 We'll begin here in chapter 14 of Mark at verse 43. I'm going to read to verse 52. I'm going to cover those verses today. So I'll begin with Mark chapter 14, verse 43. And I'll read to verse 52. Immediately while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the 12, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now, his betrayer had given them a signal saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him and lead him away safely. As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, rabbi, rabbi, and kissed him. Then they laid their hands on him and took him. And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus answered and said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching. And you did not seize me, but the scriptures must be fulfilled. Then they all forsook him and fled. Now, a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. The young men laid a hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. So as I normally do, I give you a background for those perhaps who haven't been with us like last week or whatever. I give a little bit of a background just to remind us what's going on, what's taking place, and I'll pick up and move into the study. We know that Jesus has been ministering in a location there called the Garden of Gethsemane. There's an enclosed orchard. And it's just outside to the northeast of actually to the, yeah, to the northeast of the walls of Jerusalem. And it was a place that Jesus and his men would often spend time. Jesus made it very clear when you read your Bible that he didn't have a home of his own. In Matthew, in chapter eight, verse 20, he had said, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. So because he had no place to lay his head, he would receive the hospitality of others. When you read the Gospel of Luke in chapter eight, verses two and three in those verses, they speak of Mary Madeline. They speak of Joanna, the wife of Cousa, Susanna, and many others who provided for him from their substance. And so they would provide for him, including this particular garden, which more than likely was lent to him by one of his followers. Now that night, Jesus went one last time to this garden. And while he is there, as we've already seen, he agonized in prayer. He was awaiting his betrayer's arrival. Now over the years his men had spent many times, many nights in this particular garden. And so by entering into it and being within that, there would have been an awful lot of memories that would have been stirred up, and many of them would have been fond. Gethsemane would have been a place that Jesus taught them many lessons. And being in that garden would have rekindled memories of those kinds of times. It was a place that they would have been familiar with. It was a place that they more than likely would have been at peace in. It was a familiar place. And they have familiar memories. And Jesus would be there with them and spend some time there, spend the night. They would camp out and he would share with them. They perhaps would be around a fire so that they might be warm. And you can almost see them gathered around the fire and Jesus speaking to them. They'd have fond memories of that. There are places in your life that you have fond memories that you've gone to that. You'll always remember with fondness. For me, my wife Marie and I for many years have gone to a small city. We'd haven't been recently, but San Luis Obispo up the coast. And we have a lot of fond memories that we've been there many times with friends and all. And we've had some sweet times where we've met people and all. I remember going up there for example, on one occasion at a place stopped by, it's called McClintock's, and we stopped by to get something to eat. And while we were there, the waitress speaks to me and she says, you know, I come from your church. I'm up here at San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. And so that's a good memory to me. I said, is the meal free? But no, it wasn't. But anyway, I remember a Saturday morning, Marie and I got up on a Saturday. We got up a little after eight, we went to a small cafe kind of place where you get cookies and coffee. And I remember walking in and starting to walk in when this young couple was walking out. They opened the door as we were about to walk in. And I thank you. And they said, so you really like San Luis Obispo pastor? They ended up, they were from our church and they had heard me speak of it. And so they went up there and they're like, I have fond memories of the place. Marie and I have fond memories. And you do too, places that you've gone to, maybe for a vacation, maybe for a special time. Well, in the life of these disciples, the Garden of Gethsemane would have been such a place. Jesus would have gone there often with them. They'd have had times where they spoke together where he opened his heart to them. So their memories would be fond, but tonight's a different kind of night. Tonight is a different night. Because as they're walking in, the atmosphere is gonna be different. Jesus has stationed eight of his men at the entrance to this garden. He's gone further in with Peter, James and John. And I had mentioned to you that Peter, James and John had stated that they had an unshakable faith in him. Remember how James and John had said they could drink of the cup that he was gonna drink from. And Peter had said that he would go to prison and even die for Jesus Christ. And so he takes these men in and they're about to learn a lesson