So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.~John 18:3 [NIV]

How ridiculous was it for these guys to approach Jesus, this nonviolent man of meekness and peace, as if he were a dangerous threat to their well being?

Yet, how many still approach Him today with torches, lanterns, and weapons?

Torches: Ready to burn down anything in my way, anything I don’t like. I can wave it around to make Him back off and keep Him at a distance (how welcoming!). I can use it as an interrogation spotlight in His face–“You’ve got some explaining to do, Jesus. I’ve got questions and you better have answers!” [You might ask Job how that approach went for him.]

Lanterns: I brought my own light, thank you very much! I don’t need to see anything in any other light than my own perspective. Forget about “shedding some new light on the subject”; I have all the light I need with my own lantern I brought to the conversation. My personal, limited view is quite enough to see clearly.

Weapons: Armed and ready to do violence to what I don’t agree with-verbal violence, and maybe even physical! We especially like to attack that which is peripheral, like Jesus’s followers and their failures, instead of staying focused on Jesus Himself and the actual Kingdom He inaugurated.

We must approach Jesus empty handed if we are to truly get to know Him and learn from Him. Though there are occasions, it seems, in which God may just knock all the items out of your hands, kinda like with that Saul guy on the road to Damascus.

Drop everything.

Perhaps this is what Jesus is waiting for….