One Perspective on a Few Minutes in the Garden

My little take on Jesus getting arrested in the garden. Thanks to Eric Youngblood for planting the idea that Jesus said “I am” rather than “I am He.”

“Who are you seeking?” Jesus asked them over the sizzle of torches and the clanging of swords, shields and armor.

“Jesus of Nazareth” The commander of the legion shouted.

Jesus stepped forward, “The name [pause] is I Am.”

Nobody was sure if it was a strong wind, an earthquake, or a thunderclap that knocked the army backwards and onto their backs, but it was a full minute of confused, fowl-mouthed, scrambling before they had all gotten back up and approached Jesus again.

You can read the Apostle John’s take (he was there) in John 18.

I wonder if the chief priest’s men thought about 2 Kings 1 as they were falling backward. It wasn’t the first time an army was sent after a man of God, but it was the first time an army was sent after God Himself.