Whom Are You Looking For?

Sermon

Apr 18

This sermon was preached by Pastor Ted Carnahan on Good Friday, April 18, 2025.

Transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace be with all of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tonight, we are all Peter. Peter, the disciple who followed Jesus with such zeal as he was called from his fishing boat to follow Jesus Christ. This itinerant rabbi, whom no one really knew, had an electric, magnetic personality that Peter just couldn't understand.

Peter was willing to go anywhere, do anything. He was all in from the very beginning. Now, he has come to a moment of crisis. Last night, Jesus told him that he would betray Him three times before the cock crowed. Peter was taken aback. "No, Lord, I would never do such a thing. Lord, we will go with you. We will follow you anywhere. We will do anything for you."

He knew they were in Jerusalem and it was dangerous. He knew the chief priests and the scribes wanted to kill Jesus. But he also saw the crowds as they came in just a couple of days ago. "Jesus, didn't you see? You were up on that donkey. As you rode down the hill into the city, all the people were crying out to you, saying, 'Hosanna, Hosanna.' That's the only thing they cry out to God. Didn't you see how excited the people were to see you? How can you say now that someone’s going to betray you?"

But Jesus knew. He knew that Judas was already putting the plans in motion. In fact, Judas is told in another of the Gospels, "Go and do quickly what you have to do." And he does. He goes and betrays his Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, a pittance for the life of a man.

Judas felt betrayed. "How could Jesus abandon the movement like this? Doesn't He understand that we've got something good coming? What we really need to do is help people. We can fix the world. We can throw the Romans out. This is going to be good. But if you keep messing it up, Lord, if you keep letting people spend extravagantly on you, if you keep letting people get the wrong idea about what our mission is, then I don't know if I can follow you. Jesus, aren't you on my agenda? Aren't you following my plans? Don't you have my best interests at heart?"

Judas doubts and convicts Jesus. He gives Him over into the hands of men who want Him dead and will say anything and do anything to get Pilate and the Romans to do their dirty work.

But back to Peter. Peter and Judas have something in common. Peter is unwilling to see Jesus die, and so is Judas. Yet Judas is unwilling to see Jesus live in a way that doesn't correspond to his ideals. Peter wants to follow Jesus anywhere and is convinced that he has the inner strength to do it. Judas has the horrible inner strength to betray his Lord.

Judas is ultimately successful in his betrayal. And Peter? Peter is asked, "Hey, don't I know you from someplace?" And he denies Him.

The Power of Jesus' Name

John does something remarkable in his Gospel on purpose. He starts off with this opening scene where Jesus is out with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. They're praying when Judas brings the police to arrest Jesus.

Jesus gets to say to them, "Who are you looking for?" They reply, "Jesus of Nazareth." And what happens next? He says, "I am He." That word from the lips of the Son of God is so powerful that it knocks the men who would seek His blood to the ground. They stumble backwards and fall as if a shockwave hit them.

Why is that so remarkable? Not just because of the kinetic action and physicality of it, but because Jesus is giving His proper name. He's telling people who He really is.

The Name of God Revealed

Way back in the Old Testament, when Moses asks God who sent him to rescue His people from Egypt and what name he should give when Pharaoh and the people ask, God says, "I am who I am." The rescuing God names Himself "I Am."

Here in John's Gospel, Jesus speaks to those people with intention. In Greek, like in Spanish, you don't need pronouns for verbs to make sense; the verb form implies the subject. So Jesus could have just said, "Am He," and it would mean "It's me." But He says, "I am He," naming Himself as God.

The powerful Word of God which says, "I am He," knocks them to the ground. He declares:

I am who I am.
I am the second person of the Trinity.
I am the Son of God.
I am the Word made flesh.
I am the King of Israel and the universe incarnate standing before you.

"Jesus of Nazareth? Well, you found Him, but you found a whole lot more. You found the Word through which existence was created. I am He."

Peter's Weakness and Our Own

By contrast, St. Peter, despite his best intentions and desire to follow Jesus, but with the weak flesh that you and I share, is confronted by people in Caiaphas' courtyard. Someone asks, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere? I saw you." And what does Peter say? "I am not."

People of God, do we proclaim by our lives and efforts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our King, and our Lord? As merely the chief of sinners, I know that I reject Him every day by my deeds. And I know that you do too.

I want to worship my Lord. I want to keep Him at the center of my life. I want Him to direct my days and deeds in peace. Yet I know in my own heart that all too often, when the rubber meets the road, when it gets tough, when temptation rears its ugly head, my response is, "I am not." If you're anything like me, you know how serious that is.

Jesus Knew All That Was Coming

Jesus knew all of this was coming. John is careful to tell us from the beginning that Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to Him, came forward. He asks the first question as if firing the opening shot: "Whom are you looking for?" He already knows everything that's about to happen.

As the Son of God and Savior of the world, He knows what He's in for:

He knows He's going to be arrested.
He knows He's going to be mocked.
He knows He's going to be tortured.
He knows He's going to die.

Peter didn't accept this truth. After cutting off the ear of Malchus the slave, Jesus tells him, "Put your sword away. Am I not to drink the cup of suffering that the Father has given me?"

Christ's Willing Sacrifice for Us

People of God, the Lord Jesus Christ knew all this was coming and still chose it for you—for the forgiveness of your sins, to blot out your iniquity, to set aside your trespasses. The Lord Jesus Christ has given you His life and His peace.

He has undergone the agony that you deserve by your denial of the Lord in thought, word, and deed—by what you have done and by what you have left undone; by not loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and by not loving your neighbor as yourself.

He knew all of this would be and went willingly to the cross for you. He chose you.