Introduction

‘While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.” Luke 22:47-53

Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley and went into a garden, John 18:1.

The Kidron Valley

The Kidron valley east of Jerusalem, separating the Mount of Olives from the Temple Mount, was the route taken by David when he fled from the city because of Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:23, and it has a significant place in the history of the nation, in 1 Kings 15:13, it’s where Asa burned the ‘abominable image’, in 2 Kings 23:4ff, it’s where Josiah burned the idolatrous vessels out of the temple, in 2 Chronicles 29:16ff, it’s where it involved in the cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah.

From the altar of sacrifice in the temple, there was a channel down to the brook Kidron, and through that channel, the blood of the lambs drained away. When Jesus crossed the brook Kidron it would still be red with the blood of the lambs which had been sacrificed.

The ‘valley’, ‘cheimorrhos’, literally means, ‘winter-flowing’, a stream that flowed only in winter or after heavy rain. A ‘garden’, ‘Gethsemane’ means ‘oil press’, Luke 22:39. It was a private garden, Mark 14:32.

‘Place’, ‘chorion’, an enclosed piece of ground, so the owner must have given permission for Jesus and the disciples to use it. The owner was probably a friend of Jesus as Jesus often went there.

Notice Luke 21:37, this probably means that Jesus and His disciples used to shelter there, sleeping in the open air, and probably in this very garden.

The Garden

Located on the slopes of Mount of Olives, precise location unknown, the present ‘Garden of Gethsemane’ is very old, and the original garden must have been close by, but nobody can say with certainty exactly where it was located. It seems as if the disciples and Jesus had stopped for Jesus’ prayer somewhere in Jerusalem.

Now that the prayer was completed, they continue to the edge of the city, out one of the gates on the Western side of the city and towards the Kidron valley which runs to the West of the city along the length of the temple.

They crossed the valley and entered the garden of Gethsemane, which was on the Mount of Olives, this Mount was so-called because of the olives grown on it.

Some of these olive trees still exist today, and they are believed to be the same as those mentioned in Jesus’ time. It seems that Jesus slept here on the Mount of Olives each night of the last week of His life.

We see that this was commonplace for Jesus and the disciples to go for prayer and meditation, as a result, Judas the traitor knew where to find Jesus, and it was common for them to go there after the evening meal, John 18:2-3.

Judas brought an entire detachment of soldiers with him to capture Jesus. Judas brought with him, ‘a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees’. The word ‘detachment’ of soldiers is ‘speira’, and was the term used for a Roman Cohort, a body of 600 men.

Sometimes used to describe a group of 200 soldiers, it’s impossible to say how many on this occasion, but it’s certainly used for a large number, Matthew 26:47 / Mark 14:43 / Luke 27:47.

‘Their officers’, ‘chiliarchos’, the Roman commander of a cohort, Luke 22:52-53, and the temple guard were carrying ‘lanterns and torches’, perhaps expecting that Jesus and disciples would hide, Luke 22:52, the chief priests and elders were also present, Luke 22:52.

The chief priests had no jurisdiction over Roman soldiers and would need Pilate’s permission to use them. He later doesn’t seem keen on the whole event, so it isn’t likely that he would give his permission to use his men to capture Jesus.

The torches were sticks tied together, wrapped in cloth, dipped in pitch or oil, the lantern was an open dish or oil lamp. This seems likely because of their reaction when Jesus uses the term ‘I AM’, John 18:5.

Why Did They Need Judas?

The religious leaders didn’t need Judas to recognise Jesus. They didn’t need Judas to find out where Jesus was. Three times in the Gospel of John they sent guards to arrest Jesus and all three times the guards couldn’t do it. I think they were beginning to fear that Jesus was un-arrestable.

And they said, ‘we need someone on the inside, some that can catch Him when his guard is down, someone that won’t surprise Him so that we can get Him before He knows what’s going on.’ And Judas said, ‘I’m your man.’

The Kiss

Under normal circumstances, the kiss was a brotherly kiss of affection, Romans 16:16 / 1 Corinthians 16:20 / 2 Corinthians 13:12 / 1 Thessalonians 5:26 / 1 Peter 5:14, but it seems like Judas had other plans, his kiss was more like a kiss of betrayal.

His kiss signalled to the mob who Jesus was, remember the religious leaders who were in attendance knew exactly who Jesus was, Matthew 26:48-49 / Mark 14:44-45, as they had many dealings with Him up to this point.

This shows us the extent Satan had been working on His heart, he even had the audacity to greet Jesus first, Matthew 26:49 / Mark 14:45.

