Mark 14:43

Mar 14:43-45. Immediately, while he yet spake — And gave his disciples the alarm just mentioned; Judas came, and with him a great multitude — Persons of different stations and offices in life, sent with authority from the chief priests, with swords and staves — Or clubs, as it seems ξυλων ought here to be rendered. “A staff, in Greek, ραβδος, is intended principally to assist us in walking; a club, ξυλον, is a weapon both offensive and defensive. To show that these words are, in the gospels, never used promiscuously, let it be observed, that, in our Lord’s commands to his apostles, in relation to the discharge of their office, when what concerned their own accommodation in travelling is spoken of, the word παβδος is used by all the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who take particular notice of that transaction. But, in the account given by the same evangelists of the armed multitude sent by the high-priests and elders to apprehend our Lord, they never employ the term παβδος, but always, ξυλον.” — Campbell.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 132. — APPREHENSION OF JESUS, Mar_14:43-52.

(See notes on Mat_26:47-57.)

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Mar_14:48. Thief—Robber, or bandit.

Mar_14:51. A linen cloth.—A sindon—either a garment or bed-covering made of linen or muslin manufactured in Sind.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_14:43-52

(PARALLELS: Mat_26:47-56; Luk_22:47-53; Joh_18:1-11.)

The captive Christ and the circle round Him.—A comparison of the first three Gospels in this section shews a degree of similarity, often verbal, which is best accounted for by supposing that a common (oral) “gospel,” which had become traditionally fixed by frequent and long repetition, underlies them all. Mark’s account is briefest, and grasps with sure instinct the essential points; but, even in his brevity, he pauses to tell of the young man who so nearly shared the Lord’s apprehension. The canvas is narrow and crowded; but we may see unity in the picture, if we regard as the central fact the sacrilegious seizure of Jesus, and the other incidents and persons as grouped round it and Him, and reflecting various moods of men’s feelings towards Him.

I. The avowed and hypocritical enemies of Incarnate Love.—Again we have Mark’s favourite “straightway,” so frequent in the beginning of the Gospel, and occurring twice here, vividly painting both the sudden inburst of the crowd which interrupted Christ’s words and broke the holy silence of the garden, and Judas’ swift kiss. The passionless narrative tells the criminal and his crime with unsparing, unmoved tones, which have caught some echo beforehand of the Judge’s voice. To name the sinner, and to state without cloak or periphrasis what his deed really was, is condemnation enough. Which of us could stand it? Judas was foremost of the crowd. That the black depths of his spirit were agitated is plain from two things—the quick kiss, and the nauseous repetition of it. “Straightway … he kissed Him much.” Probably the swiftness and vehemence, so graphically expressed by these two touches, were due not only to fear lest Christ should escape, and to hypocrisy over-acting its part, but reveal a struggle with conscience and ancient affection, and a fierce determination to do the thing and have it over. The very extravagances of evil betray the divided and stormy spirit of the doer. That traitor’s kiss has become a symbol for all treachery cloaked in the garb of affection. Its lessons and warnings are obvious; but this other may be added—that such audacity and nauseousness of hypocrisy is not reached at a leap, but presupposes long underground tunnels of insincere discipleship, through which a man has burrowed, unseen by others, and perhaps unsuspected by himself. Much hypocrisy of the unconscious sort precedes the deliberate and conscious. How much less criminal and disgusting was the rude crowd at Judas’ heels! Most of them were mere passive tools. Half-ignorant hatred, which had had ample opportunities of becoming knowledge and love, offended formalism, blind obedience to ecclesiastical superiors, the dislike of goodness—these impelled the rabble who burst into the Garden of Gethsemane.

II. Incarnate Love bound and patient.—“They laid hands on Him.” That was the first stage in outrage—the quick stretching of many hands to secure the unresisting Prisoner. They “took Him,” or, as perhaps we might better render, “They held Him fast,” as would have been done with any prisoner. Surely the quietest way of telling that stupendous fact is the best! It is easy to exclaim, and, after the fashion of some popular writers of Lives of Christ, to paint fancy pictures. It is better to be sparing of words, like Mark, and silently to meditate on the patient long-suffering of the love which submitted to these indignities, and on the blindness which had no welcome but this for God manifest in the flesh. Both are in full operation to-day, and the germs of the latter are in us all. Mark confines himself to that one of Christ’s sayings which sets in the clearest light His innocence and meek submissiveness. With all its calmness and patience, it is majestic and authoritative, and sounds as if spoken from a height far above the hubbub. Its question is not only an assertion of His innocence, and therefore of His captors’ guilt, but also declares the impotence of force as against Him: “Swords and staves to take Me!” All that parade of arms was out of place, for He was no evil-doer; needless, for He did not resist; and powerless, unless He chose to let them prevail. The second clause of Christ’s remonstrance appeals to their knowledge of Him and His words, and to their attitude towards Him. He would have them ask, “Why this change in us, since He is the same?” Did He deserve to be hailed as King a few short hours ago? How, then, before the palm branches are withered, can He deserve rude hands? The third clause rises beyond all notice of the human agents, and soars to the Divine purpose which wrought itself out through them. That Divine purpose does not make them guiltless, but it makes Jesus submissive. We, too, should train ourselves to see the hand that moves the pieces and to make God’s will our will, as becomes sons. Then Christ’s calm will be ours, and, ceasing from self and conscious of God everywhere and yielding our wills, which are the self of ourselves, to Him, we shall enter into rest.

III. Rash love defending its Lord with wrong weapons.—Peter may have felt that he must do something to vindicate his recent boasting, and, with his usual headlong haste, stops neither to ask what good his sword is likely to do, nor to pick his man and take deliberte aim at him. If swords were to be used, they should do something more effectual than hacking off a poor servant’s ear. Christ and His cause are to be defended by other weapons. Christian heroism endures, and does not smite. Not only swords, but bitter words, which wound worse than they, are forbidden to Christ’s soldier. We are ever being tempted to fight Christ’s battles with the world’s weapons; and many a “defender of the faith” in later days, perhaps even in this very enlightened day, has repeated Peter’s fault with less excuse than he, and with very little of either his courage or his love.

IV. Cowardly love forsaking its Lord.__“They all forsook Him, and fled.” And who will venture to say that he would not have done so too? The tree that can stand such a blast must have deep roots. Their flight may teach us to place little reliance on our emotions, however genuine and deep, and to look for the security of our continual adherence to Christ—not to our fluctuating feelings, but to His steadfast love.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mar_14:51-52. The young man in the linen cloth.—As Jesus was being led a prisoner through the streets of Jerusalem to the palace of Caiaphas, a certain youth, awakened probably by the uproar they made, sprang from his bed, seized the first wrapper that came to hand, and, hastily folding himself in it, ran out into the moonlight, to learn the cause of the disturbance. As he ran after and caught up the retiring group of officers, he saw they had a prisoner in their midst, and in the prisoner he recognised Jesus of Nazareth, the rabbi to whom no doubt he had listened with delight as He taught in the Temple and in the streets; for, we are told, he was following Him, not simply following the crowd. In Him his interest is so great, so obvious, that it compels him to remonstrate with the officers who had arrested Him, or to address words of comfort and hope to their Prisoner. For the officers, irritated by his too obvious sympathy with Jesus, lay hold upon him, and are about to arrest him as a follower of the Galilean Rabbi. But for this the young man is not prepared. He slips out of the linen robe, which they have grasped, and runs back, naked, to the house from which but a few moments before he had run out.

I. In all probability the young man was St. Mark himself, the writer of this Gospel.—

1. At least one other of the Evangelists, St. John, when he has to speak of himself, does not name himself, but speaks of himself in the indefinite way in which “a certain young man” is here introduced to us. So that, if the young man were Mark, it might well be that he would not name himself, but give some such indefinite allusion to himself as is here employed.

2. What is there in this incident to warrant, or even to account for, its insertion into the narrative, unless it be a personal interest? It is mentioned in no one of the other Gospels. It has no direct bearing on the story of Christ’s arrest and trial. If Mark himself was the young man that sprang up in the dead of night, and saw Jesus led by the officers to be tried by the high priest, we can understand with what profound interest he would afterward recall every detail of that incident, and how gladly, when he wrote his Gospel, he would connect himself, though in the most modest and unobtrusive way, with that supreme crisis in the history of his Lord and ours. Whereas, on any other hypothesis, supposing the young man to have been any one but himself, we can see no sufficient reason why he should pause to narrate so trifling an event.

3. The minute details crowded into this brief sentence look as if they could only be drawn from personal recollection. As we read it, if at least we read with an alert imagination, we can see the young man lying on his pallet; we can hear the brawl in the street that awakes him; we see him start up and snatch at the first covering that comes to hand, cast it hastily about him, run out into the moonlit street, recognise Jesus, and interfere impulsively with the officers in the execution of their duty; we see him roused to a sense of his danger as they lay rough hands upon him, and run away, leaving the costly linen robe in their hands. I have sometimes wondered whether there was any prophetic symbolism in the seeming accident that the young man should wrap himself in a sindon. The Lord Jesus was on His way to the Cross and the grave, though as yet no official sentence had been pronounced against Him. Was this fine linen web, this costly Indian fabric, which came so strangely and unexpectedly into the hands of His guard, an omen of what that sentence would be? Any Jew would have set the web aside to be a winding-sheet. Is the winding-sheet brought into the sacred narrative to indicate that Jesus was now about to die?

4. The mother of Mark, as we learn from Act_12:12, had a house in Jerusalem; and it has been generally held that St. Mark was a native of this city, and dwelt in it until he became a missionary of the Cross: so that, unlike most of the disciples and friends of Jesus, he would be living in Jerusalem, and perhaps in that very street through which Jesus was led on the night of His betrayal. From the fact, moreover, that Mark’s mother had a house of her own in the metropolis, and that this house was spacious enough to be the habitual resort of the primitive Church, we infer that she was a woman of some wealth and consideration—a woman, therefore, in whose house a costly Indian fabric, such as the young man cast about him, might well lie ready to his hand.

5. The impulsive character of this young man—soon hot, soon cold, ready to dare all risks at one moment that he may follow Jesus, and ready at the next moment to abandon his sole and costly garment that he may escape the hands of the officers—accords entirely with what we know of the character of Mark as depicted by St. Luke.

II. Why was this incident recorded? What is there in it for us?—

1. It teaches us at least this lesson: that Christ has room in His service, and a discipline, for warm and impulsive natures; that even for these He can find some duty to discharge, some function to fulfil. St. Mark was a man of this kind—a man who was apt to begin to build without counting the cost. He was of an eager, sensitive, and impressible temperament, as the graphic touches which abound in his Gospel indicate; but, like most persons of this sensitive, impulsive temperament, he was fickle and unsteadfast. Probably his imagination was very keen and active, as in such cases it often is, and painted the beauty and heroism of a certain line of conduct very brightly, but painted just as darkly the terrors of the conflict which to pursue such a line of conduct would involve. And thus he would be easily moved to undertake enterprises which he was not strong enough to carry through. Even when he had grown older and was an avowed servant of Christ, Mark betrayed the same infirmity, the same unsteadfast poise of spirit between conflicting impulses, the same sensitive apprehension of the lions that lurk in the path of devotion to any great cause. He started with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, just as he rose from his bed to follow Christ to the hall of judgment through the streets of Jerusalem; but just as he forsook Christ when the officers laid their rude grasp on Him, so also he abandoned Paul and Barnabas before their work was well begun (Act_13:13). His motive for abandoning them was the very motive which led him to abandon Christ—the fear of harm and loss. Paul and Barnabas were about to plunge into the wild mountains of Asia Minor, to encounter “perils of rivers and perils of robbers” among the lawless and marauding highland clans. Mark did not like the prospect. And so, just as they were about to face their gravest perils, and to win their greatest successes, he forsook them—deserted them, as St. Paul indignantly maintained—and returned to his mother’s comfortable house in Jerusalem. Yet even for this impulsive and inconstant man there was not only room but an appropriate discipline in the service of Christ. In his later epistles St. Paul speaks of Mark as “a fellow-worker in the kingdom of God,” and as “a comfort to himself”; and in his very last letter he describes him as being “profitable to him in the ministry.” We may be sure, therefore, that this man, once so impulsive, so unreliable, so driven by contrary winds and tossed, became, by the teaching and grace of Christ, a brave and single-hearted servant of the Lord whose service he had more than once abandoned.

