power of restraint.  Instead of seeking revenge, Jesus pleaded with His Father for their forgiveness.  Instead of trying to overwhelm His enemies with might, as was certainly within Jesus’ capability, when Jesus told Peter to put away His sword, He reminded His disciples of His true authority saying, “Do you not realize that I could call on my Father, and at once he would provide me with more than twelve legions of angels?  But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?” (Matthew 26:53-54)  In other words, Jesus showed restraint so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled, so that His Father’s desire to be reconciled with us would be accomplished by the life and death of His own dear Son.

Dear friends, there are many times when circumstances might lead us to respond viciously, hurtfully, or arrogantly against our neighbor.  We live in a world totally corrupted by sin.  Yet, for Jesus’ sake, we have forgiveness full and free.  We have been washed and cleansed of all sin by His blood and dressed in Christ’s perfect righteousness so that as believers in Christ Jesus, we have been set apart to live for Him and in His love. 

The restraint Jesus lived as He was arrested, falsely accused, tortured, and nailed to a cross, as the substitute for all of us, set us free from eternal bondage in the devil’s prison.  Therefore, let us remember the restraint Jesus has showed in dealing with us so that we have been brought to faith in Him and reconciled with God for an eternity of life in the glory of heaven.  As we remember Jesus’ restraint on our behalf, let that same restraint rule in our hearts so that we “Bear with one another and forgive each other … just as Christ forgave you. ^… Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to which you were also called, in one body.” (Colossians 3:13-15)  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.