Betrayal and Arrest
TRANSLATION
(47) While he was still speaking, a crowd arrived with Judas, one of the twelve, leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, (48) but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you going to betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (49) And when those who were with Jesus saw what would follow, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” (50) And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. (51) But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
(52) Then Jesus asked the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come out against him, “Have you come out (against me) as against a robber with swords and clubs? (53) When I was with you in the temple day after day, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour when darkness rules.”
OBSERVATIONS
In this tense confrontation when Jesus was arrested, he again demonstrated his sovereign control over all that was taking place. First, he preempted Judas’ attempt to kiss him with a question, emphasizing the irony of his using a sign of affection as the means of betrayal. Then, when the disciples clumsily tried to defend him, he healed the severed ear of one of those who had come to arrest him. According to John’s Gospel, it was Peter who wielded the sword and Malchus who suffered the injury (Jn. 18:10). Only Luke’s account includes the actual healing. Finally, Jesus’ statements to those who had come to seize him revealed the perversity of their actions. Several repeated words are found in this segment: “Judas” and “kiss” (vss. 47 & 48), “strike/struck” (vss. 49 & 50), “sword(s)” (vss. 49 & 52), “ear” (vss. 50 & 51), and “temple” (vss. 52 & 53).
OUTLINE
I. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. (47 & 48)
II. After Peter had clumsily attempted to defend Jesus, the Lord healed the victim’s ear. (49-51)
III. Jesus questioned those who had come to arrest him. (52 & 53)
IDEA STATEMENT
Throughout his betrayal and arrest, Jesus displayed calmness and compassion despite all that was happening to him.
APPLICATION
In the middle of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had manifested his sovereign control over nature by calming the storm. Amid the tumultuous events that led to his crucifixion, he displayed the same control over all that was taking place. With Judas, it was by asking a simple question that Jesus showed how malign his betrayer’s motives were. With the disciples it was the short rebuke, “No more of this,” and his healing the servant’s severed ear that demonstrated his authority. With those who had been sent to arrest him, his questions again showed him to be in control, not his adversaries. According to Matthew, Jesus had declared, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?” (Mt. 26:53 & 54)
Whenever we are tempted to despair and wonder how we can emerge victoriously from those situations that threaten to overwhelm us, we only need to remember how our Lord faced the catastrophe of arrest and condemnation with dignity and calmness, knowing that he would be kept safe and secure by a loving heavenly Father no matter what took place. In every circumstance we can trust the words of Yahweh, recorded by Isaiah, the prophet: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Is. 41:10).