The Arrest of Jesus

John 18:1–11

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” (John 18:4–5)

Chapter 18 begins the final section of John’s record of Jesus Christ. As we look back over this wonderful Gospel, we have seen John’s prologue in 1:1–18, a period of witness and revelation in chapters 1–4, growing conflict with the religious leaders in chapters 5–8, Jesus’ ministry among believers in chapters 9–12, and our Lord’s parting ministry to the disciples in chapters 13–17. Now, as Jesus steps across the Kidron brook to enter the garden of Gethsemane, he not only embraces but orchestrates the crisis that will achieve his triumph through the cross.

If we are familiar with the other three Gospels, we will notice that John’s record of Christ’s passion offers different details from the other Gospels. Perhaps most noteworthy are his omissions. John omits Jesus’ anguished prayer in Gethsemane, Judas’s betrayal with a kiss, Simon of Cyrene’s help in carrying the cross, and several of Jesus’ cries during the crucifixion. John adds details previously unknown, however: Jesus’ daunting of the soldiers in the garden, his conversation in the Jewish trial, Jesus’ dialogue with Pontius Pilate, the inscription placed above the cross, the giving of Mary into John’s care, the piercing of Jesus’ side, and Nicodemus’s apparent conversion at the cross.

What accounts for these differences? First, we should note that while John’s account agrees in the main points, he notices different details, just as we would expect in a true eyewitness. Second, writing his Gospel later, John seems to assume our knowledge of the omitted material, writing his Gospel to provide items previously overlooked. More significantly, John has a message that he intends to convey through the details that he highlights. John wants us to realize that Jesus was not waylaid by evil people who were too strong for him. Instead, Jesus acted in obedience to the Father’s will and sovereignly orchestrated the crucifixion and the events leading up to it. When John concludes the record of Jesus’ death with the Savior crying, “It is finished” (John 19:30), he refers to the achievement of a carefully arranged plan, not to a tragedy that could not be averted.

To be sure, the passion of Christ is the greatest of all tragedies. For those involved, these were the most dismal of days. This young leader and teacher, more beautiful in character and more perfect in love than any other, a brilliant, compassionate, and mighty Savior, was unjustly arrested, cruelly betrayed, and savagely cut down in the prime of his manhood. Jesus’ death represented the apparent victory of a corrupt establishment, behind which stood the specter of ultimate evil. Yet, John insists, its message is a gospel of hope for those who love him, good news of a triumph that breaks out of the tragedy. Not only is the tragic cross followed by triumph, but the cross is the triumph, and the apparent defeat emerges as Christ’s great victory. As he unfolds these dramatic events, John highlights Jesus’ sovereignty. Having concluded his great priestly prayer, the Messiah strides with a heavy heart across the Kidron brook not as a victim but as a determined Savior who has come to his most glorious hour.

Betrayal in the Garden

When John begins his account of the passion with Jesus’ entering the garden, he likely intends for us to reflect on the significance. As the Savior enters the garden to redeem his people from sin, we remember that it was in the garden of Eden that mankind fell into sin. The contrast between the two—Christ and Adam in their gardens—is striking and instructive. Adam lived in a garden that was delightful, while Christ entered a garden that was fearful. Adam and Eve spoke to Satan, whereas Jesus devoted his time in the garden to prayer with the Father. One of the reasons Jesus came to this place was that he felt the need for prayer. In contrast, Adam and Eve committed the sin that condemned our race because they did not seek God in prayer, after which they fled from the presence of God. This leads to the most important contrast: in Eden, Adam fell in defeat, but in Gethsemane, Christ conquered. James Montgomery Boice explains: “Adam and Eve by their sin plunged the race into misery. They fell and carried their progeny over the cliff of sin into destruction. Christ, on the other hand, stood firm. He did not sin, nor did he shrink from his work. As a result, he saved all whom the Father had given him. In Adam all were lost. Christ could say, ‘Those you gave me I have kept. None of them is lost.’ ”

Jesus came to the garden not only to fulfill the covenant obligations that Adam had failed to keep, but also to be betrayed by his disciple Judas Iscariot. John tells us that when Jesus had finished praying, “he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered” (John 18:1). The word for valley signifies an intermittent stream, so it seems that Jesus’ work that evening called him to cross the brook, on the other side of which was the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

It is noteworthy that this was a place where Judas might expect to find Jesus, since “Jesus often met there with his disciples” (John 18:2). Jesus had sent Judas out from the Last Supper, urging, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (13:27). Having then given Judas time to make his arrangements, Jesus went to a place where Judas would likely seek him. So Jesus was not avoiding arrest but went out of his way to make himself available. What a calloused heart Judas showed in betraying Jesus at a spot made precious by fellowship in prayer with Jesus himself.