and they do learn a lesson about overestimating themselves and their faith. Now while he was there, as we saw last time, he was under intense pressure. He said that it was even unto death. He said, stay here and watch. And he had moved further on into the garden. And we saw how Jesus had prayed. He prayed three times that this cup would be removed from him. And while he was praying this, we also saw that he submitted himself to the will of his father. And in the end, he completely yielded to the father's plan. Jesus had spent much time preparing his men for what he was gonna go through, not only what he would go through, but also what they would go through. And many times he had clearly told them he is going to yield up his life. Well that very night, he had once more made it very clear. John records it in chapter 14 and verses 28 and 29 of his gospel. John records it. Jesus said, you have heard me say to you, I'm going away and coming back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said I'm going to the father. For my father's greater than I and now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe. So he's sharing with them, I'm about to leave you. I'm about to go to my father and say to grief, you ought to be rejoicing. Again, he's attempting to prepare them for the coming events. He even told them that they weren't as strong as they thought they were. He went on to say in Mark in chapter 14, verse 27, he had said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. Well as we saw, Peter couldn't believe that he would ever deny Jesus. He clearly said it. Even if all stumble, Peter said, I will not. If I must die with you, I will not deny you. I'll go to prison with you is what he said. And the scripture says they all said likewise. So in spite of all the preparation, his men failed to take him seriously. He withdrew to agonize in prayer. And as he did so, they fell asleep, not once, not twice, but they fell asleep three times. The emotional stress had sapped their strength. Luke tells us in chapter 22, verse 45, when he rose from prayer, he went back to the disciples. He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. We had a young man visiting us from Central California this morning. He came and spoke to me after the service. And he said, you know, I got right with the Lord and I've been clean and sober now for the last three years. And he showed me a band that he has on his wrist and even tattooed on his wrist the day he got right with God and the little ichthuse and the date there. And he was sharing his heart with me and all. And he said, you know, when you said that the disciples had fallen asleep, exhausted from sorrow, he says, I understand that. He says, because when I was an addict, when I was addicted, he said, and I was going through things. He said, I found it easier just to fall asleep and just to try and just sleep through the things I was going through. Well, the men that night were going through so much stress and they were exhausted from it. They actually fell asleep three different times. Jesus had warned them, but they weren't listening. They yielded to their flesh and they were spiritually unprepared. Jesus said that they were to be awake. They should be awake. They should be prepared for the trial that they're gonna face. In Ephesians 5, 14 through 16, Paul said it like this. He said, this is why it is said, wake up sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise. Make in the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Wake up sleeper, wake up. Well, they were dealing with their sorrow in a natural way, they were sleeping. And that's why in verse 41 he came to his disciples and he asked them, he said, are you still sleeping and resting? You see, by sleeping they're able to ignore what's going on around them and they failed to be aware of him. But he did not cease being aware of them. He sees a shepherd and as a shepherd he watched over them and he said, take your rest. He allowed them to remain asleep. He was strengthened, he was at peace, he was ready for what he was about to endure. So after strengthening himself in prayer, he's ready to face the enemy. Jesus was ready but his disciples weren't. So notice verse 43 how it says, immediately while he was still speaking, Judas one of the twelve with a great multitude with swords and clubs came to the chief priests and the scribes, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. I want you to notice a couple of things that may not be noticeable at first. Notice how in verse 43 Judas is still referred to as one of the twelve, that's interesting. He's still referred to as one of the twelve. All four gospel writers refer to him in this manner. So the question has to be asked, why would they still speak of him in that way? Well it would amplify the amount of treachery. One of Jesus's trusted apostles betrayed him. Now notice in verse 43, Judas is leading a great multitude armed with swords and carrying clubs. Of course Judas would know that place while he'd been there many times but Judas didn't have the same sentimental attachment that the other men would have had. Judas went in there with the purpose of having Jesus arrested. It says in John chapter 18 verse three that Judas having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees came there with lanterns, torches and weapons. So he's got a detachment of troops, he's got officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. So there's a large group of people and you have to picture