John 18:1-12 | Sunday November 3, 2024
As we have studied the gospel of John we have seen the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. I am the bread of life (6:35), the light of the world (8:12), the door (10:9), the good shepherd (10:11), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, and the truth, and the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1). In each one Jesus teaches us about His character, purpose, and ministry. Each one offers us a hope and reassures our hearts about who our savior is. Each one draws us into relationship with Him, who alone can offer satisfaction, and truth. These statements, and every other promise Jesus made would be undone if the next 4 chapters were not here. If there was no death and resurrection then His ministry and teachings would have been disproven. The great news is that Jesus was willing to go to the cross and become the payment for sin and conquer death through His resurrection. Everything He claimed to be, all of the I Am’s are confirmed by His obedience and sacrifice in the next few chapters.
John 18:1-12 ESV
(1) When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
(2) Now Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
(3) So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
(4) Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
(5) They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I Am He.” Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.
(6) When Jesus said to them, “I Am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
(7) So He asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
(8) Jesus answered, “I told you that I Am He. So, if you seek Me, let these men go.”
(9) This was to fulfill the word that He had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”
(10) Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)
(11) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given Me?”
(12) So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.
Each Gospel writer was led by the Holy Spirit to share specific things. Not one includes all of the story. As Jesus leads His disciples into the garden we notice the pieces of the story John left out. Jesus praying in agony to God the Father, and sweating drops of blood as the disciples fall asleep are not mentioned. John portrays Jesus as the Word made flesh, the great I Am who is in perfect control of the events that are unfolding.
The brook Kidron only had water during the rainy season and would have been dry for this time of the year. Jesus leads the disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. Jews observing the Passover had to stay within the extended city limit, and the garden was within this limit. He had been spending the night there all week (Luke 21:37). This is how Judas knew where to find them.
John 18:2-3 NAS95
(2) Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
(3) Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
This crowd of soldiers, Jewish officials, and pharisees is much larger than most of us imagine. A roman cohort is a tenth of a legion and would have 600 foot soldiers. The Jewish leaders and Judas did not want to leave anything to chance. Jesus had slipped through their hands so many times, so they came prepared. During the Passover is a full moon, but they came with lanterns and torches just to make sure He could not hide. Matthew 26:47 calls it a great crowd with swords and clubs. Humanity came in the darkness with artificial light to arrest the light of the World. They came with all the weapons and power the world had to offer. Yet Jesus was perfectly in control.
John 18:4 ESV
(4) Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
Jesus is not surprised by anything that was happening. His hour had come, He was there to willingly lay down His life. He doesn’t hide from the moment but comes forward. This was God’s perfect plan being orchestrated through the sinfulness of man.
Acts 2:23 ESV
(23) this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Acts 4:24-28 ESV
(24) And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
(25) who through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
(26) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed’—
(27) for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
(28) to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.
Our God is sovereignly in control. Jesus’ arrest, trials and death were perfectly executed according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. It was predestined to take place. Jesus had to pay for sin. He knew all that would happen to Him. This makes His willingness to go the cross even more amazing. It is one thing to be willing to do something if you don’t know everything that is involved. Sometimes our ignorance lets us volunteer for things we never would have if we knew what it would actually be like. Jesus knew every bit of pain, suffering, and anguish that was about to happen to Him. He knew what taking on sin would cost Him and He was still willing.
All of this was happening according to God’s plan at the hands of sinful man. It was truly Judas’ own choice to betray Jesus. Each person that played a hand in these events were doing so as a result of their own will and rebellion to God. They were raging, and plotting against God and His anointed. Only God is big enough to make both of these truths fit together, man’s choice and God’s plan.
John 18:5-6 ESV
(4) Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
(5) They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I Am He.” Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.
(6) When Jesus said to them, “I Am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
They were looking for Jesus of Nazareth. God Himself, the bread of life, the way the truth and the life was there in the garden but they were looking for Jesus from a place nothing good could come from, Nazareth. When Jesus answered He declares, I AM. There is no “He” in the Greek, the translators add that for the sentence to read smoother. Jesus answering “I Am” was no accident.
Exodus 3:13-15 Legacy Standard Bible
(13) Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
(14) And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
(15) And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name from generation to generation.
Jesus is the great I Am. The only definition that truly sums up who God is, is Himself. He is the one who has always existed and will always exist. The crowd was there to arrest and kill the great I AM.
He is God and in this moment He declares Himself to be God. At this declaration, the mass crowd with their lanterns, torches and swords fall backwards to the ground. Can you imagine the chaos that ensued? Jesus let just a little bit of His divine power of who He truly was show through for a brief moment. When people are still in this physical body see the true glory of Jesus they are undone. In Acts 9 Saul falls to the ground as the bright light from Jesus hits Him and is blind and won’t eat for three days. Daniel falls down and has no strength left in Him in chapter 10 when He has a glimpse of Jesus’ glory. Even the apostle John who walked with Jesus in His humanity, is taken aback by His true glory.
