The Claim

The Claim

John 18:1-9, NLT

After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. 2Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. 3The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. 4Jesus 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.) 6As Jesus said “I AM he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7Once 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.” 9He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

Setting the Scene

Judas had left the group in the upper room, not knowing for sure where Jesus and the disciples were going. But he surmised they would go to Gethsemane. So he guided a detachment of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to the garden. The Temple guards came because Jews had been given authority to make arrests for minor infractions. The soldiers probably did not participate in the arrest but came to make sure the situation didn’t get out of control. Matthew states that these men had been “sent by the leading priests and elders of the people” (Matthew 26:47, NLT). Mark adds the “teachers of religious law” (Mark 14:43, NLT). These were the three groups that made up the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme court. Jesus had mentioned these three groups in his predictions of his death (Matthew 16:21; 20:18). The entire religious leadership together issued the warrant for Jesus’ arrest.

“Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him,” that his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion would transpire according to divine plan. So he “stepped forward” to meet those who had come to arrest him and asked who they were looking for. When they answered, “Jesus the Nazarene,” Jesus responded, “I AM he.” Immediately the group of soldiers, guards, and religious leaders backed off and fell to the ground. This seems like a strange reaction by a large armed contingent confronting a single individual with a small band of followers. But Jesus was doing much more than identifying himself as the one they were seeking; he was identifying himself as God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Jesus’ response is literally, “I AM,” the name for God. When Moses had wondered what he could possibly say to gain credibility with his people, God had replied, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14, NLT). This name signifies God’s nature with the verb “to be”—he is, always was, and forever will be.

Jesus’ reaction startled this mass of armed men. The Temple guards probably understood the significance of his claim. Perhaps the group was overcome by Jesus’ obvious power and authority. Among them may have been some of the guards who earlier had concluded, “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” (John 7:46, NLT). The guards’ response shows that Jesus could have exercised his power to thwart his arrest but chose not to.

Throughout the Gospels we find passages that describe Jesus proclaiming his divinity. Jesus knew he was all-powerful and could easily have stopped his arrest. Just seconds later he told his disciples, “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” (Matthew 26:53-54, NLT).

Jesus, God in the flesh, chose to go to the Cross, willingly submitting himself to these human authorities and their false accusations, phony trial, and verdict.

Getting Personal

As you reflect on the past weeks’ studies, what other evidence for Christ’s divinity do you remember?

In what ways should knowing who Jesus is and what he did for you affect your worship?

What differences might Jesus’ choices for you make in your choices for him?

In the garden, we begin to see the full impact of the Incarnation—Jesus becoming man and becoming sin for us. Jesus didn’t use his power to make a dramatic escape; instead, he humbled himself further, accepting a traitor’s kiss and the soldiers’ arrest.

Talking to God

This side of heaven, you may never fully grasp the meaning of what Jesus did for us. But stand in awe, or kneel in worship before him. Thank him for his great love and great courage. Ask him to help you make sacrifices for him in your daily choices, ones that honor his ultimate sacrifice.