I'd like to know your answer in the comments below.

Meanwhile, this is my 11/30/2020 journal entry in answer to the same question.
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"Which words of Jesus do you cherish most?"

That was a question in a devotional I just read. What immediately comes to mind is, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." I haven't looked it up yet to verify exact wording, but that's what I heard in my head.

I've been thinking about John 18:4-8 and how powerful God's name must be! They'd come to arrest Jesus:

"Then Jesus, knowing all that was to befall 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 He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground. Again He asked them, '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.'" [emphasis mine]
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12/1/2020 Journal Entry
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Reading Matthew through Luke, I'd missed that subtle few lines in John; but they add up to so much. It happened in front of Judas. At that point, there would be no way he missed Who he had betrayed. This is the very Person to whom "every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God." [Romans 14:11] Did Judas decide, at that moment, that getting Him arrested was a good thing (push His hand to act boldly as a king with power) or a bad thing ("I took blood money to betray the Son of God") or was he so blinded by God's enemy, at this point, that he didn't even realize what he'd done?

John 18:5 says that "Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them."

I get the impression they all drew back and fell to the ground. "I AM He." ((BOOM))

I picture it as an invisible but powerful sound wave rippling out to level them to the ground. Was this before or after Judas' betrayal kiss? In John, we aren't sure. Was Judas completely given over to the enemy at this point? When does it click for him? When did the weight of his deed really hit him? Was it this sound wave that knocked him to the ground?

Next, we see Simon Peter draw his sword and strike the high priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. "The slave's name was Malchus." I looked it up. "Malchus" is a Hebrew name that means "king." The reason I'd looked it up is because, just before, I'd read about David and his men in the cave. Something about the description of David cutting off the hem of Saul's garment made me think of Simon Peter cutting off the ear. Interesting.

So, I began looking back and forth between the stories. In Matthew 26:52 is Jesus' statement after Peter cut off the priest's slave's ear, "Then Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?'"

I think of David to Goliath after Goliath said, "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?" (1 Samuel 17:43) David responded, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's and He will give you into our hand." [emphasis mine]

Jesus, the cornerstone...our Rock...conquered Satan with sticks in the form of a Cross. I think again of my dream of the little girl crushing snake heads with the rock.

Psalm 68:21 -- "Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins."

Genesis 3:15 -- "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

David's "stone sank into his [Goliath's] forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground." (1 Samuel 17:49)

So, I think of the story of the abominator and the thought that he places himself on the throne (in the Sanctuary) in order to claim himself to be God/Jesus. Two different types of serpent -- major ones anyway -- Satan and the symbol of Jesus lifted up on the pole/Cross. How do you tell them apart? Intimacy level? Words spoken?

If you are a Christian and your heart leaps toward Him, as John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth's womb when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting? (Luke 1:41-44) John the Baptist knew Jesus was who He was as He approached the place where he was doing baptisms. I wonder if his heart leapt within his chest.

That's what it felt like when He called my name in my sleep when [cousin with ALS] was struggling and praying so hard, alone in her bed, that night. I awoke and prayed, "I'm here. What is needed?"

I got the clear impression I should go check my email. When I did, there were a couple recent emails from [cousin]. Quickly writing back, I asked her if she wanted me to call the nurse's station (at the rehab hospital where she lived) to get her help.

"Yes!"

So, I did so immediately. I found out later that one of the kind nurses had gone to her immediately, got her pulled up in bed so she could breathe and was comfortable, wiped her tears, cleared her airways, and even sat with her until she fell asleep. Wow! That's our LORD in action.

I honestly think His sheep will know His voice. Yet, I think we may know Jesus from the imposter other ways. In think part of it will be if you are made to feel precious or convenient to him, child of or servant to, rejoiced over or treated as a pawn to accomplish an end goal and discarded when no longer "useful."

My cousin sometimes felt she was no longer of use to God or His beloved people because she was rendered so immobile. She had been an active ER paramedic/nurse and had been constantly "on the go" to help people when she wasn't at work. Now, with ALS, she could move only her eyes and one big toe. She was sometimes distraught when she believed Satan's lies about her being "useless." That was sooo untrue. She prayed most of the time she was awake. She painstakingly wrote encouraging emails. She was tender to the nurses and doctors, and she prayed for them. She kept her mind active and learning through reading. She had a tremendous impact on many, both before ALS and after.

We are not "servant pawns." We are "workers beside Him." We are His children. We are people of His heart, His Kingdom.

I just thought of the parable of the evil tenants that Samuel was talking about the other day (Matt. 21:33-46). I just read it again. Look at verses 43 & 44 in light of my dream where a little girl was using the same stone over and over to crush each snake head: "I tell you," [Jesus said], "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on." It is also in Luke 20:18.

Anyway, last night, I was reading about hyssop because it stands out to me where it is present in three stories, along with whether or not red/scarlet wool/string is involved, blood or not, birds or not, etc. Look at the cleansing of lepers in Leviticus, the story of Passover before the Hebrews left Egypt, and the Day of Atonement language in Hebrews 9. Hyssop is in all 3 stories.

This morning, though, I just was put in mind of the story of Jesus on the Cross and the sour wine. There's often debate about whether or not He drank. When I heard that debate, I was sure He had; but I didn't go look it up right then. Just now, though, when I thought of it again, I did.

John 19:28-30 -- "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, 'I thirst!' Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit."

Details are really important for understanding His communications.

SQUIRREL! Reading in that same chapter, starting at verse 19: "Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: 'JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.' Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, 'Do not write, "The King of the Jews," but He said, "I am the king of the Jews."' Pilate answered, 'What I have written, I have written.'" (John 19:19-22)

So, going back to Luke 23:3 as well as Mark 15:2 and Matthew 27:11: "And Pilate asked him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' And He answered him, 'You have said so.'" The wise men from the east called Him that when inquiring about where He is. Nathaneal basically called Him that in John 1:49..."...Rabbit, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" All over the place, it is in the mouths of others that He is "King of the Jews," but I don't find where He Himself called Himself that. Look at the ESV of John 19:21-22: "So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, 'Do not write, "The King of the Jews," but rather, "This man said, I am King of the Jews." Pilate answered, 'What I have written I have written.'"

I think the English Standard version makes it pretty clear. Pilate is the honest man in that little gathering. And many of our Israelites have, both historically and now, denied Him. They look for another when He was before them, lifted up to be viewed so that they may be saved.

Details matter. Careful study matters. Plain facts imparted as truly witnessed, exactly as witnessed, matter. We need to be careful detectives.