NOTES for Joh 18:1-14

What might Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane have looked like? It was probably not very different from other such arrests and “security operations”: a cohort led by an officer, a crowd armed with pikes, darkness, the disciples' pitiful attempts at resistance, their dejection, confusion, and flight... But in the eyes of the evangelist John, who sees the events of the Savior's earthly life in their true spiritual dimension, even at this moment He does not cease to be the King of the universe, the Word through whom all things were created. He speaks the sacred Name revealed to Moses at the burning bush in the wilderness, “I am,” at which the guards fall to the ground in sacred dread. He commands them with authority to let the disciples go and orders Peter to put away his sword and not hinder Him from fulfilling His sacred ministry: drinking the cup offered to Him by the Father. As we shall see, John clearly perceives Jesus' divine dignity even in the most terrible moments, when the shameful interrogation, beatings, and execution become, for the apostle enlightened by faith, the hour of the Messiah's triumph.