CCXXIV.
JESUS BETRAYED, ARRESTED, AND FORSAKEN.
(Gethsemane. Friday, several hours before dawn.)
aMATT. XXVI. 47-56; bMARK
XIV. 43-52; cLUKE XXII. 47-53; dJOHN
XVIII. 2-11.
d2 Now Judas
also, who betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither
with his disciples. [See p.
583.] 3 Judas then, having received
the band of soldiers, and officers from the chief priests and the
Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.
b43 And straightway, while he yet spake, alo, Judas,
one of the twelve, came, {bcometh,} aand with him
a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests band
the scribes and the elders. aof the people. cbehold,
a multitude, and he that was called Judas, went before them [The presence
of Judas is mentioned by each Evangelist. His treachery made a deep impression
upon them. The arresting party which accompanied Judas consisted of the
band of officers and men from the temple guard or Levitical police, Pharisees,
scribes, servants, chief priests, captains of the temple and elders. They
were well supplied with lights, for while the passover is always held when
the moon is full, the moon at this time of night would be near setting,
and the valley of the Kidron, in which Gethsemane lay, would be darkened
by the shadow of the adjoining mountain];
d4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming
upon him, went forth, and saith unto them, Whom seek ye?
5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he.
And Judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
6 When therefore he said unto them, I am he, they went backward,
and fell to the ground. 7 Again therefore
he asked them, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of [689] Nazareth.
8 Jesus answered, I told you that I am he; if therefore ye seek
me, let these go their way: 9 that the
word might be fulfilled which he spake, Of those whom thou hast given me
I lost not one. [John mentions the foreknowledge of Jesus to remind
us that he could have avoided the arrest had he chosen to do so. Even the
foreknowledge of Elisha was difficult to deal with (II. Kings vi. 8-12).
Jesus asked, "Whom seek ye?" (1) To openly and manfully declare his identity;
(2) to make the Jewish rulers fully conscious that they were arresting
him, an innocent man; (3) to confine the arrest to himself and thus deliver
his disciples. The older commentators regard the falling to the ground
as a miracle, but modern scholars look upon it as a result of sudden fear.
Jesus merely manifested his dignity and majesty, and the prostration followed
as a natural result.]
a48 Now he that betrayed him gave {bhad given} them
a token, aa sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he:
take him. band lead him away safely. cand he drew
near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48 But Jesus
said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?
b45 And when he was come, astraightway he came to
Jesus, and said {bsaith,} aHail, Rabbi; and kissed
him. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend,
do that for which thou art come. [Some place this event before
the preceding paragraph. 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 had 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. Little
did the betrayer think that the kiss of Judas would become a proverb in
every nation.] Then they came [690] and
laid hands on Jesus, and took him. [The sight of Judas touching him
no doubt reassured them, and they laid hands on Jesus.]
c49 And when they that were about him saw what would follow,
they said, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?
b47 But {a51
And} behold, d10 Simon Peter
ba certain one of them that stood by athat were with
Jesus dtherefore having a sword astretched out his
hand, and drew his sword, and smote {dstruck} athe
servant of the high priest, and struck {dcut} off his right
ear. [We have seen that the apostles were but scantily armed, there
being only two swords in their possession. See p.
657. Peter evidently carried one of these, and stood ready to make
good his boast that he would suffer, and, if need be, die in his Lord's
service. evidently struck a downward blow at Malchus' head, and Malchus
would have been killed had he not dodged.] Now the servant's name was
Malchus. [John knew the household of the high priest (John xviii. 16).
He knew Malchus by name, and he also knew his kindred--John xviii. 26.]
c51 But Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye them thus
far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. [Some think that Jesus
spoke these words, "Suffer ye thus far," to those who held him, asking
them to loose him sufficiently to enable him to touch the ear of Malchus.
But the revision committee by inserting "them" make Jesus address his disciples,
commanding them not to interfere with those who were arresting him, making
it a general statement of the idea which the Lord addressed specifically
to Peter in the next sentence.] a52
Then d11 Jesus therefore
said {asaith} dunto Peter, aPut up again
thy {dthe} sword into the sheath: aits place: for
all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. dthe
cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? [By the healing
of Malchus' ear and the words spoken to Peter, Jesus shows that the sword
is not to be used either to defend the truth or to advance his kingdom.
Had he not thus spoken and acted, Pilate might have doubted his words when
he [691] testified that his kingdom was not
of this world (John xviii. 36). While we know better than to rely upon
the aid of the sword for the advance of truth, we are often tempted to
put undue trust in other "carnal weapons" which are equally futile. Wealth
and eloquence and elaborate church buildings have but little saving grace
in them. It is the truth which wins. 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. The other Evangelists,
having shown that Jesus was fully resolved to drink the cup, do not regard
it as necessary to repeat these words.]
a53 Or thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and he
shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be?
[Jesus still addresses Peter. Had it accorded with the divine purpose that
Jesus should resist this arrest, angels and not men would have been his
proper and infinitely more effective rescuers. But, on the contrary, it
was God's purpose that he should be arrested, as the Scripture had foretold.]
55 In that hour bJesus answered and said unto them athe
multitudes, cthe chief priests, and captains of the temple,
and elders, that were come against him, Are ye come out, as against a robber,
with swords and staves? ato seize me?
c53 When aI sat {bwas} daily with you
in the temple teaching, cye stretched not forth your hands against
me: band ye took me not: cbut this is your hour,
and the power of darkness. a56
But all this is come to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might
be fulfilled. [The party which came to arrest Jesus was large. The
word "band" used by John to describe part of it is speira, which
is the Greek name for the cohort, a division of the Roman army which in
the time of Augustus contained 555 men. Ten cohorts, or a legion, were
usually quartered in the castle Antonia, at the northwest corner of the
temple enclosure. That the whole cohort was present is not likely (Matt.
xxvii. 27), but there was a large enough body to represent it. The [692] Evangelists
therefore properly style it a great multitude. Moreover, it was a motley
crowd. Its strength and diversity suggest the fear that Jesus might miraculously
defend himself. Each part of the crowd found courage in the strength possessed
by the other part, the priests relying upon the solidity of the soldiers,
the soldiers superstitiously trusting to some spiritual power residing
in the priests, etc. Now, because of these fears, the preparation was as
great as if some band of robbers was to be taken. 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.
With his divinity and his innocence, therefore, Jesus challenges them,
referring to their own conduct for testimony thereto. In conclusion, he
cites them to the Scriptures which they were fulfilling. Our Lord's dual
reference to the Old Testament at this sacred time should cause us to handle
them with awe and reverence.] b50
And aThen all of the disciples left him, and fled.
b51 And a certain young man followed with him, having a linen
cloth cast about him, over his naked body: and they lay hold
on him; 52 but he left the linen cloth,
and fled naked. [All the predictions of Jesus had failed to prepare
the apostles for the terrors of his arrest. Despite all his warnings, each
apostle sought his own safety. The young man who fled naked is usually
presumed to be Mark himself, and it is thought that he thus speaks impersonally
after the manner of Matthew and John. The manner of his description shows
that he was not an apostle. As Mark's mother resided in Jerusalem (Acts
xii. 12, 25), Canon Cook advances the theory that the Lord's Supper was
eaten in the upper room of her house, and that when the disciples retired
with Jesus from thence to Gethsemane, Mark slipped from his bed, threw
his sindon about him, and followed after them. The sindon, or linen vestment,
was very costly, not being worn even by the middle classes: no apostle
would be thus attired.] [693]
[FFG 689-692]
