John 18:26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, said, Did not I see you in the garden with him? These words are fitted to remind us of — I. THE STRONG CLAIMS WHICH JESUS HAS ON OUR LOVE AND SERVICE. The garden! what solemn and interesting associations does the word recall! The very mention of it brings before us the whole train of events on the night of the Redeemer's betrayal. Yet the mere severity of the suffering endured, however much it might awaken our pity, could not command our allegiance, if it were not for the fact that it was endured for us. It was sacrificial woe. Remorse could not have caused it, for He had done no sin. Neither could the fear of death, for to suppose that is to put the Master beneath the level of many of His own martyr followers. No! "The chastisement of our peace" was upon Him, and He was bearing those stripes by which we are to be healed. He was making His soul an offering for sin. Never does sin appear so sinful as it does in Gethsemane. When you are tempted, think of the garden. Will you repay Him with ingratitude, who suffered for you there and thus? Can sin ever seem to you again a trivial thing, when you know that its weight, when laid upon the Christ, wrung out of Him such tears and agonies? II. THE PRIVILEGES WHICH WE HAVE ENJOYED FROM CHRIST. Peter must have been especially touched by it in this. He might not know the full significance of the Saviour's agony; but he could not fail to remember that he had been one of those who were chosen to accompany Him as far as man could go into the depths of His anguish, and that again would bring back the memory of those other occasions on which, with James and John by his side, he had stood with the Master. He had thus been favoured not merely with the privilege of a common disciple, but with special tokens of his Lord's regard. Ah! little wonder that, as these memories crowded upon him, he went out and wept. But have not we received privileges from Jesus almost as great as those which Peter enjoyed? Shall it then be said that He has chosen us out of the world and given us the blessings of salvation, and yet that we blush to acknowledge Him before our fellows? Ye that have been in the garden with the Lord, see to it that ye forget not the privileges He there conferred upon you, and, above all, beware of the guilt of him who turned his privilege into a curse, for "Judas also which betrayed Him knew the place." III. THE PROTESTATIONS OF ATTACHMENT WHICH WE HAVE MADE TO CHRIST. Again and again Peter had declared, that though all men should deny the Lord, he would not, and in the garden itself he had shown his zeal in his Master's defence; but where are his love and courage now? Let him that is without sin in this respect cast the first stone at the fallen apostle. You have made declarations as sincere as Peter's, yet where were they, when you joined men in turning religion into ridicule? when before a slight temptation you fell back into your old sin? It is an easy thing to work up a sensational effervescence of feeling, and to sing ourselves into apparent enthusiasm about Jesus and His love, but mere emotion is only the prelude to a fall like Peter's. The divorce between religion and life is one of the deadliest heresies of our times. Men would lock up religion in the Sabbath and the Church; but so confined, she will pine away and die. It is better that you should never enter the garden with the Lord than that you should enter it to betray Him with a kiss. IV. THAT EVEN THE UNGODLY EXPECT A CERTAIN CONDUCT FROM THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WITH JESUS IN THE GARDEN. The high priest's servant looked for something better than this fiat denial. So the unconverted expect that professing Christians should be better than themselves. They do the gospel the honour of believing that if men acted according to its principles they would be lofty in their aims, pure in their motives, and upright in their actions; and when a man professes to be a Christian, they look to see the proof in his character and conduct. The very charge of inconsistency which they so often bring against those who call themselves by the name of Christ is a tacit homage to the gospel. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? |
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