2. As we recall the past, we cannot but see that our lives have not flowed on in a single steady current to an eternal goal; that they have been broken into many, and even into adverse, currents, some flowing in one direction, some in another, most of them losing themselves in mere marshes and bogs, instead of carrying health and fertility along their appointed course. We are conscious that unity has been wanting to our lives, so that they will not have left one, and that a strong and good, impression on the world, but many broken and even contradictory impressions. Our influence, as we readily acknowledge, has not been wholly good; it has not always helped to foster all the good growths springing up around us; it has told almost as often and as much for evil as for good. We feel that, like St. Mark, we have again and again abandoned the Master we profess and wish to serve. And at times we lose all hope of ever reaching that constant mind, that settled and steadfast loyalty to Him, that entire devotion to His service, which yet we long to reach, without which, should we fail to reach it, we are sure that we cannot know any true happiness or peace. At such times as these it will give us new heart to remember that even for Mark there was reserved a place in the service of Christ, and a discipline which enabled him to fill that place. For the Master will deal with us as He dealt with him. If we have any true love for Him, any sincere desire to live to Him, He will teach us by our very errors, and train us by our very failures, and make our dissatisfaction with ourselves a spur to a more constant and cheerful obedience.—S. Cox, D.D.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar_14:43. Who are like Judas to-day?—Those who know their duty, feel the power of the truth, see the worth of Christ, recognise the privilege of the Christian life, and yet turn their back on all this and give themselves up as the slaves of their passions. Knowing perfectly the wrong they do, they do not hesitate to injure Christ for what they consider their advantage.

A picture of apostates.—We see here but too lively a picture of apostates, who have no sooner deserted from the Church but they persecute it, put themselves at the head of conspiracies against the higher powers, and breathe nothing but violence, rebellion, and treason.—P. Quesnel.

Mar_14:44-45. The kiss of treachery.—The kiss was a customary expression of mingled affection and reverence on the part of the disciples when they met their Master. To suppose that Judas deliberately selected an action which was as remote as possible from his then true feelings is an unnecessary supposition. It is more true to human nature to suppose that he endeavoured to appease whatever there may have been in the way of lingering protest in his conscience by an act of formal reverence that was dictated to him by long habit, and that served to veil from himself the full enormity of his crime at the moment of his doing it. In like manner the brigands in the south of Europe have been known to accompany deeds of thefts and deeds of blood with previous ejaculations whether of piety or superstition, and cases have been heard farther north of pickpockets when the thief and his victim have been kneeling side by side in a church or sitting side by side in a meeting-house. In these instances religion may be employed not simply as a blind to an immoral act, but as a sort of salve to a protesting conscience. The passing thrill of emotion seems to do something towards reducing the magnitude of the crime which accompanies it. The case of Judas has become a proverb for all those proceedings whereby, under the semblance of outward reverence for religion or of devotion to its interests, its substance or its reality is betrayed.—Canon Liddon.

The hardihood of evil.—Note:

1. The malignant influence of an evil leader.

2. The awful change in Judas. He might have been the leader of the twelve, of the holy company of disciples, and sinks to be the leader of this vile crew.

3. The hardihood of evil in kissing Christ: such resolute effrontery, such presumptuous invasion of that face before which earth and heaven shall flee away!

4. The infinite meekness of Christ. He requires us to endure the blow of an enemy. He endures the loathsome kiss.

5. As their number betrayed their sense of Christ’s greatness, so this kiss proclaims Him worthy of allegiance and of love.

6. The worst opponents of Christ are still those who betray with a kiss—such as those who oppose His claims while affecting to revere His character, and deny His Saviourship while acknowledging the excellence of His doctrine.

7. The depravity of human nature. For these men are our brothers. There is no sermon on the need of repentance can be so convicting as this narrative of what human nature has actually done.—R. Glover.

Mar_14:47. Worldly weapons.—In relation to the advancement of the Church of Christ, worldly views, a worldly temper, worldly methods, efforts to secularise in order to popularise, however well meaning, are but the swinging of swords, which, if unchecked, would nullify Scripture and bar the way of life to men. There is a law in our members warring against the law of our minds. As opportunity offers it eagerly puts a sword in our hands and commands the use of it. We obey too often, to our own and others’ spiritual injury and the hindrance of the sacred cause we represent and would help.—Wm. M. Campbell.

Mar_14:50. A bad deed by good men.—The apprehension of Christ in the garden was to the disciples a mystery. It confounded them. In their ignorance they were terrified, and deserted Christ. It was not want of love, but lack of courage. It was an eclipse, not an extinction, of their faith.

I. The disciples deserted Christ after promising not to do so?—

1. They had promised after being warned. “Ye shall be offended because of Me,” etc. Christ candidly spoke of suffering. “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.”

2. They had promised independently of each other. “If all men,” etc. “So said all His disciples.”

3. They had promised whatever would be the result. “Go with Thee to prison,” etc.

II. The disciples deserted Christ when He was in difficulties.—

1. The instability of the best human friendship.

2. The terribleness of Christ’s sufferings.

3. The necessity of Christians counting the cost.

III. The disciples deserted Christ, though He suffered in their cause.—This made them guilty of—

1. Ingratitude.

2. Discouragement.

3. Cowardice.

IV. The disciples deserted Christ, but He remained steadfast.—

1. The faithfulness of Christ.

2. The independence of Christ.

3. The courage of Christ.

4. The forbearance of Christ.—B. D. Johns.

Christ forsaken by His disciples.—

I. How weak is the resolution of fallen man!—Man, as originally formed by God, was capable of carrying into execution whatever his judgment approved or his will decreed; but it is far otherwise with us in our present state. How earnest are many, when lying on a bed of sickness, to redeem their time; and how determined, if ever they should recover, to devote the remainder of their lives to God! Yet they are no sooner restored to health than they go back to their former habits and companions, and leave to a distant period the performance of their vows. It is thus also with many after an awakening discourse: they see how vain it is to render unto God a mere formal or hypocritical service, and they resolve that henceforth they will offer Him an undivided heart. But their hearts are not steadfast in the covenant which they make, and their lives are little else than a series of reformations and declensions without any solid improvement in the Divine life.

II. What great evils are even good men capable of committing!—What ingratitude were these disciples guilty of in forsaking their Lord, when their presence might perhaps be of most essential service to Him? The unbelief also which they manifested on this occasion was highly criminal. They had been repeatedly told by Jesus that, after His death and resurrection, He would meet them in Galilee. This was equal to a promise on His part that they should be preserved. Moreover, at the very time when He was apprehended, He said in their hearing, “If ye seek Me, let these go their way.” This ought to have been regarded by them as a certain pledge of their security. But so completely were they overcome by fear that they could not think of safety but in flight.

III. How desirable is it to have just views of Jesus Christ!—Our Lord forewarned His disciples that their desertion of Him would originate in their misconception of His character and office: “All ye shall be offended in Me this night.” They had seen their Divine Master controlling the very elements themselves, from whence they had concluded Him to be the true Messiah. But now they behold Him bound and led away by an armed band, they begin to think that all their former notions were false, and that the expectations which they had founded on His numerous miracles were delusive. Jesus seemed to them now to be like Samson after his locks were cut: He was become weak as other men. Hence they could no longer repose any confidence in Him, but fled like sheep without a shepherd. And is it not thus with the ungodly? Wherefore do they despise Jesus, but because they know neither His power nor His grace?—C. Simeon.

Mar_14:51-52. Impulse.—

I. The excitement of impulse.—

1. In the best cause.

(1) Associated with the best being.

(2) Manifested in the best way. “Followed.” Christ alone to lead.

(3) Fired by the best spirit. Courage when all others fled.

2. By an anonymous person.

(1) The youthful are the likeliest to be impulsive. Passions are strong; curiosity eager; ambition powerful.

(2) Mere impulse is a very commonplace passion.

3. Abruptly displayed.

(1) Thoughtless in regard to appearance.

(2) Aimless in regard to design.

(3) Useless in regard to service.

II. The opposition to impulse.—

1. Association with Christ may entail danger. Needful to count the cost.

2. Impulsive natures need extraordinary prudence.

3. Those near to Christ most hated by the enemy.

III. The collapse of impulse.—

1. Fear.

(1) No true love to Christ.

(2) Depended on His own strength.

(3) No fear of God.

(4) Love of life strong.

2. Desertion. Soon ripe—soon rotten.

3. Oblivion. Never heard of again.—B. D. Johns.

Christ’s care for His disciples.—This accident, which seems to be of no consequence, serves to discover the power of Christ, and His great care and concern for His apostles.

1. He thereby admonishes Peter that he ought to fly from the occasion and not expose himself to temptation, these people having a design to seize all the disciples of our Lord.

2. He by this discovers the same danger to the rest, and advises them likewise to flee.

3. He shews them that it was by His power that they escaped the danger.

4. That even that person who by their means is exposed thereto escapes from it by the appointment of Providence, and because He Himself would suffer alone.—P. Quesnel.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 14

Mar_14:47. Mistaken zeal.—The Saviour’s method is to conquer force by submission, violence by meekness, sin by the Cross. Yet many make this mistake, and defend a spiritual cause by carnal weapons. On a large scale the Crusades were an example of a continent ready to fight the devil in others with swords, without being ready to fight the devil in themselves with self-denial. All violence used in religion by inquisitors or by men impatient to enthrone the right is an example of Peter’s mistake. All hatred of those doing wrong, all vituperation of them, is a Peter’s sword. What Christ wants is some that can bear a cross with Him, not such as will draw a sword for Him.—R. Glover.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark

THE CAPTIVE CHRIST AND THE CIRCLE ROUND HIM

Mar 14:43 - Mar 14:54.

A comparison of the three first Gospels in this section shows a degree of similarity, often verbal, which is best accounted for by supposing that a common {oral?} ‘Gospel,’ which had become traditionally fixed by frequent and long repetition, underlies them all. Mark’s account is briefest, and grasps with sure instinct the essential points; but, even in his brevity, he pauses to tell of the young man who so nearly shared the Lord’s apprehension. The canvas is narrow and crowded; but we may see unity in the picture, if we regard as the central fact the sacrilegious seizure of Jesus, and the other incidents and persons as grouped round it and Him, and reflecting various moods of men’s feelings towards Him.