it this way because we who live in the 21st century, we probably don't really experience this the way that at one time people did and that is we don't really experience quiet and silence. You know, no matter where you live there's always gonna be the sound of a car driving by or a horn honking or an alarm going off or in the case of John gunfire. You're gonna be, I'm just kidding. John's the one who shoots the gun but anyway, there's always gonna be noise. In Chino on 4th of July, you know exactly what I mean. It's just a lot of noise and all of that. Well these men were not around a lot of noise in that capacity. It's a celebration of the Passover and it's quiet. One commentator said it's probably around 11 at night. It's in a quiet garden. The city at that time is probably all the people of the city are probably falling asleep but now here comes a detachment of troops are crossing over the Brook called Kidron and they're entering into a garden. There are three men who are stationed at that entrance to the garden when they see these people arriving. It would have been extremely disturbing. Now you would have heard them long time before they got there. You'd have been hearing the sound of people walking and perhaps mumbling amongst themselves. You will hear that and here they come. Now it speaks concerning a detachment of Roman troops. The detachment of Roman troops is what is called a Roman cohort. A Roman cohort was made up of 600 soldiers. So this is given to us so we might understand that there were quite a number. That's why it's referred to as a great multitude. These men, these soldiers were stationed there in Jerusalem because during especially holidays there was a chance for the Jewish people to rise up and possibly riot because there were zealots among the Jews. One of Jesus' own disciples was a zealot and they were known for wanting to cause interaction during special holidays and things and so they had a detachment that was there on the northwest corner of the Temple Mount in a place called Antonio Fortress. There were also what are called the Temple Police and they had been dispatched by the Jewish authorities and also they're mixed together in the coming and the one who's probably in the front, we'll see in a moment, is a man by the name of Malchus. Malchus was one of the servants of the high priest and so they walk in and as they walk in, they walk directly past those eight who are there stationed at the entrance. Jesus had taken Peter, James and John and gone further in so the eight are there stationed at the entrance as they're entering in and you have Judas walk in there in the front with this large detachment, they have torches, lanterns, some of them are carrying clubs and others have swords so they're armed, they're dangerous and it must've been extremely frightening as they came in and they proceeded to walk directly to Jesus Christ and Judas is there leading them because he's there to betray him. Now what did Jesus do when he sees this and he's aware this is gonna take place because again, look at verse 42 here in Mark. It says rise, let us be going, see. My betrayer is at hand and then 43 immediately while he was still speaking, Judas one of the 12 with the great multitude, swords and clubs came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and so he says, my betrayer is here and so it's taking place at that time they've proceeded past the eight they're entering in. What's his reaction while he went out to intercept them? We need to remember that Jesus wasn't hiding somewhere in the darkness of that garden. He knew what was gonna take place and he actually went to greet them, to meet them. That's because the Bible makes it clear he voluntarily came to lay down his life. He didn't attempt to avoid arrest, he approached those who were about to arrest him. Now John gives more detail, let me read to you from John 18 verses four through nine. And John writes, Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he and Judas who betrayed him also stood with them. Now when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. He asked them again, whom are you seeking? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I've told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way that the same might be fulfilled which he spoke of those whom you gave me, I have lost none. To me, I've always found a ironic humor in this. You have all of these soldiers and you know anybody who's been alive more than 10 minutes know that if you've got a whole group of people, the more the people, the better you are. If it's just you by yourself, that's one thing. But if you've got a big friend, you're a little tougher. If you've got five or 10 friends, you're the champion of the world because you get strength from all of the people. Imagine the amount of people that are walking with them and they're coming and Jesus walks up to them. You have to imagine that for a moment. And as he walks up, he says, whom are you seeking? And you can see a calmness in the Lord. He went out to meet them. He's not running, he's not hiding. He didn't climb a tree. He's not hiding behind a rock or anything. He walks up to them and he confronts them. He asks them, he interrogates them. They've come to arrest him, but he went and spoke to them. And so as he walks out, he asks, who are you seeking? And they respond. Now, why didn't they say you? Well, Jesus didn't glow in the dark. There was a reason why there needs to be betrayed in a certain way. We'll see that in a