There is a popular phrase out there that says, “History is written by the victors.” This statement, which is found in the opening of the popular movie Braveheart, is commonly attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, although there are those who consider it an adaptation of a phrase first uttered by Napoleon. Regardless of the origins of this statement, the logic behind it is pretty sound. Those who come out on the winning side of a battle or a war are often the ones who live to write about the events that took place. That’s what makes a work like The Diary of Anne Frank is so compelling, because it very much contains the thoughts and perspective of someone who was on the losing side of a particular battle. What makes our text today a particular interesting one is that there is a sense in which both sides win with the events that take place. You see, in the moment in which these events are taking place, the Roman authorities and Pharisees must feel like they are the victors. However, we know that ultimately Christ is the victor. We know that God is the one who comes out of these events waving the flag of victory. We know that because of this we are the ones who celebrate this victory even today despite the momentary triumph that the authorities in Jerusalem may have felt at the time.
We’re told in our text that Judas comes out leading two sets of soldiers. The first is a band or detachment of soldiers depending on your English translation. These soldiers would have been Roman soldiers, many of whom were there simply to keep the peace during the Passover festival that was taking place. A detachment is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 soldiers, but not all of them would have been active at the same time. The second set of men with Judas were officers sent from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were temple police sent to arrest Jesus for his crimes of blasphemy against God (at least from the Pharisees perspective). In total, the number of soldiers who were with Judas is thought to be somewhere between 600 to 700 men; a far cry from the depictions that we have seen where only a few men are with Judas as they go to the Garden of Gethsemane to bring in Jesus.
Jesus knows full well what is about to happen. He knows that he is to be arrested and once arrested he knows what will happen to him. Had he wanted to, he could have run. There’s no doubt that the lamps and torches carried by these 600+ men made their presence known long before they actually arrived. However, Jesus remains there so that the events that are to come about actually do occur. Jesus is being obedient to the Father. This is what is known as Jesus’ passive obedience. We’ve seen his active obedience numerous times in this gospel. When he teaches and heals and feeds and proclaims God’s word, he is actively attacking sin and fulfilling the commands of the Father. His passive obedience is when he remains obedient and does the will of the Father by not doing something. Other than this account here, a great example of such obedience is found in his temptation in the desert. By Christ’s refusing to turn a stone into bread or throwing himself off of a cliff and landing on the ground or giving into any of Satan’s temptations, he was remaining obedient to God by not doing something.
The guards show up and before they even have the chance to ask for Jesus he asked them who they were looking for. When they said that they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus responds with the statement, I AM. In the Greek text, it reads ἐγώ εἰμί. Each of these words can literally be translated as I Am, which makes the literal meaning of this phrase, I AM WHO I AM, the same name that God gives of Himself in Exodus 3:14 in the account of Moses and the burning bush. We’re then told that Jesus repeats this phrase and many soldiers actually fell back, retreated, and fell to the ground. Not only were the disciples fearful of what was taking place, but the soldiers who outnumbered them by a minimum of 600 to 12 were frightened as well; another in the long list of accounts where the forces of sin and evil are far more than those for God, yet the power firmly rests on the side of God.
Jesus cares nothing for himself for he knows that what is to become of him is a must for the will of God be done. He does, however, care for the disciples and commands for the soldiers to let the disciples leave. Peter almost seems stunned by the fact that Jesus would so willingly give himself up and takes matters into his own hands. He grabs a sword (which was more like a dagger) and cuts the ear of one of the men who is there to arrest Jesus, a man named Malchus. We’re told in Luke’s account of this event that Jesus then heals the man and restores his ear to its previous form and function. What is to be focused on in this exchange here is not the actions of Peter or really even the healing of the man’s ear, but the response/rebuke that Jesus gives to Peter. Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away and then asks in a seemingly rhetorical manner, “shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” In other words, he’s asking Peter how he is supposed to complete the task that the Father has given to him if he is not arrested and put into prison. This is another example of Jesus’ passive obedience. The way in which he brings glory to God and fulfills His will is to do nothing and allow the events to take place without interruption or interference. The way in which he glorifies the Father is to completely and fully submit to His will, even when it hurts, even when it will cost him his life.
Christ is led away to stand before the authorities. We’re told that he goes before Annas and Caiaphas specifically, the chief high priest and his father-in-law. Christ is led away like a lamb to the slaughter. He never opened his mouth and rebuked the men who took him away, but went submissively with them. He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah with his actions in the Garden. He was fulfilling the promise of the suffering servant that we find in Isaiah 53. He was fulfilling the will of the Father in going to his death upon the cross. And it’s that death that gives us hope. It’s that death that achieves our salvation. It’s that death that we remember and celebrate this day with the elements that are on the table before us. It’s that death that means everything to us. Without this arrest, without Jesus’ complete and total submission to the will of the Father, his death would mean nothing. It is because of the life to perfection and the total obedience, both active and passive, that he has for God’s will that his death becomes the once-for-all perfect sacrifice that we must have in order to enter into heaven. Christ’s willingness to set his own safety aside and lay down his own life in order to fulfill the will of the Father is the hope that we celebrate this day and is the reason why our rejoicing in him will never end and can overcome all obstacles that may arise in our lives. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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