When Jesus asked him the question about betraying the Son of man with a kiss, Luke 22:48, this tells us that Jesus knew Judas’s motives. I’m sure Judas once again would have been taken back by Jesus’ question.

Remember these are the final days of Jesus and He was well aware of everything which was about to happen, Revelation 13:8, and Judas coming to Him was no surprise either, Psalm 41:9 / Matthew 20:18 / Luke 9:44 / Acts 1:16-17.

Jesus was well aware of His eventual destination, He knew that His time had now come but still He asked, ‘Who is it you want?’ They specify Jesus, John 18:5.

He replies, ‘I am he’, John 18:5, this is the old statement used as a reference to God. Jesus knew everything that was about to happen, John 2:24 / John 5:6 / John 6:64 / John 13:1 / John 13:3.

Notice it was when Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ ‘they drew back and fell to the ground,’ John 18:6, why? The word ‘he’ is merely supplied in the text, Jesus said ‘Ego Eimi’, ‘I AM,’ John 8:58 / Exodus 3:14, which is the Greek equivalent of YHWH, Exodus 3:13-14 / John 5:18. He is Eternal, Psalm 135:13, and self-existent, Psalm 88:6-7.

The expression ‘Ego Eimi’ also occurs in John 6:35 / John 8:12 / John 8:58 / John 10:9 / John 10:11 / John 11:25 / John 14:6 / John 15:1. The Jews understood perfectly well what was alluded to by the term ‘I AM’ used by Jesus, Leviticus 24:16 / John 5:18.

Just as a side note I remember studying with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and brought this text to their attention, at first, they said, ‘oh you guys are always making a big deal out of the ‘I AM’ statements’ and then they went on to explain that everyone present ‘drew back and fell to the ground’, simply because Jesus openly admitted that He was Jesus and everyone was surprised when He did!

Really!

Imagine 200-600 Roman soldiers and all the religious leaders, armed with torches, lanterns, clubs and swords and who knows what else, coming to Jesus and Jesus asks, ‘who are you looking for?’ and they reply, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’.

Imagine, Jesus replies, ‘Yep, I’m your man’, and because He said, He is the one they are looking for, 200-600 soldiers and everyone else in their company, not only ‘drew back’ but they also ‘fell to the ground.’ That simply doesn’t make any sense unless there was something about the words Jesus used.

The ‘I AM’ statements are a big deal, but they fail to see the significance of them because if they did, they wouldn’t come out with such dribble to explain passages like this.

After declaring to the mob that He is the ‘I AM’, for the second time, Jesus pleads for His disciples to be released, John 18:8. This was to fulfil a prophecy He previously made which prevented any from being captured with Him, John 18:9 / John 6:39 / John 18:8.

The Ear

Peter’s reaction which isn’t surprising, He was always the impulsive one, who often said things without thinking first, John 13:37 / Matthew 26:33.

He draws his sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus who was the high priest’s servant, Matthew 26:51 / Mark 14:47 / Luke 22:50 / John 18:10.

The fact that Peter is carrying a sword, possibly for protection, tells me that maybe He still didn’t understand the nature of God’s kingdom, he was still thinking in terms of a physical kingdom. We know that Jesus never wanted or never intended physical force to establish His kingdom, John 18:36 / Revelation 13:10.

Before Jesus restores Malchus’ ear, Jesus rebukes Peter, this isn’t the first time he has rebuked him, Mark 8:33 / John 18:11, and it certainly won’t be the last time he’s rebuked, Galatians 2:11-21.

The cup which Jesus refers to is the cup of agony, Matthew 26:39. He reminds Peter if he’s going to fight with a sword, then he will certainly die by the sword, Matthew 26:52 / Romans 13:4.

We must wonder what those who were present were thinking when Jesus restored Malchus’ ear back to normal, Luke 22:51. Surely after Jesus claimed to be the ‘I AM’, and then performed this ‘sign’, John 20:30-31, those present would have noticed what He just did!

I often wonder if Malchus himself ever went on to believe that Jesus was indeed, the Christ, the Son of God? If no one else believed within the mob, who Christ was on that day, I’m sure Malchus would have believed and who knows maybe later He came to become a Christian. At the very least, it was certainly one of those moments, in his life, that he would never forget.

Peter, still thinking in human terms thought Jesus needed help but little did he know how much help Jesus had at His call. If it wasn’t for the love of Christ for mankind, He could have easily brought all this to an end, but He wasn’t about to play into the devil’s hands, He wasn’t about to blow His whole mission this close to the end, John 18:11 / John 10:17-18.

