John 18.
IT was a garden beyond the torrent Cedron into which Jesus went, He and His disciples. Often had He, and they with Him, resorted thither. Judas therefore knew the place, and conversant with this habit of his Master’s, used his knowledge to betray Him into the hands of the chief priests and Pharisees. Having got from them a band of officers with lanterns, torches, and weapons, he comes there. Far from avoiding them, Jesus goes forth to meet them, saying, Whom seek ye. Well He knew whom they sought, and all that was coming upon Him; but divine Son as He was, it was not possible for all to be fulfilled except at His will and word, and as His own act in obedience to His Father.
To these Jews he was but Jesus the Nazarean, and thus they reply; but Deity was His in all its fullness, and at His word that declared “I am (He),” they recoil and fall to the ground, Judas, His betrayer, being also with them. Twice He repeats the question; twice they reply in the same way, but to His second declaration He adds, If ye seek Me, let these go their way. He asserts His divine will and prerogative solely for the deliverance of His disciples. He had said, Of those whom Thou hast given Me have I lost none. That word must be fulfilled, but he alone could fulfill it.
Not for the first time in Israel’s history had that name “I Am” been revealed in deliverance of the people of God. I Am had announced to Moses that this was His name forever, and His memorial unto all generations. In this name He brought them out of the afflictions of Egypt unto a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3:14-1714And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. 16Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: 17And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. (Exodus 3:14‑17)). It was the same Person now, but the deliverance was a far greater, and an eternal one.
To His Father He had said, Of those whom Thou hast given Me I have not lost one. In no respect were they to be separated from His protection by the power of evil. Up to the cross He preserved them from evil in this world. After the cross He secured them for the other in spite of evil. Even Peter’s impetuous but aimless violence brings no retribution upon him; although the victim of it was well known as well as the precise injury done. His Master’s protection was sufficient, though there is no mention here of the miracle of healing; for Peter’s safety was due not to this, but to his divine Master’s will and word.
How blessedly is the true and personal humanity of Jesus presented in this passage! not indeed without the full declaration of His deity. His habit of frequenting that garden, of which also the power of evil could take advantage, was formed in the practical reality of His manhood. His knowing all things that were coming upon Him was a consequence of His true deity, and especially the announcement of His name, I Am, together with the fact that what He said must be fulfilled as the Word of God.
Apostasy on every side — Judas betraying, Peter hindering and then denying his Master. The priests accusing the Sinless; the judicial power delivering up the Just One to His persecutors, and the people choosing a robber rather than their King. Jesus alone is the obedient and devoted Man, ready to drink the cup which the Father had given Him. This is the point in this Gospel, His voluntary subjection to His Father’s will, not His agony as Son of man in the garden, and the traitorous kiss of Judas, nor His rebuke of man in league with the power of darkness. This is Luke’s point of view. Nor is it, as in Matthew, the treachery of His friend, and all done in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. But in John it is His own word that must be fulfilled, both as regards the security of His disciples (vs. 9) as well as the manner of His death (vs. 32). We have therefore no word to Judas, neither is Peter warned of the governmental consequences of using the sword. All relates here, and has reference only, to the glory of His person and His devotedness to His Father in accomplishing the work given Him to do.
It would appear that a Roman military officer accompanied the Jewish band of men and officers who bind Jesus and lead Him to Annas first. Nothing is said of what took place there, and the scene quickly changes to the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas. It was he in whose mouth the word of prophecy was put, that it was better one man should perish for the people. He, therefore, it is before whom the spotlessness of the atoning Victim must be established.
Silent when questioned concerning His disciples, Jesus replies as to His doctrine that He had spoken openly to the world, and always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, and had spoken nothing in secret. If, therefore, they desired testimony as to His teaching, it must be obtained from those who had heard Him. This surely would be an unbiased and reliable witness, and enable them to arrive at a just decision.
A blow is the only answer to this wise and righteous principle. On the contrary, they would force the Accused to incriminate Himself. Of having spoken evil they could bring no evidence. He had spoken well, and their silence bore witness to it, at the same time convicting of evil the accusers themselves.
W. T. W.