The Arrest and Betrayal of Jesus
Every one of the four gospels speaks of the final days of Jesus' natural life. As we read each of them - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - we can get partial pictures of this Man's powerful death...something that literally shook the world. This was a death that split time in two...
Because we've heard this before, it's easy to zone out while we read what the Bible says about Jesus' death. Sometimes, because of the matter-of-fact tone of the Bible, we can read the words of this story and not even register what's being said. When that happens, we find ourselves no longer paying attention to this event that saved our lives! My friend, if it weren't for these few chapters of the Bible, you and I would have no hope.
So will you let me tell you a story today?
Let's combine the gospel narratives, and take a stereo view at what happened during this crucial 24-hour span of time.
Because we've heard this before, it's easy to zone out while we read what the Bible says about Jesus' death. Sometimes, because of the matter-of-fact tone of the Bible, we can read the words of this story and not even register what's being said. When that happens, we find ourselves no longer paying attention to this event that saved our lives! My friend, if it weren't for these few chapters of the Bible, you and I would have no hope.
So will you let me tell you a story today?
Let's combine the gospel narratives, and take a stereo view at what happened during this crucial 24-hour span of time.
Prayer In The Garden
We'll pick up the story at the point when Jesus and His twelve arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane. This was a place that they were all accustomed to, they went there often to spend time in prayer. This night must've seemed different though; they must've noticed that Jesus seemed "off" somehow. What they didn't know was the incredible amount of stress Jesus was under..."deeply distressed" is the term the Bible uses to describe it.
This wasn't some trite expression, as if this was the same thing we experience when we say we're "stressed." No, Jesus fully knew everything that He was about to experience; that's why He was distressed.
When they got into the garden, Jesus left eight of his disciples behind and went on with His three closest friends - Peter, James, and John. Like any of us would do in this situation, Jesus turned to these men for help. He told them about the sorrow He was carrying at the moment and asked them to stay there and pray for Him. After that, He continued to walk alone.
About twenty or thirty feet further, the weight of the sorrow He faced grew unbearable. The pressure He was under was so great that He fell to the ground and prayed. "Father, anything is possible for You! Please! Take this cup away from Me. If it is at all possible, let this moment pass from Me. But no matter what, let Your will be done, not Mine."
Can you hear the grief there? Can you see the pressure He was under at this moment?
If you can, then you're more perceptive than His friends that were with Him.
After Jesus composed Himself enough to get back up, He returned to His three disciples. Remember, He asked them to stand with Him and pray. But now all three of them were sound asleep! This must've only added to His pain; these were His comrades after all, His brothers! Jesus exclaimed to Peter, "What? Simon! Couldn't you have stayed at watch with Me for even an hour?" As they all woke up, He spoke to the three of them, "Watch and pray; I know your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak."
With that, He turned around and walked back by Himself again to pray. Once again, He fell to the ground and prayed the same words as before..."I know anything is possible for You! Please, take this away from Me! But no matter what, let Your will be done - not Mine."
When He had prayed a little longer, He returned to the men He was trusting to "watch and pray" with Him. And once again, He found each of them sleeping. We know this affected Him, because this time He didn't even bother to wake them up. He simply walked off again on His own...completely and utterly alone.
Now scripture uses an even more powerful word to describe what He was going through. More than "distressed", now we see that Jesus was in "agony" on the inside. He prayed once again, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me! But not My will...No, let Your will be done." As He prayed fervently this third time, sweat was pouring from His face.
(If you want to begin to understand what He was going through...when was the last time you prayed so intensely that you broke a sweat?)
The immense pressure continued as Jesus continued to pray, until that sweat started turning red as it mingled with blood. This is a rare medical condition called Hematidrosis. It occurs in some people only in times of extreme distress - as the blood vessels around their sweat glands burst, and the blood comes out of their pores. There are very few documented cases...yet it is a clear indicator of the turmoil inside this Man.
Why was He under this pressure? Because Jesus knew from Scriptures what was destined to happen to the Messiah. He knew that He was the fulfillment of the Passover sacrifice, and that His time was at hand. Knowing this, His true nature was at war with His humanity...His flesh did not want to do this! We know this is the case, because He prayed to His Father, "Not My will, but Yours..."
