I AM HE
JOHN 18:3-19:37
#IAmHe
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
READ JOHN 18:3-9
“So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?" 5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, "Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." 8 "I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
Judas Iscariot was one of the 12 closest followers of Jesus… called disciples. Sin came knocking on his door and he opened it and let sin reign in his life. He agreed to betray Jesus of Nazareth for money. He pointed out Jesus. I am sure the soldiers could have found out which Man was Jesus, but it was easier to have someone point Him out.
That is Him… He is the One who cured leprosy and made the lame man walk.
That is Him… He is the One who told the parable about the Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
That is Him… He brought people back to life.
That is Him… He removed demons from people and healed so many others.
Judas pointed out Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus spoke with such power that the men who were asking to arrest Him fell back. Jesus did not hide. Jesus did not shrink back. Jesus of Nazareth when asked offered Himself freely to the soldiers. His only concern was for the safety of the disciples who were with Him. Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be illegally arrested. When they asked Jesus said three words in verse 6: “I am He.”
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
READ JOHN 18:15-27
“Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. 17 "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, "I am not." 18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. 19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said." When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded. 23 "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" 24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. 25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not." 26 One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?" 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.”
It is very interesting I think that the whole time Jesus is proclaiming “I am He” that one of His closest friends is saying over and over: “I am not he.” People saw Peter and thought he was one of the disciples. He denied it. He denied it twice. He denied it three times. I am not he. I am not he. I am not he.
Meanwhile, Jesus is being questioned over and over about His activities and ministry. Jesus admitted to speaking openly in the temple and in other places. Jesus admits to teaching nothing in secret.
Are you the One who taught that we should love our neighbors? I am He.
Are you the One who taught that we should not worry about tomorrow? I am He.
Are you the One who taught that we should take our sin seriously? I am He.
Are you the One who taught that our path to God is only through You? I am He.
You see Jesus did in His three year ministry in the public eye from town to town. He shared the Word of God in public. He healed people of many diseases all over the place. He fed thousands upon thousands of people in miraculous ways. As the religious leaders were questioning Him about His disciples and His teaching, He would affirm the Truth of all that He spoke. He was a Man committed to God’s Truth and sharing it. Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be questioned over and over about His motives and ministry.
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
READ JOHN 18:29-38
“So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" 30 "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." 31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" 35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." 37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.”
Jesus of Nazareth did not stay in the Jewish court led by the priests for long because by Roman law the Jewish people could not condemn anyone to death. The religious leaders wanted Jesus dead for sure. Because they wanted Him dead, they had to have Him sent to the Roman governor named Pilate. Pilate wanted everything peaceful and quiet and yet some of the people seemed to be in quite an uproar over this person Jesus.
Are you the one causing all this ruckus and commotion in Jerusalem? I am He.
Are you a king? I am He.
Are you someone whose Kingdom is not of this world? I am He.
Are you someone who can define what Truth actually is? I am He.
As Pilate questioned Jesus of Nazareth, He found Jesus innocent of any wrong doing. This is important. Jesus was on trial and the governor found Jesus not only not-guilty, but completely innocent and there was no basis for any charges about anything against Him. Jesus was falsely arrested. Jesus was falsely questioned by the Jews. Jesus was falsely handed over to Pilate. Jesus was falsely on trial.
I don’t know about you, but I would be completely fed up at this point if I were Jesus. The religious leaders broke several laws to haul Him in and question Him. They were angling for His death before the trial even happened. The religious leaders were not above using politics to have Him killed. None of this was fair. Jesus knew it wasn’t fair and yet He willingly allowed Himself to go through the process that would eventually lead Him to the cross.
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
READ JOHN 18:39-19:3
“But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?" 40 They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. 1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.”
Pilate the Roman governor is looking for any way out of the mess he found himself in. He has a completely innocent man on trial brought to him by the angry people and he does not want to put him to death. Good people get set free and go on about their lives. Bad people get put to death. Pilate has a brilliant idea that he will release Jesus as a good faith gesture and make sure that a notorious criminal is punished. The people there cry out that they want the notorious criminal released instead of Jesus. Pilate could not convince the people there to let Jesus go free.
Verse 1 tells us in just a few words that Jesus was “flogged.” Flogging means he was lashed with whips with pieces of pottery and bone in them. The whips would have torn His flesh over and over as they whipped Him. They rammed thorns into His head. They beat Him over and over and over. I can imagine that Jesus of Nazareth did not look like Jesus of Nazareth once the Roman soldiers were done with Him.
Jesus can you stand by while a wretched man is released and not you? I am He.
Jesus can you endure being whipped within an inch of your life? I am He.
Jesus can you endure blood flowing from every part of your body in agony? I am He.