I. The avowed and hypocritical enemies of incarnate love.

Again we have Mark’s favourite ‘straightway,’ so frequent in the beginning of the Gospel, and occurring twice here, vividly painting both the sudden inburst of the crowd which Interrupted Christ’s words and broke the holy silence of the garden, and Judas’s swift kiss. He is named-the only name but our Lord’s in the section; and the depth of his sin is emphasised by adding ‘one of the twelve.’ He is not named in the next verse, but gibbeted for immortal infamy by the designation, ‘he that betrayed Him.’ There is no dilating on his crime, nor any bespattering him with epithets. The passionless narrative tells of the criminal and his crime with unsparing, unmoved tones, which have caught some echo beforehand of the Judge’s voice. To name the sinner, and to state without cloak or periphrasis what his deed really was, is condemnation enough. Which of us could stand it? Judas was foremost of the crowd. What did he feel as he passed swiftly into the shadow of the olives, and caught the first sight of Jesus? That the black depths of his spirit were agitated is plain from two things-the quick kiss, and the nauseous repetition of it. Mark says, ‘Straightway . . . he kissed Him much.’ Probably the swiftness and vehemence, so graphically expressed by these two touches, were due, not only to fear lest Christ should escape, and to hypocrisy overacting its part, but to a struggle with conscience and ancient affection, and a fierce determination to do the thing and have it over. Judas is not the only man who has tried to drown conscience by hurrying into and reiterating the sin from which conscience tries to keep him. The very extravagances of evil betray the divided and stormy spirit of the doer. In the darkness and confusion, the kiss was a surer token than a word or a pointing finger would have been; and simple convenience appears to have led to its selection. But what a long course of hypocrisy must have preceded and how complete the alienation of heart must have become, before such a choice was possible! That traitor’s kiss has become a symbol for all treachery cloaked in the garb of affection. Its lessons and warnings are obvious, but this other may be added-that such audacity and nauseousness of hypocrisy is not reached at a leap, but presupposes long underground tunnels of insincere discipleship, through which a man has burrowed, unseen by others, and perhaps unsuspected by himself. Much hypocrisy of the unconscious sort precedes the deliberate and conscious.

How much less criminal and disgusting was the rude crowd at Judas’s heels! Most of them were mere passive tools. The Evangelist points beyond them to the greater criminals by his careful enumeration of all classes of the Jewish authorities, thus laying the responsibility directly on their shoulders, and indirectly on the nation whom they represented. The semi-tumultuous character of the crowd is shown by calling them ‘a multitude,’ and by the medley of weapons which they carried. Half-ignorant hatred, which had had ample opportunities of becoming knowledge and love, offended formalism, blind obedience to ecclesiastical superiors, the dislike of goodness-these impelled the rabble who burst into the garden of Gethsemane.

II. Incarnate love, bound and patient.

We may bring together Mar 14:46, Mar 14:48 - Mar 14:49, the first of which tells in simplest, briefest words the sacrilegious violence done to Jesus, while the others record His calm remonstrance. ‘They laid hands on Him.’ That was the first stage in outrage-the quick stretching of many hands to secure the unresisting prisoner. They ‘took Him,’ or, as perhaps we might better render, ‘They held Him fast,’ as would have been done with any prisoner. Surely, the quietest way of telling that stupendous fact is the best! It is easy to exclaim, and, after the fashion of some popular writers of lives of Christ, to paint fancy pictures. It is better to be sparing of words, like Mark, and silently to meditate on the patient long-suffering of the love which submitted to these indignities, and on the blindness which had no welcome but this for ‘God manifest in the flesh.’ Both are in full operation to-day, and the germs of the latter are in us all.

Mark confines himself to that one of Christ’s sayings which sets in the clearest light His innocence and meek submissiveness. With all its calmness and patience, it is majestic and authoritative, and sounds as if spoken from a height far above the hubbub. Its question is not only an assertion of His innocence, and therefore of his captor’s guilt, but also declares the impotence of force as against Him-’Swords and staves to take Me!’ All that parade of arms was out of place, for He was no evil-doer; needless, for He did not resist; and powerless, unless He chose to let them prevail. He speaks as the stainless, incarnate Son of God. He speaks also as Captain of ‘the noble army of martyrs,’ and His question may be extended to include the truth that force is in its place when used against crime, but ludicrously and tragically out of place when employed against any teacher, and especially against Christianity. Christ, in His persecuted confessors, puts the same question to the persecutors which Christ in the flesh put to His captors.

The second clause of Christ’s remonstrance appeals to their knowledge of Him and His words, and to their attitude towards Him. For several days He had daily been publicly teaching in the Temple. They had laid no hands on Him. Nay, some of them, no doubt, had helped to wave the palm-branches and swell the hosannas. He does not put the contrast of then and now in its strongest form, but spares them, even while He says enough to bring an unseen blush to some cheeks. He would have them ask, ‘Why this change in us, since He is the same? Did He deserve to be hailed as King a few short hours ago? How, then, before the palm-branches are withered, can He deserve rude hands?’ Men change in their feelings to the unchanging Christ; and they who have most closely marked the rise and fall of the tide in their own hearts will be the last to wonder at Christ’s captors, and will most appreciate the gentleness of His rebuke and remonstrance.

The third clause rises beyond all notice of the human agents, and soars to the divine purpose which wrought itself out through them. That divine purpose does not make them guiltless, but it makes Jesus submissive. He bows utterly, and with no reluctance, to the Father’s will, which could be wrought out through unconscious instruments, and had been declared of old by half-understanding prophets, but needed the obedience of the Son to be clear-seeing, cheerful, and complete. We, too, should train ourselves to see the hand that moves the pieces, and to make God’s will our will, as becomes sons. Then Christ’s calm will be ours, and, ceasing from self, and conscious of God everywhere, and yielding our wills, which are the self of ourselves, to Him, we shall enter into rest.

III. Rash love defending its Lord with wrong weapons {Mar 14:47}.

Peter may have felt that he must do something to vindicate his recent boasting, and, with his usual headlong haste, stops neither to ask what good his sword is likely to do, nor to pick his man and take deliberate aim at him. If swords were to be used, they should do something more effectual than hacking off a poor servant’s ear. There was love In the foolish deeds and a certain heroism in braving the chance of a return thrust or capture, which should go to Peter’s credit. If he alone struck a blow for his Master, it was because the others were more cowardly, not more enlightened. Peter has had rather hard measure about this matter, and is condemned by some of us who would not venture a tenth part of what he ventured for his Lord then. No doubt, this was blind and blundering love, with an alloy of rashness and wish for prominence; but that is better than unloving enlightenment and caution, which is chiefly solicitous about keeping its own ears on. It is also worse than love which sees and reflects the image of the meek Sufferer whom it loves. Christ and His cause are to be defended by other weapons. Christian heroism endures and does not smite. Not only swords, but bitter words which wound worse than they, are forbidden to Christ’s soldier. We are ever being tempted to fight Christ’s battles with the world’s weapons; and many a ‘defender of the faith’ in later days, perhaps even in this very enlightened day, has repeated Peter’s fault with less excuse than he, and with very little of either his courage or his love.

IV. Cowardly love forsaking its Lord {Mar 14:50}.

‘They all forsook Him, and fled.’ And who will venture to say that he would not have done so too? The tree that can stand such a blast must have deep roots. The Christ whom they forsook was, to them, but a fragment of the Christ whom we know; and the fear which scattered them was far better founded and more powerful than anything which the easy-going Christians of to-day have to resist. Their flight may teach us to place little reliance on our emotions, however genuine and deep, and to look for the security for our continual adherence to Christ, not to our fluctuating feelings, but to His steadfast love. We keep close to Him, not because our poor fingers grasp His hand-for that grasp is always feeble, and often relaxed-but because His strong and gentle hand holds us with a grasp which nothing can loosen. Whoso trusts in his own love to Christ builds on sand, but whoso trusts in Christ’s love to him builds on rock.

V. Adventurous curiosity put to flight {Mar 14:51 - Mar 14:52}.

Probably this young man was Mark. Only he tells the incident, which has no bearing on the course of events, and was of no importance but to the person concerned. He has put himself unnamed in a corner of his picture, as monkish painters used to do, content to associate himself even thus with his Lord. His hastily cast-on covering seems to show that he had been roused from sleep. Mingled love and curiosity and youthful adventurousness made him bold to follow when Apostles had fled. No effort appears to have been made to stop their flight; but he is laid hold of, and, terrified at his own rashness, wriggles himself out of his captors’ hands. The whole incident singularly recalls Mark’s behaviour on Paul’s first missionary journey. There are the same adventurousness, the same inconsiderate entrance on perilous paths, the same ignominious and hasty retreat at the first whistle of the bullets. A man who pushes himself needlessly into difficulties and dangers without estimating their force is pretty sure to take to his heels as soon as he feels them, and to cut as undignified a figure as this naked fugitive.

VI. Love frightened, but following {Mar 14:54}.

Fear had driven Peter but a little way. Love soon drew him and John back. Sudden and often opposite impulses moved Ms conduct and ruffled the surface of his character, but, deep down, the core was loyal love. He followed, but afar off; though ‘afar off,’ he did follow. If his distance betrayed his terror, his following witnessed his bravery. He is not a coward who is afraid, but he who lets his fear hinder him from duty or drive him to flight. What is all Christian living but following Christ afar off? And do the best of us do more, though we have less apology for our distance than Peter had? ‘Leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps’ said he, long after, perhaps remembering both that morning and the other by the lake when he was bidden to leave other servants’ tasks to the Master’s disposal, and, for his own part, to follow Him.

His love pushed him into a dangerous place. He was in bad company among the inferior sort of servants huddled around the fire that cold morning, at the lower end of the hall; and as its light flickered on his face, he was sure to be recognised. But we have not now to do with his denial. Rather he is the type of a true disciple, coercing his human weakness and cowardice to yield to the attraction which draws him to his Lord, and restful in the humblest place where he can catch a glimpse of His face, and so be, as he long after alleged it as his chief title to authority to have been, ‘a witness of the sufferings of Christ.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE ARREST

Mat 26:47-56; Mar 14:43-52; Luk 22:47-53;Joh 18:2-12. “And Judas, the one betraying Him, knew the place, because frequently, Jesus, with His disciples, had resorted thither. Then Judas, taking a band and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns, torches, and arms.” The lantern was a closed- up light of some kind, fortified against the wind, while the torches were large, blazing flambeaux. Though the moon was very bright, as she was nearly full, it was exceedingly important to have plenty of light as a fortification against the liability of mistaking the wrong person, as they surmised that an effort would be made on the part of the disciples to elude them in that way; their great confidence, however, being in Judas, who was so intimately acquainted with Him. Thus they had taken every precaution to make sure that they arrested the One whom they had been pursuing these three years, and who had baffled them so frequently by rendering Himself invisible, and in various ways eluding their grasp till His work was done.

Mar 14:43 : “And immediately, He speaking, Judas, being one of the twelve, comes, and a great multitude with him, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, scribes, and elders.” A huge club, four or five feet long, is an exceedingly common weapon in that country now. I saw persons incessantly thus armed — quite a formidable weapon in the hands of a stalwart man.