moment. So when he's approaching them and asking, whom are you seeking? At that moment, they're not yet sure who he is. And the scripture tells us that when he said, I am he, that they hit the ground. And for me, the ironic humor of it would be that they were standing here and now they're down there and he repeats himself. The first time he says, whom are you seeking? Second time he goes, whom are you seeking? And to me, that's kind of funny. Because they're looking up saying Jesus of Nazareth. And that gives to you insight into his power and authority. It gives you insight into the fact that they could not have taken him. We'll see that again in just a moment. They could not have taken him had he not voluntarily allowed them to. And that shows it. Now in verse 44, his betrayer had given them a signal saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one who sees him and lead him away safely. A short time before Judas had made arrangements to betray Jesus. Remember how that Mary had anointed Jesus with costly perfume? And after she had done that, Judas had made plans. Matthew tells us in chapter 26 verses 14 through 16, one of the 12, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and asked, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you? So they counted out for him 30 pieces of silver. From then on, Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. You see, Jesus knew that and Jesus spoke to him even at the Passover meal. And he had said to him, what you do, do quickly. And Judas had left immediately and now he's completing his betrayal. Now the sign that he had given was to keep Jesus from melting in with the others or the multitude. He had said to him, lead him away safely. That doesn't mean that he was concerned for the safety of Christ. That simply means place him under guard to prevent his escape. Well, as this is taking place, verse 45, as soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, rabbi, rabbi, and kissed him. Then they laid their hands on him and took him. Again, imagine the confusion that's going on in this very quiet place. Imagine, if you can think of this, that Judas is in the front. There's someone with him up there named Malchus, servant of the high priest. Where's Jesus? He's right here. Judas goes up and kisses him. That's the sign he had given. Now I want to develop something. It'll take a moment to do that. Notice verse 45, as soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, rabbi, rabbi, and kissed him. The word kiss there is not a word that is used to just a gentle kiss, you know, like you go to your grandma and grandma kisses you on the cheek. This is a word that speaks much further than that. This is a word that means to kiss tenderly, but it also means to kiss repeatedly. It's in such a tense that it's not just a small kiss, it is smothering the face with kisses. Just this last Wednesday, my son, David, had my granddaughter, our granddaughter, Elena, with him. And I see her and he's carrying her and I walk up to her and I just kiss her all over her face. I mean, I smother her little face with kisses. That's what papa's grandpas do. Well, that's a sign of affection and tenderness. That's what Judas did to Jesus. He wanted to make sure that those who were about to arrest him knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was Jesus because you would normally greet one another with a holy kiss. That was just what they would do. So he repeatedly kissed him so that would be real obvious. This is the one, lead him away safely, take him without any problems is the point he's making here. So what he did is he betrayed the Lord with a kiss, which is a symbol of love and affection. Matthew 26 verse 50 gives Jesus his response. Jesus said to him, friend, why have you come? Notice that he speaks to him graciously. He treats him with kindness instead of anger. In Luke 22, 48 it says, Jesus asked Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? Do you kiss me as a friend while delivering me to my enemies? Well, as this is taking place and they see it, verse 47, one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. I wonder who that might have been. John chapter 18 verses 10 and 11 says it like this. Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Melchus. Now Jesus commanded Peter, put away your sword. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? Now, why would Peter be carrying a sword? It was common during that day to be armed. They were from the north and they traveled off into the south. So they would carry a sword with them. It was for obvious protection against wild animals and even the common person who would be coming that route would wear it for protection against those who might harm them. So when he sees what's taking place and it dawns on him that they're about to take Jesus, he drew a sword and he took a swing at the first person he could see. It just so happens it's a man named Melchus. Melchus would have been in the front because Melchus was the servant of the high priest and therefore would have been at the lead of the procession to come and arrest Jesus Christ. And so they're confused about what to do and Luke tells us in chapter 22 verse 49 when those around him saw what was going to happen, they said to him, Lord, shall we strike with a sword? So as they're saying that, what should we do? We don't know what to do. It's becoming a bit chaotic. There's lanterns and the torches and the noise and the voices and Judas has come. He's one of us and yet he's with