During this third session of prayer, Jesus saw an angel appear and begin to minister strength to Him for what lay ahead. I believe that this empowered Jesus to overcome what He had mentioned to His disciples..."the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The conflict between Jesus' spirit and His flesh was greater than anything we'll ever know. But once He had that settled...He got up and faced the end with confidence. Never again did Jesus show any signs of weakness.
This was the moment Jesus really died...not on the cross, but in the garden. At the end of His third prayer, when He submitted to the will of His father, the conflict between His flesh and His spirit was settled. He knew what He was going to do. This was when He submitted to death. And when He got up off the ground that third time, Jesus was a dead Man walking.
He returned to the three and said, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you don't fall into temptation tonight!"
Together with the three, Jesus returned to the others...and found them all asleep as well! "You're all still sleeping? That's enough! Get up! My betrayer is here."
This wasn't some trite expression, as if this was the same thing we experience when we say we're "stressed." No, Jesus fully knew everything that He was about to experience; that's why He was distressed.
When they got into the garden, Jesus left eight of his disciples behind and went on with His three closest friends - Peter, James, and John. Like any of us would do in this situation, Jesus turned to these men for help. He told them about the sorrow He was carrying at the moment and asked them to stay there and pray for Him. After that, He continued to walk alone.
About twenty or thirty feet further, the weight of the sorrow He faced grew unbearable. The pressure He was under was so great that He fell to the ground and prayed. "Father, anything is possible for You! Please! Take this cup away from Me. If it is at all possible, let this moment pass from Me. But no matter what, let Your will be done, not Mine."
Can you hear the grief there? Can you see the pressure He was under at this moment?
If you can, then you're more perceptive than His friends that were with Him.
After Jesus composed Himself enough to get back up, He returned to His three disciples. Remember, He asked them to stand with Him and pray. But now all three of them were sound asleep! This must've only added to His pain; these were His comrades after all, His brothers! Jesus exclaimed to Peter, "What? Simon! Couldn't you have stayed at watch with Me for even an hour?" As they all woke up, He spoke to the three of them, "Watch and pray; I know your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak."
With that, He turned around and walked back by Himself again to pray. Once again, He fell to the ground and prayed the same words as before..."I know anything is possible for You! Please, take this away from Me! But no matter what, let Your will be done - not Mine."
When He had prayed a little longer, He returned to the men He was trusting to "watch and pray" with Him. And once again, He found each of them sleeping. We know this affected Him, because this time He didn't even bother to wake them up. He simply walked off again on His own...completely and utterly alone.
Now scripture uses an even more powerful word to describe what He was going through. More than "distressed", now we see that Jesus was in "agony" on the inside. He prayed once again, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me! But not My will...No, let Your will be done." As He prayed fervently this third time, sweat was pouring from His face.
(If you want to begin to understand what He was going through...when was the last time you prayed so intensely that you broke a sweat?)
The immense pressure continued as Jesus continued to pray, until that sweat started turning red as it mingled with blood. This is a rare medical condition called Hematidrosis. It occurs in some people only in times of extreme distress - as the blood vessels around their sweat glands burst, and the blood comes out of their pores. There are very few documented cases...yet it is a clear indicator of the turmoil inside this Man.
Why was He under this pressure? Because Jesus knew from Scriptures what was destined to happen to the Messiah. He knew that He was the fulfillment of the Passover sacrifice, and that His time was at hand. Knowing this, His true nature was at war with His humanity...His flesh did not want to do this! We know this is the case, because He prayed to His Father, "Not My will, but Yours..."
During this third session of prayer, Jesus saw an angel appear and begin to minister strength to Him for what lay ahead. I believe that this empowered Jesus to overcome what He had mentioned to His disciples..."the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The conflict between Jesus' spirit and His flesh was greater than anything we'll ever know. But once He had that settled...He got up and faced the end with confidence. Never again did Jesus show any signs of weakness.
This was the moment Jesus really died...not on the cross, but in the garden. At the end of His third prayer, when He submitted to the will of His father, the conflict between His flesh and His spirit was settled. He knew what He was going to do. This was when He submitted to death. And when He got up off the ground that third time, Jesus was a dead Man walking.