Joh 18:4-9. “Then Jesus, knowing all things which are coming upon Him, having gone out, said to them, Whom do you seek? They responded to Him, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus says to them, I am He?” Never did the world see another such a man as Jesus. When they came to crown Him King, He fled away; but when they came to kill Him, He went out to meet them. “Judas, the one betraying Him, also stood with them. Then, when He said to them, I am He, they went back, and fell upon the ground.” This is His last miracle, except healing the amputated ear, which speedily followed. Though He boldly comes out from the dense shade of those great olive-trees into the clear light of the moon, shining so brightly from that cloudless, Palestinian sky, and also into the strong light of a hundred flambeaux, so that it was as bright as day, and there was no trouble about recognition, yet, lo! an awful panic strikes them, so they retreat back and fall upon the ground like dead men. How easily He could have utterly baffled and defeated them, striking them all with the paralysis of incorrigible terror! But the time has come for Him to meet the bloody avalanche from the bottomless pit, and lay down His life for a lost world.

“Then again He asked them, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus responded, I said to you that I am He. If then you seek Me, let these retire in order that the word which He spoke may be fulfilled, That I lost none of them whom Thou hast given Me.” They did not consider His disciples sufficiently important to deserve their attention at that time, as they were satisfied if they could only get the One who had given them so much trouble, and whose life they had so long been seeking in vain. Really, all their energies, aspirations, and wits were laid under contribution to secure the arrest and execution of Jesus.

Mat 26:48-50. “And the one having betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, Whom I shall kiss is He; hold Him fast. And immediately coming to Jesus, he said, Hail, Master; and kissed Him copiously. Jesus said to him, Comrade, for what do you come? Then they, coming, laid hands on Jesus, and bound Him.” Joh 18:12. “Then the band, the chiliarch, and the officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound Him.” Such was their fear, solicitude, and anxiety for success that they all united in arresting and binding Him. Joh 18:10 : “Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the servant of the high-priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name to that servant was Malchus.” Mat 26:52 :

“Then Jesus said to Peter, Put up thy sword into its place; for all taking the sword shall perish by the sword.” (Gen 9:6.) Of course, those who use the sword are all liable to perish in that way. Luk 22:51 : “Jesus said, Hold on a little, and touching his ear He healed it.” The moment Peter smote Malchus, Jesus ordered him to put up his sword, stepped instantly to the wounded soldier, touched his ear and healed it, thus in His last miracle manifesting His loving kindness even to His enemies, who had that moment arrested Him, and He knew they were going to take His life. You see in the assault Peter made on the enemies of Jesus a brilliant manifestation of his native heroism. He feared the face of no man, but was brave enough to fight that whole army. It is a great mistake to conclude that he was deficient in natural courage because in the subsequent events of that awful night he displayed so signal cowardice. All this was because Jesus would not let him fight, and consequently he felt he was at the mercy of His enemies, who knew no mercy.

Mat 26:53-56. “Do you not think that I am able now to call on My Father, and He will send Me more than twelve legions of angels? How then can the Scriptures be fulfilled, because it behooveth it thus to be?” Those angels were ready, hovering around, and eager for the opportunity to snatch Him away from the cruel manacles of the bloodthirsty rabble and bear Him on pinions of light to the home of the glorified. Right there at Jerusalem a solitary angel had slain a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers in one night. Doubtless the same angels who ministered to Him when tempted in the wilderness were hovering round. “At that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, You have come out as against a thief with swords and clubs to take Me. I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you laid not hands on Me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all of His disciples, leaving Him, fled.” When the mob first came they surrounded them altogether. Now that they have secured the only One they wanted, they break ranks, leaving an opening for the others all to run away, as they did not want to be encumbered with them at that time. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, thus creating a great popular sensation and weakening the hands of His enemies, they would have arrested and executed every one of His apostles, except Judas, as accomplices in the criminality in which they had falsely implicated Jesus. Now the apostles see that He is arrested and bound, completely in the hands of His enemies; hence, yielding to desperation and affright, they flee away.

Luk 22:53. “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” His enemies had repeatedly tried to arrest Him, stone Him, and destroy Him in any way they could; but invariably suffered utter defeat till now, when He is turned over to the powers of earth and hell to execute their vilest venom against His innocent person, and He thus becomes the vicarious substitute for every guilty sinner.

Mar 14:51-52. “And one certain young man follows Him, clothed with a linen cloth on his naked body. The young men arrest him; but he, leaving the linen cloth fled from them in a state of nudity.” It is believed that this young man was none other than the Apostle John and it is said that he fled away to the house of Rabbi Amos in the city, and there procured the robe of a Jewish priest, invested in which he returned, and remained with the Savior in all of His troubles, walking by His side to the tribunal of Annas, thence to the judgment-hall; of Caiaphas, thence to Pilate’s bar and to Herod’s tribunal, then back to Pilate, and on His way to Calvary. Standing by His side when He hung bleeding on the cross all this time hoping that He would revive, exercise His wonderful power, and extricate Himself from the hands of His enemies, till the Roman soldier came along and plunged the spear into His side, thus tearing His heart to pieces. It is said that when this cruel deed was done, all hope of His reviving taking its flight, John, yielding to despair, fainted. Let this be as it may, we see here that John was with Him after the flight of the other ten.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 14:43-52 (Mar_14:43-52)

THE ARREST

"And straightway, while He yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he that betrayed Him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He; take Him, and lead Him away safely. And when he was come, straightway he came to Him, and saith, Rabbi; and kissed Him. And they laid hands on Him, and took Him. But a certain one of them that stood by drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves to seize Me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took Me not: but this is done that the scriptures might be fulfilled. And they all left Him and fled. And a certain young man followed with Him, having a linen cloth cast about him, over his naked body: and they lay hold on him; but he left the linen cloth, and fled naked." Mar_14:43-52 (R.V.)

ST. Mark has told this tragical story in the most pointed and the fewest words. The healing of the ear of Malchus concerns him not, that is but one miracle among many; and Judas passes from sight unfollowed: the thought insisted on is of foul treason, pitiable weakness, brute force predominant, majestic remonstrance and panic flight. From the central events no accessories can distract him.

There cometh, he tells us, "Judas, one of the Twelve." Who Judas was, we knew already, but we are to consider how Jesus felt it now. Before His eyes is the catastrophe which His death is confronted to avert -- the death of a soul, a chosen and richly dowered soul for ever lost -- in spite of so many warnings -- in spite of that incessant denunciation of covetousness which rings through so much of His teaching, which only the presence of Judas quite explains, and which His terrible and searching gaze must have made like fire, to sear since it could not melt -- in spite of the outspoken utterances of these last days, and doubtless in spite of many prayers, he is lost: one of the Twelve.

And the dark thought would fall cold upon Christ's heart, of the multitudes more who should receive the grace of God, His own dying love, in vain. And with that, the recollection of many an hour of loving-kindness wasted on this familiar friend in whom He trusted, and who now gave Him over, as he had been expressly warned, to so cruel a fate. Even toward Judas, no unworthy bitterness could pollute that sacred heart, the fountain of unfathomable compassions, but what speechless grief must have been there, what inconceivable horror. For the outrage was dark in form as in essence. Judas apparently conceived that the Eleven might, as they had promised, rally around their Lord; and he could have no perception how impossible it was that Messiah should stoop to escape under cover of their devotion, how frankly the good Shepherd would give His life for the sheep. In the night, he thought, evasion might yet be attempted, and the town be raised. But he knew how to make the matter sure. No other would as surely as himself recognize Jesus in the uncertain light. If he were to lay hold on Him rudely, the Eleven would close in, and in the struggle, the prize might yet be lost. But approaching a little in advance, and peaceable, he would ostentatiously kiss his Master, and so clearly point Him out that the arrest would be accomplished before the disciples realized what was being done.

But at every step the intrigue is overmastered by the clear insight of Jesus. As He foretold the time of His arrest, while yet the rulers said, Not on the feast day, so He announced the approach of the traitor, who was then contriving the last momentary deception of his polluting kiss.

We have already seen how impossible it is to think of Judas otherwise than as the Church has always regarded him, an apostate and a traitor in the darkest sense. The milder theory is at this stage shattered by one small yet significant detail. At the supper, when conscious of being suspected, and forced to speak, he said not, like the others, "Lord," but "Rabbi, is it I?" Now they meet again, and the same word is on his lips, whether by design and in Satanic insolence, or in hysterical agitation and uncertainty, who can say?

But no loyalty, however misled, inspired that hasting and inadequate epithet, no wild hope of a sudden blazing out of glories too long concealed is breathed in the traitor's Rabbi!

With that word, and his envenomed kiss, the "much kissing," which took care that Jesus should not shake him off, he passes from this great Gospel. Not a word is here of his remorse, or of the dreadful path down which he stumbled to his own place. Even the lofty remonstrance of the Lord is not recorded: it suffices to have told how he betrayed the Son of man with a kiss, and so infused a peculiar and subtle poison into Christ's draught of deadly wine. That, and not the punishment of that, is what St. Mark recorded for the Church, the awful fall of an apostle, chosen of Christ; the solemn warning to all privileged persons, richly endowed and highly placed; the door to hell, as Bunyan has it, from the very gate of Heaven.

A great multitude with swords and staves had come from the rulers. Possibly some attempt at rescue was apprehended from the Galileans who had so lately triumphed around Jesus. More probably the demonstration was planned to suggest to Pilate that a dangerous political agitation had to be confronted.

At all events, the multitude did not terrify the disciples: cries arose from their little band, "Lord, shall we smite with the sword?" and if Jesus had consented, it seems that with two swords the Eleven whom declaimers make to be so craven, would have assailed the multitude in arms.

Now this is what points the moral of their failure. Few of us would confess personal cowardice by accepting a warning from the fears of the fearful. But the fears of the brave must needs alarm us. It is one thing to defy death, sword in hand, in some wild hour of chivalrous effort -- although the honors we shower upon the valiant prove that even such fortitude is less common than we would fain believe. But there is a deep which opens beyond this. It is a harder thing to endure the silent passive anguish to which the Lamb, dumb before the shearers, calls His followers. The victories of the spirit are beyond animal strength of nerve. In their highest forms they are beyond the noble reach of intellectual resolution. How far beyond it we may learn by contrasting the excitement and then the panic of the Eleven with the sublime composure of their Lord.

One of them, whom we know to have been the impulsive Simon, showed his loss of self-control by what would have been a breach of discipline, even had resistance been intended. While others asked should they smite with the sword, he took the decision upon himself, and struck a feeble and abortive blow, enough to exasperate but not to disable. In so doing he added, to the sorrows of Jesus, disobedience, and the inflaming of angry passion among His captors.

Strange it is, and instructive, that the first act of violence in the annals of Christianity came not from her assailants but from her son. And strange to think with what emotions Jesus must have beheld that blow.

St. Mark records neither the healing of Malchus nor the rebuke of Peter. Throughout the events which now crowd fast upon us, we shall not find him careful about fullness of detail. This is never his manner, though he loves any detail which is graphic, characteristic, or intensifying. But his concern is with the spirit of the Lord and of His enemies: he is blind to no form of injustice or insult which heightened the sufferings of Jesus, to no manifestation of dignity and self-control overmastering the rage of hell. If He is unjustly tried by Caiaphas, it matters nothing that Annas also wronged Him. If the soldiers of Pilate insulted Him, it matters nothing that the soldiers of Herod also set Him at nought. Yet the flight of a nameless youth is recorded, since it adds a touch to the picture of His abandonment.

And therefore he records the indignant remonstrance of Jesus upon the manner of His arrest. He was no man of violence and blood, to be arrested with a display of overwhelming force. He needed not to be sought in concealment and at midnight.

