Jesus Arrested

Bible Reading

Mark 14:43–52 NIV84

43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47 Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Introduction

We’ve just come through that intense encounter within the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was intensely wrestling with the fact that He would need to go to the cross in order to bear the sins of people.

If there was going to be a way for sinful people to be reconciled to a Holy God, then that way would only come about if that sinless God-man Jesus Christ offered up His own life on the cross for our sins.

There could be no other way in which you and I could be reconciled to God.

Jesus clearly said to His Father: “If it be possible, take this cup from me.”

Meaning - if there is any possibility of another way in order to achieve this, then Father let us use that way to bring about salvation.

But He went on to say in His prayer to His Father: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

He prayed that prayer three times.

Alone, while His disciples lay sleeping, instead of watching and praying.

But as He returned from prayer the third time, He said to His disciples...

Mark 14:42 NIV84

42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

And that is what leads us into the unfolding of this awful event of the betrayal of the sinless Saviour into the hands of these soldiers and wicked men.

We’re going to consider these verses under 5 different headings this morning...

1. The Devious Mob (v.43)

The first point then for our consideration is this devious mob that arrives in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Verse 43 presents the mobs arrival in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And there are two distinct parts to this mob.

1.1 Judas

The first is none other than Judas Iscariot.

In the first part of verse 43 we read:

Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared.

You will recall that Judas had been with Jesus and the other disciples at the Passover Meal that was eaten in Jerusalem.

It was at that meal that Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray Him.

At that meal, Judas had gone out from there in order to betray Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders.

And so here is the man Judas.

While the other 11 disciples had walked with Jesus from Jerusalem to Gethsemane, Judas had instead gone into Jerusalem and co-hooted with the Sanhedrin in order to receive his 30 pieces of silver.

Having received the money, he continued with the extensive arrangements that must have been made in order to gather all the necessary people and soldiers that would be necessary in order to arrest Jesus.

And then he leads this group of people out to the place where Jesus was praying.

1.2 The Crowd

And so that’s the second part of this “Devious Mob” - Judas arrives with what Mark describes as “a crowd” of people.

With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

This crowd arriving at the Garden is a striking contrast compared to previous instances of crowds around Jesus.

Previously when Mark had used this word “crowd,” it was when Jesus was in fact serving the crowds, and giving of himself in order to do them good.

And on each occasion, you will recall that there were exceedingly large crowds of people around Jesus.

The meaning of this word really a large throng of people.

Think about Jesus being crowded in the house, so that the four men carrying their paralytic friend had to make a way through the roof in order to get him to Jesus.

Think about the crowd of people that Jesus taught and would then feed, which numbered 5000 men, apart from women and children.

Many of the recorded accounts of Jesus involve Him being surrounded by these large crowds. And He always serves them.

But in this instance, the crowd that comes has come against Jesus.

Now the reason I point out those previous instances is to give some understanding in our minds that this was no small number of people.

If you go across to John’s Gospel, you read in His record of this event in John 18:3...

So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

The word “detachment” (cohort) used there usually referred to a unit of approximately 600 soldiers.

Now we can’t be certain that it was a full cohort / detachment, but certainly the idea given through the accounts is that this was a significantly sized crowd.

Also in John’s Gospel, we find in John 18:12 that there was a Tribune / Roman commander leading this detachment of soldiers.

A tribune was a Roman commander of a thousand soldiers.

Here was a massive crowd of people arriving to arrest Jesus.

This large crowd arrives in the dead of night (perhaps even early hours of the morning) and they are armed with weapons of war - swords and clubs.

Not only that, but with the soldiers are some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees.

These high officials had clearly been tasked to come and be involved in the arrest of Jesus.

They would not have done this without preparations having taken place as to what they were going to do with Jesus.

The commentator William Hendrickson marvels as he considers the kinds of preparations that must have gone into leading these men to Jesus at this moment:

The probable whereabouts of Jesus had to be ascertained; a posse [group of men to arrest Jesus] had to be organized; the temple police must be notified; permission must be obtained, whether from Pilate, which in view of Matt. 27:62–65 seems probable, or from the Roman “chiliarch,” so that a group of soldiers could accompany the temple police; all the members of the Sanhedrin must be alerted; Annas must not be left in the dark; lanterns, swords, and clubs must be collected; the need of secrecy must be emphasized to all those who are “in” on this; etc. etc. [1]

The extent of the lengths to which these leaders and rulers of the day went in order to lay hands on Jesus was extensive.

