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And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. 48 The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” 49 So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss. 50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear. 52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” 55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. 56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.

In the Kingdom of God, Victory looks DIFFERENT BUT BETTER than we can imagine.

Overall Commentary: 🌎

Jesus is about to show us what genuine trust and confidence look like. When everything starts to go wrong in the disciples' eyes, Jesus is not phased. This is because He knows it is all part of the plan. We can keep calm in every chaotic event of life when we realize that God is always in control.

Kingdom victory teaches us to KEEP CALM when everything's gone wrong.

Commentary

Verse 47-56.

Verse 47: How big was this mob?—If this was a Roman cohort, we know they varied in size. This means, though, it could have been up to 600 soldiers that showed up to arrest Jesus.

Verse 48: Was Jesus hard to recognize?—Yes and no. Yes, Jesus would not necessarily have been easy to identify. For one, it was nighttime in the days before electricity. Therefore, it is not easy to see who was there. Secondly, these are the days before social media, so even if you were popular by name, you may not always be recognizable by appearance. No, this was not the only reason Judas did this. By confronting Jesus, Judas placed himself in the position of Jesus' primary accuser. This fulfilled his obligation to the Pharisees.

Verse 49: A Kiss?- According to the culture of the time, a kiss was considered a way to greet a friend. It was a sign of respect when given to a teacher or leader. However, giving a greeting like this to a teacher when the teacher did not initiate the interaction could also be a sign of disrespect. Judas may have been showing Jesus some subtle disrespect that would be missed by many of us today.

Verse 50: "My friend"—This statement is double-edged. On one side, Jesus is letting Judas know He has not done anything against him. Jesus still stands in the place of friendship. Everything Judas is about to do is unprovoked. On the other side, Jesus tells Judas that no surprise is happening. The Greek term for a friend is a more formal phrase that would not have been used for someone who was an actual close friend.

Verse 51: That escalated quickly!- The other Gospels give us the complete picture of what happened here. The disciple who got violent was Peter. (Of course.) The person he struck was a servant of the high priest named Malchus. According to Luke, Jesus picked up the ear and healed Malchus.

Verse 52: A Hebrew proverb and an affirmation of capital punishment—The phrase Jesus uses was likely a proverb that summed up a phrase in the book of Genesis. Some argue this also provides evidence that it is okay to pursue capital punishment for those who have taken a human life with the intent to kill.

Verse 53: How many angels are there, and how much "damage" could they do?- Jesus is saying He has more than enough ability to get out of this situation if He wants to. However, the number He uses is sticking. If the mob that came to get Him numbered about 600, the disciples were outnumbered at least 60 to 1. Jesus says He could call on 12 legions of angels if He needed them. This would give those on Jesus' side the advantage of about 120 to 1. What's even more impressive is that, in the Old Testament, an angel once destroyed 185,000 people at one time. This means Jesus could have killed over 13 billion people at one time if He wanted. Thank goodness we have a merciful Savior.

Verse 54: Choosing to suffer—Jesus is choosing to move forward, even though He knows it will lead to suffering.

Verse 55: Jesus is in control—Jesus is sure to let them know He is in complete control. This will likely help them later when they hear the Gospel in Acts 2.

Verse 56: All the disciples obey Jesus—Jesus said they would all leave Him. They did.

Top Takeaway- Our hope in God is an anchor for our souls.

We live in a world that never seems to do what we expect. The great Mike Tyson says everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. When everything goes wrong, our hope is that God will become an anchor for our souls. This gives us the courage to keep calm and carry on.