When Jesus said to them, 'I am he,' they stepped back and fell to the ground — The immediate, involuntary prostration of the armed cohort before Jesus' self-declaration reveals the power inherent in the name of God. No physical force is employed; the divine word itself causes the soldiers to fall back (apēlthon opisō, they went backward), an echo of similar responses to divine manifestation in Scripture (Psalm 27:2). This moment demonstrates that Jesus' arrest occurs by his permission, not his defeat.

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