Melchus and the soldiers and they're confused. And so the apostle Peter just draws a sword and he's looking for an opportunity and he takes it. He hits this man, Melchus. Now this has always been interesting to me when you think about it. It says to us in scripture, he cut off his right ear. Now if this person standing facing this person, if they're face to face, my right hand because Peter would have been right handed, the left hand was used for other things. The right hand would have been used for a sword. He swings with a sword and a man facing him. So if someone is here facing me and hit me and they take off my left ear, then how could they have gotten my right ear? Is it because Peter went like this? No, it's because probably Melchus was turned around and he's just hit him from behind. What a punk, but that's what he did. Now Peter, I don't want to say something bad. I don't want to say something bad. I think it was just swinging at a target and it was right there. Now remember this, I want to develop this for a moment with you. Peter had boasted, I'll go to prison with you. And if it comes down to it, I'll die with you. I don't believe that was an impulsive boast at all. We see it here because here comes all these people and you've got to imagine, this is a huge amount of people. It's not like one, two, three. There are quite a number of people in multitude. So he had said that. He said, if I have to die with you, I will die. To me that's a very courageous thing to do. Again, as impulsive as the apostle Peter is and you see it in scripture. If it's you Lord walking on water, command that I should come and walk. He has an impulsive faith and love in Christ and so I would never want to put him down in any way. This is a man who shows you his heart by his impulsiveness, his willingness, like he had said earlier, his willingness to die. And he did it in the face of a huge mob with a certain knowledge that he would die. He was willing to do that. But somebody once said this, it is easier to fight for Jesus than it is to live for him. There's a certain amount of courage that well it could be over in just a moment. To die for Christ, it's a bit different to live for him. And so he was willing to die but Jesus stops him in Matthew 26.52. Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. My kingdom, Jesus was saying, is not modeled after this world. In this world, the kingdoms are run by tyrants and they fight to keep their power. When Jesus was standing before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and Pilate was interrogating him, Jesus in John 1836 said, my kingdom's not of this world. My kingdom is not modeled after the world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews but now my kingdom is not from here. My kingdom is not from this world. Jesus voluntarily allowed himself to be arrested because his hour had come. The scripture must be fulfilled concerning his death on our behalf. You see, that's what Isaiah had foretold when writing of the Messiah in Isaiah 53.7. Speaking of Messiah, he said, he's oppressed. He was afflicted. He opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it shears his silent. So he opened not his mouth. It must go the way that God determined. Malchus was injured but Jesus didn't leave him in that condition. He reached for him. Can you imagine that? And he healed him. His right ear. I can't even imagine what that would have felt like to have a portion of your ear just lopped right off in the bruising and the blood that would have been caking on his face and in his beard. The screaming that would have gone on. I can't imagine that getting hit like that and you're stunned and you begin to scream and then Jesus tells, put away your sword. My kingdom isn't like this. Then in the way that he models loving your enemies, he reaches and touches this man's ear and he heals it. And I was telling First Service, if Jesus had a sense of humor, he could have turned his ear upside down facing the other direction. Now that would have been funny. That way you can hear people sneaking up, come on. But here you go. Jesus was not in need of human assistance. Jesus was submitting to the plan of salvation in Acts 2.23. Jesus was delivered by the predetermined purpose and foreknowledge of God. You see, he didn't need help, but if there was help to come, it wouldn't have been by man. It would have been angelic. In Matthew 26.53, do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels? A legion is as 12,000, that would be rather 6,000. Now that would be 72,000 angels. I don't need you. I don't need your help. I don't need your flesh. I don't need you. My father takes care of me. I'm yielding myself. Well, Jesus answered in verse 48, and he says to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? How was daily with you in the temple teaching? You did not seize me, but the scriptures must be fulfilled. I was with you in the temple. Now he's confronting the leaders, the priests and the elders, the temple guards. And in essence, he's calling them cowards. You have come at night to do what you could not do in the day. You see, the Bible tells us the reason they did this in a secret way is because they were afraid of the people. And so when Judas had contacted them, they were very pleased. In Luke 22, verse two, it says, the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus for they were afraid of the people. But later on in the same chapter, Luke 22, verses four through six, it says that Judas