“Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.”
Again he asked them, 'Whom are you looking for?' And they said, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' — The repeated question and answer emphasize Jesus' control: he asks twice, requiring twice that they name their intention. The repetition underscores his sovereign permission for arrest—he orchestrates the disclosure rather than being trapped. The soldiers' repeated identification with the human title "of Nazareth" contrasts with the divine resonance of Jesus' "I am."
Church Fathers on John 18:7
The Evangelist had strewn how Judas had found, out the place where Christ was, now he relates how he went there. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torched and weapons.
It was a band not of Jews, but of soldiers, granted, we must understand, by the Governor, with legal authority to take the criminal, as He was considered, and crush any opposition that might be made.
But how could they persuade the band? By hiring them; for being soldiers, they were ready to do anything for money.
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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