John Calvin Commentary John 18:5

"They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am [he]. And Judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them." — John 18:5 (ASV)

It is I. He replies mildly that he is the person whom they seek, and yet, as if they had been struck down by a violent tempest, or rather by a thunderbolt, he lays them prostrate on the ground. There was no lack of power in him, therefore, to restrain their hands, if he had considered it proper; but he wished to obey his Father, by whose decree he knew that he was called to die.

We may infer from this how dreadful and alarming to the wicked the voice of Christ will be, when he shall ascend his throne to judge the world. At that time he stood as a lamb ready to be sacrificed; his majesty, so far as outward appearance was concerned, was utterly gone; and yet when he utters only a single word, his armed and courageous enemies fall down.

And what was the word? He thunders no fearful excommunication against them, but only replies, It is I. What then will be the result, when he shall come, not to be judged by a man, but to be the Judge of the living and the dead; not in that lowly and despicable appearance but shining in heavenly glory, and accompanied by his angels?

He intended, at that time, to give a proof of that efficacy which Isaiah ascribes to his voice. Among other glorious attributes of Christ, the Prophet relates that:

he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and will slay the wicked by the breath of his lips (Isaiah 11:4).

True, the fulfillment of this prophecy is declared by Paul to be delayed until the end of the world (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Yet we daily see the wicked, with all their rage and pride, struck down by the voice of Christ.

And, when those men fell down who had come to bind Christ, there was exhibited a visible token of that alarm which wicked men feel within themselves, whether they wish to or not, when Christ speaks by his ministers.

Besides, as this was in some measure incidental to the voice of Christ, to whom it peculiarly belongs to raise up men who were lying in a state of death, he will undoubtedly display toward us such power as to raise us even to heaven.