Fear not! The Lord is here! Our Lord and Savior is present to watch over his people for their protection. As this band of soldiers (the Greek word indicates a force that would typically consist of several hundred) approached Jesus came forward to meet them. He made sure they knew that he, and nobody else, was the target of their pursuit. Without their making any move to take the disciples captive, Jesus told them to leave the disciples alone. Then when one of the disciples impulsively attacked a servant Jesus not only guarded the disciple but he healed the servant. We see Jesus standing in between harm and his people. We even see Jesus standing between his people and those they would harm!
What a savior we see in the Scripture. Jesus' act of guarding his people from all harm is not limited to the approximately three year period between his baptism and his crucifixion. He continues guarding his people in the resurrection, providing for them by Word and Sacraments, showing them through the Scripture what kind of provision he has made for them, giving the Holy Spirit to draw people to faith, creating new hearts, new minds, new lives. Our Lord has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. He will always be there, guarding us from his enemies, guarding his enemies from us, and taking our place in condemnation and death, just as he does in John 18.
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