Revelation 1:17-18 ESV
(17) When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I Am the first and the last,
(18) and the living one. I died, and behold I Am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
John knew Jesus so well and yet His glory made Him like a dead man. Each of these examples is someone in there flesh seeing Jesus glorified. When we see Him face to face we will have on a new resurrected body. We will not fall down as dead men but worship our amazing savior. In the chaos of the garden, with a huge crowd seeking His arrest, a friend betraying Him, and the tired disciples panicking, Jesus reminds everyone that He is the great I AM. In the chaos and confusion nothing is out of his control.
Isaiah 54:10 ESV
(10) For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Everything else in this world may leave, or be taken away but our God will not be changed. His steadfast love will never leave nor forsake us. Even in the garden as humanity shows the depths of our sinfulness, Jesus is the I AM.
John 18:7-9 ESV
(7) So He asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
(8) Jesus answered, “I told you that I Am He. So, if you seek Me, let these men go.”
(9) This was to fulfill the word that He had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”
It took some time for the crowd to regroup after being knocked down. Even after that display of power and glory, they were still focused on arresting and ultimately killing Jesus. The nonbelieving heart is calloused and refuses to see the truth. Jesus takes care to make sure the disciples are not arrested with Him.
It is important to see that Jesus did not leave the disciples in the safety of the upper room. He brought them with Him to the garden. He wanted them to see Him submit to the will of God the Father and willingly lay down His life. Judas and the soldiers did not sneak up or overwhelm Jesus. He wanted them to know that this was an act of love and service. Jesus making sure they were safe fulfilled His prayer in the upper room 17:12. It also appears that this is the moment that Judas points out Jesus and betrays Him with a kiss.
John 18:10 ESV
(10) Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)
All of this has been too much for Peter. Something has to be done. Someone has to stand up and stop this crowd. Peter being the excellent swordsman He is, tries to behead the high priest servant and is only able to cut his ear off. Peter starts to think like the world. Judas, the religious leaders, and the soldiers are relying on swords for their protection so Peter thinks Jesus should as well. Jesus predicting Peter’s denial also had to be ringing in his ears. He is overly zealous to prove himself. Peter trying to protect himself is not the problem. In Luke 22:26 Jesus tells the disciples to make sure to have some swords for how difficult the days will become. The issue is Jesus does not need to be defended. He is in full control, He even stops to heal Malchus.
Luke 22:50-51 ESV
(50) And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
(51) But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And He touched his ear and healed him.
At each stage in the garden I am amazed at how hard our hearts can become. They are claiming He is leading a rebellion yet He stops His followers from using force. He has the power to reattach and heal an ear, and yet they still want to arrest Him. We will not understand the garden if we just look at it through a physical lens.
Ephesians 6:12 ESV
(12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
There was a tremendous spiritual battle that was taking place in the garden. This helps explain the hardness of heart of the crowd. They refused to acknowledge what was right in front of them. There is a spiritual battle around us whether we are aware of it or not. The crowd and Peter were just reacting not realizing the true spiritual issues that were at hand. We need to ask God for a spiritual eyes and ears. We need the Holy Spirit to give us insight past the physical and into the spiritual reality that is around us.
John 18:11 ESV
(11) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given Me?”
Jesus is fully aware at what is at stake in the garden. The second Adam has an opportunity to walk in obedience.
Romans 5:18-19 NLT
(18) Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.
(19) Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
Jesus is in a garden and is going to set right the sin that came in through Adam’s disobedience. Adam thought he knew a better way to live and relied on himself. Jesus instead chose to submit to the Father’s will. He did not accept this cup lightly.
Matthew 26:39 ESV
(39) And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
He asked for God the Father to take the cup from Him. Even in this prayer He was willing to accept the will of the Father. He walked in obedience, where Adam pursued his own will. The cup that Jesus prayed about and is willing to accept is a horrendous thing.
Psalms 75:8 ESV
(8) For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
Isaiah 51:17 ESV
(17) Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.
This cup is full of the wrath of God that was meant to be poured out on the wicked. It is full of the punishment and judgment that sin deserves. Jesus fully knows what is in the cup and He is willing to accept it. He is willing to accept our sin and experience the wrath of God. Our savior willingly offered Himself. What do we have to fear and worry about when Jesus has loved us this much and paid for our sin. The I AM loves us and paid for our sin. What more can we ever need?
John 18:12 ESV
(12) So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.