This was like a “sting operation” cloaked in secrecy, a covert mission.

It would appear that they were even breaking many of their own rules as the Jewish leaders, e.g.

The arrest took place at night

The arrest took place on the eve of a holy day (they should have been preparing themselves for that day)

There were not even any witnesses against the accused.

Nonetheless, they come out in force to arrest Jesus so that he could “stand trial”.

2. The Deceitful Gesture (v.44-45)

We have considered the “Devious Mob” in this arrest of Jesus, but we must now consider further “The Deceitful Gesture.”

In verses 44-45 we read:

Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.

As Judas had gone to the Sanhedrin, and agreed to betray Jesus into their hands, he had agreed with them a sign that would be used in order to point out Jesus to those who would be arresting Him.

One of the questions that I’ve had in my mind regarding this arrest was why it was necessary for Judas to betray Jesus, if everyone knew him quite well.

We don’t get the picture in the Gospel accounts that people were unfamiliar with Him, or were unaware of what He looked like.

Many people had approached Jesus as was teaching, large crowds gathered around Him continuously.

Obviously He was very well known, and probably quite easily recognisable, particularly to any of those who had been in the temple courts in Jerusalem.

Here are some ways that I would suggest to you that it was necessary for Judas to actually point Jesus out.

Pointing out the Garden

Firstly, he needed to point out the location of the Garden that Jesus frequented.

He was familiar with where Jesus went with His disciples, and probably where precisely within the larger Garden Jesus would be.

None of the soldiers or Temple police would have been familiar with this.

Remember, they were doing this without any real grounds for a trial, and thus it could not be done in the open, because it would have opened them up to trouble.

Time of Day

Following on from that, we must remember that because it wasn’t being done openly, this arrest was carried out in the dead of night.

While Jesus may have been recognisable to some, obviously He wasn’t that clearly recognisable to all.

Furthermore, the Roman soldiers who were there were not at all familiar with him, and they would have needed someone to point Jesus out.

Because of the time of the arrest, it becomes clearer that someone who intimately knew Jesus would need to show them to Him.

But we must notice further the sign that Judas uses in order to betray Jesus.

He approaches Jesus as a friend.

Not only that, he approaches Jesus as a close friend.

He goes to Jesus and does two things.

Firstly, he calls Jesus “Rabbi”, the title of respect towards Jesus.

This was a title that was highly esteemed.

Consider Jesus words as He spoke against the religious leaders of the day:

“they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.” (Matthew 23:7–8, NIV84)

And so Judas comes to Jesus as if being honourable and showing respect.

Secondly, he kisses Him.

A kiss was a common way for a disciple to greet his teacher.

Beyond that it was an act of endearment between any two persons.

The word that is used in the Greek here is καταφιλέω (kataphileo) and speaks of a kiss given with brotherly affection.

One commentator writes:

When Judas approaches Jesus he kisses him not with modesty and reserve, but lavishly, even passionately, according to the Gk...

Here was pure deceit, and the worst demonstration of betrayal imaginable.

Not only did Judas betray Jesus, but He did so while pretending to be a friend, even in the moment of betrayal.

As he did this, we read in Luke 22:48

Luke 22:48 NIV84

48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

The manner of betrayal becomes the first example of the mockery of Jesus, which will play a key role in the crucifixion narrative. [2]

3. The Detained Messiah (v.46-49)

This leads us to consider our third point, “The Detained Messiah”.

Verse 46:

Mark 14:46 NIV84

46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him.

Mark conveys this with such simplicity and sparing details.

He’s concise in his account of what took place.

What I’d like to emphasize here (which is something that we considered last week) and that is that this was an act of submission to God’s will on Jesus’ part.

Despite the fact that this large army, ready for a great battle it would appear, stood there before Jesus, He remained in complete control of the situation.

According to John 18:4-8...

John 18:4–8 NIV84

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.”

It is one of the most fascinating pictures in Scripture for me, that this entire troop of men armed to the teeth, arrives to arrest Jesus, and at a mere word they are all laid prostrate before Him.

