Reflections on Maundy Thursday
It just so happens that my daily Bible reading this morning landed me in John 18.
If you know anything about the time of year I’m writing this and anything about the Gospel of John, you’ll know that that means that John 18 perfectly corresponds with the events we remember today (Maundy Thursday): the betrayal, arrest, and trial of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion the following morning. (Technically the term “Maundy” refers to the foot-washing event described in John 13, but all these things happened on the same day, so it is what it is.) That being said, I thought I’d share my reflections:
John 18
Ἐγώ εἰμι. “I AM” (v.5). Who knew that two simple words could hold such meaning? We read that “Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to [the soldiers], ‘Whom do you seek?’” (v.4). This is reflective of the question he asked the disciples from the beginning— “What are you seeking?” (1:38a)—and, as should be expected from the lips of Christ, it is a simple yet profound question. Whom do you seek? Τίνα ζητεῖτε? Whom do you desire? Whom do you search for? When he had asked the disciples that question, they had responded, “Rabbi … where are you staying?” (1:38b), because they simply wanted to be near to him: They desired his presence, expecting that time in his presence would result in the revelation of who he was.
Yet these soldiers had already made up their minds about who he was, and so when he asked whom they sought, whom they desired, they replied, quite simply, “Jesus us Nazareth” (v.5a). They had come into the garden on a mission, to locate the itinerant rabbi who had been causing so much trouble as of late, to extract him, and to bring him to the high priest. They were not looking for anyone special: They sought “Jesus” (the 6th most common name of that time period—behind Simon, Joseph, Lazarus, Judas, and John) “of Nazareth” (a town so obscure that nobody thought anything good could come from it, cf. 1:46). They thought little of this man: He was no one special, just another name on their lists.
Boy, were they in for a shock.
They had come looking for a poor, homeless rabbi from the Galilean foothills, yet they were greeted by the one true God who created the heavens and the earth. For they said they sought “Jesus of Nazareth,” yet he identified himself with another name: “I AM.” Ἐγώ εἰμι. Indeed, he identified himself as Jesus of Nazareth, but at the same time He identified Himself as so much more. When Moses stood before God at the burning bush, He identified Himself as Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (Exodus 3:14 LXX)— “I AM THE ONE WHO IS” (or, “I AM WHO I AM”): If someone were to ask Moses what god had sent him, he was to say, ‘The only God there is, the I AM, the self-existent One.’
It is this very God that they encounter in the garden. They come looking for some backwoods preacher, yet they come face-to-face with the one true God, He who had fashioned them in their mothers’ wombs. “When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground” (v.6). Yeah, I bet they did! Here they came on an arresting mission only to find that they were standing on holy ground!
When God appeared to Moses from the burning bush, He said that He ha heard His people’s cries of anguish from Egypt and was sending Moses to set them free. Might not the disciples, then, have gotten excited at this pronouncement? As they had been delivered by Moses from Egypt, so they would be delivered by Jesus from Rome! (Could this not help explain Peter’s outburst in v.10-11?) Yet Jesus’ deliverance was of a different variety: He came not to deliver them from Rome, but from sin, and he came not to simply draw them out of their bondage, but to deliver them unto freedom by taking their bondage upon himself on their behalf—on our behalf. If they had been listening, they would have known this:
“I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (6:35). “I AM the bread that came down from heaven” (6:41). “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I AM the bread of life” (6:47-48). “I AM the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (6:51). He is the source.
“I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (8:12). He is the source.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I AM the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (10:7-9). He is the source.
“I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (10:11). “I AM the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (10:14-15). He is the source.
“I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (11:25-26). He is the source.
“I AM the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6). He is the source.
“I AM the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser” (15:1). “I AM the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (15:5). He is the source.
Time and time again, He made is clear that He is the source of their—of our—salvation. He would not require them, as the Israelites, to offer a lamb on this Passover; He Himself would be the Lamb. They would not be the ones atoning for their sins; He would become their sin and put it to death once and for all.
When those soldiers entered the garden, they came for a human man being betrayed by a friend; when they left, they had in their custody the great I AM, the one true God, who willingly handed Himself over. He asked them to identify him so they could reveal who they thought they were seeking; He identified Himself so that all may know Who is was who handed Himself to death.
God did not send Moses this time; He sent Himself. The I AM had been captured, yet willingly did He hand Himself over. And He did it out of love for us.
