September 28, 2025 - John 18

The story is nearing its end.  Judas, along with soldiers and chief priests, went looking for Jesus to arrest him.  Jesus, seeing them and “knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’” (18:4).  The seeking here is a murderous seeking.  They came to find Jesus and to kill him.  But, with a bit of a play on the word “seek,” we know that people are all the time “seeking.”  Paul writes about this seeking in Romans 1 where he notes that the Romans, in their seeking, worshipped a lie and created all sorts of idols.  They sought and found the wrong things.  They asked questions and found all the wrong answers.  Throughout the centuries, people have come to Jesus for many different reasons.  Here, they sought him out to kill him.  Others seek him out for victory over enemies.  Others seem him out for health or wealth.  Others pose as those who have found him and follow him but do so only for reputational purposes (Think of the politician who makes a pretense of being a Christian in order to appeal to certain folks or; well, we could name many situations, here.).  However, when God promises “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13), he speaks of something very different.  Those who seek in this manner are those who have heeded his invitation:  “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  We seek Jesus for a very different reason than did Judas and his ilk.

We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread,

and long to feast upon Thee still;

we drink of Thee, the Fountain-head,

and thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

O Jesus, ever with us stay,

make all our moments calm and bright;

chase the dark night of sin away;

shed o’er the world Thy holy light.   --Bernard of Clairvaux (~1160)