went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money so he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. So they were very glad that he did this. But Jesus confronts them, verse 49, I was daily with you in the temple teaching. You didn't seize me. Over the years, oftentimes I have taught in that temple. Recently I've been there several times. Why didn't you take me then? You had opportunity to do so. But this is happening that the scriptures must be fulfilled. Matthew says in chapter 26, verse 56, this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. The writings of the prophets, one of the things that makes Christianity unique is the reality that we have prophetic scripture. You don't find prophetic scripture in any other religious faith system on the face of the earth, prophetic scripture. God knows the beginning from the end. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows everything, he has all knowledge. Our God is able to say in advance what will take place is what he does. So all the way from the beginning in the book of Genesis chapter three, verse 15, you find the very first, in the first book, you see the very first promise of a Messiah when it says, I will put enmity between you speaking to the serpent and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, the seed that he's speaking of is Messiah, he shall bruise your head, you shall bruise his heel. That's the first prophecy of the death of Christ where Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. And the Old Testament contains no less than 300 prophecies concerning Messiah. So as we've seen, Jesus is a fulfillment of the symbol of the Passover lamb, his death, his burial, his resurrection, all of that was prophesied. And so he's saying this, the scripture must be fulfilled. All of what is taking place is according to divine purpose, including what is about to take place. Well, notice verse 50, then they all forsook him and fled. These are the ones Jesus poured his life into. The ways of the mentoring of disciples during that day was for the disciples to voluntarily associate themselves with the rabbi. And the rabbi would accept them and would begin to minister. So they would learn the way that he taught his philosophy of ministry, the way that he prayed, he would teach them these things. And when they were fully conformed to the things that he did, then they were able to be masters and train somebody else. And so Jesus took his men through a mentoring program. And Jesus, as he did so, spent a lot of time. Mark told us earlier in his gospel that he chose 12 that they might be with him. Now when you read your scriptures, you'll see that they have the multitude. And that would be whatever groups of people would show up, that was the multitude to come in here. But out of the multitude, he had the disciples. And out of disciples who are lifelong learners and followers of Christ, out of that group of disciples, he had the 70. Then he had the 12. Then you'll see that there were the three, there were the two, and sometimes there was the one. So you'll see that Jesus spent time with at least the 70 who understood and he could send them out to minister. But he especially spent time with those who were referred to as the apostles 12. And out of that 12, there were times that he would spend time with, well, four of them, Andrew, James, John, Peter. He would spend time with four. There were times it was Peter, James, and John. There were times it was just Jesus and a couple of the guys. And there were times when it would just be John speaking to Jesus. And you can see that there were all these concentric circles of relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. But these are the guys who would walk with him wherever he went. Remember, they didn't drive anywhere. They would walk and during the day of Christ, you could cover about 20 miles just walking during the day. So there were times he would go from the south to the north and it would be several days of walking and hiking. That means that they would very often camp out somewhere. They'd have that campfire thing going and they'd sit around it. They'd talk to the Lord and Jesus would speak to them and Jesus would pour into them. And it wasn't like just once in a while. It's not like today where people have so many distractions, so many things going on. This was a full-time thing. So he was with them quite extensively. For weeks and weeks and months at a time, they would be together and daily he would pour into these men. So they saw these things. They were able to hear him from the very beginning when he was there making water into wine in Cana of Galilee and they saw him as he did the various things through his ministry. They saw Jesus as he would teach. He'd go into a synagogue and they'd listen. He'd go into a person's house and they even saw him and he healed a man of his sins in a house. They saw him do that. They saw him three different times, raised dead people to life. They saw these things. They heard these things when the Pharisees would come up and wanna argue. They would take a step back and they'd say, get him, King Jesus. And Jesus would do that. He would correct them and exhort and admonish and rebuke and they saw all of this. And then later on they'd say, well, you said this today and I really didn't get it. Can you explain it to me? Can you imagine what that would have been like? And then they'd go to sleep next to him and they'd hear the sound of Jesus sleeping and just the thrill of that and they