The arrest of Jesus

Jesus has finished his agonizing time of prayer in the garden. He has proclaimed to Peter, James and John that His appointed time of suffering was at hand and that He has about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. What happens next is rather extraordinary. As Jesus finishes His words to the disciples, Judas leads a crowd of men into the garden including Roman soldiers (perhaps hundreds of them, John 18:12) armed with swords and temple police armed with clubs (Luke 22:52). The Sanhedrin had issued a warrant for Jesus’ arrest and had secured the help of the Roman soldiers to see that all was accomplished without incident. The large size of this cohort demonstrates that they knew that Jesus had some kind of power and that they were unsure how He would react.

Judas, who had walked with Jesus for three years, had informed the leaders of this mob that he would identify Jesus with a kiss. This was needed because it was dark in the garden and the Roman Soldiers may not have been able to recognize which one was Jesus. Judas immediately goes up to Jesus, calls Him “Rabbi” and kisses him. A kiss in that culture was a common gesture of respect for a teacher; but in this case, Judas used it as a token of betrayal.

Peter, perhaps motivated by Jesus’ earlier words that he would deny Him three times that very night, offered a single-handed resistance to this capture. He whipped out his sword and cut off the right ear of a man named Malchus who has the servant of the High Priest. It is important to remember that Peter was a fisherman, not a soldier. He wasn’t aiming for the ear. He was aiming for the head, but lucky for Malchus, he was a much better fisherman than he was a swordsman. Jesus rebuked Peter and told him to put away his sword. Peter made the same mistake that we often make today. He was using the wrong weapon. This was a spiritual battle and you can’t fight spiritual battles with physical weapons (see Second Corinthians 10:3-5). Jesus then heals Malchus’ ear and without any further resistance, the armed men arrest Jesus and lead him to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest. Jesus questions the amount of force used to arrest Him and then again shows how even His arrest was part of God’s divine plan and a fulfillment of Scripture.

When Jesus demonstrated that He would not use His power to resist, all His disciple fled just as He had predicted earlier that night. Mark’s Gospel is the only account to include a young man who was not one of the disciples who tried to secretly follow the arrested Jesus. Because Mark is the only Gospel writer to record this event, many speculate that he was that young man spoken of. All he was wearing was a linen garment that one would sleep with. He had obviously been aroused from sleep and now was watching the events of the evening unfold. Some believe that it was Mark’s family that owned the house where the upper room was located. Perhaps Judas had led the soldiers and temple police to that location first but finding that Jesus and the disciples had already left, he then led them to the garden. When he was detected, he fled naked into the night, leaving the linen garment behind. Now Jesus is left totally abandoned and deserted by man but still right in the middle of the sovereign will of God for His life (John 16:32)