He returned to the three and said, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you don't fall into temptation tonight!"
Together with the three, Jesus returned to the others...and found them all asleep as well! "You're all still sleeping? That's enough! Get up! My betrayer is here."
Betrayal
Just then, a crowd walked into the garden. There were two groups of people in the crowd:
The Temple Guard - Jewish soldiers who took their orders from the High Priest.
The Temple Guard - Jewish soldiers who took their orders from the High Priest.
A Mixed Multitude - a crowd of people that tagged along, probably outnumbering the guards.
Leading this group was a familiar face to the disciples...Judas.
Judas was one of them, a trusted comrade. He was with them as they watched Jesus do incredible things. He participated with them and even worked miracles himself! This wasn't a man that was separate from them...and he wasn't held at arm's length by Jesus. We see this in a prophecy from Psalm 41:9, "Even My close friend..." In fact, Judas was so trusted that he was given charge over the ministry's finances...he was their treasurer! It must've confused the other eleven to see this man at the head of this crowd.
As we've already seen, Jesus knew what was coming. John 18:4 says, "Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward..."
Jesus stepped between the crowd and His disciples and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
The crowd answered, "Jesus from Nazareth."
In response, Jesus declared, "I AM."
As soon as He said that, the whole crowd - Judas included - fell flat on their backs! (To use a modern church saying, they were "slain in the spirit".) What an unusual arrest...the prisoner had to wait for his captors to get back up on their feet so they could take Him! When they had gotten back up and composed themselves, He asked them the same question..."Who are you looking for?"
Their answer was the same, "Jesus of Nazareth".
Jesus said to them, "I just told you that I AM. If you're looking for Me, then let these others go."
The guards may very well have thought this was a trick. It was dark at the time, and it was possible that this wasn't actually Jesus. If this was an impostor, and the real Man was actually standing back with the others, then there was a risk of letting their target go free. It was time they identified Him for certain...cue Judas.
As they had agreed earlier, Judas walked forward. He embraced Jesus and kissed Him on the cheek. (It's important to remember, this was not the first time Judas greeted Jesus like this.) As he did, he exclaimed "Greeting Rabbi!" This was the the plan, Judas just let the guards know who they were there for. This was an intentional and voluntary betrayal. No one forced Judas to do this...it was his idea.
Jesus stood there and looked at Judas. "Judas, My friend, why did you come here? Are you really using a kiss to betray the Son of Man?"
At Judas' signal, the crowd moved in on Jesus.
The Arrest
As the soldiers and multitudes moved to arrest Jesus, the sleepy disciples finally realized what was happening! Two of them had swords strapped to their sides...one of which was Peter. Someone from the eleven yelled, "Lord, should we fight?"...But Peter didn't wait for an answer.
Pulling his sword, Peter lashed out and sliced one of the guard's ears. Instantly, Jesus rebuked Peter and told him to put down the sword - which probably saved his life. Then Jesus turned to the guards and said, "Allow Me to do this." Then He knelt down, picked up the severed ear, and placed it back on the man's head! The man was healed at that moment!
Jesus stood up and turned to the crowd. He said, "Have you come out to arrest Me like I'm a criminal? I was constantly with you in the temple, and you didn't try to arrest Me then. But this is your time, this is the hour of darkness."
After that, Jesus submitted to them. They arrested Him, tied Him up, and led Him away. The eleven disciples - those brave men who were ready to fight for Jesus - suddenly turned tail and left Him alone. Only later on did Peter and John come back and tag along from a distance.
A Redemptive Act
He came to redeem you...according to Psalm 25. In verses 16-21, we see the pain and distress that fell on Jesus that day. But then in verse 22 we see the results; "Redeem Israel, O God, out of all their troubles."
So remember this:
The sorrow and stress He took upon Himself that night...was so you could be free from it and live in joy and peace!
The agony of struggling to obey His Father...was so you could be free to obey Him!
The despair of being alone in a trial...was so that you could face the same with joy!
He was betrayed by a close and trusted friend...so that He could bear your pain when it happens to you!
Remember, everything that Jesus suffered during this event was a deliberate decision for your sake.
Everything He bore, He took away from you and I!
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