I Am He - John 18:1-11

Overview

Greek - ego eimi - “I Am”

CSB Study Bible: Notes (Chapter 18)

The words egō eimi occur numerous times in the NT, but in John’s Gospel they have a special meaning with two related connotations. First, I am often refers to Jesus’s claim to be the Messiah. This is clear in Jn 4 where the woman at the well referred to the coming Messiah (v. 25) and Jesus responded, “I … am he [egō eimi]” (v. 26). This meaning of egō eimi also occurs in Jesus’s words to the disciples, “I am telling you now before it [Judas’s betrayal] happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he [egō eimi]” (13:19). Jesus’s foreknowledge of Judas’s betrayal provided evidence for the other disciples that he was indeed the Messiah. Second, egō eimi often refers to Jesus’s claim to deity. Instances like 8:58 probably reflect the burning bush episode when God revealed himself to Moses as “I am” (Ex 3:14), as well as the use of egō eimi by God in the Greek of Isaiah (e.g., 41:4; 43:10; 48:12).

Cup is a reference for suffering.

Ps. 75:8 “8 For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand, full of wine blended with spices, and he pours from it. All the wicked of the earth will drink, draining it to the dregs.”

Ezek 23:31-34 “31 You have followed the path of your sister, so I will put her cup in your hand.” 32 This is what the Lord God says: “You will drink your sister’s cup, which is deep and wide. You will be an object of ridicule and scorn, for it holds so much. 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. 34 You will drink it and drain it; then you will gnaw its broken pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.”

As well as wrath of God

Isa. 51:17 “17 Wake yourself, wake yourself up! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of his fury from the Lord’s hand; you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs— the cup that causes people to stagger.”

Jer. 25:15 “15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.”

Rev. 14:10 “10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,”

Rev. 16:19 “19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger.”

Not a Helpless Victim or a Courageous Martyr but a Sovereign Savior

Read John 18:1-11

John 18:1–11 CSB

1 After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. 6 When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Jesus’ time has come

Judas, his betrayer, has come with:

Company of soldiers

Some officials

Pharisees and other leaders

Some estimate about 200 men.

What do they come with? laterns, torches and weapons. Somewhere, somebody decided that for them to take Jesus into custody an armed group of men to the ratio of nearly 20:1 was needed here.

Yet in that moment with so many there to arrest him, He says but one phrase, and they all stepped back and fell to the ground. Their movement was sudden and quick. It seems similar to the reaction of the guards when they saw the risen Christ, Matt. 28:4 “4 The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men.”

In this moment and from this passage, so many prophecies are being fulfilled:

The foretelling of His betrayer - Jn. 13:19 “19 I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he.”

His life isn’t being taken from Him, He is laying it down - John 10:17-18 “17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.””

Suffering Servant’s hour has come - Read Is. 52:13 - Is. 53:6

Isaiah 52:13–53:6 CSB

13 See, my servant will be successful; he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were appalled at you— his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man, and his form did not resemble a human being— 15 so he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of him, for they will see what had not been told them, and they will understand what they had not heard. 1 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

From the beginning of time, the fulfillment from the Garden is about to be carried out Gen. 3:15 “15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Two key quotes

One depicts the indelible mark of Christ’s action left on John and the disciples as they look back at this event as as symbol of what Christ has done for all of us

John A. Malchus: Impressions in a Garden (18:1–11)

But in Jesus thus stepping to the front and shielding the disciples by exposing himself, John sees a picture of the whole sacrifice and substitution of Christ. This figure of his Master moving forward to meet the swords and staves of the party remains indelibly stamped upon his mind as the symbol of Christ’s whole relation to his people. That night in Gethsemane was to them all the hour and power of darkness; and in every subsequent hour of darkness John and the rest see the same divine figure stepping to the front, shielding them and taking upon himself all the responsibility. It is thus Christ would have us think of him—as our friend and protector, watchful over our interests, alive to all that threatens our persons, interposing between us in every hostile event (Bruce, pp. 268–69).

One depicts the sovereignty of God at this very moment

Exalting Jesus in John The Cross: A Sovereign Savior (John 18:1–32)

As God incarnate, Jesus was always in absolute control of all the events of His life. That control extended even to the circumstances surrounding His death. Far from being an accident, Jesus’ sacrificial death was the primary reason He took on human life in the first place; it is the pinnacle of redemptive history.

Jesus is no helpless victim here. Nor is he a courageous martyr, but rather He is our Sovereign Savior.

Jesus doesn’t hide - He selects the garden which is well known to Judas. In John 13:30 “30 After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night.” We discussed the simple little sentence, “And it was night.” This depicts that Judas had left the light of the world to wander in darkness. Now he returns to Jesus carrying torches and lanterns. Notice the exchange - the eternal for the temporal.

Jesus takes the initiative - Knowing what was about to happen, Jesus goes out to meet them. Nothing is a surprise. Nothing is catching Him off guard. Jesus isn’t an actor on stage awaiting direction; no, he’s the one directing every movement. The soldiers falling to the ground reveals that Jesus is not arrested in weakness…rather it affirms His control over the events.

Jesus protects His disciples - their short term protection illustrates their eternal security. One of my commentaries makes this assertion: This raises an interesting issue. In 6:37–39; 10:28; and the prayer of chapter 17, Jesus is focused on the disciples’ eternal destiny. He will preserve them until the final day when they will join him in heaven. Here in chapter 18 he’s simply protecting them from arrest and possible persecution. How does this fulfill the earlier promises of eternal security? Their physical safety illustrates their eternal security. Just as Jesus is in control of every aspect of the physical world—his arrest, betrayal, and crucifixion, including protecting his disciples from persecution—he’s also in control of everything in the spiritual realm, including preserving his disciples until that final day. What a wonderful picture of his love and power! What reassurance to his disciples in the coming difficult days. What hope for us. Just as Jesus protects the disciples on that dark day, he will protect and preserve all who follow him .Matt Carter and Josh Wredberg, Exalting Jesus in John (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), 354.

What does this passage reveal about Jesus that we need to believe?

Why is the cross the iconic image of Christianity?

Who was ultimately responsible for Jesus going to the cross?