Jesus can you endure the piercing pain of thorns into your head? I am He.
Jesus can you endure punch after punch after punch from trained soldiers? I am He.
Jesus can you stand up under the ridicule and verbal assaults? I am He.
I hope you realize that even before Jesus went to the cross, He had already endured much physical punishment. The way He was beaten by expert soldiers was to cause maximum damage without killing the person. It was an art form. The Romans were savants at the art of torture. Jesus allowed the unfair bloody harsh beatings because He was motivated by His love for you and for me.
He thought of our sin: Adultery, Bitterness, Cursing, Drunkenness, Foolishness, Gossiping, Hating God, Idols, Impatience, Judging others, Lust, Lying, Malice, Pride, Prejudice, Prayerlessness, Quarreling, Rebellion, Selfishness, Sexual immorality, Theft, Ungratefulness, Worry…
… Did I miss anybody’s sin?
Jesus was motivated by love because you and I need Him to do this for us.
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
READ JOHN 19:14-18
“It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others-- one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”
The religious leaders and the crowd they brought with them wanted Jesus dead. They would force Pilate to do their will. They wanted Jesus taken away and crucified. The worst of the worst get crucified. Crucifixion was not a death given to common criminals, but only to the most deplorable of society. Jesus, even though He was innocent, was condemned to die by crucifixion.
Crucifixion is death by agonizing pain and suffocation. A person is nailed or tied or both to wood that stretches their arms painfully wide. The nails are not small, but large and long in order to affix a person to the beams of the cross securely. Their feet are nailed together into the wood. They are nailed to the cross at those three points. The placement of the body means the person has to push up on the nails in their feet in order to take a breath as they hang there. If they don’t push up, they cannot breathe. Usually the person was naked. Usually the soldiers let birds peck at the criminals. Thirst. Hunger. Pain. Blood loss. Hard to breathe. Hours to die. This was crucifixion.
Jesus will you drag your own cross through the streets of Jerusalem to your death? I am He.
Jesus are you the one who will allow yourself to be nailed to the cross? I am He.
Jesus will you suffer for hours and not be able to breathe? I am He.
Jesus will you take on the sin of the world while you are on the cross? I am He.
Jesus will you endure nakedness and scorn and people hurling insults at you? I am He.
Jesus will you stay on the cross for us? I am He.
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
READ JOHN 19:28-30
“Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
It is very significant that Jesus says on the cross “It is finished.” You see, Jesus had just finished taking on the sin of the entire world. My sin. Your sin. Jesus, as fully God and fully human, has divinely and humanly taken on the mistakes and errors we make and endured not only physical suffering, but also spiritual suffering. God punished Jesus for what you and I have done and said and felt and not done and not said and not felt. In the end, the suffering Jesus had endured thus far was not enough to pay for sins. Jesus had to die to absolutely and completely pay for our sins. Once He had absorbed and taken on all the sin, He perished. He died. He died because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The wages of sin has always been death… even since the Garden of Eden.
JESUS SAID OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
Jesus also said many other statements in the Gospels which should bring us encouragement. Every time Jesus talked about Himself it was meant to bring us hope and strength and faith. Jesus said:
I am willing (Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:41, Luke 5:8, 5:13)
I am able (Matthew 9:28)
I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
I am not here on My own (John 7:28)
I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
I am from above (John 8:23)
I am the gate (John 10:9)
I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
I am the vine (John 15:5)
CHALLENGE/INVITATION
* This morning if you feel lost in your life and you aren’t sure about the purpose of your life. Jesus Christ stands ready to show you the way. You know what three words He says to us.
* This morning maybe you feel disconnected and disillusioned in your marriage. Your marriage will not get any better without Jesus Christ standing in the middle of everything you do. Can Jesus help? You know what He says.
* Perhaps you are facing some challenges with children or grandchildren and you aren’t sure what to do. To be honest, just bringing kids to church and giving them religion means absolutely nothing. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ can and will make all the difference. Can Jesus make a difference in their lives? You know what He says.
* Maybe you are facing some health challenges that absolutely make you shake with fear. Maybe you are in pain and you feel hopeless. Jesus stands ready to walk beside you every step of the way to drive out fear and bring you hope. He says three words to you.
* It might be that you are dealing with major “less” words in life: jobless, moneyless, loveless, patience-less, purposelessness. It might be that you are dealing with major “un” words in life: unforgiveness, unrepentance, unrealistic expectations. In the “less” and “un” situations we face in life Jesus is right there with us saying three words to fight them.
* Most importantly maybe you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Maybe you are wondering if He can be your savior. Maybe you are wondering if He can really forgive what you have done. You might be unsure if Jesus is really the way to God.
JESUS SAYS OVER AND OVER: I AM HE
