John 18:4

Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come (better, were coming) upon him.—Comp. Matthew 26:45.

Went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?—i.e., probably, went forth from the garden itself. (Comp. Note on John 18:26.) Other possible interpretations are, “went forth from the depth of the garden;” or, “went forth from the circle of the disciples standing round;” or, “went forth from the shade of the tree into the moonlight.” For the word, comp. John 18:1, and Matthew 14:14). The kiss of Judas, mentioned in all the earlier Gospels, must be placed here between “went forth” and “said unto them.”

For the question, comp. Matthew 26:50. Jesus will boldly face the danger, and direct it upon Himself, that the disciples may be saved from it (John 18:8).

Benson Commentary

John 18:4-11. Jesus, knowing all things that should come upon him — That is, knowing, not only in general, that he must suffer a variety of insults, tortures, and even death itself, but also all the particular circumstances of ignominy and horror that should attend his sufferings; went forth — Namely, after his repeated supplications to his heavenly Father, and his agony, as is related at large, Matthew 26:37-46; Mark 14:34-42; Luke 22:41-46; where see the notes; and said unto them — With the greatest composure of mind; Whom seek ye? — The appointed time of our Lord’s sufferings being come, he did not now, as formerly, avoid his enemies, but readily came forward, and gave them an opportunity of apprehending him, telling them, when they said they sought Jesus of Nazareth, I am he — Which expression he had no sooner uttered than the whole band went backward, and fell to the ground — By which exertion of his divine power he evidently showed them that they could not apprehend him without his consent. How amazing is it, that they should renew the assault after so sensible an experience both of his power and mercy! But probably the priests among them might persuade themselves and their attendants, that this also was done by Beelzebub, and that it was through the providence of God, not the indulgence of Jesus, that they received no further damage. See note on Matthew 26:47-50. If ye seek me, let these (my disciples) go — It was an eminent instance of his power over the spirits of men, that they so far obeyed his word as not to seize even Peter, when he had cut off the ear of Malchus. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it — No other evangelist names the person that drew the sword, nor could they without exposing Peter to danger. But John, writing after his death, might do it without any such inconvenience. And smote the high-priest’s servant, &c. — See note on Matthew 26:51-54. Then said Jesus, Put up thy sword, &c. — For I will not have recourse to this or any other method of defence. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? — You look only at second causes, and have but an imperfect view of things; but I consider all the sufferings I am now to meet, as under a divine direction and appointment, and therefore willingly acquiesce in what I know to be my heavenly Father’s will.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:1-12 Sin began in the garden of Eden, there the curse was pronounced, there the Redeemer was promised; and in a garden that promised Seed entered into conflict with the old serpent. Christ was buried also in a garden. Let us, when we walk in our gardens, take occasion from thence to mediate on Christ's sufferings in a garden. Our Lord Jesus, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and asked, Whom seek ye? When the people would have forced him to a crown, he withdrew, ch.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A band - See the notes at Matthew 26:47; Matthew 27:27. John passes over the agony of Jesus in the garden, probably because it was so fully described by the other evangelists.

Lanterns ... - This was the time of the full moon, but it might have been cloudy, and their taking lights with them shows their determination to find him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4-9. Jesus … knowing all things that should come—were coming.

upon him, went forth—from the shade of the trees, probably, into open view, indicating His sublime preparedness to meet His captors.

Whom seek ye?—partly to prevent a rush of the soldiery upon the disciples [Bengel]; and see Mr 14:51, 52, as showing a tendency to this: but still more as part of that courage and majesty which so overawed them. He would not wait to be taken.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This evangelist saith nothing of what the other evangelists mention, of the sign that Judas had given them, by which they should know him; nor of Judas’s kissing of him, or our Saviour’s reply to him. (John, all along his Gospel, mentions very little of what is recorded by the other evangelists). It must be supposed, that after Judas had kissed our Saviour, our Saviour himself came forth and asked him whom they looked for; hereby showing that he laid down his life, and no man took it from him: he could easily have delivered himself out of their hands, (though I think they are too charitable to Judas, who think that it was that which made Judas discover him; not that he designed his death), he had once and again before so escaped them; but now his hour was come, he freely offers himself unto his enemies, and asketh whom they looked for.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Jesus therefore knowing all things,.... As being the omniscient God, so his knowledge reaches to all persons and things, without any limitation, and restriction; though here it has a regard to all the things,

that should come upon him; even all the sufferings he should endure, which were all determined by God; agreed to by him, in the covenant of grace; predicted in the Old Testament, and foretold by himself: he knew all the circumstances that would attend his sufferings, as that he should be betrayed by Judas; be forsaken by the rest of his disciples; that the Jews would give him gall and vinegar in his thirst; and the soldiers part his garments among them: he knew the time of his sufferings; and that it was now at hand; and that Judas and his company were not far off: and therefore, went forth out of the garden, or at least from that part of it where he was, and his disciples with him: this was done to show his willingness to suffer; he

went forth of his own accord; he did not hide himself in the garden, as the first Adam did: he did not stay till those that sought his life came up to him: he went forth, not to make his escape from them, but to meet them, and make himself known unto them;

and said unto them; whom seek ye? this question was put, not out of ignorance; for he knew full well who they were seeking after: nor with a design to deceive them, and make his escape; but to show that he was not afraid of them, and that they could not have known him, nor have taken him, had he not made himself known; and offered himself to them; and which makes it appear, that he was willingly apprehended by them, and voluntarily suffered.

