John 18:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So far was Judas from being able to betray Him that he did not even see the presence of the One whom he intended to betray, although there were lamps and so much light.

The Evangelist indicated this also when he said that they had lamps and torches, and yet did not see Him.

"What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you?"

And you, Judas, deliver up the One who holds all things by His word?

Do you deliver up the Incomprehensible, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Maker of our nature, the One who framed all things by word and command?

To show that He was delivered up by His own will, listen to what He does.

At the very moment of betrayal, when they approached Him armed with swords and clubs, with lamps and torches, He says to them, "Whom do you seek?"

They did not even know whom they were to take.

Although it would have been very easy for Him, as One who knew beforehand, to hide and go away, He nevertheless voluntarily gives Himself over to suffering.

He does not undergo involuntary danger by force from anyone.

He does this so that neither the Greek sages may mock, turning the Cross into a stumbling block and the charge of their frivolity, 1 Cor 1:23.

Nor may the Jew, the murderer of the Lord, direct his contempt against Christ, imagining that he overpowered Him even against His will.

If He questions those who came to seize Him, it is certainly not because He did not know whom they had come to seek.

Rather, through this He again convicts those who had arrived for this purpose and had seen Him.

They were altogether unable to know the One whom they sought.

Thus He confirms us in the just thought that He would never have been taken if He had not voluntarily delivered Himself to those who sought Him.

Why then did they not receive Him, but went back and fell to the ground, unless the One who could do all He wished had willed it so?

Indeed, if He had not allowed them to take Him, they would not have accomplished what they had come to do.

But neither would He have accomplished what He had come to do.

Now He showed them His power when they wished to seize Him but could not.

And now He permits them to seize Him, so that, unwillingly, they may become the executors of His will.

Where now is the cohort of soldiers? Where are the servants from the chief priests and Pharisees? Where is fear, and where is military protection?

Only the voice of the One who acknowledged, "I am He," without any weapon, pierced, struck, and stunned so great a crowd, armed with hatred and terrifying by weapons.

For God was hidden in the flesh. The eternal day was so concealed in human members that darkness, with lanterns and torches, sought Him in order to kill Him.

"I am He," He says, and He casts the impious to the ground.

What will He do when He comes to judge, if He did such a thing when He was destined for condemnation?

What will His might be when He comes to reign, if He could do such a thing when He came to die?

And now, everywhere through the Gospel, Christ says, "I am He," Jn 18:6.

But the Jews seek the antichrist, so that they may draw back and fall to the ground, because, having refused heavenly things, they desire earthly things.

Clearly, in order to believe in Christ, the persecutors came with the betrayer and found the One whom they sought when they heard, "I am He."

Why then did they not seize Him, but drew back and fell to the ground?

Was it not because the One who could do all He wished had willed this?

But if He had never allowed them to seize Him, they certainly would not have done to Him what they had come to do.

Nor would He have done what He came to do.

They, of course, sought Him with hatred in order to kill Him. But He, delivering Himself up to death, sought us.

Therefore, since He had already shown His power to those who wished to seize Him and could not, let them now seize Him.

Thus, through them, though they did not know it, He would fulfill His own will.

When Judas, fulfilling the agreed sign, kissed Him, the Lord said to him once more, "Would you betray Him with a kiss?"

Then, turning to those who had come, He asked, "Whom do you seek?"

The Lord wished to show Judas and the detachment that He gave Himself to them completely voluntarily.

If He had willed, they would have done nothing to Him and would not have fulfilled the command of those who sent them.

At the same time, as is clear from what follows, He wished to protect the disciples from the danger of being taken like Him.

Therefore He Himself went out to meet those who sought Him, and Himself pointed to Himself with the words, "I am He."