When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground – John 18
Well they should – he’s God in a body on earth. You ought to have some kind of awesome reaction.
But he’d been God in a body on earth for years, and most people did not draw back and fall to the ground in his presence. Plus, these guys obviously did not believe this was God – they were there to arrest him! If they thought he was God, wouldn’t they be afraid he’d call down legions of angels to rescue himself and destroy them? Sure they brought 500-plus of themselves, but that was to intimidate men, not God.
And as soon as the falling to the ground was over, they got right back up and went about their arresting business, as if it hadn’t happened. So this wasn’t worship – you don’t worship one second and arrest the thing you’re worshipping the next.
It’s like it was involuntary. Like it wasn’t their reaction. Like it was imposed on them from the outside.
This is a huge moment. It’s where Jesus goes from coming and going on his own to being under the total control of his opponents. No more escaping and slipping thru their hands like he’d been doing for years. Now he’ll be theirs and they’re going to pour hatred and anger all over him and get rid of him. And this is the moment that’s the beginning of that.
There’s another angle on this, though. At the same time this human drama is going on, another one, a bigger one, is happening using the same events.
God has his own business he’s up to. He’s going to bring to climax all of history up to this point and demonstrate his justice and mercy and love. He’s going to pay for every sin committed by every human being who has lived or will ever live – billions and billions of people and all their sins. How heavy is that? Far heavier than the hatred and anger of the people doing the arresting. It’s a holy, awesome, righteous, mighty, unspeakable work. And this arrest is the beginning of that.
And so the official crowd of soldiers and religious leaders comes face to face with the God-man on earth who is going to accomplish this majestic, heroic deed that they don’t have a clue about. And at the moment he’s pointed out as the one who’s to do it, identifying himself using a phrase signifying his eternal deity, they all draw back and fall to the ground.
For a moment, involuntarily, they all react to who he is and what he’s about to do with his death and resurrection. It’s a supernaturally imposed reaction. Like someone or something knocked them down.
It’s moment when God shows us he’s in control of all of this. This is not just outraged hate having its way. As opposite as the arrest and the falling down seem, they aren’t. It’s all part of the same thing. God is as in control of the arrest and killing as he is in the falling down reaction. The falling down proves it. It’s like he’s saying, I’m here and I could change all this as easy as I knocked all those guys down, but since I don’t then you know what’s happening is all me.
He’s in the same place he’s in when other horrible things seem to take over. Right there.
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