Twelve Legions Of Angels

Matthew tells us Jesus could have called numerous angels to rescue Him, Matthew 26:53, but He knew by doing that, wouldn’t fulfil Scripture, Matthew 26:54 / Isaiah 50:6 / Isaiah 53:2-11.

Twelve legions of angels are estimated to be around 36,000 angels, but notice Jesus says He has ‘more than’ that number at His disposal, Matthew 26:53.

Remember one angel wiped out 185,000 of God’s enemies in one moment, 2 Kings 19:35, how much more would these many angels, affect those who were present?

The mob were armed with swords and clubs, Matthew 26:55 / Mark 14:48 / Luke 22:52, this tells us that both Roman soldiers and the temple police were present to arrest Jesus.

Luke is the only account which tells us the chief priests were present too, Luke 22:52. You have to wonder, how many people does it take to arrest one man? John 18:12.

The Time Has Come

Jesus tells them they’ve had ample opportunity over the past three and half years to arrest Him, but they didn’t, Matthew 26:55 / Mark 14:51 / Luke 22:52-53. Now was the time because it was God’s timetable they were working under, not theirs.

The commander was usually in charge of a thousand men, but on this occasion, he doesn’t have a thousand men with him, but John simply tells us about him to help us understand that he was a man of high ranking, John 18:12.

It was now time to carry out the death sentence on Jesus, John 18:12 / Luke 22:53. Satan has been working through these people because He wanted Jesus out of the picture, little did he know that the cross was a part of God’s plan from the beginning, Genesis 3:15 / Romans 8:28.

The devil had no idea what God’s plan was, he had no idea that he was actually putting God’s plan into effect, 1 Peter 1:10-12 / Acts 2:23.

Christ knew the Scriptures, He knew moment by moment they were to be fulfilled, Matthew 26:56 / Mark 14:49. Jesus is saying that He must die, but He is also saying all these things must happen to fulfil prophecy, Matthew 18:7 / John 10:35 / 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. He knew His sheep would be scattered, Zechariah 13:7 / Matthew 26:56 / Mark 14:49.

Why the disciples deserted Jesus and fled, Matthew 26:56 / Mark 14:50-52, is uncertain, probably because they were afraid, John 20:19, and didn’t want to be arrested along with Jesus.

Jesus didn’t try and run away, He surrenders Himself to the authorities and no attempt is made to capture the disciples, He voluntarily handed Himself over to them, John 18:12.

I don’t believe there was any need to bind Him, John 18:12, but such is the nature of Satan and the people he was using to rid the world of Jesus.

There was no escaping for Jesus, but Jesus had no intention of even trying to escape, He only had one thing on His mind, to lovingly fulfil the will of His Father, Luke 22:42.

Jesus was in full control of everything which was happening around Him and He has always been in control of everything going on around Him and will continue to be in control of everything, even to His resurrection and beyond.

As Christians, it’s so important to remember, that as long as we remain under His control, He will protect us, from harm, John 10:28-29.

We must also remember that it’s so easy to abandon Him, especially when people criticise us for being Christians and abuse us for the faith we hold onto so dearly, 1 Timothy 6:12.

We know that Peter and John stayed kind of close to Jesus during His trial, John 18:15, but we don’t know why the others fled. One thing to notice is that Matthew includes himself as one of those deserting and fleeing from the scene, Matthew 26:56.

The young man who was left naked could have possibly been John Mark, Mark 14:51-52. Mark makes this brief statement here in order to identify himself as the writer of the document. I can imagine this event being both sad for the disciples later but also humorous as they remember Mark running away naked.

From this time on, things begin to happen quickly in reference to the trials, crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Throughout the next three days, the disciples would experience the greatest trauma of their lives. Expectations would be crushed. Their hopes in Jesus would be dashed.

They would be in a state of disillusionment until Jesus redirected them through several appearances that would take place after the resurrection. After the trauma of all these events, they would be prepared to go forth for Jesus.

What Date Was Jesus Arrested?

Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.

‘We should note that if Jesus was arrested on the night of Passover, as some suggest then none of the chief priests or the temple guards, would have been permitted to carry weapons after sundown of Nisan 14th.

And so, this must-have happened the night before, on Nisan 13th, technically the 14th, that Jesus was arrested. If it had been Nisan 14th after sundown, it would have been technically Nisan 15th, the night of the Passover meal, Luke 22:2.’