Geneva Study Bible

{3} Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?

(3) Christ's person (but not his power) was bound by his adversaries, but only when and how he desired.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

John 18:4-5. This advance of Judas occasioned (οὖν) Jesus to come forth, since He knew all that was about to come upon Him, and consequently was far removed from any intention of withdrawing Himself from His destiny, of which He was fully and clearly conscious.

ἔρχεσθαι, of destinies, happy (Matthew 10:13) and unhappy (Matthew 23:35; Aesch. Pers. 436, 439; Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 686 f.), in the classics more frequently with the dative (Thuc. viii. 96. 1) than with ἐπί.

ἐξῆλθεν (see the critical notes): from the garden, John 18:1, Nonnus: κῆπον ἐάσας. The context yields no other meaning, and John 18:26 is not opposed to it. Hence not: from the garden-house (Rosenmüller, Ewald), or from the depth of the garden (Tholuck, Maier, De Wette, Luthardt), or from the circle of disciples (Schweizer, Lange, Hengstenberg).

εἱστήκει δὲ καὶ Ἰούδας, κ.τ.λ.] Tragic moment in the descriptive picture of this scene, without any further special purpose in view. Tholuck arbitrarily remarks: John wished to indicate the effrontery of Judas; and Hengstenberg: he wished to guard against the false opinion that the ἐγώ εἰμι was intended to convey to the officers something unknown to them. This he could surely have been able to express in few words.

The kiss of Judas (Matthew 26:47 ff.), instead of which John gives the above personal statement (as Strauss indeed thinks: in order to the glorification of Jesus), is not thereby excluded, is too characteristic and too well attested to be ascribed to tradition, and cannot have followed (Ewald) the question of Jesus (John 18:4), but, inasmuch as the immediate effect of the ἐγώ εἰμι did not permit of the interruption of the kiss, must have preceded, so that immediately on the exit of Jesus from the garden, Judas stepped forward, kissed Him, and then again fell back to the band. Accordingly, John, after the one factor of the betrayal, namely the kiss, had been already generally disseminated in tradition, brings into prominence the other also, the personal statement; hence this latter is not to be ascribed merely to the Johannean Jesus (Hilgenfeld, Scholten).

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 18:4. Jesus, then, not with the boldness of ignorance, but knowing πάντα τὰ ἐρχόμενα ἐπʼ αὐτόν, “all that was coming upon Him,” cf. Luke 14:31, ἐρχομένῳ ἐπʼ αὐτόν, “went out” from the garden, or more probably, John 18:26, from the group of disciples, “and says, Whom seek ye?” to concentrate attention on Himself and prevent a general attack.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. all things that should come] Better, all the things that were coming.

went forth] From what? (1) from the shade into the light; (2) from the circle of disciples; (3) from the depth of the garden; (4) from the garden itself. It is impossible to say which of these suggestions is right; the last is not contradicted by John 18:26. The kiss of Judas is by some placed here, by others after John 18:8. While ‘His hour was not yet come’ (John 7:30, John 8:20), He had withdrawn from danger (John 8:59, John 11:54, John 12:36); now he goes forth to meet it. He who had avoided notoriety (John 5:13) and royalty (John 6:15), goes forth to welcome death.

said] The better reading gives saith. His question perhaps had two objects; to withdraw attention from the disciples (John 18:8), and to make His captors realise what they were doing.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 18:4. Ἐξελθὼν, having gone forth) Therefore He might even still have departed.—εἶπεν, said) in order that He might turn aside the violence of the cohort (band) from the disciples: John 18:8.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Jesus then - the οϋν implies that our Lord discerned the approach of the hostile band - knowing all the things that were coming upon him - in full consciousness of his position, and in voluntary sacrifice of himself to the will of God and the purpose of his mission - went forth; i.e. from the garden enclosure - see Ver. 1 - (say Meyer and Godet); from the recesses of the garden or the garden-house (say others); partly in consequence of the language of the kinsman of Maichus," Did I not see thee in the garden?" But this is perfectly compatible with the obvious fact that the eight disciples and the favored three should have shrunk behind our Lord when he calmly emerged from the entrance to the garden, and that their position would be thus sufficiently indicated. It is remarkable that John, who has been accused of personal malice to Judas (i.e. by those who, like Renan, admit, to a certain extent, the Johan-nine authorship), does not refer to the traitor's kiss. This well-attested and traditionally sustained incident is not excluded by the narrative before us - indeed, the second reference to Judas seems to imply something special in his conduct, which is needed to account for it. We can hardly suppose that it could have taken place before the Lord Jesus had uttered his solemn word, but it may easily have occurred as the first answer to his summons. And saith unto them, Whom seek ye? John 18:4

Vincent's Word Studies

That should come (τὰ ἐρχόμενα)

Literally, that are coming. The details in John 18:4-9 are peculiar to John.