THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS' PUBLIC MINISTRY AND HIS CRUCIFIXION

Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested

-Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12

-As Jesus was speaking to the apostles, Judas led a multitude into the garden in search of Him.

 They approached with “lanterns, torches and weapons” (John 18:3).

            -“It was the fourteenth of the month.  The moon was at its full.  But the garden was on the

             west side of the Mount of Olives that cut off the light of the moon, and especially the deep

             shades of the garden of olive trees would make it so dark that without lights it would be

             impossible to identify Jesus” (Lipscomb, pg 274). 

                        -Indeed, a dark deed was about to unfold in this dark place.

-“This ‘multitude’ consisted, first, of ‘the band’ (John 18:3,12), or Roman cohort, which consisted of

 from three to six hundred armed men; they were kept in the tower of Antonia, overlooking the

 temple, and were kept ready to put down any tumult or arrest any disturber.  It is not known whether

 the entire band was present.  [“It does not follow that the whole cohort (600 men) was present, but a

 number representative of them (Lipscomb, pg 273).]  Then there were the ‘captains of the temple’

 (verse 52) with their men who guarded the temple and kept order; it is not known how many of

 these were present.  Also there were some of the chief priests and elders (verse 52), and finally

 some servants, such as Malchus and others (John 18:10), who had been commissioned by the Jewish

 authorities” (Boles, Luke, pg 426).

            -Obviously, the Jewish leaders were quite nervous about apprehending Jesus.  A multitude

             was sent to seize a single man who gave no resistance.  Yet, had Jesus chosen to resist no

             multitude, regardless of size, could have forced Him into custody.

-Rather than waiting for the multitude to find and approach Him, Jesus went forth to them.  Standing

 before them, He asked, “Whom seek ye?” (John 18:4).  Upon their response, “Jesus of Nazareth,”

 our Lord simply stated, “I am he.”

            -As a result, “they went backward, and fell to the ground” (John 18:6).  “This going backward

             and falling to the ground...is not mentioned by Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  Its cause and meaning

             are difficult to see...I take it that being overwhelmed by the sudden appearance and boldness in

             identifying himself, coupled with the majesty of his presence, was such a shock to their

             cowardly spirits that they could not, for the moment, do otherwise than fall to the earth.  Jesus

             could easily, while they were prostrate, have walked from their midst unharmed, as he had done

             more than once before...but he had purposed to make a complete self-sacrifice” (Lipscomb, pgs

             274-275). 

            -Could it be that the words “I am” contributed to this event?  After all, these words had been

             used to identify Deity (i.e. Exodus 3:14).  Previously, these words had generated animosity in

             the Jewish leaders (John 8:58-59).  Here, it seems that they generated great fear and timidity.

-Jesus again asked, “Whom seek ye?” and again they responded “Jesus of Nazareth.”

            -At this point, Jesus again confirmed His identity and requested that His followers be

             allowed to go on their way.  He is protecting His friends by reminding His enemies of

             their specific plan to apprehend Him. 

-It seems that it was at this time that Judas approached to deliver his kiss of betrayal.

            -“Some place this event before the preceding...It comports better with the fitness of things

             to place it here.  Jesus made Judas feel his utter nothingness, and his worthlessness even as

             a betrayer.  Before Judas can in any way identify Jesus, the Lord has twice declared himself

             to be the party whom they sought.  When he approaches to carry out his contract, the Lord’s

             question exposes him before all as a betrayer, and not a disciple as he wished to appear to be

             (for kissing was the common mode of salutation between men, especially between teacher

             and pupils), and when Judas brazenly persists in completing the sign, Jesus bids him do it,

             not as a friend, but as a traitor” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 690).

-Judas greeted Jesus with the words, “Hail, master” (Matt. 26:49).  “The word translated ‘hail,’ here,

 means to ‘rejoice,’ to have joy, and also to have ‘cause’ of joy. It thus expresses the ‘joy’ which

 one friend has when he meets another, especially after an absence. It was used by the Jews and

 Greeks as a mode of salutation among friends. It would here seem to express the ‘joy’ of Judas at

 finding his Master and again being ‘with him’” (Barnes).

