Today is Wednesday, March 31st, 2010; Karen's Korner #1788
Taken from "Sparkling Gems", a 365 Greek word studies for every day, by Rick Renner. Today's is about the arrest of Jesus (in part):
How Many Soldiers Does It Take To Arrest One Man?
"So Judas, obtaining and taking charge of the band of soldiers and some guards of the high priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons."
~ John 18:3
"Jesus has the greatest power in the whole universe! When He walked the earth, He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, walked on water, changed water into winte, and multiplied loaves and fish. In fact, Jesus performed so many miracles that the apostle John said 'if they had written down every one....the world itself could not contain the books.....'
"Satan was terrified of Jesus. That's why the enemy inspired Herod the Great to try to kill the infant Messiah by slaughtering all the babies in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. When that failed, the devil tried to wipe out Jesus by attempting to seduce Him with temptations in the wilderness. And when that failed, the devil tried to kill Jesus on numerous occasions using angry religious people!
".......many times religious leaders tried and failed to catch Jesus. The Gospels are filled with examples when He supernaturally slipped out of the hands of His aggressors.
"Now it was time for Satan's next attempt using Judas and it seems the devil was worried he wouldn't succeed again. Thus, the enemy inspired Judas to lead a massive group of Roman soldiers and temple police to arrest Jesus. There were far too many soldiers in this group to capture just one individual--unless that individual was the Son of God!"
Renner goes on to describe 'what a band of soldiers' and 'some guards of high priests and Pharisees' might be. The soldiers would have been between 300 and 600 specially trained soldiers. Add to that number guards for the high priests and Pharisees.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell that the crowd was 'a huge multitude', ' a massive crowd', 'the band of soldiers was enormous'. We can therefore conclude that when the Roman soldiers and temple police arrived to arrest Jesus, the hillside where the Garden was located was literally covered wtih Roman soldiers and highly trained militia....
Were Judas and his arresters afraid that Jesus might use His supernatural power to resist them?
Was Jesus captured because there was a 'multitude of soldiers and guards' after Him? Or because it was allowed as part of a bigger plan?
Renner continues, "It thrills my heart to think of the power of Jesus Christ! Even more thrilling is the knowledge that the same power that flowed through Him when He walked on this earth now flows through you and me. The same Holy Spirit who anointed Jesus to fulfill His ministry has been sent to empower you and me to do the same works He did! In fact, Jesus prophesied that we would do even greater works (John 14:12). This is the kind of power that operates in you and me!"
"Lord, I am so thankful You possess the greatest power in the whole universe!
I'm not serving a dead god; I'm serving a living Lord who is interceding for me
at the right hand of the Father at this very moment.
Jesus, I come to You as my great High Priest,
and I ask You today to fill me with Your power 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
I don't want to just intellectually know about You;
I want to truly know You.
I want to experience Your power and walk in Your ways!"
I pray this in Jesus' name!
**
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