Episode 118 - "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" John 18:7-11
7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
John’s account of Jesus’ arrest includes Jesus twice asking those of the crowd who came to arrest him, “Whom do you seek?” When they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth” the first time, John reported the crowd fell back to the ground when Jesus answered them, “I am.” In the last episode, I indicated that I believe this was an important detail to John, suggesting that this was an appropriate response to hearing the divine name invoked by Jesus. The crowd likely neither understood nor intended that type of response. Otherwise, they would not be arresting him.
It would appear in verse 7 that perhaps they were still on the ground when Jesus asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” Why does Jesus ask them this question twice? I don’t believe that he did not hear them the first time. It seems to me that John has emphasized throughout this book that people were “seeking” Jesus for different reasons. In John chapter one, a few of John the Baptist’s disciples followed after Jesus when John pointed to Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:35–39). Later, the crowd that had been miraculously fed went “seeking” Jesus. (John 6:24). But, both groups had different motivations. John’s disciples became Jesus’ disciples. But, the group that experienced the miracle and even suggested that he was the Prophet like Moses to come, ultimately rejected Jesus. The point is that Jesus has made himself known. He has not hidden his identity. The real question is what people do with Jesus. Do they decide to follow him and learn from him or do they want to leave him or even try to stop the message of Jesus?
The text that follows in verse eight reveals the clearest and immediate purpose for Jesus asking this question twice. He was making them be specific as to who they were really after in order to protect his disciples from becoming victims of a mob mentality. He told the crowd after they had twice said they were seeking “Jesus of Nazareth” they should let the others go because they had found the one they were looking for. John himself explains that this was a fulfillment of Jesus’ own words back in John 17:12.
It is at this point that Peter takes out a knife (not a full-blown sword that we might imagine a soldier carrying) and cuts off the right ear of the servant to the high priest. Many commentators have suggested that Peter was likely aiming for his head and not actually trying to cut off the man’s ear. Regardless of exactly Peter’s level of skill with the knife, Peter is trying to avert Jesus’ arrest. His actions are met with reproof from Jesus who told him, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (v. 11) Why is this important?
This is a chaotic scene. The mob appears in the garden where Jesus and his disciples are located. The mob drew back and fell down at Jesus’ invocation of the divine name for himself. There is some measure of risk that they were about to arrest as many as they could have laid hands on. Then, Peter wields his knife and attacks the high priest’s servant. Did you notice that the only one who appeared to be in control was Jesus? He is the one whom they are seeking and he knows that it is to not only arrest him but to kill him. Yet, he is in control because it is the Father’s will and he is in complete cooperation with that.
I wonder how often we plan and scheme to either accomplish something that we believe is in our best interest. Maybe we frantically seek to avoid things that we do not desire to the point it brings chaos into our lives and we feel things are out of control. Perhaps this is the time that we take all these things about Jesus that have been revealed and we prayerfully trust the Lord to handle things according to His perfect will. It doesn’t mean we’ll understand it. Peter and the others certainly did not understand this yet. But, we cannot simply decide to walk away from Jesus when his will is not pleasing to our own. We must be like Peter and the others who realized that Jesus alone had the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)