John 18:1

John 18:1 says, When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook of Cidron, where was a garden, into which He entered, and His disciples.  Jesus had just spent time talking with the Father, and now it was time to move ahead.  We need to spend time in prayer to know God's will for us each day, but once we know what His will for is, we need to move ahead.  We can still pray as we go, but we must go.  Verse two adds, And Judas, which betrayed Him, knew the place, for Jesus ofttimes drew thither to the place. We see at least two things here.  One, Judas was no longer following Jesus.  As long as we are truly following Jesus, we will not betray Him.  This does not mean that we will never do anything against His will, but that we will never deny Him as our Savior.  The second thing is that just as Judas knew where to find Jesus, the Devil knows where to find us.  We go about life fairly routinely, and the Devil knows how to get to us.  When we are constantly in prayer to God, we are ready for his attacks.  When we are going along on our own power and abilities, the Devil may lead us into sin.  Being a Christian does not make us immune to temptation, and the Devil knows when and how to appeal to us.  Verse three continues, Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.   We must remember that it was the religious leaders that were looking for Jesus to kill Him.  He came to be their Messiah, and they didn't want the salvation He offered.  Many in the name of religion today attempt to discredit the teachings of Christ.  If we ever say there is another way to salvation, we have followed the way of Judas, not the way of Jesus.  Judas had his own little army.  He went from follower of Christ physically, to a leader of men to oppose Him. We need to be more than followers in word alone and make sure that we are following in deed as well.  We may become more important in the eyes of the world, but we lose everything important if we do not truly follow Jesus.  They came with lights and weapons to arrest the Light of the World and the Prince of Peace.  They really didn't need either.  They were not overpowering Jesus, but He was ready to go forward and finish His task.  We need to rest assured that the world or the Devil himself can never overcome us.  Because of the willing sacrifice of Jesus, we are set free from the power of sin.  The Devil cannot make us do it.