Holy Monday (March 30). I am

Prepare to Listen.  I am the light of the world.
 
Prayerfully Read John 18:1-11
After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.  2Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.  3So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.  4Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’  5They answered, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’  Jesus replied, ‘I am he.’  Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.  6When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he’, they stepped back and fell to the ground.  7Again he asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’  And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’  8Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he.  So if you are looking for me, let these men go.’  9This was to fulfil the word that he had spoken, ‘I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.’  10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.  The slave’s name was Malchus.  11Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath.  Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Jesus, the Good Shepherd said, “I have power to lay [my life] down, and I have power to take it up again” (Jn 10:18).  He spoke the truth.  Judas arrived with temple police and an attachment of Roman soldiers (about 600 [1]), who came “with lanterns and torches and weapons.”  Six hundred armed men to arrest one unarmed man!  It seems a bit excessive; it suggests the Jewish authorities were afraid of Jesus.
 
They thought they were in control, but John’s narrative shows Jesus was fully in control, with power to lay down and take up his life.  Thus, knowing what was to happen, he voluntarily stepped forward to meet them.  Unlike the thief who runs from danger, the Good Shepherd was willing to face it (Jn 10:11f).  He boldly asked twice, “For whom are you looking?”  When they told him, he fearlessly said, three times, “I am.”[2]  On hearing him, the soldiers did what armed soldiers don’t usually do, certainly not before one unarmed man, “they stepped back and fell to the ground.”  They weren’t in control.
 
John doesn’t explain why they fell to the ground.  Was it Jesus’ claim to deity (I am is God’s name) or, was it his boldness before armed soldiers?  Did they sense that Jesus possessed a power over them that they couldn’t control because it wasn’t the power of physical force?  Jesus rejected violence, severely rebuked Peter’s pathetic attempt—one sword against 600!  He embraced powerlessness and willingly gave himself up, choosing to lay down his life for his sheep.  He asked only for the safety of his followers, guarding them to the end (Jn 17:12).
 
Imagine yourself in this scene.  How would you respond to Jesus’ act of powerlessness?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Thank you, Jesus, my Good Shepherd for laying down your life for your sheep, of whom I’m one.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Rejecting violence, he willingly laid down his life.  Follow this Jesus.
[1] An attachment was between 200 and 300 soldiers.  Brodie, Thomas L.  The Gospel According to John.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press.  1993, p.  524.
[2] The he in the text is implied.