Deo Gloria
Lenten Sermon April 10, 2019
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: John 18:3-9
Theme: Three Words of Truth – I Am He
There were a number of times in Jesus’ ministry when he intentionally kept his identity hidden, at least initially. Think, for instance, of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well recorded in John ch. 4. She and Jesus talked about a bunch of things, and Jesus (whether she realized it or not) was ministering to her soul. Finally she declared, “I know that Messiah is coming.” It was then that Jesus finally revealed who he really was: “I who speak to you am he”(v. 26). You may also recall that on a number of occasions Jesus told his disciples or certain people he had healed not tell anyone that he was the Christ.
This was not one of those occasions. Here in the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday there was no hiding his identity. “Who is it you want?” he asked the mob that had come to arrest him.
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they responded.
“I am he,” Jesus replied—three words loaded with truth. They remind us that Jesus of Nazareth is…
- the almighty God
- a humble Servant
- and a faithful Shepherd.
Try to imagine what it must have been like to be Jesus on that dark night. The garden had been quiet that night except for the sounds he himself made as he wrestled with his Father in prayer and cried out to him in anguish of soul. But then, after waking his disciples, Jesus went out to meet a band of soldiers, coming from the temple area and crossing the Brook Kidron. Ironically the word Kidron means “dark.” They were indeed coming in the dark with torches and lanterns and weapons—a mixture of Jewish temple guards and servants and Roman soldiers. They were there by order of the Sanhedrin—and perhaps of Pilate himself—to arrest a man who had the potential of stirring up the crowds and inciting a riot. That could have happened, I suppose, if they had attempted to arrest Jesus during the day. But they hadn’t been willing to take that risk. Instead they came at night, under the cover of darkness, led by Judas.
Imagine being Jesus and looking into the faces of these men. John understates it a bit in our text. He says Jesus knew “all that was going to happen to him.” This wasn’t an educated guess on his part or his simply reading the handwriting on the wall. No, Jesus knew. As true God, he knew it all.
He knew all the men now standing there in the garden: disciples, temple guards, Roman soldiers. He could scan the faces of the crowd and tell you every man’s name. He knew all their parents and their grandparents and their great-grandparents. He could trace the lineage of every Jew there back to Abraham and every Roman there back to Noah. He knew not only why they were there, but how they got there—from Judea, from Egypt, from Greece, from Rome, from Spain, from wherever. As the Son of God, he knew them all because he had created them all. And here they were—his creations—coming to arrest him, to abuse him, to mock him, to flog him, and to kill him. Yes, he knew that too. He knew all that was going to happen to him.
With three little words—“I am he”—Jesus knocked this entire band of soldiers to the ground, bowled them over with the sheer power of his words. Have you ever seen something like happen? Picture this scene in your mind. The police have a house surrounded—sirens blaring, lights flashing, guns drawn. The sergeant issues his command loud and clear with his bull horn: “Come out with your hands up.” Slowly the front door opens and a man emerges with his hands held high. “Who are you looking for?” the man asks. “Jason Brown,” the sergeant replies. “I am he,” the man answers. And all the police officers fall over backward and end up flat on the ground. Have you ever seen that happen? Me neither. That is what happened this night in the garden when Jesus spoke those three little words, “I am he.” They were words of powerful truth. They made it abundantly clear to everyone there who he really was: the almighty Son of God.
Those in the crowd should have stopped and thought about that as they were getting back up, don’t you think? Yes, they were all under orders, and Roman soldiers in particular were careful to follow orders. But how could they arrest someone who could simply bowl them over with the power of his words? They could have had a whole legion of soldiers there that night and it wouldn’t have mattered one bit. There was no way they would be able to arrest Jesus unless he allowed them to. And surprisingly, Jesus did allow them to because that was the plan, part of God’s gracious plan for our salvation. And Jesus was determined to carry out that plan because he was more than just the almighty Son of God. He was also the humble Servant who came to save us.
