SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #516
Judas therefore having received a band of soldiers and servants from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said to them: "Whom seek ye?" They answered him: "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus saith to them: "I am he." And Judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them. As soon therefore as he had said to them: "I am he;" they went backward and fell to the ground. Again therefore he asked them: "Whom seek ye?" And they said: "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered: "I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way, That the word might be fulfilled which he said: Of them whom thou hast given me, I have not lost any one." Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And the name of thee servant was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter: "Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" Then the band and the tribune and the servants of the Jews took Jesus and bound him. (John 18:3-12)
THE DIVINITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Before our Blessed Lord have Himself up into the hands of His enemies, He manifested His Godhead in several ways: 1. By casting His enemies to the ground by His words: "I am He!" The power of these simple words sufficed to fell to the ground a whole troop of rough soldiers and servants who were thirsting to capture Him. Jesus required no help from outside, no legions of heavenly host; His word alone sufficed to render His enemies powerless, and their weapons harmless; for it was the word of Him who "shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked" (Is. II, 4). By thus overthrowing the troop and bidding them rise again, our Lord proved that no human force, but only the excess of His love could chain Him. He manifested His Divinity. 2. in the effect produced by His command that His disciples should be left untouched. Although He was Himself a captive in the hands of the ruffians who had seized Him, He spoke to them as a Master to his slaves, as a conqueror to those he had vanquished; and they, full of hatred as they were both towards Himself and His doctrine, obeyed Him without demur, and did not dare to lay a finger on any of those men who, after their master's death, were destined to spread His doctrine over the face of the earth. They did not even venture to touch Peter, or take vengeance on him for attacking and wounding Malchus. Was not this a wonderful thing? Our Blessed Lord manifested His Divinity 3. by His miracle, which instantaneously cured the wounded Malchus; 4. by calling God His Father, who was ready at His request to send legions of angels to His aid; and 5. in the proof afforded of His Omniscience by the way in which His disciples, through their cowardness and flight, fulfilled that which He had foretold of them: "All you shall be scandalized in Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed."
THE DIVINITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Before our Blessed Lord have Himself up into the hands of His enemies, He manifested His Godhead in several ways: 1. By casting His enemies to the ground by His words: "I am He!" The power of these simple words sufficed to fell to the ground a whole troop of rough soldiers and servants who were thirsting to capture Him. Jesus required no help from outside, no legions of heavenly host; His word alone sufficed to render His enemies powerless, and their weapons harmless; for it was the word of Him who "shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked" (Is. II, 4). By thus overthrowing the troop and bidding them rise again, our Lord proved that no human force, but only the excess of His love could chain Him. He manifested His Divinity. 2. in the effect produced by His command that His disciples should be left untouched. Although He was Himself a captive in the hands of the ruffians who had seized Him, He spoke to them as a Master to his slaves, as a conqueror to those he had vanquished; and they, full of hatred as they were both towards Himself and His doctrine, obeyed Him without demur, and did not dare to lay a finger on any of those men who, after their master's death, were destined to spread His doctrine over the face of the earth. They did not even venture to touch Peter, or take vengeance on him for attacking and wounding Malchus. Was not this a wonderful thing? Our Blessed Lord manifested His Divinity 3. by His miracle, which instantaneously cured the wounded Malchus; 4. by calling God His Father, who was ready at His request to send legions of angels to His aid; and 5. in the proof afforded of His Omniscience by the way in which His disciples, through their cowardness and flight, fulfilled that which He had foretold of them: "All you shall be scandalized in Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed."
[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)
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