500 Roman Soldiers Knocked Flat!
John 18:1-11
18 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?”
The reason Judas’s betrayal is so important is because the authorities are not able to grab Jesus in broad daylight, in front of the crowds. Judas has already slipped away from the rest of the disciples, and now he brings the soldiers back to Jesus so they can arrest Him.
The Greek word translated here as “band” of soldiers is literally the word for cohort, a technical term that means one tenth of a legion. A Roman legion was about 5,000 men, so a cohort would number about 500 soldiers. It is a huge number!
The reason the entire group that has come to arrest Jesus falls to the ground is because of how Jesus identifies Himself. When they say they are looking for “Jesus of Nazareth,” Jesus replies, “I am he.” Or, in Greek, He literally says:
“I AM.” (He says something similar in 8:58: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”)
It’s a divine revelation, and the power of the disclosure knocks flat an ntire Roman cohort!
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Jesus chooses to let Himself be captured rather fight back. The reason He came was to die.
P.S. Look at how Jesus protects the disciples, so that only He gets arrested and not them:
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one” [John 18:8–9].