This is another one of those amazing things about Jesus: his loving, humble service. It’s rather foreign to us. Each of us was born with a self-centered mind and heart. And as a result we tend to look to our own interests first. Sometimes, of course, we need to do that. But more often than not we do it simply because we want to. We want to put ourselves first, and it often creates problems, all kinds of problems in our relationship with God and with others.
Look at Judas. Here is selfishness and pride personified, and a serious warning for each of us. If we ever think that we are pillars of strength who would never turn away from Jesus, we need to take a good hard look at Judas and see what sin in capable of doing. If we chase after it, it will seize control of our hearts and destroy us too. “So, if you think you are standing firm,” the apostle Paul warns, “be careful that you don’t fall”(1 Cor. 10:12).
Each soldier in the crowd also came for his own reasons. They came with weapons because they were expecting some resistance. Any self-respecting person worth his salt would resist and fight, wouldn’t he? Apparently, they were expecting Jesus to respond that way. It’s certainly what they would have done: “You’re not taking me without a fight!” Even Peter thought that way and pulled out his sword to try to prevent Jesus’ arrest.
But not Jesus. Jesus didn’t put up any kind of struggle. Instead he calmly offered himself to them: “I am he.” Jesus was not going to have one his disciples take the fall for him or impersonate him while he slipped away among the trees and the darkness. No, he went out to meet them and announced to them: “I am he.” He said it twice, didn’t he? The soldiers weren’t so sure. They needed Judas to kiss him to confirm it for them. But Jesus wanted to make sure they knew that he was the one, that he was the guy they were looking for. He wanted to make sure they arrested him and not someone else. That is why he came: not “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”(Mt 20:28). He came to humble himself for our sakes, to become obedient to death, even death on a cross.(Php 2:8).
Yet perhaps the most touching moment of all—and certainly the most comforting for us—is how Jesus in this tense situation still showed his great love and concern for people, for his people. Earlier in John’s gospel Jesus had said, “I am the good shepherd.” In the darkness of Gethsemane Jesus showed he truly was the good shepherd who keeps watch over his flock even by night.
“’If you are looking for me, then let these men go.’ This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: ‘I have not lost one of those you gave me’”(John 18:8,9). Imagine that! The man the mob came to arrest is now giving the orders! More than that, he is watching out for his disciples—not just their physical safety but especially their spiritual safety. Seeing him hanging on the cross the next day and watching him suffer and die would be a tremendous test for their faith. If they also were to witness all of the humiliation he would endure—the brutal beatings, the mocking and stripping and spitting and flogging—it may well have been too much for them—more than their faith could bear. He would spare them of that and walk that road alone. Yes, defiant sinners would strike him, the Shepherd, and his disciples would be scattered. And yet, he would not lose any of those the Father had entrusted to his care. It was best for them to go now, best for their souls.
“But what about Judas?” we might ask. “Didn’t Jesus lose him?” Even here in the Garden Jesus, the faithful Shepherd, reached out to Judas in love and tried to recall him, tried to lead this lost and wandering sheep of his back to repentance, back to his fold. Remember what he said when Judas came up and kissed him? “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”(Luke 22:48) But sadly Judas turned a deaf to Jesus’ words and continued down the path to destruction.
But you who repent of your sins and cling to Jesus in faith, look at who is protecting you. It is he, the almighty Son of God, who protects you with his powerful word. It is he, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, for you and for me, to keep us safe from that ferocious wolf we call the devil. No one is able to snatch you from his loving hands. You are his, and he will not lose you either.
You and I have this great hope not because of who we are—how strong we are, how committed we are, or how strong our faith happens to be. Without him we are nothing and can do nothing. Rather, we have this comfort and hope because of who he is. “I am he”—the almighty Son of God, who can bowl over his enemies with just a word. “I am he”—the humble Servant, who came to give his life to save us from our sins. “I am he”—the faithful Shepherd, who will watch over us and keep us safe unto life everlasting. Amen.