Lesson 9: John 18:5-8 “I am He.”

Context: The last I am statement of Jesus in this study is found at John 18:5-8 where at three different times, rapid-fire, he makes the assertion “I am he.” The Greek manuscript omits the “he” which means that Jesus actually answered with “I am”, which coincides with the solemn, divine name for God initially found at Exodus 3:14. This passage falls within a larger framework that begins at John 18:1 and extends through the trial, passion, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus at John 19:42. It is worth noting that the three I am statements for this week’s study are not prepositional statements like the previous seven (minus Lesson #4 “Before Abraham was, I am” at John 8:58).

Study: John chapter 17 is known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. It is among the most intimate of all of Jesus’ words that we have in the gospels. Take time, as a group, to read this prayer together aloud (John 17:1-26). It sets the stage for Jesus’ arrest in chapter 18.

·      Are there any passages that touch your heart in this prayer?

·      What do you think is on Jesus’ mind as he offers this intimate prayer to his Heavenly Father?

·      What is the locus of this prayer?

·      What do you make of 17:1-5? Is this foreshadowing?

As we transition to chapter 18’s “I am” statements, take time to read aloud as a small group John 18:1-11. At 18:2 John states that Jesus and his disciples went across the Kidron Valley to a garden. This is the Garden of Gethsemane. The very brief reflection below, written by Dr. Peter Leithart, was found on the March 8, 2016 online edition of First Things Magazine. Please take time to read it out loud as a small group.

The word “Gethsemane” means, “wine-press of oil.” It’s built from the same Hebrew root as Gath-Hepher, “the wine-press of the well,” a city in the tribal area of Zebulun, the birthplace of Jonah, and Gath-Rimmon, the “wine-press of the pomegranate,” a town in Dan. One of the five cities of Philistia, the hometown of Goliath and later the home of David in exile, was “Gath,” which means simply “wine-press.”

Located among the olive groves of the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane was an enclosed area, a garden that contained an olive press. Olives harvested from the mountain would be brought to Gethsemane at the foot of the mountain, where the olives were beaten or trampled underfoot to produce oil, oil for anointings, for cooking, for light, for medicine.

This is where Jesus goes after finishing the Passover meal with His disciples. There He grieves to the point of death, falls on His face, begs His Father to take the cup away. There He is betrayed by Judas and abandoned by His disciples. There Jesus is arrested and given over into the hands of sinners. In Gethsemane, Jesus is pressed out, beaten, trampled. In Gethsemane, the garden of the olive press, Jesus begins the sufferings that will culminate in the cross.

Jesus is the olive tree. He is the true Israel, He is the land and source of Israel’s fruitfulness, the guarding cherub of the Most Holy Place, carved from “oil wood.” He is the fruitful source of Israel’s oil, which brightens the face as wine gladdens the heart. He comes with the oil of gladness, and comes as the Good Samaritan for the healing of nations. He provides the oil that lights the lamps, that keeps Israel illuminated with the fire of the Spirit.

All that depends on the process that begins in Gethsemane. Without Gethsemane, without passing through the garden of the olive press, Jesus can do none of this. He goes to Gethsemane so that oil can be wrung from Him, so that it can be poured out for and in us.

David the anointed king followed this same path. Betrayed by his son Absalom and his close friend Ahitophel, David had to flee Jerusalem, and he fled to the east, across the Kidron Valley, up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. David too was pressed out, cut down, so that the kingdom could be renewed.

In Scripture, oil is a frequent image of the Spirit. Jesus comes to us full of the Spirit, and that Spirit is going to be ours, but that Spirit becomes ours only when Jesus is pressed and pierced so that the oil of the Spirit that is in Him can be trodden out, so that we can enjoy the “beaten oil” of the Spirit. Jesus is the fleece of Gideon, full of the Spirit, but then wrung out so that the entire land can filled with dew. Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, but the Christ makes Christians, other anointed ones, only if He is pressed and trodden underfoot.

At verse 5 the arresting party asks Jesus if he is Jesus of Nazareth. Not once, not twice—but three times Jesus states egw eimei, “I am.” It is as if in this culminating event of salvation history that Jesus is reiterating what he has already claimed throughout his ministry: I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I am the bread of life; I am the light of the world; before Abraham was, I am; I am the gate for the sheep; I am the good shepherd; I am the resurrection and the life; I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser; I AM HE.

Jesus was present in the pre-creation of the cosmos with the Father and Spirit, knowing, loving, and choosing us in his in-the-future-yet-to-come-sacrifice. He is the Lord of lords, the Son of God, the great I am. He humbled himself, emptying himself of his will—submitting to the will of his Father for the redemption of his people. There is none greater and worthy of worship than this King who became a lamb.

Close this study—and so, this series, by reviewing the magnitude of Jesus’ I am statements found above. What questions do you still have regarding Jesus’ claims?