Soma Waxahachie

What does it mean for us that Jesus is king and that he is reigning over his kingdom of heaven?  In this teaching, we attempt to answer that question. And the answer means a whole lot more for us than you might think. This is the final sermon from our pastor Josh Elsom.

This week Pastor Josh finishes up John 18.

In this week's teaching we take another look at John 18 but this time from a slightly different direction.  When Jesus announced to the cohort of Roman soldiers that came to arrest him that he was Jesus of Nazareth something very peculiar happened. The soldiers are immediately thrown back and to the ground and Peter responds by pulling out his sword and slicing off the right ear of the High Priest's servant, Malchus. Very peculiar, indeed! But was this the first time that something like that has happened in the story of Israel? There is another story in 1 Samuel 14 that shares a lot of similarities to this story that we find in John 18. And when we compare the two we come away with a greater appreciation for who Jesus is, the revolution he began, and what Peter did not yet understand.

This week we looked at John 18:1-27 when the betrayal in Judas' heart against Jesus had finally reached its full climax in the Garden of Gethsemane. But who was actually in charge in that situation? Was it Judas, the Romans, the High Priest, or Jesus?

We continue our look at John 17, Jesus' prayer for his betrothed people whom he was about to leave, and we focused in on the oneness that he wanted for his people.  The unity that Jesus desires for his people is far more than simply wanting us to get along with one another so that unbelievers would see that Christians are a nice group of people and want to join our churches. That kind of unity is not uncommon and not compelling enough to prove that Jesus actually loves the world and was sent from the Father to save it. The kind of oneness that Jesus is praying for has to fit within the larger goal that John has for his Gospel. Namely, proving that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. And to prove those things to enquiring Jews meant that Jesus had to fulfill prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that looked forward to the time when God would reunite the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah and cause the nations to stream into them. It is this context that helps us understand how we should live as one today and bring outsiders who are different from us into that communion.