Study 41
Betrayal
The arrest of Jesus marks the next stage of His abandonment. Earlier His disciples could not stay awake. Now for fear they could not stand with Him. Worse was to come. Judas, one of the twelve disciples, would betray the one he called Master.
The arrest
The chief priests wanted Christ arrested without any mistakes. Although throughout His ministry Jesus never used violence or His power as the Son of God to destroy, the chief priests send with Judas a large group of armed men (verse 43). Jesus showed them how wrong this was (verse 48). He was not a revolutionary, but a man who came to change lives and bring peace.
Judas steps forward to identify Jesus for the armed police. How dishonest he was to the very end. He was to betray his master with a sign of devotion - a kiss. In the dim light of the evening Judas did his wicked work revealing Jesus. At his signal the armed police lay their hands on Jesus and arrest Him.
The response
In all the confusion, one of the disciples takes up arms and attacks one of the armed police, cutting off his ear. John in his gospel names the disciple as Simon Peter (John 18: 10). In the scuffle all the disciples manage to get away.
Jesus protested against this unusual show of force as if He was an armed robber. They could have taken Him two weeks earlier at the Passover since He had publicly been teaching in the temple each day (verse 49). But through even this Jesus is in control of the situation. He explains the significance of what was happening as the 'scriptures must be fulfilled'. The abandonment of the disciples is a fulfilment of prophecy (see Zechariah 13:7).
It is difficult to know who the young man who runs away naked is at the end of this passage. It is possibly a reference to the 'young man' mentioned in Amos 2:16 who is strong and faithful and yet flees naked when God's judgement comes.
Time to think
- What was so bad about Judas’ betrayal of Jesus?
- How did Jesus respond to this unjustified arrest?
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