watched it. They saw it and they loved him. They loved him. Who wouldn't? I can imagine what it would have been like to be at a dinner with Jesus. To be sitting on one end of the table and just looking at him as people would crowd around him and I could imagine what it would be like to say that's my master. That's my master. I love him. And they hear him graciously speak. I mean, there were times when officers were sent to arrest him, go and get them and these officers came back and the religious authority said, where is he? You were sent to get him. No man ever spoke like this man. I was spellbound. You're asking me to take this man? I can't do that. These men saw Jesus multiplying, fishing and loaves of bread, two different occasions, feeding multitudes. They saw Jesus when they were at the Gadarenes and here comes the demonic. Now Jesus delivered them and they were at his feet wanting to travel with them. They saw that. They saw that when they had recently come into the city and he's right in on this colt and the people are throwing palm branches in front and they're screaming and all this, Hosanna saved now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They saw that. Can you imagine that? And then they had that Passover dinner and Jesus looked at Judas. What you do do quickly. He went out into the night. Jesus is waiting but the men are still busy arguing amongst themselves who's the greatest because that's what they did. And now he's being taken. Peter can't stand it. Peter can't stand back. He can't let that happen. I'm not gonna let this happen. I can't let this happen. And out of an impulsive love and courageous act he pulls that sword in first thing near him. He sees a shadow. It doesn't matter. He hits him. Stop it. Put your sword away. This has to happen. The only thing I can do is fight and die. I don't know what else to do. And it just gets crazy and they just take off. They hide in the darkness. They all forsook him and they fled. The ones he poured his life into left him. In Job 19, 13 and 14 it says, he's removed my brother's far from me. My acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed. My close friends have forgotten me. He was abandoned by his men but he wasn't abandoned by his father. They forsook him and fled but his father remained with him. Psalm 2710 says when my father and my mother forsake me then the Lord will take care of me. So this came as no surprise. It wasn't a shock. He had told him, you're gonna do this. Smite the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered. And that's what the enemy does too as a spiritual principle. Smite the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered. Who does the enemy come after the most? He comes after leadership. Keep that in mind. Because if he can cause, encourage a shepherd to fail, he doesn't just do damage to the shepherd. He damages every single person who trusted that shepherd. He damages them all. He can bring down people in the church when the pastor fails. Smite the shepherd then the sheep will scatter. That's why true shepherds need to be very careful and on their guard constantly because if they're taken down the people suffer too. Well, verse 51 says a certain young man followed him having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body and the young men laid hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. They grabbed him and pulled on him and his clothing, his robe if you will came pulling off and he just took off. He ran into the night. Commentators, many commentators say this very well could be Mark who's writing this particular gospel. One said it is probable that he had been awakened from his sleep by the noise made by those who came to apprehend Jesus having wrapped the sheet or some of the bed clothing about him. So when they tried to arrest him he ran to escape. He preserved his own life and so everyone including this person who's unnamed left him and even the Apostle Peter did. The one who said, I'll die for you. Peter is one of those and we'll close with this. One of those examples in scripture of a man who failed terribly but he also becomes an example of God's tenderness and ability to restore those who have fallen. And one of my favorite messages that I receive from this is when Jesus restored his beloved friend, the Apostle Peter. We'll be looking at that. I don't wanna give too much but I'll close with thought. Jesus looks at him and there again in the early morning hazy light, Peter's sitting there and Jesus looks at him and says to him, Peter do you love me? You know all things. You know I have a deep friendship for you. He did that three times and Jesus said to him finally, take care of my lambs and take care of my sheep Peter. Because when you fall, you have a God who will lift you up. Never forget that. You can run a thousand miles away from God but it only takes one step to come back. Never forget that. It only takes one step to come back and Jesus restores the brokenhearted. He restores those who have fallen. Peter forsook him and fled with the others. Later he will deny that he ever knew him three times and yet three times Jesus asked him, do you love me? Yes, do you love me? Yes, you know all things. You know I love you. Take care of my babies. You're restored. Anybody here who needs to hear those words today, those are for you. You may have run a thousand miles from Jesus. It takes one step to come home. Come home. Come home because Jesus will restore you because he loves you. That's the God we serve.