Let My People Go - John 18:4-8

John 18:4-8 ESV 

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”

Jesus answers the mob with the name God gave to Moses. This translation renders His response as “I am He.” The Greek says “I am.” Jesus not only admits He is the man they seek, but that He is the God of Israel whom they should seek. Though they are blind to this fact, they experience some of the power of the name of the one who brought their fathers out of Egypt. 

He repeats the command given to Pharaoh by Moses, “let my people go!”