I love this passage in the gospel of John. We see Jesus willingly walking directly to the Cross! John tells us that HE knew everything that was about to transpire and HE continued in perfect obedience and submission to the Father. Jesus will soon return to HIS glorified state, but the path is through the Cross. This passage in each gospel is beautiful and yet horrifying, it is wonderful and yet incredibly tragic.
It's beauty shines forth in blinding glory and brilliant light in the face of Jesus Christ, as we see in 2 Co 4:6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MARK? THE STUNNING FACT THAT THE SECOND PERSON IN THE TRINITY, GODHEAD, WOULD ENTER A SIN INFESTED WORLD ON A RESCUE MISSION. THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY NO ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT TO ASK GOD TO SEND HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN TO DO WHAT HE DID! NO ONE! WE WOULD HAVE CRIED OUT FOR MERCY, FOR relief from our torment in hell, but we never would have dreamed to ask God the Father to send God the Son to die in our place!
The scandal, the tragedy is that we killed the Son of God, what is horrifying to me is THAT IT WAS MY SIN THAT NAILED HIM TO THE CROSS, AND EVERY TIME I SIN NOW I AM SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS...CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM! To see a glimpse of the depths that my heart would fall apart from HIS saving and sanctifying grace is horrifying and humbling to me.
So here we see Jesus stepping forward identifying HIMSELF..."I AM"
John 18:4-6 So Jesus, 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 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Being a sheep of Christ I had never stopped to consider the effect of the voice of Jesus on the unsaved! Being a sheep you tend to think about John 10, that HE knows us by name, we hear and follow HIS voice, we follow HIM because we recognize HIS voice, BUT HIS VOICE STRIKES TERROR IN THE HEARTS OF THE UNSAVED!
He replies mildly that he is the person they are looking for, and yet he lays them prostrate on the ground, as though they had been struck down by a violent tempest, or rather by lightning. He did not lack the power, then, to restrain them if he had thought it right; but he wished to obey his Father, by whose decree he knew that he was called to die.
We may infer from this how dreadful and terrifying to the ungodly Christ’s voice will be when he ascends his throne to judge the world. Then he stood as a lamb prepared for sacrifice, and his majesty was apparently all gone; and yet when he speaks just one word, his armed and determined enemies fall down. And what was the word? He does not pronounce any dread curse against them but only replies, “I am he.” So what will happen when he comes, not to be judged by man, but to be the Judge of the living and the dead — not in that low and contemptible state, but shining in heavenly glory and with his angels? Then, he wanted to give an example of the effectiveness which Isaiah ascribes to his voice. Among other mighty works of Christ, the prophet declares that “he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4). True, Paul puts the fulfillment of this prophecy at the end of the world (2 Thessalonians 2:8), but we see the ungodly every day with all their rage and pride struck down at Christ’s voice. When those men fell down who had come to bind Christ, it was a visible symbol of the fear which all the ungodly feel within themselves, whether they want to or not, when Christ speaks through his ministers. Moreover, as this was to some extent accidental to the voice of Christ, whose property it is to raise people lying in death, he will undoubtedly display toward us such power as to raise us right to heaven. Calvin, J. (1994). John. The Crossway classic commentaries (Jn 18:5). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.
My brothers and sisters let's press in to see HIS beautiful face and to listen to HIS majestic voice...taste and see that the LORD IS GOOD! Let's encourage one another to pursue HIM in HIS Word, to pursue HIM through prayer and meditation in and on HIS Word, let's pursue HIM seeking to love God, to love people, to share Jesus and to make disciples to the glory of God.
Remember HE rewards those that diligently seek HIM! Attack the Hill...let's go hard after God!
love,
m
Beautiful Scandalous Night
Go on up to the mountain of mercy,
To the crimson perpetual tide.
Kneel down on the shore,
Be thirsty no more,
Go under and be purified.
Follow Christ to the Holy Mountain,
Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall,
Cleanse your heart and your soul.
In the fountain that flows,
For you and for me and for all
[Chorus]
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree,
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me,
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white,
On that beautiful scandalous night.
On the hillside you will be delivered,
At the foot of the cross, justified.
And your spirit restored,
By the river that pours,
From our blessed Saviour's side
[Chorus]
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree,
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me,
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white,
On that beautiful scandalous night.
Bridge,
You carry the sin of mankind on your back,
And the sky went black.
Go on up to the mountain of mercy,
Go the crimson perpetual tide.
Kneel down on the shore,
Be thirsty no more,
Go under and be purified.
[Chorus]
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree,
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me,
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white,
On that beautiful scandalous night.
[Chorus]
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree,
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me,
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white,
On that beautiful scandalous night.
On that beautiful scandalous night,
Beautiful scandalous,
Miraculous night...