Chapter Nineteen
Verses 1-11
Pilate must have thought that if he had Jesus tortured, had a soldier beat Him with a whip, had a crown of thorns pressed onto His head, had his soldiers beat Him with their fists, put a purple robe on Him, and bring Him out in a bloody condition for the mob to see, then maybe the mob would be satisfied and Pilate could then let Jesus go.
Pilate went out to the mob and announced to them that he had found Jesus to be an innocent man. Pilate then brought Jesus out to the mob in His bloody condition and announced to them, "Behold, the man!" In other words, Pilate said to them that they should look at the tortured Jesus and be satisfied that He had paid a heavy price for whatever crimes the mob had against Him. Pilate evidently did not know about the Jewish law that a man should be stoned to death for blasphemy. But the mob was not satisfied. They became even more enraged and screamed that Jesus should be crucified.
Pilate had no desire to crucify a man he knew to be innocent. But Pilate also wanted to placate these Jews who wanted him to crucify a man who they said claimed to be their king because to do so would demonstrate their submission to Roman rule. Pilate then thought he could relieve himself from this decision if he simply gave permission to the Jews that they could crucify Jesus themselves. The Jews had court soldiers, and they had wood to make a cross. They could crucify Jesus themselves. But the mob would have no part of that. They declared to Pilate that by their own law, Jesus should be put to death because He claimed to be the Son of God. This declaration by the Jews changed everything. They now declared to Pilate the exact reason why they wanted Jesus crucified. The Jews used a very clever tactic when they said that because they knew that that accusation would have a strong effect on Pilate's mind. Pilate had been afraid, but he became even more afraid when he heard that accusation. In Roman mythology, some men were sons of the gods. In Pilate's mind, if Jesus were a son of the gods, then He would have tremendous power over the Romans.
Pilate went back into the judgment hall and asked Jesus where He came from. Jesus did not answer him because He did not desire to defend Himself because to do so would mean that He would have to go against His Father's Will that He be crucified. Pilate became angry that Jesus would not defend Himself, and He reminded Jesus that he had the power to crucify Jesus or let Him go. Jesus did not defend Himself when He did answer Pilate. Jesus did not give Pilate any reason why Pilate should let Him go. Jesus just told Pilate the simple truth. Pilate could have no power at all against Jesus if God had not allowed him to have that power. Jesus may have said that to assuage Pilate's fear of Him. Pilate must have been relieved to hear Jesus say that Pilate had power over Him.
Jesus then told Pilate that those Jews who delivered Him to Pilate committed a greater sin than Pilate had, and would, commit. By saying this, Jesus proved the Old Testament teaching that there are greater sins and lesser sins. Sins of ignorance or weakness that happen because a person becomes overwhelmed by temptation are not as bad as deliberate and willful sins against God's Law. The former sins need cleansing and forgiveness, but the latter sins happen to be downright evil and stem directly from the pride that the Devil has put into the hearts of humans that expresses itself in a desire to murder God and get rid of Him. Numbers 15:24-41. All living humans will eventually repent and believe that Christ can save them from their sins of weakness, and some living humans will repent and believe that Christ can save them from the evil sins that they have committed because of His Love and compassion for them. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14. But that evil, spiritual death itself which never repents, that the Devil has put into the hearts of every living human, Christ will separate that evil nature from every repentant, living human by the use of His fiery wrath against evil for Him to cast into an eternal lake of fire. Matthew 12:31-32; Matthew 13:36-43; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Revelation 5:11-14; II Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12. Being ignorant of God's Law, Pilate could not have sinned as great as the Jewish rulers did. Nevertheless, Pilate, and all living humans have participated in that evil desire to murder God and get rid of Him. Acts 4:25-28.
Friday, June 30, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 39-40
Pilate may have thought that Jesus was just some oddball, but he seemed to have liked Jesus, and he sought some way to release Him. The Romans had established a tradition, probably by Pilate himself, that every Passover the Romans would pardon and release a prisoner that they held. The Romans always tried to establish good relations with every people they conquered. They agreed with the Jews to release a prisoner every Passover in order to show that they could be merciful. It stands to reason that the Jews would never have asked for the release of a common criminal because he would victimize some of them, and the Romans would never have offered the release of a zealot under any circumstances. Probably, the type of person the Romans offered and the Jews accepted would be perhaps a Jewish ruler who had protested too loudly against Roman pagan practices or maybe someone who had failed to pay their Roman taxes. Yet, the mob outside yelled for the release of a man named Barabbas who was a murderer whom they knew would probably commit more crimes against them. The mob had to have known that Jesus had always been loving and merciful among them, and yet, they hated Jesus so much that they preferred the release of a common criminal instead of Jesus. Jesus truly said that "They hated me without a cause." John 15:25.
