by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Following by the order of occurrence, the next εγώ εἰμι (“I AM”) declaration of our Lord Jesus should be from chapter 15 of the Gospel of John. This chapter actually forms part of the lengthy narrative of what transpired in the Upper Room found in chapters 13-17 of this Gospel. However, since we are into the Holy Week, it may be good to look first at the Lord’s “I AM” statements at his arrest at the Garden of Gethsemane in chapter 18; the last εγώ εἰμι statement of our Lord. Hence, we will study this ahead then go back after the Holy Week to the Lord’s other declaration about being the true vine.
The immediate context of our εγώ εἰμι (“I AM”) declaration is the time after our Lord and his disciples left the Upper Room, crossed the Kidron Valley and went to the Mount of Olives where the Garden of Gethsemane was. In context, it is actually from the Synoptic Gospels where we get the name Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν (Mount of Olives; from Matthew 26:30) and Γεθσημανῆ (Gethsemane; from Matthew 26:36). The Greek Γεθσημανῆ is a transliteration of the Hebrew גת שמנה (“gath shemenah”) which means (olive) oil press. So earlier on, Gethsemane could have been an olive orchard with an oil press. In our previous trips to Israel, a portion of this garden/orchard is said to have been preserved and is a pilgrim stop/visiting point. Below are some pictures I took of the Mount of Olives, the Basilica of the Agony (a.k.a. Church of All Nations) and what is said to be the remains of the Garden of Gethsemane. Note that while the olive trees in the Garden are very old (perhaps centuries-old), they are not from the 1st Century AD. We do not know if the designated place we visited is indeed historically part of the Gethsemane in the time of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Apparently, after Judas Iscariot had left the Upper Room, he conferred with the chief priests and Pharisees and perhaps the other Ἰουδαῖοι (the Jewish authorities and parties opposing our Lord) and accompanied a band of armed men (or soldiers) to arrest the Lord in the place that he and the disciples all knew and frequently visited – Gethsemane. In John 18:5 the Lord asks the arresting group who they were looking for. Their brief conversation is recorded:
ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ· Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον. λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἐγώ εἰμι. εἱστήκει δὲ καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν μετ’ αὐτῶν.
They answered him: “Jesus the Nazarene.” He says to them; “I AM (HE).” And Judas also, the one betraying him, had been standing with them.
The phrase εγώ εἰμι as an emphatic expression would have the English equivalent of saying: “I am truly He!” Or, in context, “I AM (The One) you seek!” As the account goes, the group seemed to have fallen down (perhaps including Judas Iscariot) because of the Spirit’s power. Once they recovered and back on their feet again, the Lord is asked again, and his reply is narrated in John 18:8:
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς· Εἶπον ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι· εἰ οὖν ἐμὲ ζητεῖτε, ἄφετε τούτους ὑπάγειν·
Jesus answered; “I told you that I AM (HE); if therefore you seek me, permit these to depart;”
A few chapters prior to this event, in John 6:39-40 after he had just declared to the Ἰουδαῖοι and all who were there that he was the bread of life who came down from heaven, the Lord Jesus said that he does his Father’s will and part of that was to lose none that has been given to him. The gist of those 2 verses was: “…that everyone He has given me I may not lose (any) but may raise him up in the last day.”
Now, at the moment of his arrest at Gethsemane, he says that he really is the only one the armed band needed to arrest and that they should let his disciples go. Thus, in John 18:9 when the Lord said: “…that of those you have given me I lost not from them, not one,” the Gospel writer John says that it was in fulfillment of what the Lord had said much earlier (in John 6:39-40).
In the Synoptic Gospels, Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss. It was the signal, to positively identify him from his disciples for the arresting band. The Lord wanted his disciples to go but Simon Peter engaged the armed band in a scuffle and cut off the right ear of the high priest’s slave/bondservant, Malchus. But the Lord stopped them all and even healed this man. All his disciples fled and our Lord Jesus was arrested.
The Lord asserted that if he wanted to, he could deploy legions of angels to protect him. But he did not. He even chided the arresting band that he was openly teaching in the Temple so many times but they did not arrest him. Only under the cover of darkness could they do what they wanted. And the most important point is that what was needed to be fulfilled, he will fulfill in obedience to and in accordance with the Father’s will. Our Lord knew fully well the consequences yet he did not flinch. He thought of his disciples and not himself; loved them, and enabled them to escape. Such was his sacrificial love for his disciples. Such is his love for us.
We will continue next week with another εγώ εἰμι declaration.
God bless us all.