Judas came to the garden supported by an impressive force of armed men: “So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:3). The soldiers were Romans, since John uses the word for a Roman cohort, which was one-tenth of a legion. This force, commanded by a tribune, consisted of a thousand Roman soldiers, although it would often be smaller and this force might have been as small as a couple of hundred Roman troops. This was still an overwhelming show of force, probably assembled out of a concern for a disturbance among the people over Jesus’ arrest. With the soldiers were “some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees” (18:3). How fitting that a force of Jews and Gentiles together should come to apprehend the Savior of the world! John tells us that they carried “lanterns and torches and weapons” (18:3). Since the Passover always occurred at full moon, when there would be plenty of evening light, it is suggested that they expected to have to search out a hiding or fleeing Jesus. It would soon become obvious, however, that unless Jesus gave himself up, any human weapons would be useless against him.

The question is raised why it was necessary for Judas to betray Jesus. One answer is that Judas was needed to locate Jesus. Jesus, however, had placed himself in a likely location out of the way of public notice. The authorities could not possibly have desired a better scenario for arresting Jesus than he himself gave them. A better answer is that the religious leaders were afraid. They were afraid of an uprising among the people who had hailed Jesus so excitedly during his entrance to the city. More significantly, the leaders clearly feared Jesus himself. They were afraid that Jesus might make a bid for a messianic kingship during the feast (for which the people had begged Jesus in the triumphal entry; see John 12:13). Then there was the matter of Jesus’ supernatural power. In earlier days, the religious establishment doubted the legitimacy of Jesus’ miracles. By now, however, especially after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the grave in the nearby town of Bethany, the leaders acknowledged and feared Jesus’ supernatural might (12:9–19). It is likely that the religious powers feared that Jesus might prove to be unarrestable. How could they oppose him if this were the case?

This concern probably explains the hurried series of events on the night of Jesus’ arrest. It seems that when Judas approached the chief priests and informed them that he could lead them to a quiet place where Jesus could be arrested, they acted at once. This explains why the Jewish trial took place at night, despite the legal requirement that capital cases be tried only during the day. Moreover, it is possible that Judas conveyed the idea that Jesus was resigned to failure and death, since he had spoken of dying so often in the past few days (see John 12:27–33), and especially that very evening during the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:14–23). Now was their opportunity, Judas reported, launching a flurry of ill-planned activity. The arrest would have to take place, the Sanhedrin had to be convened, and early in the morning Pontius Pilate would have to agree to meet with them to approve their death sentence, all so that Jesus could be put to death before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Yet all the while, as these hurried arrangements were made, Jesus was teaching his disciples one last time, committing them to the Father in prayer, and then waiting for Judas to arrive with the soldiers as he prayed to the Father in the garden.

Jesus’ Divine Mastery

Jesus proved himself to be not only the master of circumstances on that fateful evening, but also the master of souls. So large an armed force could not appear unseen at the foot of the Mount of Olives, so Jesus calmly awaited their arrival. As the other Gospels tell the story, Judas led the way, identifying Jesus with a kiss (Matt. 26:48). John tells us that Jesus, “knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ ” The soldiers answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he” (John 18:4–5).

At these words, Jesus’ mastery was revealed as the armed Roman legionnaires, most of them probably battle-scarred veterans, “drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). Jesus’ words here connect with some of the great moments in the Gospel of John, since he literally stated, “Ego eimi,” the great “I am” declaration used to reveal his divine glory so many times before (the word he is not in the original Greek). “I am the bread of life,” Jesus had earlier declared (6:35). “I am the light of the world” (8:12), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6), and “I am the true vine” (15:1), Jesus had revealed. Now, standing in the light of the moon and the lanterns, Jesus answered the soldiers’ query with divine authority: “I am” (18:6). Before the flame of arresting torches spoke the voice that Moses had heard from the burning bush: “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14). Utterly daunted, the throng of armed veterans reeled back and fell to the ground, helpless even to stand before Jesus, much less to seize him. Alexander Maclaren comments: “I am inclined to think that here, … there was for a moment a little rending of the veil of his flesh, and an emission of some flash of the brightness that always tabernacled within him; and that … was enough to prostrate with a strange awe even those rude and insensitive men. When he said, ‘I am He,’ there was something that made them feel, ‘This is One before whom violence cowers abashed, and in whose presence impurity has to hide its face.’ ”