He has spoken daily in the temple, but then their malice was defeated, their snares rent asunder, and the people witnessed their exposure. But all this was part of His predicted suffering, for Whom not only pain but injustice was foretold, Who should be taken from prison and from judgment.

It was a lofty remonstrance. It showed how little could danger and betrayal disturb His consciousness, and how clearly He discerned the calculation of His foes.

At this moment of unmistakable surrender, His disciples forsook Him and fled. One young man did indeed follow Him, springing hastily from slumber in some adjacent cottage, and wrapped only in a linen cloth. But he too, when seized, fled away, leaving his only covering in the hands of the soldiers.

This youth may perhaps have been the Evangelist himself, of whom we know that, a few years later, he joined Paul and Barnabas at the outset, but forsook them when their journey became perilous.

It is at least as probable that the incident is recorded as a picturesque climax to that utter panic which left Jesus to tread the winepress alone, deserted by all, though He never forsook any.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

14:43 Judas’s treachery in Jesus’ arrest is heightened by the reference to him as one of the twelve disciples. Having agreed with the leading priests to betray Jesus at the right time and place (14:10-11), he led an armed group to seize Jesus secretly at night apart from the people (14:1-2). Although they wanted to avoid a conflict, the crowd was large enough to quell any resistance by Jesus or his followers (cp. Luke 22:52; John 18:3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar_14:43-52. See on Mat_26:47-56. Comp. Luk_22:47-53. The brief, vivid, terse narrative, especially as regards the blow of the sword and the young man that fled (which are alleged by Wilke to be interpolated), testifies to its originality.

δεδώκει] without augment. See Winer, p. 67 f. [E. T. 84 f.].

σύσσημον] a concerted signal, belongs to the later Greek. See Wetstein and Kypke, Sturz, Dial. Al. p. 196.

ἀσφαλῶς] securely, so that He cannot escape. Comp. Act_16:23.

Mar_14:45. ῥαββὶ, ῥαββί] The betrayer himself is under excitement.

Mar_14:49. ἀλλʼ ἵνα κ.τ.λ.] sc.: ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν ἐξήλθατε κ.τ.λ., Mar_14:48. Comp. Joh_9:3; Joh_1:8; Joh_13:18.

Mar_14:50. It would have been more exact to name the subject (the disciples).

Mar_14:51 f. συνηκολούθει αὐτῷ] (see the critical remarks): he followed Him along with, was included among those who accompanied Jesus in the garden.

σινδόνα] a garment like a shirt, made of cotton cloth or of linen (see Bast, ep. crit. p. 180), in which people slept. Atque ita hic juvenis lecto exsilierat, Grotius.

ἐπὶ γυμνοῦ] not to be supplemented by σώματος, but a neuter substantive. Comp. τὰ γυμνά, the nakedness, and see in general Kühner, II. p. 118.

If οἱ νεανίσκοι were genuine, it would not have to be explained as the soldiers (Casaubon, Grotius, de Wette), since the context makes no mention of such, but generally: the young people, who were to be found in the ὄχλος, Mar_14:43.

Who the young man was, is not to be defined more precisely than as: an adherent of Jesus,[167] but not one of the Twelve. The latter point follows not from Mar_14:50 (for this young man also, in fact, had fled), but from the designation εἷς τις νεανίσκ. in itself, as well as from the fact that he already had on the night-dress, and therefore had not been in the company at the table. There was no justification, therefore, for guessing at John (Ambrose, Chrysostom, Gregory, Moral, Mar_14:23), while others have even concluded from the one garment that it was James the Just, the brother of the Lord (Epiphanius, Haer. lxxxvii. 13, as also in Theophylact). There are other precarious hypotheses, such as: a youth from the house where Jesus had eaten the Passover (Victor Antiochenus and Theophylact), or from a neighbouring farm (Grotius), or Mark himself (Olshausen, Bisping). The latter is assumed also by Lange, who calls him a premature Joseph of Arimathea; and likewise by Lichtenstein, who, by a series of combinations, identifies the evangelist with a son of the master of the house where the Passover took place. Casaubon aptly remarks: quis fuerit hic juvenis quaerere curiosum est et vanum, quando inveniri to τὸ ζητούμενον non potest. Probably Mark himself did not know his name.

It must be left undetermined, too, whence (possibly from Peter?) he learned this little episode,[168] which was probably passed over by Matthew and Luke only on account of its unimportance.

ΓΥΜΝΌς;] pudorem vicit timor in magno periculo, Bengel.

[167] Not possibly Saul (the subsequent Apostle Paul), who had run after Him from curiosity, as Ewald, Gesch. der apost. Zeit. p. 339, conjectures.

[168] According to Baur, only a piquant addition of Mark; according to Hilgenfeld, it is connected with Marks conception of a more extended circle of disciples (Mar_2:14?).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 14:43-52 . The apprehension (Mat 26:47-56 , Luk 22:47-53 ).

Mar 14:43 . εὐθὺς , etc. ( ἰδοὺ in Mt.), straightway, even while He is speaking, appears Judas, who is carefully defined by surname and position as one of the Twelve. At what point of time the traitor left the company on his nefarious errand is not indicated. According to Weiss (in Meyer) the evangelist conceives of Judas as going with the rest to Gethsemane and stealing away from the nine, after the three had been taken apart, having now satisfied himself as to the Master’s whereabouts. παρὰ τ . ἀρχ ., etc.: παρὰ goes along with παραγίνεται , and implies that Judas and those with him had an official commission from the authorities, the three classes of whom are carefully specified.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As men did willingly spoil God their Creator of his praise in forsaking and betraying him: so Christ willingly going about to make satisfaction for this ruin, is forsaken for his own, and betrayed by one of his familiars as a thief, that the punishment might be agreeable to the sin, and we who are very traitors, forsakers, and sacrilegers might be delivered out of the devil’s snare.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

We have here the seizing of our Lord Jesus by the officers of the chief priests. This was what his enemies had long aimed at, they had often sent to take him; but he had escaped out of their hands, because his hour was not come, nor could they now have taken him, had he not freely surrendered himself. He began first to suffer in his soul, but afterward suffered in his body, that he might satisfy for sin, which begins in the heart, but afterwards makes the members of the body instruments of unrighteousness.

I. Here is a band of rude miscreants employed to take our Lord Jesus and make him a prisoner; a great multitude with swords and staves. There is no wickedness so black, no villany so horrid, but there may be found among the children of men fit tools to be made use of, that will not scruple to be employed; so miserably depraved and vitiated is mankind. At the head of this rabble is Judas, one of the twelve, one of those that had been many years intimately conversant with our Lord Jesus, had prophesied in his name, and in his name cast out devils, and yet betrayed him. It is no new thing for a very fair and plausible profession to end in a shameful and fatal apostasy. How art thou fallen, O Lucifer!

II. Men of no less figure than the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, sent them, and set them on work, who pretended to expect the Messiah, and to be ready to welcome him; and yet, when he is come, and has given undeniable proofs that it is he that should come, because he doth not make court to them, nor countenance and support their pomp and grandeur, because he appears not as a temporal prince, but sets up a spiritual kingdom, and preaches repentance, reformation, and a holy life, and directs men's thoughts, and affections, and aims, to another world, they set themselves against him, and, without giving the credentials he produces an impartial examination, resolve to run him down.

III. Judas betrayed him with a kiss; abusing the freedom Christ used to allow his disciples of kissing his cheek at their return when they had been any time absent. He called him, Master, Master, and kissed him; he said, Rabbi, Rabbi, as if he had been now more respectful to him than ever. It is enough to put one for ever out of conceit with being called of men Rabbi, Rabbi (Mat 23:7), since it was with this compliment that Christ was betrayed. He bid them take him, and lead him away safely. Some think that he spoke this ironically, knowing that they could not secure him unless he pleased, that this Samson could break their bonds asunder as threads of tow, and make is escape, and then he should get the money, and Christ the honour, and no harm done; and I should think so too, but that Satan was entered into him, so that the worst and most malicious intention of this action is not too black to be supposed. Nay, he had often heard his Master say, that, being betrayed, he should be crucified, and had no reason to think otherwise.

IV. They arrested him, and made him their prisoner (Mar 14:46); They laid their hands on him, rude and violent hands, and took him into custody; triumphing, it is likely, that they had done that which has been often before attempted in vain.

V. Peter laid about him in defence of his Master, and wounded one of the assailants, being for the present mindful of his promise, to venture his life with his Master. He was one of them that stood by, of them that were with him (so the word signifies), of those three disciples that were with him in the garden; he drew a sword, and aimed, it is likely, to cut off the head, but missed his blow, and only cut off the ear, of a servant of the high priest, Mar 14:47. It is easier to fight for Christ, than to die for him; but Christ's good soldiers overcome, not by taking other people's lives, but by laying down their own, Rev 12:11.

VI. Christ argues with them that had seized him, and shows them the absurdity of their proceedings against him. 1. That they came out against him, as against a thief, whereas he was innocent of any crime; he taught daily in the temple, and if he had any wicked design, there it would some time or other have been discovered; nay, these officers of the chief priests, being retainers to the temple, may be supposed to have heard his sermons there (I was with you in the temple); and had he not taught them excellent doctrine, even his enemies themselves being judges? Were not all the words of his mouth in righteousness? Was there any thing froward or perverse in them? Pro 8:8. By his fruits he was known to be a good tree; why then did they come out against him as a thief? 2. That they came to take him thus privately, whereas he was neither ashamed nor afraid to appear publicly in the temple. He was none of those evil-doers that hate the light, neither come to the light, Joh 3:20. If their masters had any thing to say to him, they might meet him any day in the temple, where he was ready to answer all challenges, all charges; and there they might do as they pleased with him, for the priests had the custody of the temple, and the command of the guards about it: but to come upon him thus at midnight, and in the place of his retirement, was base and cowardly. This was to do as David's enemy, that sat in the lurking places of the villages, to murder the innocent, Psa 10:8. But this was not all. 3. They came with swords and staves, as if he had been in arms against the government, and must have the posse comitatus raised to reduce him. There was no occasion for those weapons; but they made this ado, (1.) To secure themselves from the rage of some; they came armed, because they feared the people; but thus were they in great fear, where no fear was, Psa 53:5. (2.) To expose him to the rage of others. By coming with swords and staves to take him, they represented him to the people (who are apt to take impressions this way) as a dangerous turbulent man, and so endeavored to incense them against him, and make them cry out, Crucify him, crucify him, having no other way to gain their point.

VII. He reconciled himself to all this injurious, ignominious treatment, by referring himself to the Old Testament predictions of the Messiah. I am hardly used, but I submit, for the scriptures must be fulfilled, Mar 14:49. 1. See here what a regard Christ had to the scriptures; he would bear any thing rather than that the least jot or tittle of the word of God should fall to the ground; and as he had an eye to them in his sufferings, so he has in his glory; for what is Christ doing in the government of the world, but fulfilling the scriptures? 2. See what use we are to make of the Old Testament; we must search for Christ, the true treasure hid in that field: as the history of the New Testament expounds the prophecies of Old, so the prophecies of the Old Testament illustrate the history of the New.

VIII. All Christ's disciples, hereupon, deserted him (Mar 14:50); They all forsook him, and fled. They were very confident that they should adhere to him; but even good men know not what they will do, till they are tried. If it was such a comfort to him as he had lately intimated, that they had hitherto continued with him in his lesser trials (Luk 22:28), we may well imagine what a grief it was to him, that they deserted him now in the greatest, when they might have done him some service - when he was abused, to protect him, and when accused, to witness for him. Let not those that suffer for Christ, think it strange, if they be thus deserted, and if all the herd shun the wounded deer; they are not better than their Master, nor can expect to be better used either by their enemies or by their friends. When St. Paul was in peril, none stood by him, but all men forsook him, Ti2 4:16.

