Where's God? Finding Him in the Small Stuff

Jesus has been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and is being taken to the former high priest, Annas for questioning. It will be the first of many trials which Jesus will undergo on this awful night. Who was Annas, anyway? You might be surprised to learn just how bad he really was!

When the Israelites left Egypt with Moses, they "plundered" the Egyptians of their valuables like gold jewelry and more. Five hundred years later, God balanced the scales when the Egyptians plundered Israel. And where is the Ark of the Covenant?

When Mark describes the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he tells us about a young man who is watching everything that is happening and is almost caught by the authorities. He barely escapes their clutches, but leaves his cloak behind, in their grasp, to do so. Who was this young man, and do we find him mentioned again anywhere else in scripture?

When John wrote about Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, he made a point to tell us that Jesus was bound. John was drawing a direct line from the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament to Jesus. John wanted us to see the similarities between what happened to Isaac and Jesus so we would see Jesus as a willing sacrifice, not as a helpless victim.

The crowd that had come to arrest Jesus had just been knocked to the ground by Jesus' words, and they had just witnessed Him heal a man's ear that had been cut off by Peter's dagger. Yet still, they arrested Jesus. My question is, how could they not believe at that point? Instead of binding Him, why did they not bow before Him?

When they came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, there was a huge number of soldiers, priests and other officials that came to do so.  Why were so many needed to confront Jesus and his small band of disciples?  When the crowd arrived, they were led by Judas who betrayed Jesus with a kiss.  Why a kiss?  We discuss these things and more during this episode.

Jesus was tested in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest, in many ways that were similar to the ways in which Eve was tested in the Garden of Eden.  Why?  Because Satan did not want Jesus to go to the cross.

The gospel writers focus on Jesus' prayers when they recount His Garden of Gethsemane experience on the night He was arrested.  Jesus asked three times during His prayers that God take away "this cup" if it were possible.  What was that cup?  Was it possible for God to it away?  We discuss these questions and more during this episode.

It is impossible for us to understand the full extent of Jesus' sorrow and grief in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed.  The One without sin was about to die for the sin of the whole world, past, present, and future.  Jesus came to pray and asked three of His disciples to share in those prayers.  Why did Jesus choose those three, in particular?  What would have happened differently if they had not failed in what Jesus asked them to do that night?