The majesty enfleshed by Christ’s voice in the garden is just one instance of the glory revealed in his incarnation. At his birth, Jesus lay in the humility of a manger while angels lit the sky and sang the chords of heaven. Jesus was baptized, taking the posture of a sinner, while God’s voice testified from heaven to his righteousness: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Jesus slept with fatigue in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, and then rose to command the winds and the waves so that all was at peace. Now, in the garden, Jesus first prays in great anguish over the cup of death before him, and then rises to overwhelm his enemies with the sheer force of his divine presence.

John clearly intends for us to reflect on the implications of this situation. If Jesus could drive a cohort of Roman legionnaires to the ground by the mere projection of his deity, what could have hindered him from escaping the cross? Moreover, if this was the power of Jesus at the onset of his humiliation, how great will be his divine majesty when he returns in glory and power? What an appeal the awe of the soldiers is to us of the urgency of a trusting faith in Jesus Christ! F. W. Krummacher writes: “Their prostration in the dust before Him points out to unbelievers the situation in which they will one day be found. The homage which they refused to Jesus here below, He will in due time compel them to render Him. The knee that would not bow to Him in voluntary affection, will at length be constrained to do so by the horrors of despair.”

What a comfort this scene is to those who rely on Christ for salvation today. The same darkness lingers in this world. The same powers of corruption and evil seek to hinder and harm Christ and his people. The same conflict between light and darkness rages, with the people of God often cowering in weakness and fear. In his arrest, Jesus shows us his mastery over evil, unbelief, and idolatry. This example in the garden should encourage every believer, displaying that “at the will of your Defender, ev’ry foeman must surrender.” The spiritual war in which we are now enlisted was decided once for all in Jesus’ coming, ultimately in his sovereign conquest in the garden and on the cross. “Be still, my soul,” says another hymn to trembling believers today: “the waves and winds still know his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.”⁵

Jesus’ Protective Care

With the Roman veterans fallen abashed on the ground, Jesus spoke again, recalling them to their mission. “Whom do you seek?” he asked. They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth” (John 18:7). Surrendering himself, Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go” (18:8). This was a royal command, by which Jesus protected his disciples from arrest. John Calvin comments: “Here we see how the Son of God not only submits to death of his own accord, that by his obedience he may blot out our transgressions, but also how he discharges the office of a good Shepherd in protecting his flock.”

It seems likely that the soldiers intended to round up Jesus’ followers along with him. This idea is supported by Mark’s Gospel, which records the attempted arrest of a young man who was dressed in a linen cloth (Mark 14:51). This possibly explains Jesus’ daunting of the soldiers with his deity, in order that they might be made pliable to his instructions to leave the disciples alone. John sees this protective action as a fulfillment of Jesus’ statements in John 6:39 and 17:12 that “of those whom you gave me I have lost not one” (18:9). Some scholars balk at this claim, since these earlier references speak of the salvation of our souls and here Jesus only protects the disciples from bodily harassment. But John sees Jesus’ action in the garden as a proof and example of his greater protection over our eternal destinies. Moreover, it likely was the disciples’ eternal welfare that Jesus had in mind in the garden. Calvin explains: “The Evangelist does not speak merely of their bodily life, but rather means that Christ, sparing them for a time, made provision for their eternal salvation. Let us consider how great their weakness was; what do we think they would have done, if they had been brought to the test? While, therefore, Christ did not choose that they should be tried beyond the strength which he had given to them, he rescued them from eternal destruction.” He knows which trials to permit us, too, so that we may be sure that every difficulty and challenge to our faith that we encounter is one that Jesus has sovereignly permitted for our eternal good.

