John tells us that a “company” of soldiers were sent to arrest Jesus. Other gospels note that several centurions, each of which had 100 soldiers, were sent. Plus there were temple guards. In short, an army was sent to arrest Jesus. And when Jesus announced who He was, they stepped back and stumbled. There was a reason they sent an army to arrest Jesus, and there was a reason that army was afraid of Him. No one else had displayed the power Jesus had. They had seen the strength and violence of His wrath when He cleared the temple. They had seen that He had the power over life and death when He raised Lazarus. They had seen all His miracles. They knew they were going to arrest a man of great power and were intimidated. But Jesus was obedient to the Father’s will and to His mission. He sheathed His power and allowed them to arrest Him. He willfully allowed them to mock him, beat him and kill Him in order to do the Father’s will. He didn’t lose His power or strength, but He used them to fulfill the Father’s will.
We know that Jesus power is far more vast than we can imagine. It was this power and his obedience to the Father in how He used it that allowed Him to say He had conquered the world.
How does Jesus’ power and his victory over the world inform your worship and your prayer life? Do you pray to ask favors or do you pray in submission before your truly awesome Lord?