Misinterpretations of John 18:5 often portray Jesus as merely a helpless victim passively surrendering by naming himself, ignoring the divine claim in 'I am he' that causes the mob to fall backward in the next verse, or detach it from context to downplay his foreknowledge of betrayal through Judas' presence and his control over the arrest.
John 18:5
King James Version (1769)
5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.
John 18:5 captures Jesus' bold self-identification as 'I am he' to his captors in the Garden of Gethsemane, echoing the divine name of God from Exodus and demonstrating his sovereign authority and willingness to submit voluntarily to arrest for humanity's redemption, even as Judas stands among the betrayers fulfilling prophecy.