Journal

• • Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
    • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
    • A Guide to Self-Reflection
    • A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: John 18:1-11

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.         ² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.   ⁶ When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”     ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”    ⁹ This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Reflection & Application

John 18:1-5

• What does the fact that Judas “knew the place” where Jesus was praying reveal about his experiences and relationship with Jesus? 
• In light of this, what can we say regarding his betrayal?

John 18:1-8

• Reflect on the fact that Jesus went out to meet the approaching soldiers, “knowing all that was going to happen to him.”  What is my reaction when I need to move toward danger, discomfort or pain in the process of obeying God’s will?
• What must Jesus have been like, given the fact that those who came to arrest him “drew back and fell to the ground” when he announced who he was? 

John 18:11 

• What does Jesus’ statement reveal about his approach to “the cup that the Father has given [him]”?
• What “sword” do I wield to avoid the way of the cross, and what would it mean for me to put it away?

Prayer