“I am.” That’s what Jesus said to the soldiers sent by the chief priests to arrest Him. Oh, it would have been easy enough for him to hide. The garden was dark, and He and all of His disciples were undoubtedly dressed in a similar way. He could have let his captors grab Peter, for example, only to discover their error in the light of day.

And we know Peter was willing to take up arms in the service of the One He had declared to be the Messiah. Yes, Peter was ready to start a war with the Romans and their priestly allies, ready to stick it to “the man,” ready to use force to bring about his version of heaven on earth, just as Mohammed and Lenin and Hitler and so many other revolutionaries have tried to do.

But Jesus would have none of it, and not because He didn’t have the power to impose His will on others. For when He said, “I am,” He was identifying Himself in the same way that God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush: “I Am Who I Am” (Exodus 3:14). And at the mere mention of His Divine Name, Jesus’ captors were so overpowered that they collapsed to the ground (John 18:6). Yes, Jesus could easily have walked away from the garden without a scratch. He could easily have retaken the land of Israel from the Romans on His way to conquering the whole world by force.

But He didn’t come to sacrifice some of His followers so He could set up a military dictatorship on earth. And He didn’t come to destroy His enemies, overpowering them with His divine righteousness and truth. No, He came to suffer all the pain and shame that our sin has brought into this world, absorbing all the consequences of all the ways in which we rebel against God.

And He came to do this, not for valiant warriors who would stand steadfastly by His side: the kind of people Peter wanted to be in verse 10, and the kind of people we often imagine ourselves to be. No, Jesus gave Himself up for the sniveling coward Peter actually was, the man who refused to admit even to a slave girl that he was a disciple of Jesus (19:17).

Yes, even though Peter denied Jesus, saying “I am not” His disciple (18:17, 25), Jesus insists, “I Am” the Messiah; “I Am” the Son of God, regardless of what anyone else thinks about Him. So, will we trust Jesus to be our Savior today, even if He doesn’t change the outward circumstances of our lives? Will we follow Him as our Lord, not trying to impose our will on others, but giving ourselves for others just as He has given Himself for us?

John 18:1-27 (NASB)

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, into which He Himself entered, and His disciples.
2 Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place; for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
3 Judas then, having received the Roman cohort, and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth, and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
6 When therefore He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back, and fell to the ground.
7 Again therefore He asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; if therefore you seek Me, let these go their way,”
9 that the word might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom Thou hast given Me I lost not one.”
10 Simon Peter therefore having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.
11 Jesus therefore said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”
12 So the Roman cohort and the commander, and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him,
13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.
15 And Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest,
16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought in Peter.
17 The slave-girl therefore who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”
18 Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
19 The high priest therefore questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.
20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret.
21 “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; behold, these know what I said.”
22 And when He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”
23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?”
24 Annas therefore sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.”
26 One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?”
27 Peter therefore denied it again; and immediately a cock crowed.