INTRODUCTION:

            Early in Jesus Christ’s ministry, while He was still ministering in Galilee the religious leaders began to plot a way to destroy Him.  The religious leaders were fearful of Jesus’ popularity and enraged by His actions and words against them, they hated that He humiliated them again and again in front of the crowds.  They knew that many of the common people believed Jesus to be a prophet.  Recognizing this, they needed to capture Him away from the crowds to avoid a riot.  Imagine their thrill when one of the Twelve came unannounced and offered to lead them to Jesus in a private place.  In exchange for betraying Jesus, the chief priest paid Judas thirty pieces of silver, the traditional price of a slave.  When Jesus announced the betrayer was one of the Twelve, the disciples were shocked and did not suspect Judas Iscariot even when he left the Passover meal early.  Judas, who being possessed by Satan, left the meal to carry out his evil schemes.  In the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus endured the ultimate temptation, in this same place He experienced the ultimate betrayal.  Having spent several hours in prayer, the Lord emerged from the temptation triumphant and surrendered His life to the Father’s will.  The faithful Son of God with strong resolve to carry out the Father’s will, set His face toward the cross.  He did not try to escape or hide when the soldiers arrived to arrest Him.  Instead, He boldly went out to confront them.  This morning, we are going to look at those who had a part in this event that set in motion the most important historic event in all of human history.  Let’s pray and then get into our passage of Scripture for this morning.

--PRAY--

 

SCRIPTURE:

            Turn in your Bibles to Mark 14:43-52.  Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word, and follow along as I read.

     Mark 14:43-52,

            “Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, ‘Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.’  After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed Him. They laid hands on Him and seized Him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?  Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.’  And they all left Him and fled. A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.” (Mark 14:43–52, NASB95)[1]

THE HOSTILE MOB (Mark 14:43)

            Jesus had been prayerfully preparing Himself for what was to be set into motion once the hostile mob reached the garden.  The disciples, instead of preparing themselves for the upcoming confrontation,  had slept while Jesus was petitioning His Father to let this hour pass Him by but resolved in the end to submit to the Father’s will so that God’s redemptive purposes for mankind could be fulfilled.  When the Lord Jesus awakened the disciples the third time, He said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!” (Mark 14:41–42, NASB95)[2]  Jesus must have seen and heard the mob coming across the Kidron valley and up the Mount of Olives toward the garden.  Mark writes, “Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.” (Mark 14:43, NASB95)[3]  The quiet and solitude of the garden was immediately broken by the sudden appearance of this hostile mob.

            The fact that the Lord’s betrayer would come from the circle of His twelve disciples was so shocking that all four gospel writers explain with a measure of astonishment that Judas was one of the twelve, believing  that if they did not explain it would be impossible to believe.  As a part of that intimate group whom Jesus had called to be His disciples early in His ministry, Judas’ privilege was without equal, making the tragedy of his life also without equal.  For several years he had been exposed daily to the miracles and teaching of Jesus but when he realized there was nothing more to gain, he turned his back on it all, choosing to sell out the Son of God for what he could get.

            Mark states that Judas was leading a crowd with swords and clubs.  Unlike the crowds who had just days before hailed Jesus as the son of David, this crowd was made up of armed men who had come to arrest Jesus.  This hostile mob contained enraged religious leaders, temple police, and a detachment of Roman soldiers from the cohort stationed in Jerusalem.  Because the religious leaders feared the people and because they needed Roman assistance and permission to execute Jesus, the religious leaders had enlisted the help of Roman soldiers.  They must have convinced the commander that Jesus was a dangerous revolutionary like Barabbas.  How large a detachment we do not know, but enough to put down any uprising should it occur.  The short double-edged swords of the Roman soldiers, along with the wooden clubs of the temple police, meant this mob was well-trained and well-armed.  John in his gospel tells us that they were also carrying lanterns and torches (John 18:3).

            Mark identifies the organizers of this military force as the chief priests, the scribes and the elders.  In other words, the Sanhedrin had issued the arrest warrant.  Remember the Sanhedrin was the supreme court of Israel, comprised of 71 members.  These different groups within the Sanhedrin were often at odds with one another.  But, on the matter of Jesus they could agree, and they all wanted to see Him dead because of the threat He posed to them.  Several factors motivated the Sadducees and the Pharisees to seek the elimination of Jesus.  First, they feared Jesus’ popularity with the people that it might ignite a revolution causing Rome to retaliate and placing their delegated positions of authority in jeopardy if Rome felt they were not up to the task.  Second, since they controlled the temple, the chief priests and Sadducees were especially offended when Jesus cleared the merchants and money changers out of the court of the Gentiles.  Third, the religious leaders deeply resented Jesus’ public defiance and rebuke of their unbiblical system of rabbinic tradition.  Jealous of Jesus’ miraculous power, fearful of His authoritative teaching and actions, the Sadducees and the Pharisees found themselves united by a common enemy.

