And Jesus said to them, 'Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?' (Mark 14:48 ESV).

I want to meet you today in a story. Catch the setting. It’s dark. There are trees. There are disciples, groggy, sleep-slime in the corners of their eyes. Not in Jesus' though; He's not been sleeping; He's been praying. A flutter of sound rises in the distance. It increases. A group is approaching; it sounds like a small mob. There--a dim light; then more. Bobbing torches play against trees and shadows. One gait is familiar.

Judas.

The picture is from the mount of Olives, the place we all know as Gethsemane. This is it. This is the rendezvous. This is where there is a convergence, where Jesus is captured, and where we stand only a few hours from the closing Golgotha scene and His pierced, nail-scarred hands.

We are here to process this event together. Imagine it: capturing Jesus.

Reflections on life, death, the Great Controversy War And the disposition of our beloved friend Robert Coulier (1973 - 2012)

• Jesus took a humanity as our own humanity
• He could come no closer.
• He functioned under the same rules as we do

The book of Habakkuk illuminates our understanding of the Great Controversy War, presenting Jesus as the great warrior who ends the battle between good and evil

Nine years ago I stopped for fuel in Dexter, Missouri. Joe stepped out to the pump. When he saw my California plates, we fell into conversation over gasoline prices. He said, “All of my life I've never been more than 70 miles from home.” With food, television, and shelter, 65 year-old Joe was good to go.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were cast out, east of Eden (Genesis 3:24). After murdering his brother Abel, their son Cain was exiled to Nod, east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). They had to leave the Creator’s garden. They would have preferred to return, but could not; He had barred them. Humans had chosen another leader; now there were consequences. As His crowning act, God had made man for righteousness. Made in the divine image, our race was now distorted. Satan rejoiced! The first graffiti had been sprayed into God’s garden.

How will our Maker complete His original plan? How will man journey again, this time west from Nod?

“Whosoever will.” That’s what John 3:16 says. Jesus was given to the human race so that whoever would be truly willing to go God’s way need not perish. But while many will claim that they are truly willing, still fallen humans are hard of hearing, especially when God speaks.

Some are willing to hear from Heaven, to consider God’s ways. Others are so sure that they would be uninterested that they are not listening. How many come to mind who claim that they know what Christianity is all about but aren’t prepared to give it a fair hearing today? They think they’ve been there and done that. The same happens within the church. How many do you know who grew up attending Adventist churches, schools, and events, who today claim that they know all about Adventism, reject it, and aren’t interested in hearing more.

For differing reasons, those who have once rejoiced in God’s leading, flee the spiritual battle. Approaching the gates of Canaan, they falter and run back into the wilderness. On the edge of success they turn. They discover themselves far away from what had been their goal. Elijah stood at the center of a mighty spiritual battle, and God triumphed. But soon, strangely, he was fleeing into the wilderness. Even as he fled, God sent his agencies and preserved him, fed him, nurtured. At last Elijah arrives at a cave in Sinai, and God has a question for him:

And, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:9).

Well might God ask this question of some of us here today.