The mob had allowed their evil natures to dominate their lives. All humans have an evil, spiritual death within their inner beings that has been injected into them by the Devil. All humans also have a good nature within created by God. Some people allow their evil natures to dominate their lives, but most people desire that their good natures should dominate their lives. Nevertheless, all humans sin because of the influence of their evil natures. Romans 3:23. Jesus taught in the parable of the tares and wheat, "Let both grow together until the harvest." Matthew 13:24-30. The tares, which represent evil, have been sowed by the Devil, and the wheat, which represents God's creation, has been sowed by Him. Both natures are inside every human, but God annuls the spiritual deaths inside every human saved by grace in their souls and spirits. I John 3:9; John 5:24. But they can still commit fleshly sins. Romans 7:18. All humans, except for small children who have not reached an age where they can know that they are responsible for their sins, at one time or another in their lives allowed their evil natures to cause them to desire to get rid of God and be independent of God's rule and establish their own system of morality which always happens to be the old immorality. Even humans who have never heard of God have felt this evil desire. The Devil has put his own rebellious attitude into the hearts of every responsible, living human. Acts 4:23-28. Every human who knows that they have this evil nature caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross. For this reason, Jesus went to the cross to sacrifice Himself in the place of every human by taking upon Himself all of their sins, evil, and spiritual deaths so that He could purge it all from every living human and from His entire creation so that He can recreate it all to be righteous. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; I Corinthians 3:11-15; John 11:25-26; II Peter 3:9-13; Romans 8:18-23; Colossians 1:15-23; Luke 3:6; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-5.
Pilate's attitude toward Jesus reflected the Devil's dilemma at that time. On one hand, the Devil influenced Pilate to let Jesus go so that the Devil could retain his evil kingdom in the world, perhaps forever, but then he would have to give up his desire to murder God and get rid of Him. The Devil also influenced Simon Peter in the same way. Matthew 16:21-23. On the other hand, the Devil could influence Pilate to placate the Jews by having Jesus crucified regardless of His innocence and thereby take his chance to murder God and get rid of Him so that he could assume control of God's entire creation. God knew the Devil was greedy. God, who had planned all this, knew that the Devil would choose to try to murder Him, but God turned the table on the Devil, and Christ would retain the innocence of God throughout all of His suffering for the sins, evil, and spiritual deaths of all living humans, and He would rise from the dead with victorious power to purge all evil and spiritual death from His entire creation. Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:17-18; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12. Jesus told His disciples that He had all power in Heaven and earth after His resurrection which can only mean that the Devil had entirely lost all of his evil power.
Monday, June 19, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 33-38
Pilate then somewhat acquiesced to the Jews demand because he went back into his judgment hall where Jesus was being held to question Him to find out if He had practiced some form of sedition against Roman rule.
Pilate asked Jesus if He were the king of the Jews. Pilate did not care if Jesus were just some oddball who claimed to be king of the Jews. Pilate wanted to know if Jesus had been a leader of a group of seditious rebels who proclaimed Jesus to be the king of the Jews.
Jesus asked Pilate if he had an inner feeling that Jesus was king of the Jews or had he simply repeated what the Jews had told him that Jesus claimed to be. Pilate answered that he could only have such an inner feeling if he were a Jew. He then asked Jesus to confess if He had said or done anything against Roman rule.
Jesus answered Pilate with spiritual truth. Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. He was the king of a spiritual kingdom. Jesus admitted that if He were the worldly king of the Jews, then He would lead a rebellion against Rome, but only to keep the Jews from having Him murdered by the Romans. Jesus told Pilate that He was not that type of leader. His kingdom was a spiritual kingdom.
Pilate then asked Jesus to tell him exactly what kind of king Jesus was. Jesus answered that He had come from a spiritual kingdom into the material world to preach the truth to the people of the world. Everyone who would hear that truth; that is, everyone who was capable of being saved by grace, would believe that truth. Jesus seemed to be testing Pilate to see if he were hearing the Holy Spirit that Jesus knew was speaking to him in his heart.