IX. The noise disturbed the neighbourhood, and some of the neighbours were brought into danger by the riot, Mar 14:51, Mar 14:52. This passage of story we have not in any other of the evangelists. Here is an account of a certain young man, who, as it should seem, was no disciple of Christ, nor, as some have imagined, a servant of the house wherein Christ had eaten the passover, who followed him to see what would become of him (as the sons of the prophets, when they understood that Elijah was to be taken up, went to view afar off, Kg2 2:7), but some young man that lived near the garden, perhaps in the house to which the garden belonged. Now observe concerning him,

1. How he was frightened out of his bed, to be a spectator of Christ's sufferings. Such a multitude, so armed, and coming with so much fury, and in the dead of night, and in a quiet village, could not but produce a great stir; this alarmed our young man, who perhaps thought they was some tumult or rising in the city, some uproar among the people, and had the curiosity to go, and see what the matter was, and was in such haste to inform himself, that he could not stay to dress himself, but threw a sheet about him, as if he would appear like a walking ghost, in grave clothes, to frighten those who had frightened him, and ran among the thickest of them with this question, What is to do here? Being told, he had a mind to see the issue, having, no doubt, heard much of the fame of this Jesus; and therefore, when all his disciples had quitted him, he continued to follow him, desirous to hear what he would say, and see what he would do. Some think that his having no other garment than this linen cloth upon his naked body, intimates that he was one of those Jews who made a great profession of piety that their neighbours, in token of which, among other instances of austerity and mortification of the body, they used no clothes but one linen garment, which, though contrived to be modest enough, was thin and cold. But I rather think that this was not his constant wear.

2. See how he was frightened into his bed again, when he was in danger of being made a sharer in Christ's sufferings. His own disciples had run away from him; but this young man, having no concern for him, thought he might securely attend him, especially being so far from being armed, that he was not so much as clothed; but the young men, the Roman soldiers, who were called to assist, laid hold of him, for all was fish that came to their net. Perhaps they were now vexed at themselves, that they had suffered the disciples to run away, and they being got out of their reach they resolved to seize the first they could lay their hands on; though this young man was perhaps one of the strictest sect of the Jewish church, yet the Roman soldiers made no conscience of abusing him upon this occasion. Finding himself in danger, he left the linen cloth by which they had caught hold of him, and fled away naked. This passage is recorded to show what a barbarous crew this was, that was sent to seize Christ, and what a narrow escape the disciples had of falling into their hands, out of which nothing could have kept them but their Master's care of them; If ye seek me, let these go their way, Joh 18:8. It also intimates that there is no hold of those who are led by curiosity only, and not by faith and conscience, to follow Christ.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(43-45) And immediately, while he yet spake.—See Notes on Mat_26:47-50. Note the re-appearance of St. Mark’s characteristic “immediately.” Many of the better MSS. add the distinguishing “Iscariot” to the name of Judas.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

43–52. The Betrayal

43. And immediately] while He yet spake, the garden was filled with armed men, and flashed with the light of numerous lanterns and torches, though the Paschal moon was at the full, for “in the rocky ravine of the Kidron there would fall great deep shadows from the declivity of the mountains and projecting rocks, and there were caverns and grottoes in which a fugitive might retreat.” Lange, Life of Christ, iv. 292.

cometh Judas] During the two hours that had elapsed since he had gone forth from the Upper Room he had not been idle. He had reported to the ruling powers that the favourable moment had come, and had doubtless mentioned “the Garden” whither his Master was wont to resort. He now returned, but not alone, for

with him a great multitude with swords and staves] These consisted partly (a) of the regular Levitical guards of the Temple, the apparitors of the Sanhedrim, and partly (b) of the detachment from the Roman cohort quartered in the Tower of Antonia under the “chiliarch” or tribune in command of the garrison (Joh_18:3; Joh_18:12). The high-priest, we may believe, had communicated with Pilate, and represented that the force was needed for the arrest of a false Messiah, dangerous to the Roman power.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he that betrayed him had given them a token,.... A common sign, in which they agreed; and so this same Greek word is used by the Jews (c):

"said R. Phinehas in the name of R. Reuben, did you ever see one man go out of the north, and another from the south, and meet each other, except they made, "a common sign", between them.''

Such an one the traitor gave his company;

saying, whomsoever I shall kiss, the same is he; Jesus of Nazareth; who was to be delivered to them:

take him, and lead him away safely; with care and caution, lest he should get out of their hands, and make his escape, as he had sometimes done: the word "safely", is omitted in the Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions. The Vulgate Latin renders it "cautiously", and so does the Syriac version, which joins it to the words, "take him"; See Gill on Mat 26:48.

(c) Midras Samuel, sect. 9. apud Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. p. 1519.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

43 And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Ver. 43. {See Trapp on "Mat 26:47"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See the notes at Mat 26:47-57.

Mar 14:45

Master, Master - As if expressing great joy that he had found him again.

Mar 14:51

A certain young man - Who this was we have no means of determining, but it seems not improbable that he may have been the owner of the garden, and that he may have had an understanding with Jesus that he should visit it for retirement when he withdrew from the city. That he was not one of the apostles is clear. It is probable that be was roused from sleep by the noise made by the rabble, and came to render any aid in his power in quelling the disturbance. It is not known why this circumstance is recorded by Mark. It is omitted by all the other evangelists. It may have been recorded to show that the conspirators had instructions to take the “apostles” as well as Jesus, and supposing him to be one of them, they laid hold of him to take him before the high priest; or it “may” have been recorded in order to place his conduct in strong and honorable contrast with the timidity and fear of the disciples, who had all fled. Compare the notes at Mat 26:56.

A linen cloth cast about his naked body - He was roused from sleep, and probably threw around him, in his haste, what was most convenient. It was common to sleep in linen bed-clothes, and he seized a part of the clothes and hastily threw it round him.

The young men - The Roman soldiers. They were called “young men” because they were made up chiefly of youth. This was a Jewish mode of speaking. See Gen 14:24; 2Sa 2:14; Isa 13:18.

Laid hold on him - Supposing him to be one of the apostles.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

See Poole on "Mat 26:47", and following verses to Mat 26:49.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And straightway, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve. How the stupendous crime is here marked! It was so startling a fact that "one of the twelve" should be the betrayer of cur Lord, that this designation of Judas became linked with his name: "Judas, one of the twelve." He comes not only as a thief and a robber, but also as a traitor; the leader of those who were thirsting for Christ"s blood. St. Luke (Luk_22:47) says that Judas "went before them," in his eagerness to accomplish his hateful errand. And with him a multitude (not a great multitude; the word poluv has not sufficient authority). But though not a great multitude, they would be a considerable number. There would be a band of soldiers; and there would be civil officers sent by the Sanhedrim. Thus Gentiles and Jews were united in the daring act of arresting the Son of God. St. John (Joh_18:3) says that they had "lanterns and torches;" although the moon was at the full.

Vers. 43-52. Betrayal and arrest.

The agony and the betrayal are most closely related. Neither can be understood apart from the other. Why did Jesus so suffer in the garden, and endure sorrow such that there was none like it? Doubtless it was because he was anticipating the approaching apprehension, and all the awful events which it involved. His soul was darkened by the knowledge that the Son of man was about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. And how came Jesus, when the crisis arrived, to meet his foes so fearlessly, and to bear his pain and ignominy with patience so inimitable, so Divine? It was because he had prepared himself in solitude, by meditation, prayer, and resolution; so that, upon the approach of his foes, his attitude was one of meekness and of fortitude. We observe here

I AN EXHIBITION OF HUMAN SIN. It seems as if the iniquity of mankind reached its height at the very time when the Savior bore it in his own body, in his own soul. As the awful and sacred hour approached when the Good Shepherd should lay down his life, sin appeared almost omnipotent; the Lord confessed as much when, upon his apprehension, he said to his captors, "This is your hour, and the power of darkness." Observe the combination of the various forms of sin manifested on this occasion.

1. The malignity of the conspirators is almost incredible. The chief priests, scribes, and elders had long been plotting the death of the Prophet of Nazareth. It had all along been the case that his truthful and dignified assertion of his just and lofty claims, and the performance of his best deeds, excited their worst feelings. They had especially been angered by his miracles of healing and help; both because they led the people to regard him with favor, and because they were a rebuke to their own indifference to the people"s welfare. And it was probably the raising of Lazarus which determined them, at all hazards, to attempt the destruction of the Holy One and Just. Their own deeds were evil, and they hated the light. Hence their hateful and cruel conspiracy.

2. The baseness of the authorities. The Sanhedrim leagued itself with the Roman governor. With the temple servitors and officers were conjoined the band from Antonia. Discreditable to the Roman authorities, and disgraceful to the Jewish, was this leaguing together for a purpose so unjustifiable. Ecclesiastical and civil authorities concurred in reversing the true canon: they were a praise to evil-doers, and a terror to those who did well.

3. The treachery of the betrayer. Whatever may have been the motive of Judas, his action was traitorous and flagitious. Pretending still to be Jesus" friend, he conspired with his enemies against him, took their money to betray him, and even used to his disadvantage the knowledge his intimacy gave him of his Master"s habits of devotion. Unparalleled was the baseness with which the traitor betrayed the Son of man with the kiss of the seeming friend. In suffering all this, our Lord showed his readiness to submit for our sake to the uttermost humiliation, to the keenest anguish of soul.

4. The cowardice apparent in the time, place, and manner of the Lord"s apprehension. His indignation with these circumstances the Lord did not conceal. Why did not his enemies seize him in the temple, instead of in the garden? when teaching in public, instead of when praying in private? by day, instead of in the partial darkness of the night? Why did they come armed as against a robber, when they knew him to be peaceable and unresisting? If all this shows some consciousness of our Lord"s majesty and authority, it certainly reveals the depth and degradation of the iniquity which could work deeds at once so foul and so cowardly.

5. The timidity and desertion of the disciples. Shall we call this excusable weakness? If so, it is because we feel that we might have acted as they acted had we been in their place. But, in truth, it was sin. They could not watch with him when he prayed, and they could not stand by him when he was in danger and encompassed by his foes. There is something infinitely pathetic in the simple statement, "They all left him, and fled." Even Peter, who had protested so lately his readiness to die with him; even John, who had so lately reclined upon Jesus" breast; even the young man (was it Mark himself?) whose affectionate curiosity led him to join the sad procession, as it passed through the still streets of Jerusalem!

II A REVELATION OF CHRIST"S DIVINELY PERFECT CHARACTER. Circumstances of trial prove what is in men. When the sea is smooth and the wind is still, the unsound vessel seems as stout and as safe as that which is seaworthy; the tempest soon makes the difference manifest. Even our sinless, holy Lord shines out more gloriously in his adversity, when the storm breaks upon his head.

1. We recognize in him a calm and dignified demeanor. He had been disturbed and distressed in his solitude, and his feelings had then found vent in strong crying and tears. But his agitation has passed away, and his spirit is untroubled. He meets his enemies with unquailing boldness of heart and serenity of mien.

