Passion at the start of the passion

I really like people who are passionate about things. Well at least most of the time. But when people are passionate, they get really excited about things and they just have an infectious personality. In John 18:1-11, we see a few groups of passionate people, yet only one is passionate enough to have control of the situation.

This is the famous garden scene at the start of Jesus' crucifixion. We see the passion of Judas for money, and the passion of the priests to find and execute Jesus. But what happens to them when Jesus speaks? They fall down and are startled by his intensity (see verse 6). (If they were trying to kill him, don't you think they would know what he looked like? My guess is that these were the lower guys on the totem pole at this point so the priests wouldn't have to get their hands dirty).

Next, we see the passion of Peter. This is who I best relate to. Peter tries to take things into his own hands and chops off the ear of one of the group. This is until he is told to put away his sword by Jesus. And here we see the passion of Jesus. The passion to follow his Father's will at all costs. We see Jesus' power in answering the priests and guards, he could have gotten away easily. But he didn't. He continued to passionately follow His father's will. He followed it through the temptations of the world and the temptation to take things into His own hands. He followed it passionately to death. Which character do you relate most with? Let's strive today to have the passion to follow the Father's will.