Jesus knows every human who will become saved by grace, but in this case with Pilate, Jesus seemed to have temporarily suspended His knowledge of whether Pilate would believe or not. But Jesus also demonstrated to all who would read the New Testament by His questioning of Pilate that He loved even Pilate, and if so, He also must love all of humanity.
Pilate answered that he definitely did not hear the truth that Jesus preached when he said "What is truth?" Pilate believed only in political power, not in truth of any kind. Nevertheless, being an honest judge and ruler, Pilate went out to the people and proclaimed that he had questioned Jesus and could find no reason to charge Jesus with sedition against Roman rule. Being the Son of God, Jesus must have had a majestic and royal appearance, and Pilate must have heard about some of the miracles that Jesus had done. For these reasons, Pilate just knew in his heart that Jesus could not be guilty of doing anything that was wrong.
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 28-32
Caiaphas had Jesus delivered to Pilate for Roman judgment. Caiaphas had found Jesus guilty of blasphemy because he had asked Jesus directly if He was the Son of God, and Jesus had confessed that He was. Mark 14:59-64. Jesus came into the world to preach the truth. Jesus told Caiaphas the simple truth that He was indeed the Son of God. One might object that if Caiaphas and the Jewish rulers believed that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, then they could have committed no sin if they ordered Jesus to be stoned to death according to Jewish law. Leviticus 24:16. But that is not what Caiaphas and the Jewish rulers did. Caiaphas wanted Jesus to be crucified by the Romans contrary to Jewish law. Caiaphas had plotted in his mind to deliver Jesus to the Romans for them to crucify Him for being a leader of sedition against the Romans. Caiaphas did not care that Jesus was not guilty of that crime. Caiaphas thought that by doing that he would send a message to the zealots that the Jewish leaders were willing to turn seditious persons over to the Romans and thereby discourage the zealots. At the same time, Caiaphas sought to placate the Romans by a demonstration of some submission to Roman rule. Caiaphas thought that by carrying out this plot, he could save his nation from destruction by the Romans. But his sin, and that of the Jewish people, was that they went directly against the law that God had given them. They also demonstrated that they had come to trust Roman rule more than God's rule. John 11:47-53; John 19:14-15. But even if the Jewish leaders had ordered Jesus to be stoned to death, it would not have happened because Jesus knew exactly how to blank out their minds and walk away from any stoning. John 10:31-39.
The Jews who delivered Jesus to Pilate would not go into his judgment hall because they considered it to be a sin for any Jew to even go into the abode of an infidel. Acts 10:28. So Pilate went out to them and asked them what charge they had against Jesus. Apparently, they could provide no example of Jesus having said anything against Roman rule, so they just said that Jesus was a criminal.
Pilate did not fall for that answer because he wanted an exact charge of sedition against Roman rule. When he got no answer, he told the Jews to judge Jesus according to their own law. In other words, Pilate gave the Jews permission to stone Jesus. The Jews answered that Roman law did not permit them to put Jesus to death. They put Roman law over God's law. The Romans did have a law that only they could put criminals to death, but they and the Jews also knew that the Romans did not care, and they did nothing about it, when the Jews stoned someone to death for a violation of Jewish law. John 8:3-5; Acts 7:56-60. Pilate informed the Jews that he did not care if they stoned Jesus to death. But the Jews fulfilled Jesus' prophecy that He would be crucified by the Romans when the Jews insisted that Jesus be judged according to Roman law. This fact made all the Jews and all the Gentiles who ever lived guilty of an evil desire to murder God as influenced by the Devil. That desire abides within the evil natures of all humans. Acts 4:25-28.
Friday, June 16, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 19-23
The high priest asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine, but the high priest was not interested in Jesus' doctrine. He only desired that Jesus would say something that he could use to charge Jesus with blasphemy. The high priest could not turn Jesus over to the Romans until he could find Jesus guilty of some crime worthy of death in the eyes of the people.
Jesus did not try to defend Himself because He did not want to try to get out of doing His Father's Will. Jesus asked the high priest to call the witnesses of what He had preached and taught in the synagogue and in the Temple. But Jesus knew that the high priest would call no witnesses in His defense. Jesus knew that the high priest would not be able to bring any true charge against Him because Jesus had only preached and taught about God's Love and the love that people should have for each other. At times, Jesus had criticized the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, but He had never advocated any form of rebellion against them. In fact, Jesus sometimes told the people to obey the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 23:1-3.
