Paper Writing on John

I’m currently writing a paper on the theme of the power of Christ’s word as portrayed by John in his Gospel. It’s an interesting theme, but it makes for alot of writing. That makes for little time for blogging. So, in lieu of posting something original, I will give you something noteworthy to think about from the Bible. I love difficult, strange, and fascinating passages of the Bible. It’s always cool to encounter something foreign, something divine, in the Word. I find that people often overlook such passages because they don’t understand them. Here’s one such passage: John 18:4-6, where Jesus causes a most strange reaction from the cohort of Roman soldiers who have come at Judas’s lead to arrest Him. (Interesting note: cohorts numbered between 600-1000 men. This event was pretty earth-shaking, literally and figuratively.)

I’ll leave you with a question, one that I have been seeking to answer in writing this paper: is the reaction of the soldiers who seek to arrest Christ voluntary or involuntary? Are they struck down by the majesty of Christ, or do they recoil in fear at His use of the divine name (“I am”)? Let me know what you think.

John 18:4-6 4 So Jesus, aknowing 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.