John 18:3 Then Judas, having gotten the cohort and some attendants from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons. (4) Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, Whom do you seek? (5) They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, I am. And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. (6) When therefore He said to them, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground.
Judas, the false disciple, came with two kinds of people--the political and the religious. The soldiers were the political ones, and the deputies from the chief priests and Pharisees were the religious ones. The religious circle worked with the political circle to put the Lord of life to death. However, they did not find the Lord; the Lord came to them. The soldiers did not come to the Lord and capture Him while He was praying. No, Jesus went forth to meet them. They were frightened when the Lord answered with this word "I am," which is the meaning of the name "Jehovah." This indicates that the One they came to arrest was Jehovah God. The name "Jehovah" means "I Am that I Am." The Lord Jesus is the great I Am. In 8:24 the Lord had told the Jewish people, "Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins." In other words, if they did not believe that Jesus was Jehovah, the very God, they would die in their sins. The Jewish people heard this, and when they heard it again, they fell down to the ground with fright. If He had been unwilling to die, no one could have captured Him. All He had to do was speak one word and His captors would have been dead. How could they have seized Him if He were unwilling to be captured? This proves that the Lord is the Lord of life and that He was willing to die in order to release Himself as life. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of John, pp. 506-507 Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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