Some critics of the Bible (KJB) have claimed that a contradiction exists between Jesus' answer to the high priest and a prophecy in Isaiah. Isaiah 53:7, But the New Testament clearly reveals that Isaiah's prophecy that Jesus would not open His mouth was fulfilled in the fact that Jesus would say nothing to defend Himself against accusations brought against Him by the high priest. Mark 15:3-5; Matthew 26:62-63. Jesus did not defend Himself because to do so would cause Him to attempt to get out of doing His Father's Will that He should go to the cross. Besides, the high priest and Pilate and all humans who have ever heard or read the gospels know that Jesus was not guilty of any sin. The fact that the high priest called false witnesses against Jesus and would call no witnesses to defend Jesus proved that he had already determined that he would find Jesus guilty of something for which he could put Him to death. Jesus went to the cross as a wholly innocent human being.
An officer that stood by slapped Jesus in the face. He claimed that Jesus had shown disrespect for the high priest, but actually, he simply slapped Jesus because he hated Him. Jesus challenged the officer to witness to the court what evil Jesus had said that warranted that slap, and if he could not, then he should not have hit Jesus. The officer offered no answer to Jesus' exact reasoning. That officer symbolized the attitude of the whole world toward Jesus. The evil nature of the world hates Jesus without a cause. John 15:25.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 15-18 and 25-27
All of Jesus' disciples fled when Jesus was arrested except Peter. Peter, at least, had enough courage to follow Jesus to the high priest's court where Jesus would be put on trial. But Peter's faith had begun to waver. No doubt he wondered why, if Jesus were God, He had not destroyed the mob instead of just knocking them down. Peter had become confused.
Another disciple went with Peter as he followed Jesus. This other disciple knew the high priest. This other disciple could not have been one of Jesus' daily disciples because none of them knew the high priest, and they were all scattered anyway. This other disciple was probably Nicodemus who certainly knew the high priest. Apparently, there was a courtyard outside of the place where the trial was held. That other disciple went in with Jesus to the trial, but then he came out and ordered a damsel who kept the door to let Peter come into the courtyard.
Almost immediately, the damsel recognized Peter as being one of Jesus' disciples. Peter denied his Lord. Some of the soldiers and servants had made a fire in the courtyard, and Peter warmed himself by this fire. Others accused Peter of being one of Jesus' disciples. A kinsman of the man whose ear Peter had cut off identified Peter as being in the garden when Jesus was arrested. Peter cursed and denied his Lord again, and immediately the rooster crowed just as Jesus had told him it would. John 13:38. Another indication that Peter stood in a courtyard that had an opening to the room where the trial was held happened to be that Luke records that as soon as Peter had denied his Lord, Peter looked up and saw Jesus turn to look directly at him. Luke 22:60-62. Jesus' look of love and compassion toward Peter broke his heart. Peter went out and wept bitterly and repented of his sin. From that majestic look that Jesus gave to Peter that caused him to repent, Peter began to realize that Jesus had come on a spiritual mission far greater than any political one. All of Jesus' disciples were scattered except that John returned to watch Jesus on the cross and to comfort His mother. After Peter returned to faith in Christ, he regathered all of Jesus' disciples just as Jesus had told him to do. They waited in a secret room to see if Jesus would rise from the dead. Luke 22:32; John 19:26-27; John 20:19.
A big difference exists between the repentance of Judas Iscariot and that of Peter's. Judas did not repent to God. He only repented to himself. When he threw down the thirty pieces of sliver in the Temple, he demonstrated that he was merely trying to reverse what he had done so that he could deny that he had done it. True repentance means that a person seeks for God to cleanse and forgive that person of their sins so that that person can return with a pure heart to service to God and for others. This was Peter's form of repentance. This was also king David's form of repentance. Psalm 51:1-19.
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 12-14
The mob arrested Jesus and took Him into the presence of Annas who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest. Apparently, Annas was also considered to be a high priest. Luke 3:2. But Judaism had always had only one high priest. Why they had two at that time is not clear.
