Why did the soldiers draw back and fall to the ground when Jesus said, "I am He," in John 18:6?
John 18:6
KJV - 6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
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Asked November 14 2013
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Hannah Toussaint
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Emo Tenorio
Great question when the limited powers of this world come up against the unlimited authority and power of God's kingdom, the lesser must yield. We are participants in a cosmic war, in possession of messages from an extraterrestrial source. Our God sends His messages to us from outside of time itself, what we choose to do with them is our choice. My people perish for lack of knowledge, because they have rejected knowledge. The soldiers with their worldly weapons and authority were expecting their victims to cower in fear and exploit this advantage as trained, space control! But instead the Lord fearlessly stepped forward and proclaimed I am He, (and here I stand), flipping the advantage to Him. The display of this courage and authority so unnerved them they were rattled and recoiled to a man. Here before them stood a Jewish rabbi in his simple prayer shoal, with radiance and authority not of their world and they recognized it. Martin Luther at his trial before Charles 5 would say here I stand I can do no less This pattern of standing one's ground in the Lord's power, I have witnessed in my life many times, stopping the advance of demonic evil dead in it's tracks. One of the bravest acts was that of a fearless warrior with the fire of God, that day I thought we'd make the six o'clock news! This woman of God, standing just five foot weighting 100 pounds wet, would put many men to shame, her fearless actions that day would lead me to sign in 100% on the Lord's team. When you witness God's real True power and authority, one must yield to it. 1 Cor. 16:13... in the Lord's freedom warrior on.
Jae Park
The following is my opinion. When Jesus said, "I am he", in Greek word is 'Ego Eimi', [literally I AM]. In Hebrew words "YHVH or Yahweh" [I AM] which is the name of God. Here, I believe Jesus revealed His divine origin, and His divine power in His name [Yahweh] was revealed through His voice.
Abraham Alex
The powerful statement by our Lord is so amazing! The Lord knows what is going to happen in the next 48 hours, and He is ready for that, as he said before this, "Father, the TIME HAS COME." (John 17;1) But the so-called soldiers were unaware of anything and it looks like they were unprepared to face this kind of unusual answer from their victim and they probably didn't anticipate this kind of behaviour from any Jewish man. Also, note that this soldier was speaking highly about our Lord. (John 7:46) Secondly, there are 35 times which God the Lord use this phrase. "IAM" starting from Genesis 17:1 (I am El Shaddai God Almighty) to the book of Revelation 22: 20 (I am Coming Soon}. "IAM" itself has the divine power and his power can be seen each time when He used it; hence the soldiers fell to the ground by His powerful name.
Jack Gutknecht
Jesus has applied to himself the divine Name of Exodus 3:14, “I AM.” Therefore this amounts to something of a theophany which causes even his enemies to recoil and prostrate themselves. Bible.org A theophany is "a visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god." I.e. a theophany is an appearance of God to human beings. "The word theophany is a combination of two Greek words, meaning God and appearance. Compare also Psalm 27:2, "When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell" (KJV).
Eugene Sharper
When Jesus said, "I AM" they fell over backward as a manifestation of "JUDGMENT" on the nation of Israel for rejecting their Messiah! Nowhere in the Bible do the prophets, the apostles, or Jesus Himself ever lay hands on someone and then the power of God comes through their hands to knock them backward. The only time people fell backward in the presence of God was when God was rendering some type of judgment (John 18:6,1 Samuel 4:18); other than this; when anyone came into the presence of God; they fell, fell on their faces (Ezekiel 3:23, Numbers 22:31, Ezekiel 43:2-3, Ezekiel 44:4...ect...
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