AND THEY ALL FELL DOWN
John 18:4-9 NLT
4 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. "Who are you looking for?" he asked.
5 "Jesus the Nazarene," they replied.
"I am he," Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said "I am he," they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, "Who are you looking for?"
And again they replied, "Jesus the Nazarene."
8 "I told you that I am he," Jesus said. "And since I am the one you want, let these others go." 9 He did this to fulfill his own statement: "I did not lose a single one of those you have given me."
John gives us a different perspective from the other gospel writers. In his account of Jesus in the garden, John shares an event that took place that the other writers omitted. That's the beauty of the four gospels. All true, but all bring differences that make the whole that much better. It's like climbing a mountain. Many different sides to climb with different viewpoints on each side, but it's still the same mountain.
In our verses for today, I am always amazed at how composed Jesus was under pressure. Verse four says that He knew all that was going to happen to Him. But He never shrank back. Jesus stepped forward to meet the ones who came to arrest Him. Jesus was not hiding behind His disciples, nor was He trying to delay the inevitable. Interesting that Jesus made them tell Him who they were looking for. When they answered Jesus the Nazarene, the whole arresting party got a surprise.
When Jesus declared, "I Am he," most translations indicate that 'he' was added by the translators. Jesus declared, "I Am" and everyone stepped back and fell down. We see the phrase "I Am" in the Old Testament. Moses at the burning bush event asked the Lord how to identify the One who was sending him. And God replied, "I Am that I Am." There is something powerful in that declaration. Jesus was the Son of the Living God, and when He declared, "I Am," the power that was released knocked these men to the ground. I would have loved to see that. But that occurrence is just a reminder that the people who arrested Jesus and later crucified Him could have never done that without Jesus allowing them to. He had told His disciples that He could have asked the Father for thousands of angels, and it would not have taken thousands to deal with the arresting mob.
There is one more thing that Jesus did that is so honorable. Jesus did not need the comfort of His guys being with Him as He went with the angry mob. So He made sure that His disciples were able to leave freely without being arrested. Mobs are unpredictable. Angry religious mobs, even more so. But Jesus fulfilled what He had spoken by protecting His disciples and not losing one. In His most vulnerable hour, Jesus was thinking of others instead of Himself. But that is really the whole story of Jesus. He laid down His life so that we could be free. Free from the chains of the enemy. Free from the law of sin and death. Because after the resurrection, it wasn't just an angry mob of people that fell down. Jesus defeated death, hell, and Satan. According to Colossians 2:15, "In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross." Jesus defeated them all. They all fell down!
PRAYER
Thank You, Jesus, for the strength and unselfishness You displayed for me at the garden and on the cross. You conquered all and are worthy of all my worship and honor!