            -“We do not know whether to wonder at his boldness or to be shocked at the shamelessness of

             such hypocrisy” (Boles, Matthew, 512).

-Jesus responded with “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” (Matt. 26:50); “Judas, betrayest thou the

 Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48).  “It seems strange to us that Jesus should give the endeared

 name ‘friend’ to a man that he knew was his enemy, and that was about to betray him.  It should be

 remarked, however, that this is the fault of our language, not of the original. In the Greek there are

 two words which our translators have rendered ‘friend’ - one implying ‘affection and regard,’ the

 other not. One is properly rendered ‘friend;’ the other expresses more nearly what we mean by

 ‘companion.’ It is this ‘latter’ word which is given to the disaffected laborer in the vineyard...”

 (Barnes').

-With the kiss of Judas, those with him seized Jesus in order to take Him.  Seeing what was about to

 happen the apostles asked, “Lord, shall we smite with the sword?” (Luke 22:49). 

            -Luke 22:38 informs us that there were two swords among the apostles.  Obviously, Peter

             carried one of those swords and used it in cutting off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high

             priest.  Certainly, it was not the ear that Peter had aimed for.

                        -This action by Peter was true to his character and also demonstrated the sincerity of his

                         pledge made previously in the evening of his willingness to stand beside the Lord

                         even to the point of death (see Matt. 26:35, Mark 14:31).

                        -Interestingly, relatives of Malchus would later question Peter, contributing to his second

                         denial of Jesus (see John 18:26).

-Jesus said, “Suffer ye thus far” (Luke 22:51) indicating to the apostles that they were not to seek

 any physical resistance and healed the ear of Malchus.

            -It has always amazed me that, on this occasion, in spite of the miracle performed right before

             their eyes, the multitude continued to hold Jesus.

            -He instructed Peter to put up his sword and informed him that those who take the sword would

             perish by the sword.

                        -In John 18:11, we find Jesus asking, “...[T]he cup which my Father hath given me, shall

                         I not drink it?” 

                        -“By using the word ‘cup’ John gives us an echo of the agony in Gethsemane, which

                         suggests that he expects his readers to be conversant with the other Gospels”

                         (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 692).

            -Jesus indicated that His deliverance did not depend upon man.  Instead, He could pray to

             the Father for more than twelve legions of angels.

                        -Within the Roman army, a legion consisted of 6,000 men.  If this is the number applied,

                         twelve legions would represent 72,000 angels.  Yet, Jesus indicated that more than twelve

                         legions were available.  

                        -The point here is that Jesus was willingly submitting to the crowd and voluntarily

                         giving Himself up to them and their evil plan.  By doing such, scripture would be fulfilled.

-Jesus questioned the “chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders” (Luke 22:52) as

 to why they came out armed at this time to take Him since they never tried to apprehend Him while

 He taught daily at the temple.  He then indicated, “...this is your hour, and the power of darkness”

 (Luke 22:53).

            -“The questions of Jesus, therefore, show two facts:  1. By their extensive preparation the rulers

             bore an unintentional testimony to his divine power.  2. By their failure to arrest him openly

             in the temple, they bore witness to his innocence” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 693).

            -Again, Jesus asserted the fact that the scriptures were to be fulfilled. 

-Now that Jesus had submitted to His enemies and was being held by them, the apostles fled.

            -“We are not told where they went and what they did for the next twenty-four hours; two of

             them recovered courage enough to return and witness the scenes which followed.  (John 18:15.)

             These two were Peter and John.  Mark records that a young man aroused probably out of sleep

             was seen for a moment and efforts were made to seize him but that he escaped out of their

             hands” (Boles, Matthew, pg 515).

                        -There has been speculation regarding the identity of the young man who narrowly escaped.

                         It has been suggested that the man was Mark himself which could be possible.  However,

                         when it comes down to it, we simply do not know.

-Forsaken by His apostles, Jesus was arrested and bound.