Why were they so afraid of Jesus?

Posted by Mike Smith at 3/21/2008 12:32 AM
Categories: Jesus, Pharisees, Gospel

John 18:6 When therefore He said to them, "I am He," they drew back, and fell to the ground.

 

 Today is Thursday of Holy Week or Passion Week. Thursday was the day of the Last Supper, Gethsemane and the arrest of Jesus. I want to take a look at Jesus' arrest because I think the church has taken a superficial view of that event and missed much of the information. That information can give us much deeper insight into the character of Jesus.

            When the officials go to arrest Jesus, they literally take an army. The Romans sent a cohort, which usually consisted of 600 men. (Each cohort had a commander with six centurions under him.) The Jews sent a contingent of temple guards. Plus there was a large number of temple leaders. So we're looking at between 700 and 1,000 men. Most of these guys are hardened professional soldiers. They are well armed. Why send so many to arrest one itinerant preacher and a handful of fishermen?

            Then notice what happens when they show up to arrest him: Jesus approaches this huge mob and asks them what they want. They say they want Jesus. He says, "I am he." And this crowd of tough armed men, in the words of John, "drew back and fell to the ground." There are at least 600 armed, well-trained Roman soldiers here, plus temple guards, yet when Jesus announces his presence they jump back and stumble over each other. They are afraid!

            They are as scared of Jesus as they can be. That's why they took so many armed men to arrest him. They don't know what he might do. They aren't sure what power he has and how he will use it. They aren't just afraid of Jesus' popularity and the people. They are afraid of him.

            We overlook this aspect of Jesus character. We think of the doe-eyed Jesus in the paintings on the Sunday School classroom wall — Jesus holding a lamb or bending down to children. That is one aspect of Jesus. He could be very tender and no one has ever loved as much. But he could also be terrifying.

            I believe that one of the main reasons they are so frightened of him is because of the cleansing of the temple. We know from John that in the first year of his ministry, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover and chased all the merchants and money lenders out. We know from Matthew that in the final year of his ministry, just before he was crucified, he went to Jerusalem for the Passover and chased these people out again. I believe that Jesus must have also done this in the middle year of his public ministry. It doesn't make much sense that he would go in the first and third years and not go to Jerusalem for the Passover in his second year.

            We tend to think of the temple cleansing as just one incident, but we know it happened at least twice, and probably three times. This is a major reason that Jesus is arrested. The temple leaders made a lot of money off this temple trade, and Jesus was costing them money. They also couldn't control him and maintain the order they wanted in the temple.

            Think what this was like for the Pharisees and Sadducees. The first year Jesus goes into the temple they are surprised. No one expects one man to be able to cause trouble like this. The temple is a huge area.  It covers a big part of the city and it has several sections. This particular section is the court of the Gentiles, a courtyard where Gentiles could go and worship, since they couldn’t enter the rest of the temple. This is one of the busiest parts of the temple, and this is the busiest time of the year. For Jesus to enter this area and throw out the merchants and moneychangers is like one man going into a large mall on the Saturday before Christmas and clearing out the whole crowd. The temple leaders couldn't believe it could happen.

            The second year, they're watching for him. The temple guards are on alert with orders to stop Jesus if he looks like he's going to cause trouble. Jesus comes to the temple again and clears it out again, and no one can stop him.

By the third year, they are ready for him. They have enhanced security at the temple. There are more guards, and the place is on high alert. If Jesus comes, they will stop him. Yet when he comes, no one can act against him. His righteous rage consumes the activity there and no one can move against him. He acts and speaks with a petrifying authority and power that leaves everyone else frightened into inaction.

            Add to this the miracles they have seen Jesus perform. They have seen him cure the sick and even raise the dead. He tells demons what to do, and they obey. They have no idea what tremendous power he will show when they try to arrest him.

            The disciples have the same view. When they try to arrest Jesus, Peter draws and knife, rushes forward and cuts a man. Why would he try to take on several hundred armed soldiers? Because, like the soldiers, he expected Jesus to do something awesome and terrible — maybe angels would come and do battle on his behalf.

            But no one expected that he would simply surrender and allow himself to be arrested. That's because no one else understood the truly awesome magnitude of his mission and plan. No one expected him to allow himself to be crucified. But that's because no one expected him to rise back up from the grave, having reunited God and man. When we better understand each aspect of Jesus' character, including his strength and his ability to terrify men, we can better appreciate the magnitude of his sacrifice for us.

 

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