 

THE TWO-FACED TRAITOR (Mark 14:44-46)

            Jesus Christ, in His incarnation, looked and dressed like any Jewish man of His day.  Nothing about His physical appearance distinguished Him as the Son of God.  Due to the fact that it was dark when Judas and the armed crowd he was leading arrived at the garden, it would have been difficult for the soldiers to pick Jesus out from the eleven disciples with Him.  Judas had given them a way to know who to arrest.  Mark writes, “Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, ‘Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.’ ” (Mark 14:44, NASB95)[4]  In ancient Middle Eastern culture, the kiss was a sign of respect, affection, and homage.  There were various places where a kiss could be made depending on the place and the person being kissed, a kiss might be placed on a hand, or a foot, or even the hem of a garment for those to whom the highest respect was to be shown.  Judas chose to kiss Jesus on the cheek, an act that symbolized close friendship and mutual affection.  The fact that Judas chose this method to betray the Lord, an action that normally expressed devotion and love reveals the wicked depths of Judas’ hypocrisy and treachery.

            Arriving in the garden where he had sat in the shade of the olives trees and listened as Jesus taught them, all this was now pushed from his mind, he was now inspired by Satan and motivated by greed.  “After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, ‘Rabbi!’  and kissed Him.” (Mark 14:45, NASB95)[5]  The parallel passage in Luke 22:47-48 says, “While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’ ” (Luke 22:47–48, NASB95)[6] The Greek verb translated “kissed” in Mark is an intensified verb meaning to show continual affection or to kiss fervently.  The implication is that Judas prolonged his dramatic show of false affection for Jesus making it last long enough for the soldiers to identify who they were to arrest.

            Jesus was not surprised by Judas’ act of treachery.  Jesus had predicted beforehand, declaring it fulfilled biblical prophecy.  Matthew tells us that after allowing Judas to kiss Him, Jesus told the two-faced traitor, “’Friend, do what you have come for.’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.” (Matthew 26:50, NASB95)[7]  Jesus offered no resistance and neither did He display any anger or anxiety.  What we see is that He continued to place His unwavering trust into the care of His heavenly Father.

            Mark gives no further record of what happened to Judas Iscariot after that treacherous moment in Gethsemane.  Matthew recounts Judas’ tragic end, he writes in Matthew 27:3-5, “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to that yourself!’ And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:3–5, NASB95)[8]  The book of Acts gives further details of his death indicating that the rope broke and his body fell and smashed on the rock below (Acts 1:18-19).  Though he died in gruesome fashion, Judas’ suicide was just the beginning of his torments—since he entered into eternity as an unrepentant enemy of the Son of God.  As the disciple who betrayed the Messiah, Judas is the epitome of wasted opportunity and wasted privilege in all of human history.  His horrible and treacherous betrayal, his botched suicide, and his horrifying entrance into eternal punishment stand as a sober warning to all who would reject and trample underfoot the Son of God.

THE HASTY DISCIPLE (Mark 14:47)

            Seeing Jesus being arrested and bound, Luke tells us the disciples asked, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” (Luke 22:49b, NASB95)[9]  But one of the disciples instead of waiting for an answer hastily drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.  John in his gospel, in John 18:10 identifies the hasty disciple as Peter, and the high priest’s slave was Malchus.  The disciples had told Jesus as they left the upper room that they had two swords, Peter was carrying one of them.  Undoubtedly, Peter was aiming for the head of Malchus and missed his mark and only severed an ear.  Imagine the pounding tension as Malchus screamed, then stood wide-eyed, blood pouring through his fingers as a hundred steel blades rang out as they were drawn from their scabbards.  Peter could have ended the church right here.  No doubt his action was to prover his courage and loyalty to the Lord Jesus.  Peter was possibly emboldened by the dramatic display of the Lord’s power just moments before.  John 18:4-6 describe this for us, “So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’  They answered Him, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’  He said to them, ‘I am He.’ And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. So when He said to them, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:4–6, NASB95)[10]  But the Lord Jesus put an abrupt end to Peter’s heroics.  Knowing that the kingdom of salvation does not advance by force, Luke explains that Jesus issued a direct command to Peter and the other disciples “But Jesus answered and said, ‘Stop! No more of this.’  And He touched his ear and healed him.” (Luke 22:51, NASB95)[11]  Jesus in an act of mercy and supernatural power touched the wound of Malchus and miraculously re-created his ear. 

            Jesus then reminded Peter that His suffering in this way was predicted in Old Testament prophecy.  Because it had been foretold centuries before by the prophets, Peter’s actions were actually going against the Word of God.

