John 18:6

As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. AS SOON THEN AS HE HAD SAID UNTO THEM, I AM [HE], THEY WENT BACKWARD (RECOILED), AND FELL TO THE GROUND - struck down by a power such as that which smote Saul of Tarsus and his companions to the earth (). It was the glorious effulgence of the majesty of Christ which overpowered them. 'This,' as Meyer well remarks, 'occurring before His surrender, would show His power over His enemies, and so the freedom with which He gave Himself up.'...

1-12 Sin began in the garden of Eden, there the curse was pronounced, there the Redeemer was promised; and in a garden that promised Seed entered into conflict with the old serpent. Christ was buried also in a garden. Let us, when we walk in our gardens, take occasion from thence to mediate on Christ's sufferings in a garden. Our Lord Jesus, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and asked, Whom seek ye? When the people would have forced him to a crown, he withdrew, ch. John 6:15, but when they came to force him to a cross, he offered himself; for he came into this world to suffer, and went to the other world to reign. He showed plainly what he could have done; when he struck them down he could have struck them dead, but he would not do so. It must have been the effect of Divine power, that the officers and soldiers let the disciples go away quietly, after the resistan...

Verse John 18:6. _THEY WENT BACKWARD, AND FELL TO THE GROUND._] None of the other evangelists mentions this very important circumstance. Our Lord chose to give them this proof of _his_ infinite power, that they might know that _their_ power could not prevail against him if he chose to exert his might, seeing that the very breath of his mouth confounded, drove back, and struck them down to the earth. Thus by the _blast_ of God they might have perished, and by the _breath_ of his nostrils they might have been consumed: Job 4:9....

THEY WENT BACKWARD ... - The cause of their retiring in this manner is not mentioned. Various things might have produced it. The frank, open, and fearless manner in which Jesus addressed them may have convinced them of his innocence, and deterred them from prosecuting their wicked attempt. His disclosure of himself was sudden and unexpected; and while they perhaps anticipated that he would make an effort to escape, they were amazed at his open and bold profession. Their consciences reproved them for their crimes, and probably the firm, decided, and yet mild manner in which Jesus addressed them, the expression of his unequalled power in knowing how to find the way to the consciences of men, made them feel that they were in the presence of more than mortal man. There is no proof that there was here any miraculous power, any mere physical force, and to suppose that there was greatly detract...

EXPOSITION B. THE HOUR HAS COME. JOHN 18:1 John 19:42.—1. _The outer glorification of Christ in his Passion_. JOHN 18:1 (1) The _betrayal_,_ the majesty of his bearing_,_ accompanied by hints of the bitter cup_. JOHN 18:1 WHEN JESUS HAD SPOKEN THESE WORDS—_i.e._ had offered the prayer, and communed with his Father touching himself, his disciples, and his whole Church—he went forth

AS SOON THEN AS HE HAD SAID UNTO THEM I AM HE,.... Immediately upon his speaking these words, which were delivered with so much majesty and authority, and were attended with such a divine power: THEY WENT BACKWARD, AND FELL TO THE GROUND; they were confounded, surprised, and intimidated, and seemed as if they would have chose rather to have fled from him, than to have apprehended him; and as they retired and went backward, they fainted away, as it were, either at the majesty of his looks, or at the power of his words, or both, so that they became like ad men, falling to the ground. Sometimes the majesty of a man's person, or his fame for some remarkable things done by him, or the innocence and uprightness of his cause, have had such an influence upon his enemies, that they have not been able to execute upon him what they intended. It is reported of Caius Maxius that being reduced to the...

John 18:1. _When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place:_ He was familiar with the Master's place of retirement for private prayer and he had, doubtless, heard the Master pray there. Yes, and many a Judas knows the place where the saints meet for worship, and knows the communion table too, and knows some of the most hallowed gatherings of God's people where they pour out their hearts in private prayer; and the pity is that, knowing all that, too, the ancient Judas and the modern one do not savingly know the Master himself. John 18:2. _For Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples._ If ever any man might hav

III. “I LAY DOWN MY LIFE, THAT I MIGHT TAKE IT AGAIN.” Chapter s 18-21 CHAPTER 18 _ 1. The Arrest in the Garden. (John 18:1 .)_ 2. Before Annas and Caiaphas; Peter's Denial. (John 18:12 .) 3. Before Pilate. (John 18:28 .) 4. Not this Man, But Barabbas. (John 18:39 .) The hour of His suffering had now come. With His disciples He went across the brook Cedron into the garden. It is the Kidron mentioned frequently in Old Testament history. When David fled from his own son Absalom, he passed weeping over this brook. (2

JOHN 18 F. THE ARREST, THE TRIAL, AND THE PASSION. John 18:1. The Arrest. Jesus leaves the room, or the city, and crosses the Kedron (_cf._ 2 Samuel 15:23) to a garden where He often went, so that the place was known to Judas. Contrast the careful arrangements for secrecy in the preparation of the upper room. Judas guides hither Roman and Jewish soldiers. In Mk. Roman soldiers are not mentioned till after the condemnation. As the Jews represent Jesus-' influence over the people as a serious political danger, there is nothing improbable in the use of Roman troops to prevent disturbance at the arrest. The word used, _speira,_ is the usual description of the cohort, but it is also used more generally. Jesus, knowing what His action means, comes out from the garden or His place of retirement in

JUDAS, ALSO, WHICH BETRAYED HIM, STOOD WITH THEM. To the Lord's question, his foes replying that they sought Jesus of Nazareth, he calmly replied, "I am he." Then follows. scene designed to show all the world that the Lord laid down his own life. His foemen were powerless in his hands. As he answers, either his majesty and their own terror so impressed them, that, awed, they fell backward to the earth, or his divine power was exerted to prostrate them. Then the Lord submitted himself "as. lamb to the slaughter," and his power is not again exerted until he rises from the tomb, except to heal the smitten servant of the high priest. John calls attention to the fact that Judas was with the band thus discomfited. The other writers mention, what John omits, that Judas betrayed the Lord with. kiss. See Mark 14:44-45. This probably occurred just before what John records in verses 5th And