Caiaphas had prophesied to the Jews that they needed a man to die for the people, but he had misinterpreted what that meant. Both Caiaphas and the Romans knew that there were bands of zealots among the Jews who secretly fomented open rebellion against the Romans. Caiaphas also knew that should rebellion come, the Jews had no chance against the powerful Roman army who would crush his people and destroy his nation. Since Caiaphas hated Jesus anyway, he devised a wicked plot to arrest Jesus , turn Him over to the Romans, accuse Him of having a desire to be king of the Jews which would give the Romans the idea that Jesus was a leader of the zealots, and have the Romans crucify Jesus which would discourage the zealots who hoped to use Jesus' power to free their nation from Roman rule, and mollify the Romans by showing that the rulers of the Jews were willing to turn rebels over to the Romans. By doing all this, Caiaphas could take credit for saving his nation from destruction. John 19:12-13.
What Caiaphas did not realize was that the Holy Spirit had given him this prophecy that Jesus would die for the spiritual salvation of not only his people but for the people of the whole world. John 11:47-53.
Monday, June 12, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 10-11
Peter then foolishly drew his sword and fought back, cutting off the ear of one of the high priest's servants. By doing that, Peter demonstrated that he really did not understand Jesus' mission to the world when He prophesied about His death, burial, and resurrection. Peter must still have had some idea that Jesus would liberate the Jews from the Romans. Nevertheless, Peter and the other disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, believed that Jesus was God, and so they followed Him and loved Him. That was all the faith they needed to be saved by grace. Matthew 16:13-18; John 16:29-30; Galatians 5:6. Peter demonstrated that he was still under the influence of the Devil by trying to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. Matthew 16:21-23.
At that time, the Devil must have been in quite a quandary. If the Devil could prevent Jesus from going to the cross, then the Devil could retain his evil power in the world, at least for a long time, but he would lose his opportunity to murder God and assume complete control over God's universe. Isaiah 14:12-17. On the other hand, if the Devil sent a mob to arrest Jesus and cause Him to be crucified, then the Devil would have his chance to murder God, hold the Spirit of Jesus in Hell forever, and take over God's universe. But the Devil did not know that God had complete control over Jesus' mission to the world. God knew that the Devil would take his chance to murder God on a cross and get rid of Him.
Jesus told Peter to put up his sword. Jesus did not come to do violence. He came to save the world through violence done to Him. Jesus told Peter that He came to the world to complete His Father's mission. The Devil lost his battle with Jesus on the cross. Jesus endured the sins, evil, and spiritual deaths of the entire, living human race that He created in His image and whom He loves. But He did not become exhausted and sin which meant His Spirit could leave behind in Hell all of the sins, and evil, and the spiritual deaths of all living humans not saved by grace so that His Spirit could rise immaculate from the regions of death to reanimate the perfect body of Jesus so that He could rise from the dead as a victorious human being over all sins, evil, spiritual death, and the Devil himself. Since a human had caused the fall of mankind, then only a perfect human would be able to save mankind. I Corinthians 15:21. Christ has provided a higher and a lesser form of salvation for the entire, living human race because He came to completely defeat the Devil and all of his evil works. Luke 23:46; Acts 2:25-31; Psalm 16:9-10; Luke 3:6; John 12:31-32; I John 3:8; Hebrews 2:9-17; Revelation 1:17-18; Matthew 28:18; Genesis 3:15.
When the prophet David wrote that God "will not leave my soul in Hell," he spoke about his own soul. But when he wrote "neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption," he realized, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that he would be saved from Hell because of the incorruptible Holiness of God who would also rise from the dead. King David was saved by grace, but he had little idea what that meant. He therefore assumed that God would raise him from Hell in the general resurrection that all faithful Jews believed in because God is Holy and a God of Love. Psalm 16:9-10; Isaiah 66:22-24; Daniel 12:1-3. Daniel was also saved by grace, but not knowing what that meant, he also assumed that God would raise him from the dead in the general resurrection in the end of the world. John 5:28-29.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 1-9 continued
Jesus told them again that He was the man they sought for and that they should let His followers go. Jesus' statement indicated that He alone would volunteer to take the sins, evil, and spiritual deaths of all humans on Himself on a cross so that He would be able in His resurrection to liberate them all from the penalty of eternal death and separation from God's Love. Jesus knew when He said that that He had devised a plan to cause all living humans whom He creates and loves to return to the repentance and faith in Him that He had put into them when He creates them in His image. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.