The New Testament speaks clearly about Christ’s promise to preserve the salvation of all who come to him in true faith. Hebrews 7:25 points out the significance of Jesus’ unending intercession: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Paul reminded Timothy that Christ “is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Tim. 1:12). Peter wrote that believers “by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). Philippians 1:6 promises that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Jude added a note of praise “to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24).

What is the clear and encouraging message of these texts? The answer is that “Jesus shows his effective, persevering grace with us by lifting us from the darkness of this world into his own marvelous light, by interceding for us in heaven, by guarding our spiritual deposits, by seeing us through temptation, by saving even our bodies at the time of the last resurrection, and by bringing us at last and without blemish into the presence of his own and the Father’s glory.” Just as Jesus interposed himself between the soldiers and his disciples in his arrest, he continues forever to place himself between us and our enemies.

Sovereign Submission

One last episode in Jesus’ arrest highlights his sovereign submission to the Father’s will, while also showing Jesus’ compassion and grace even for his enemies. As the soldiers stepped forward to take Jesus into custody, “Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?’ ” (John 18:10–11).

We can think of a few reasons why Jesus did not want Peter to strike his enemies with the sword. First, there was no benefit to this violence, since Jesus fully intended to be arrested, and thus there was no reason to harm this servant of the high priest. This is probably why Jesus healed the ear, as Luke 22:51 records. Second, Jesus continues to protect Peter, this time from his folly in raising his sword against so overwhelming a military force. Third, and the reason John highlights in verse 11, is that Jesus was determined to fulfill his Father’s will: “shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11).

The cup to which Jesus refers is the cup of God’s judgment and wrath. This figure of speech is used several times in the Old Testament, contrasting the cup of judgment with the cup of blessing for obedience. Isaiah states to Jerusalem during the time of Israel’s exile, “O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering” (Isa. 51:17). Jeremiah and Zechariah also spoke of God’s wrath in terms of a cup of judgment for his enemies to drink (Jer. 25:15–28; Zech. 12:2). This was the cup that Jesus was sovereignly determined to drink, taking into himself the last dregs of God’s wrathful judgment for the sins of Christ’s people.

Jesus’ statement to Peter shows the beneficial result of Christ’s earlier prayer in the garden, when he asked the Father if possible to remove his cup. Now, having submitted to the Father’s will, Jesus is firm and fervent in embracing God’s foreordained plan for his death. This reminds us that the way to be strong in faith when trials and crosses come our way is to be much in prayer with the Lord. Peter, on the other hand, depicts the vanity of human weapons in seeking to do the Lord’s work. Jesus had commanded Peter to “watch and pray” (Matt. 26:41), and in prayer he would have wielded a sharper weapon than that which cut off Malchus’s ear.

The great point, of course, is Christ’s sovereignty in submitting to the Father’s will for him to die on the cross. He would drink the cup of wrath so as to achieve our salvation. This is the true reason why Peter did not need his sword, since Jesus fully intended to be arrested. That he would give himself in this way for us encourages us to give ourselves to him in return. Seeing how he sought the glory of God’s will through his own obedience reminds us of the significance of our obedience and witness, especially during trials.

Finally, when Jesus refers to the cup of wrath, he reminds us that every person who has ever lived will drink from one of the two cups that God has poured. If we look to Jesus for salvation, bringing our sins to his cross, we will enjoy the cup of blessing forever. In this way, believers will rejoice in the words of Psalm 23:5: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” But to spurn Jesus as Savior and Lord, to refuse his offer of salvation through a living faith, is to be left with no one else to drink the cup of God’s judgment on your sins. Do you doubt God’s wrathful judgment on your sins, if you refuse to trust in Christ? Why, then, would Jesus drink this wretched condemnation if there were any other way to save his people, who look to him in faith? Jesus prayed in the garden for some other way to save his people from their sins, but as the Bible insists, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22). How will you avoid the cup of God’s just wrath on your sins if you reject Jesus as your Savior?

Psalm 75:8 tells us, “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.” To reject Jesus is to place our hands on this cup of wrath, with no choice but to drink its mixture of death and torment forever. Meanwhile, every believer who drinks from the cup of God’s salvation receives it only because Jesus drank the cup of wrath in our place.

In my place condemned he stood,

Sealed my pardon with his blood:

Hallelujah! what a Savior!

 Phillips, R. D. (2014). John. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (1st ed., Vol. 2, pp. 489–498). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.