 

THE GLORIOUS CHRIST (Mark 14:48-49)

            Jesus then turned back to the well-armed and highly trained force that had come out to arrest Him.  Jesus said to the Jewish leaders who stood before Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?” (Mark 14:48, NASB95)[12]  In the midst of this noisy, restless mob, Jesus stood with majestic tranquility, posing a reasonable question to His captors.  Since He was not a violent criminal, why was it necessary to bring an excessive military force to arrest Him?  The Greek term translated “robber” normally referred to an armed bandit or brigand who would violently resist arrest and try to escape.  Jesus had not been hiding from them; He came out to meet them.  Jesus went on to say, “Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.” (Mark 14:49, NASB95)[13] No place in Jerusalem was more public then the temple.  His statement exposed their hypocrisy and cowardice.  If He truly was the dangerous threat to Rome that they accused Him of being, why had they not arrested Him in the temple earlier in the week?  His question exposed their fear that the people, fascinated with Jesus, would turn against them.  To avoid the possibility of a public reaction, they waited to arrest Him, doing it outside the city, in a private place, under the cover of darkness, and accompanied by a military force.

            This did not in any way reduce the guilt of their wicked actions, the Lord acknowledged that the events that had been set into action were taking place to fulfill the Scriptures.  Everything was going according to the Father’s perfect schedule.  Even in their hostility toward the Lord Jesus, the apostate leaders of Israel were fulfilling the redemptive plan of God, while heaping more guilt upon themselves, and the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets were fulfilled.  God sovereignly used their wicked schemes to accomplish His eternal purposes.

            No matter how many soldiers accompanied them, the Jewish religious leaders could not have taken Jesus unless He surrendered Himself into their custody.  Throughout His ministry, Jesus’ enemies had tried to take His life more than once, and He had evaded them because those attempts were not in keeping with the Father’s timetable.  The Lord Jesus would lay down His life, but not until His hour had come.  Jesus had declared earlier in His ministry in John 10:17-18,  “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” (John 10:17–18, NASB95)[14]  Even in His death, everything Jesus did was under His control and in perfect accord with the Father’s will.

THE FEARFUL DISCIPLES (Mark 14:50-52)

            After Peter’s initial act of boldness when he drew his sword, all eleven disciples left Jesus and fled.  The Lord had earlier instructed them to keep watch and pray, but instead they had fallen asleep.  When the moment of temptation arrived, they were woefully unprepared and succumbed to fear and fled.  Just as Jesus had predicted they would, when they realized that Jesus was unwilling to resist His attackers, and knowing that if they stayed they might be arrested also, they fled into the night.

            Mark closes his account of Jesus betrayal and arrest in the garden with a striking illustration of one man’s cowardice.  Mark writes, “A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.” (Mark 14:51–52, NASB95)[15]  Mark is the only one who records this detail concerning this young man, and many biblical scholars believe that Mark is talking about himself.  The passage does not say that but there are some clues that may point to this being Mark.  It is believed that the upper room that Jesus used for the Passover was in the home of Mark’s parents.  The fact that Mark knew these details, that this young man was only wrapped in a linen sheet and the details of his escape from capture.  But we cannot be sure, but Mark includes this detail for a purpose.

            The point that Mark is making by including the details of this young man is to emphasize the complete isolation Jesus Christ experienced in that moment.  The huge crowds who had heard Jesus teach in the temple were nowhere to be found.  The only crowd that gathered around Him that night was there to take Him captive.  His disciples who had insisted they would never desert Him, and Peter who had even claimed He would die with Him, had all abandoned Him.  Even this unidentified bystander, whether it was Mark who had followed them out to the garden, or had rushed to try and warn Jesus after the crowd of armed men had first stopped at his house to see if Jesus was still there, or it was someone awakened by the noise of this crowd and came to see what was going on, leaving his sheet behind when he was grabbed, he fled naked into the night.  When everyone else ran away, the Lord Jesus made no attempt to escape.  The Man of Sorrows was left all alone, surrounded by no one but those who wanted to see Him dead.  From the garden of Gethsemane, He would be escorted back to Jerusalem, to the house of the high priest, where a mock trial against Him would begin shortly.

 

CONCLUSION:

            Even in His arrest, Jesus willingly moved toward the cross with triumphant confidence and a resolve to carry out the redemptive plan of God the Father.  He knew that by submitting to the Father’s will the redemptive purposes of God would be accomplished.  The Old Testament prophecies concerning His betrayal, arrest, and abandonment had been fulfilled.  Additional prophecies would be fulfilled later that day, as he offered Himself as the final sacrifice of sin.  Though Jesus had been placed under arrest and bound by soldiers, He nonetheless went willingly, He was compelled by a submissive love for His Father, a saving love for His redeemed, and a steadfast pursuit of His own glory.  He was willing for you and for me to drink the cup of God’s wrath on our behalf.  We do not have to endure that cup now, but we are to live in dependent submission to Him, responding in love as He did.  Are we loving those who have wronged us?  Or like Peter do we have our sword drawn, inflicting our own wrongful wounds?  If we are, we need to put our swords back in their scabbards and we need to take on the mind of Christ and surrender to Him and His will, as He surrendered to the Father’s will and drank the cup for us.

 

[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 

[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.