The next verse enforces Jesus' statement that He would sacrifice Himself to liberate all living humans from the evil power of the Devil. Jesus said that He would lose no living human that His Father has given Him. His Father had already given Jesus all things that He had created, including all living humans. I Corinthians 15:26-28; Psalm 8:6. In addition, Jesus holds all power in Heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18. Christ can never lose anything He ever creates and loves. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Corinthians 13:8. Jesus did say that He had lost Judas Iscariot, and by implication all humans who rebel against God, but He did not say that He had permanently lost them. John 17:12. God gave the burnt offering in the Old Testament to symbolize that He will recover and recreate every living human who has not already been saved by grace. Genesis 8:20-21. Certain Old Testament scriptures teach that God will recover and recreate all rebellious, living humans from the "shadow of death" which means the regions of the dead. Job 38:17; Psalm 107:8-21; Psalm 68:18. Jesus taught that He can save living humans who believe in Him even after their physical deaths. John 11:25. Jesus taught that in the general resurrection in the end of the world, He will separate the living natures of all humans from their dead natures because they all had done some good in their lives that God had given them to do. Christ will recover and resurrect their repentant lives and separate their evil natures from them for Him to cast into an eternal lake of fire. John 5:28-29. God will use His fiery wrath against evil to dissolve every human system confined to the regions of death in order to separate their repentant, living natures for Him to resurrect and recreate to live on His recreated earth from their evil and dead natures that He will cast into an eternal Hell. I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 75:3. In order to effect His recovery of all His living humans from eternal death, Christ will appear to all His living humans confined to the regions of death and cause them all to repent and believe in Him as the Lamb of God their Savior of their own free will near the end of the world. Revelation 5:11-14. Christ will recover all of His repentant, living humans from the regions of death and recreate them all with eternal lives on His new earth. Revelation 20;5; Revelation 21:1-5.
Friday, June 9, 2023
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Eighteen
Verses 1-9
After Jesus had preached to and prayed for His disciples and His future Church, He went over the brook Cedron, or Kidron, into the garden of Gethsemane where He often spent the night when He was in Jerusalem. His agony and His prayers while in that garden that night are recorded in the synoptic gospels. Jesus began to suffer spiritual and physical agony for the sins and evil of the entire human race. It is quite significant that the fall of man began in a garden, and the salvation of mankind also began in a garden.
Judas Iscariot came with a band of soldiers from the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus. The Romans allowed the Jews to have a small army for the protection of the rulers. These were the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus.
When the mob came, Jesus asked them "Whom seek ye?" Jesus knew fully well that they sought Him, but His question went much deeper than that. In effect, Jesus asked them if they sought to know their God, or did they seek to lay their rebellious hands on their God in their attempt to murder Him so that they could continue with their self-righteous religion and their sins in independence from God's authority. To this day, all atheistic and materialistic philosophies attempt to free humans from God's authority. The theory of evolution happens to be nothing but a self-righteous religion with a blind faith in a non-conscious process that can create very complex systems. No one has ever experienced this process, and yet, all their theories are based on the idea that humans can know nothing except by experience.
The mob answered that they sought Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered "I am he." Jesus did not actually say "he" although He implied it. The King James Bible writers added "he" because they thought that that word would make Jesus' identification of Himself clearer. But Jesus made it quite clear who He was when He said "I am" because that was the eternal name of God that He gave to Moses. Exodus 3:13-14. Jesus actually asked them if they were seeking for God Himself.
Jesus let them know exactly who He was when He used a little of His power to knock them all to the ground when He said "I am." But being full of hatred and rebellion, they simply ignored Jesus' clear message. They had ignored all of Jesus' messages to them that He was God. In a sense, Jesus was being playful with them because He did not want to hurt them, and He already knew that His demonstration of God's power would not convince them that He was God.
Jesus asked them again "Whom seek ye?" Jesus asked them again because He wanted them to decide whether they sought to know God or whether they sought only to arrest God. God gives every human the right to make a decision about Him even though He knows what decision they will make. This fact harmonizes free will with predestination because God knows exactly how to cause all living humans whom He creates in His image to return to faith in Him as their Savior of their own free will. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; John 11:25-26. The mob answered again that they sought Jesus of Nazareth which meant that they sought a mere human and not God.