Monday, March 8, 2010

Soon Easter will be upon us. Thank goodness for the work Jesus did on the cross, but it is not only the cross but events leading up to that cross that are equally amazing. God's word is amazing. Woven throughout are wonderful insights and hidden treasures all there for our discovery if we will take the time to dig. Right after Jesus and his disciples took the Lord's supper, they went to the Mt. of Olives. Beth Moore explains some significant details of Christ prior to the cross.
To get to the Mt. of Olives, Jesus had to travel through the Kidron Valley. The word Kidron suggests "the gloom of the valley." The valley was a deep ravine which had been a large cemetery since before 1500 B.C. It was infamous for being the center of death and the grave. Christ's walk through the Kidron Valley on His way to the Mount of Olives illustrated this fact: He had to walk through the "valley of the shadow of death", placing death and the grave beneath His feet before He was able to return to the Mount of Olives as King of kings and Lord of Lords. (The Mt. of Olives is where Jesus will come the second time around)


In John 18: 1-11, Judas brings the Roman cohort, officers from the chief of priest, and pharisees. This is the scene of Judas's betrayal. A cohort or "speiran" also a "detachment" was 600 men. Wow, all these people to take one man! It is no wonder considering who they came to take--Jesus fully man and fully God. I would be trembling in my boots to have to encounter God in this manner. John 18:4-8 says, "Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them 'Whom do you seek?'" They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, I am He."... When therefore He said to them, "I am He, they drew back, and fell to the ground." Can you imagine? 600 men fell to the ground! What made them fall? Beth Moore in her study, Living Beyond yourself, gives this insight.
In the King James version, the HE in verses 5 and 8 appears in italics, which means the word is not in the orginal test, but is added for our understanding. The following is the exact translation from Greek to English as it appears in the Interlinear Bible. The capital letters are presented exactly as they appear.

Whom do you seek: They answered Him, Jeus the Nazarene. Jesus said to the, I AM! Then when He said to them I AM, they departed into the rear and fell to the ground. Then again He asked, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I AM.


Jesus did not say "I am he." He said, I AM. These are the exact words God told Moses to tell Pharoah. "I AM THAT I AM."..."I AM has sent you." (Exodus 3:13-14)

What knocked 600 armed soldiers to the ground? The God of all creation, El Elyon, the Soverign and Supreme Most Hight God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, stood before them in living, breathing flesh and uttered His perfect, divine, and holy Name: "I AM."( Pages 109-110)

I suppose the soldiers thought they were "something" when they arrested Jesus, but it was Jesus who went willingly. He could have made mincemeat out of them. They could have been toast. Do we not have individuals who act just like these soldiers. They think they are "somebody, or something" and they do not need Jesus in their life. Just like these soldiers, they too, will have to fall on the ground, and bend their knee to Him, the great I AM. I choose to bow my knee to Him now and forever. It is this same I AM that supplies all my needs. He said, "Peace be with you." Lord, I need your peace. I want your peace. The same peace you experienced when you were in the face of extreme trials and knew of the suffering that was to come. I need that peace in the midst of the storm. I need peace to wait for your perfect timing. I need peace in the midst of my tears. I need peace in your plan. Invade me with your peace that passes all understanding and guards my heart and my mind.

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