Falaite Sepitema 17, 2021
Jesus said to them, “I am he.”
Pea folofola ia kiate kinautolu, “Ko au ‘eni.”
Sione 18 (John 18)
(v. 4-6) Pea ko Sīsū, neongo na‘a ne mea‘i ‘a e ngaahi me‘a kotoa pē ‘oku tu‘unuku mai kiate ia, ka na‘a ne hā‘ele atu pē, ‘o ne folofola kiate kinautolu, Ko hai ‘oku mou kumi ki ai? Pea nau tali ki ai, Ko Sīsū mei Nāsaleti. Pea folofola ia kiate kinautolu, Ko au ‘eni. (Pea na‘e tu‘u mo kinautolu foki ‘a Siutasi ko hono lavaki.) Pea ‘i he‘ene me‘a ko ia kiate kinautolu, ‘o pehē, Ko au ‘eni, na‘a nau holomui, ‘o tō ki he kelekele.
(v. 4-6) Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground..
G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible
From the sacred hours of teaching and prayer our Lord passed to the final acts in His mighty work. This brought Him to Gethsemane, where we have a revelation of His majesty and His meekness. He suffered Himself to be seized and bound, and led away, and so He passed to the court of the high priests.
In all the annals of human crime there is nothing more utterly degraded and despicable than the procedure of what is spoken of as His trial before them. Unable to deal with the situation, they sent Him to Pilate, and once again we have the amazing story of the majesty and dignity of His dealing with this' representative of the Roman power. It is quite evident that Pilate would have preferred to release Jesus.
It was during this period that Peter came
to the full realization of his appalling weakness as it had been declared to
him by his Master. Under the pressure of the hour he uttered the threefold
denial. Carefully observe how at this moment of finality and his failure he was
not abandoned.
David Guzik :: Study Guide for John 18
Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground: When Jesus declared His divine identity (in the words I am), Judas and soldiers all fell back. There was such a display of divine presence, majesty, and power in those two words that the enemies of Jesus were powerless to stand against Him.
“Here our Saviour let out a little beam of the majesty of his Deity, and 500 men fell before him.” (Trapp)
This shows that Jesus was completely in control of the situation. As a practical matter, Jesus did not have to go with this arresting army led by Judas. With God’s power expressed through His words alone, Jesus could have overpowered them and easily escaped.
“Our Lord chose to give them this proof of his infinite power, that they might know that their power could not prevail against him if he chose to exert his might, seeing that the very breath of his mouth confounded, drove back, and struck them down to the earth.” (Clarke)
“The question on the miraculous nature of this incident is not whether it was a miracle at all (for it is evident that it must be regarded as one), but whether it were an act specially intended by our Lord, or as a result of the superhuman dignity of His person, and the majestic calmness of His reply.” (Alford)
“Wherever in our Lord’s life any incident indicates more emphatically than usual the lowliness of His humiliation, there, by the side of it, you get something that indicates the majesty of His glory.” (Maclaren)
· Jesus was born as a humble baby, yet
announced by angels
· Jesus was laid in a manger, yet signaled
by a star
· Jesus submitted to baptism as if He were
a sinner, then heard the Divine voice of approval
· Jesus slept when He was exhausted, but
awoke to calm the storm
· Jesus wept at a grave, then called the
dead to life
· Jesus surrendered to arrest, then
declared “I am” and knocked all the troops over
· Jesus died on a cross, but in it He
defeated sin, death, and Satan
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