2. We are impressed with his ready, uncomplaining submission to his fate. He acknowledges himself to be the One whom the high priest"s myrmidons are seeking; he offers no resistance, and forbids resistance on the part of his followers; he acts as One who knows that his hour has come. There is a marked contrast between the action of our Lord on this and on previous occasions. Before, he had eluded his foes, and escaped from their hands; now, he yields himself up. His conduct is an illustration of his own word: "No one taketh my life away from me; but I lay it down of myself.

3. We remark his compassion exercised towards one of his captors. The impetuous Peter aims a blow at one of the attendant and armed bondsmen; but Jesus rebukes his friend, and mercifully heals his foe. How like himself, and how unlike all beside!

4. We admire his willingness to fulfill the Scriptures and the will of God. Itwas a moment when, in the case of an ordinary man, self would have asserted its claims, and the purposes of Heaven would probably have been lost sight of. It was not so with Jesus. The word of the Father, the will of the Father, these were pre-eminent in their authority.

III A STEP TOWARDS CHRIST"S SACRIFICE AND MAN"S REDEMPTION. If the whole of our Savior"s career was part of his mediatorial work, the closing stages were emphatically the sacrifice. And it was in Gethsemane that the last scene opened; now was the beginning of the end.

1. We discern here conspicuous self-devotion. Jesus appears as One baring his breast for the blow. From this moment he has to suffer, and of this he is evidently clearly conscious, and for this prepared.

2. His action is evidently in obedience to the Father; he treads the path the Father marks out, and drinks the cup the Father presents to his lips.

3. He already stands in our place. The innocent and holy One submits to be treated as a guilty offender; the most benevolent and self-denying of all beings allows himself to share the contumely and the doom of the criminal. He is "numbered with the transgressors." Unmerited sufferings and insults are endured for our sake by the very Son of God.

4. Titus he prepares for death. "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter." He is bound as a victim, to be laid upon the altar. His sensitive nature tastes, in anticipation, the agonies of the cross. Already he is taking to himself, that he may bear it and bear it away, the sin of the world.

APPLICATION How deserving is such a Savior as this narrative portrays of the faith of every sinner, and of the love and devotion of every believer! His forbearance, patience, and compassion show the tenderness of his heart, and the firmness of his purpose to save. This may well justify the confidence of every poor, sinful, helpless heart. His love, his sacrifice, demand our grateful trust. And to such a Savior what adequate offering can be presented by those who know his power and feel his grace?

Vers. 43-50. The betrayal.

It involved in its very conception a rude, profane intrusion upon our Lord"s devotions. At the head of the band was Judas, and with him the Roman soldiers with their swords, and the servants of the chief priests with staves (cudgels, thick sticks). Having met the temptations of the soul in the solitude of prayer, the Lord is now the better able to meet the external trials of which the garden is also the scene.

I THE PRETENDED FRIENDS OF CHRIST ARE HIS WORST ENEMIES. Only a disciple can betray as Judas did. The kiss and salutation of respect, "Rabbi!" have become classical.

II NOT THE SKILL OR FORCE OF HIS CAPTORS, BUT HIS OWN MEEKNESS AND MERCIFUL PURPOSE, RENDERED THEIR SCHEME EFFECTUAL. There was no surprise, for the Victim of the treachery was fully aware of it, and, indeed, warned his disciples of the approach of the band (ver. 42). As a stratagem, the midnight expedition was therefore a failure. And there is something unspeakably ludicrous in the portentous weapons which were thought necessary, and the large number of men. This is the sting of many a carefully hatched villainy, viz. that eventually it loses even the merit of originality or cleverness. The wisdom of this world is in any case no match for the wisdom of God.

III THE INTERESTS OF CHRISTIANITY ARE NOT SERVED BY FORCE OR VIOLENCE. It was Peter whose impulsiveness had betrayed him into the thoughtless act. Hidden probably by the darkness, he was not detected, save by the eye of the Master. Had it even been expedient to oppose force with force in the general conflict of Christ with the world-power, on that occasion the odds were tremendous. (cf. Mat_26:52)

IV THE SON OF MAN HAD TO MEET THE ONSET OF EVIL ALONE. His prediction was fulfilled (ver. 27). M.

Vers. 43-50. The betrayal.

I A TRANSCENDENT CRIME. Because of:

1. The character of Jesus.

2. The betrayer"s relations to him. Ingratitude. Callous selfishness. Breach of trust.

3. Circumstances of the act. Intrusion upon holy retirement. Simulation of highest regard and purest sentiment. The spiritual interests of humanity trifled with.

II A SUPREME FOLLY AND FAILURE. Overdone. Foreseen. Ending in contempt and misery. M.

Vers. 43-52. Violence and meekness.

I THE INFLUENCE OF SELF-COMMAND SELF-COMMAND. HOW majestic does the Savior appear in this refusal to employ force against force! Moral grandeur is illustrated against the background of brute violence. It is but the show of violence that can ever be opposed to the majesty of truth. The Divine and the spiritual is conscious that it cannot be hurt. Evil, having no real substance nor personality, flees from it.

II IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IS OUR SURE REFUGE AMIDST THE PREVALENCE OF EVIL. "Thus it is, and thus it must be." Chance is an unmeaning word, when the soul is bound up in God"s will. "This is he men miscall Fate, Threading dark ways, arriving late; But ever coming in time to crown The truth, and hurl wrong-doers down.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. xxvi, 47; Luke xxii, 47; John xviii, 2.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Capture of Jesus.

The betrayal:

v. 43. And immediately, while He yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the Twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

v. 44. And he that betrayed Him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He; take Him, and lead Him away safely.

v. 45. And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to Him and saith, Master, Master; and kissed Him.

Before Jesus had finished His last admonition to His disciples, Judas with his eager band came into the neighborhood, appeared upon the scene. As if to heighten the emphasis upon the heinousness of his transgression, he is called by his full name, Judas Iscariot, the man from Kerioth, one of the Twelve. His treason was all the more dastardly, since he had enjoyed the trust of the Lord and had heard all the confiding talks which the Master had given those of the inner circle. With him came a band (fitting name!) of the servants of the high priests and scribes and elders. As though anticipating resistance on the part of the followers of Christ, there were swords as well as stout cudgels, or clubs, to be used by the members of the party. Perhaps the members of the Sanhedrin hoped to take Christ with all His disciples and thus, at one swoop, to exterminate the hated party. The traitor had used cautious cunning in planning the arrest of Jesus by giving the band a definite sign, previously agreed upon. A kiss, the sign of friendship and love, should be the token to them. That Man they should be sure to take, leading Him away safely, either so that they need fear nothing from Him in the nature of an attempted escape, or that they must be on their guard and watch the prisoner carefully, lest He walk from their midst, as He had done before, in similar situations. Judas might have saved his breath. The matter was long ago out of his hands and beyond his authority. But Judas lost no time. As quickly as possible he stepped up to Jesus, addressing Him with the term "rabbi" and kissing Him most tenderly, or again and again; disgusting, revolting hypocrisy! With good reason he has been, since that time, an example of warning to the believers of all times. So low may one fall that was once a disciple of Christ, but then has deliberately denied faith and good conscience. History tells of many such Judases that delivered their former fellow-Christians into the hands of their enemies and gave up the most sacred possessions and rights into the hands of the adversaries. There is no meanness so great as that of a former friend.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The hour is now almost come, even that hour of sorrow which Christ had so often spoken of, Yet a little while, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners; for while he yet spake, cometh Judas with a band of soldiers to apprehend him: it was the lot and portion of our dear Redeemer, To be betrayed into the hands of his mortal enemies, by the treachery of a false and dissembling friend.

Here we have observable,

1. The traitor. 2. The treason. 3. The manner how. 4. The time when this treasonable design was executed.

Observe, 1. The traitor, Judas. All the evangelists carefully describe him by his name, Judas; by his sirname, Judas Iscariot; lest he should be mistaken for Jude, the brother of James. Almighty God takes great care to preserve the names of his upright-hearted servants. He is further described by his office, one of the twelve. The eminency of his place and station was an high aggravation of his transgression.

Learn hence, That the greatest professors had need be very jealous of themselves, and suspicious of their own hearts, and look well to the grounds and principles of their profession; for a profession begun in hypocrisy, will certainly end in apostacy.

Learn farther, That person are never in such imminent danger, as when they meet with temptations exactly suited to their master-lusts. Covetousness was Judas’s master-sin; the love of the world made him a slave to Satan, and the devil lays a temptation before him exactly suited to his temper and inclination; and it constantly overcomes him.

O! pray we, that we may be kept from a strong and suitable temptation; a temptation suited to our inclination and predominant lust and corruption.

Observe, 2. The treason of this traitor Judas: he led on an armed multitude to the place where Christ was, gave them a signal to discover him by, and bids them lay hands upon him, and hold him fast. Some conjecture, that when Judas bade them hold Christ fast, he thought they could not do it; but that as Christ had at other times conveyed himself from the multitude, when they attempted to kill or stone him, so he would have done now: but his hour was now come, and accordingly he suffers himself to be delivered by the treachery of Judas into his enemies’ hands. And this his treason is attended with these hellish aggravations; he had been a witness to the miracles which our Saviour had wrought by his divine power, and therefore could not sin out of ignorance: what he did was not at the solicitation and persuasion of others, but he was a volunteer in this service; the high priests did not send to him, but he went to them, offering his assistance; no doubt it was a matter of surprise to the chief priests to find one of Christ’s own disciples at the head of a conspiracy against him.

Lord! how dangerous is it to allow ourselves in any one secret or open sin! none can say how far that one sin may in time lead us. Should any have told Judas, that his love of maoney would at last make him sell his Saviour, he would have said with Hazael, Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing? That soul can never be safe that harbours one sin within its breast.

Observe, 3. The manner how this hellish plot was executed; partly by force, and partly by fraud: by force, in the Judas came with a multitude armed with swords and staves; and by fraud, giving a kiss, and saying, Hail Master. Here was honey in the lips, but poison in the heart.

Observe, 4. The time when, the place where, and the work which our Saviour was about, when this treasonable design was executed: he was in the garden with his disciples, exhorting them to prayer and watchfulness, dropping heavenly advice and comfort upon them. While he yet spake, lo! Judas came. Our Saviour was found in the most heavenly and excellent employment when his enemies came to apprehend him.

Lord, how happy is it when our sufferings find us in God’s way, engaged in his work, and engaging his assistance by fervent supplication! Thus did our Lord’s sufferings meet him: may ours in like manner meet us!

Observe, 5. The endeavours used by the disciples for their Master’s rescue; one of them (Saint Matthew says it was Peter) draws his sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus, who probably was one of the forwardest to lay hands on Christ.

But why did not Saint Peter draw upon Judas rather than Malchus?

Because, though Judas was more faulty, yet Malchus was more forward to arrest and carry off our Saviour. How doth a pious breast swell with indignation at the sight of any open affront offered to its Saviour! Yet though St. Peter’s heart was sincere, his hand was rash; good intentions are no warrant for irregular actions; and accordingly Christ, who accepted the affection, reproves the action: Put up thy sword; for they that take the sword, shall perish by the sword.

Christ will thank no man to fight for him without warrant and commission from him. To resist a lawful magistrate in Christ’s own defence, is rash zeal, and discountenanced by the gospel.

Observe, lastly, The effect which our Saviour’s apprehension had upon the apostles; they all forsook him, and fled. They that said to Christ a little before, Though we should die with thee, yet will we not deny thee; do all here desert and cowardly forsake him, when it came to the trial.

