Unlike the other three gospels, John does not tell us about Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane; and what he does tell us regarding Jesus’ arrest comes out somewhat differently from how the other three tell the story. We read that Judas brought a detachment of soldiers and police, with their lanterns and weapons, and Jesus asked them for whom they were looking (John 18:3-4). When they said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, he answered, “I am” – it is usually translated “I am he” but the Greek text is simply “I am” – and the soldiers stepped back and fell to the ground (18:6).

Frequently throughout the gospel John has showed us how the power of Jesus was expressed in these words “I am” – I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd, and so on. That might count as just a way of naming the identity of Jesus as bread of life and good shepherd – if it were not for his famous statement “Before Abraham was, I am” (8:58). That recalled for us the name of God revealed to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me’” (Exodus 3:14).

So here again in John 18 we encounter the power of Jesus, expressed in those words “I am.” John recounts this incident for us to enable us to understand that if Jesus did not allow the soldiers to arrest him, they would have had no power to do so: all he had to do was to reveal himself through the mention of these words, and they fell to the ground before him.

In contrast to that, Simon Peter drew a sword and, as reported in all four gospels, swung it at the high priest’s slave and cut off the man’s ear. (Luke the physician, always interested in healings, recorded something the other three gospel writers did not, namely that Jesus touched the wound and healed it (Luke 22:51). But John also included a detail the others do not: the name of the slave, Malchus (John 18:10). Apparently the name is recorded simply as a personal recollection on the part of John, since there is no mention of Malchus to be found anywhere else.) But Jesus rebuked Simon Peter’s effort to defend him: the Father had given Jesus a cup to drink – that is, a fate to accept – and he would drink it (18:11).

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Just a word from you, identifying yourself “I am,” and your enemies fall to the ground, Jesus: why then are we so hesitant to bow down and worship you? It seems we would rather fight to defend you from your enemies. Yet you have always been determined to do the Father’s will, no matter how costly. Grant us the courage, Lord, to hold that same attitude.