Learn hence, That the best and holiest of men know not their own hearts, when great temptations and trials are before them, until such time as they come to grapple with them. No man knows his own strength till temptation puts it to the proof.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXIV. Jesus Betrayed].

CCXXIV. JESUS BETRAYED, ARRESTED, AND FORSAKEN. (Gethsemane. Friday, several hours before dawn.) aMATT. XXVI. 47-56; bMARK XIV. 43-52; cLUKE XXII. 47-53; dJOHN XVIII. 2-11.

d2 Now Judas also, who betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. [See 2Ki_6:8-12). Jesus asked, "Whom seek ye?" (1) To openly and manfully declare his identity; (2) to make the Jewish rulers fully conscious that they were arresting him, an innocent man; (3) to confine the arrest to himself and thus deliver his disciples. The older commentators regard the falling to the ground as a miracle, but modern scholars look upon it as a result of sudden fear. Jesus merely manifested his dignity and majesty, and the prostration followed as a natural result.] a48 Now he that betrayed him gave bhad given them a token, aa sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he: take him. band lead him away safely. cand he drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48 But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? b45 And when he was come, astraightway he came to Jesus, and said bsaith, aHail, Rabbi; and kissed him. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, do that for which thou art come. [Some place this event before the preceding paragraph. It comports better with the fitness of things to place it here. Jesus made Judas feel his utter nothingness, and his worthlessness even as a betrayer. Before Judas can in any way identify Jesus, the Lord had twice declared himself to be the party whom they sought. When he approaches to carry out his contract, the Lord's question exposes him before all as a betrayer, and not a disciple as he wished to appear to be (for kissing was the common mode of salutation between men, especially between teacher and pupils), and when Judas brazenly persists in completing the sign, Jesus bids him do it, not as a friend, but as a traitor. Little did the betrayer think that the kiss of Judas would become a proverb in every nation.] Then they came [690] and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. [The sight of Judas touching him no doubt reassured them, and they laid hands on Jesus.] c49 And when they that were about him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? b47 But a51 And behold, d10 Simon Peter ba certain one of them that stood by athat were with Jesus dtherefore having a sword astretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and smote dstruck athe servant of the high priest, and struck dcut off his right ear. [We have seen that the apostles were but scantily armed, there being only two swords in their possession. See Joh_18:16). He knew Malchus by name, and he also knew his kindred-- Joh_18:26.] c51 But Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye them thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. [Some think that Jesus spoke these words, "Suffer ye thus far," to those who held him, asking them to loose him sufficiently to enable him to touch the ear of Malchus. But the revision committee by inserting "them" make Jesus address his disciples, commanding them not to interfere with those who were arresting him, making it a general statement of the idea which the Lord addressed specifically to Peter in the next sentence.] a52 Then d11 Jesus therefore said asaith dunto Peter, aPut up again thy dthe sword into the sheath: aits place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. dthe cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? [By the healing of Malchus' ear and the words spoken to Peter, Jesus shows that the sword is not to be used either to defend the truth or to advance his kingdom. Had he not thus spoken and acted, Pilate might have doubted his words when he [691] testified that his kingdom was not of this world ( Joh_18:36). While we know better than to rely upon the aid of the sword for the advance of truth, we are often tempted to put undue trust in other "carnal weapons" which are equally futile. Wealth and eloquence and elaborate church buildings have but little saving grace in them. It is the truth which wins. By using the word "cup" John gives us an echo of the agony in Gethsemane, which suggests that he expects his readers to be conversant with the other Gospels. The other Evangelists, having shown that Jesus was fully resolved to drink the cup, do not regard it as necessary to repeat these words.] a53 Or thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and he shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? [Jesus still addresses Peter. Had it accorded with the divine purpose that Jesus should resist this arrest, angels and not men would have been his proper and infinitely more effective rescuers. But, on the contrary, it was God's purpose that he should be arrested, as the Scripture had foretold.] 55 In that hour bJesus answered and said unto them athe multitudes, cthe chief priests, and captains of the temple, and elders, that were come against him, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves? ato seize me? c53 When aI sat bwas daily with you in the temple teaching, cye stretched not forth your hands against me: band ye took me not: cbut this is your hour, and the power of darkness. a56 But all this is come to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. [The party which came to arrest Jesus was large. The word "band" used by John to describe part of it is speira, which is the Greek name for the cohort, a division of the Roman army which in the time of Augustus contained 555 men. Ten cohorts, or a legion, were usually quartered in the castle Antonia, at the northwest corner of the temple enclosure. That the whole cohort was present is not likely ( Mat_27:27), but there was a large enough body to represent it. The [692] Evangelists therefore properly style it a great multitude. Moreover, it was a motley crowd. Its strength and diversity suggest the fear that Jesus might miraculously defend himself. Each part of the crowd found courage in the strength possessed by the other part, the priests relying upon the solidity of the soldiers, the soldiers superstitiously trusting to some spiritual power residing in the priests, etc. Now, because of these fears, the preparation was as great as if some band of robbers was to be taken. The questions of Jesus, therefore, show two facts: 1. By their extensive preparation the rulers bore an unintentional testimony to his divine power. 2. By their failure to arrest him openly in the temple, they bore witness to his innocence. With his divinity and his innocence, therefore, Jesus challenges them, referring to their own conduct for testimony thereto. In conclusion, he cites them to the Scriptures which they were fulfilling. Our Lord's dual reference to the Old Testament at this sacred time should cause us to handle them with awe and reverence.] b50 And aThen all of the disciples left him, and fled. b51 And a certain young man followed with him, having a linen cloth cast about him, over his naked body: and they lay hold on him; 52 but he left the linen cloth, and fled naked. [All the predictions of Jesus had failed to prepare the apostles for the terrors of his arrest. Despite all his warnings, each apostle sought his own safety. The young man who fled naked is usually presumed to be Mark himself, and it is thought that he thus speaks impersonally after the manner of Matthew and John. The manner of his description shows that he was not an apostle. As Mark's mother resided in Jerusalem ( Act_12:12, Act_12:25), Canon Cook advances the theory that the Lord's Supper was eaten in the upper room of her house, and that when the disciples retired with Jesus from thence to Gethsemane, Mark slipped from his bed, threw his sindon about him, and followed after them. The sindon, or linen vestment, was very costly, not being worn even by the middle classes: no apostle would be thus attired.] [693]

[FFG 689-692]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

43–52. While he yet spake, cometh Judas. For the Betrayal and Arrest, see notes on Matt. 26:47–56. Compare Luke 22:47–53; John 18:1–12. See notes on John. Verses 51 and 52 are peculiar to Mark. Some have supposed the certain young man to be Mark. This is only conjecture. The incident may have been introduced to show the rudeness of the assailants and to emphasize the escape of all the disciples from so wanton an attack. The linen cloth was a night robe.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, and the disciples all flee.

General Information:

Verse 44 gives background information about how Judas had arranged with the Jewish leaders to betray Jesus. (See: Background Information)

Now his betrayer

This refers to Judas.

he is the one

Here "the one" refers to the man that Judas was going to identify. AT: "he is the one you want" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

he kissed him

"Judas kissed him"

laid hands on him and seized him

These two phrases have the same meaning to emphasize that they seized Jesus. AT: "grabbed Jesus and seized him" or "seized him" (See: Parallelism)

translationWords

Judas Iscariot

the twelve

chief priests

scribe

elder

betray

sign

kiss

seize

Rabbi

hand

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

43–50. THE TRAITOR’S KISS AND THE ARREST OF JESUS

Mat 27:47-56. Luk 22:47-53. Joh 18:2-12

43. [3200][3201][3202][3203] omit πολύς, from Mt.

[3200] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[3201] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[3202] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[3203] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

43. εὐθὺς … παραγίνεται. These words are peculiar to Mk, and εὐθύς is doubly characteristic; in itself and in being superfluous; cf. Mar 6:25. Nowhere else does Mk use παραγίνομαι, which is very freq. in Lk. and Acts.

ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος … Ἰούδας εἷς τῶν δώδεκα. These words are in all three. Cf. Mar 5:35; Mat 12:46; Luk 8:49; also Mar 14:10; Mat 26:14. Jn says εἷς ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα (Joh 6:71, Joh 20:24). Judas and Jesus are the only persons named in this section, and Judas is named without any epithet of abhorrence; to call him “one of the Twelve” is enough. The narrative is quite passionless.

παρὰ τῶν ἀρχ. κ.τ.λ. The three sections of the Sanhedrin are again clearly marked by separate articles; see on Mar 8:31. The ὄχλος would be composed of those who approved of the arrest, and they had taken any weapons that were ready to their hands. The Sanhedrin would take care that the Galilean pilgrims were not informed of their plans. Nothing is told us of the eight disciples who had been left near the entrance. Judas would have to pass them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

43-52.] Betrayal and apprehension of Jesus. Mat 26:47-56. Luk 22:47-53.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

43-52. The party that captured Jesus is represented as a crowd from the Sanhedrim armed with swords and clubs. Judas had given them a sign by which they would recognize Jesus, arranging that the one to whom he gave the kiss of salutation they were to take and hold fast. This meant simply that the one whom he saluted as master was the leader whom they were sent out to capture, and this programme was carried out. One of the disciples (John says, Peter), not yet convinced that all was lost, and carrying out his purpose to die with his lord, if necessary, drew his sword, and with a random blow cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. But Jesus says to his captors, Why do you use force against me, as if I were a highwayman? Why did you not take me quietly when I was teaching every day in the temple? But this treatment of me as a malefactor is only a fulfilment of the fate marked out for me by the Scriptures. At this, the disciples, seeing that Jesus does not mean to defend himself, and in that the destruction of all their hopes, forsook him and fled. One, however, a young man, who had been roused from his bed by the tumult, and had thrown a sheet about him, was taken by them, and escaped only by leaving the sheet in their hands.

43. καὶ εὐθύς, ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος, παραγίνεται Ἰούδας (ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης), εἶς τῶν δώδεκα, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ὂχλος μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων, παρὰ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ (τῶν) πρεσβυτέρων—And immediately, while he was still speaking, there comes a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, and the scribes, and (the) elders.

Insert ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης after Ἰούδας, Tisch. (Treg.) אADKMUWb Π Latt. Syrr. Omit ὦν, being, after εἶς, one, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א ABCDKLN SUWb Π Latt. Egyptt. Pesh. Omit πολὺς, great, after ὄχλος, crowd, Tisch. Treg. (Treg. marg.) WH. RV. א BL 13, 69, mss. of Latt. Egyptt. Pesh. Omit τῶν, the, before πρεσβυτέρων, elders, Tisch. א* AU 1, 69, 115, 131, 251, 282, 346, Orig.

εἷς τῶν δώδεκα—one of the twelve. This is repeated from v. 10, to keep this tragic element of the situation before us. ἂχλος—a crowd. The apprehending force is shown by this word ὂχλος to have been of the nature of a mob, an irregular and unorganized force. J. 18:3, on the contrary, says that it was the σπεῖρα, the Roman cohort, or a detachment representing it, under the command of the chiliarch, its commanding officer, together with the official attendants of the Sanhedrim. ἀρχιερέων … γραμματέων … πρεσβυτέρων—chief priests, scribes, elders. This is the complete designation of the Sanhedrim by the classes composing it.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One of the twelve. See on Mt 26:47; as also on multitude.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.