As these soldiers step forward to arrest Jesus, we read in verse 47...

Mark 14:47 NIV84

47 Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

Mark doesn’t reveal the name of this sword-carrying disciple.

This is possibly due to the fact that Mark’s Gospel was written quite early on, and to name the disciple could have gotten him arrested and charged.

John, on the other hand, wrote much later, and records the name of the disciple.

So in his account he actually mentions the name of Peter in that account.

What’s interesting to consider here is that Peter actually stood up for Jesus at this point.

He was ready to fight, and to possibly even fight to the “death”

Now don’t miss this - Peter has sworn allegiance to Christ.

At this very moment, he certainly appeared ready to continue supporting Christ, no matter what, and so he pulls out his sword, and strikes the ear of the servant of the high priest.

I would suggest that at this point, he was still seeing Jesus as an earthly, political Messiah.

No doubt he was fully convinced in his mind that Jesus was the Messiah.

And given that Jesus was the Messiah, surely he would not be able to be arrested by these soldiers, and then put to death.

Further, he had just witnessed Jesus speak words, and have the entire mob of people fall to the ground.

He would have been confident at this point.

But the ways of Christ are not to suddenly take over and establish an earthly reign.

Rather, he humbles himself.

The words that he speaks to this gang as they arrest him would have been an indictment against them:

Mark 14:48–49 NIV84

48 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

Think about this massive crowd approaching Jesus, as if he is some dangerous villain leading an army of rebels.

Some translations translate Jesus’ question as “have you come out as against a robber.”

The Greek word used is lēstēs, also translated insurrectionist or robber.

“Do they really think Jesus is one of those?

Mark uses the same word on two other occasions.

In 15:27, Mark reports that two bandits/insurrectionists are crucified, one on either side of Jesus.

The other occurrence in Mark’s Gospel is the most fascinating.

Jesus uses it to describe the very persons who have just sent this mob to get him!

When Jesus says the temple has become a den of robbers...the same word (lēstēs) is used to describe the religious authorities who are abusing the temple.

The high priests, the scribes, and the elders—these are the real bandits, the real insurrectionists, robbing God and using mob action against God’s Son in a futile attempt to steal God’s vineyard.

Does this armed mob think that Jesus is one of them?” [3]

Certainly there are absolutely no grounds on which these men come out against Him.

BUT!!!!

The Scriptures must be fulfilled!!!

Indeed this event must take place, since this was the way of salvation.

4. The Disappearing Disciples (v.50)

Well, with this arrest of Jesus having taken place, even the bravest of disciples are suddenly shaken to their core.

This leads us to our fourth consideration: “The Disappearing Disciples.”

Mark 14:50 NIV84

50 Then everyone deserted him and fled.

Not a single one of Jesus’ followers remained behind.

In complete fear for their lives, they all abandon Jesus.

While Peter may have been willing to fight with Jesus for the establishment of the kingdom at that moment, he was not prepared to stand by Jesus on the road to the cross.

And least not in this moment.

He, too, ran away.

Now we can give some credit, at least he followed Jesus from a distance to where Jesus would be put on trial, but ultimately, even there, he would deny Christ.

Here was the fulfilment of Scripture - as Christ had said should happen.

He had only just quoted to his disciples Zechariah 13:7, which spoke of the Shepherd being struck, and the sheep then being scattered.

All the disciples had denied that they would ever flee or run from the Saviour.

Christ’s word however, and indeed the Scriptures, came to pass.

5. The Disrobed Stranger (v.51-52)

The final point for consideration, before we apply this, is “The Disrobed Stranger.”

Mark 14:51–52 NIV84

51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

There have been plenty of speculations as to who this young man was.

There have been plenty of questions raised as to why Mark even includes this account of the nameless person who was following Jesus, wearing nothing but a linen garment, and then fleeing away naked when the soldiers tried to seize him.

I won’t delve into all of the different suggestions that have been put forward.

It is possible, I suggest even probable, that this young man was the young John Mark himself, the writer of this very Gospel.

If indeed Mark wrote this and included it, Mark’s point is, “I ran away, too!”

Even if it were not Mark himself, the fact remains that each and every disciple and follower of Jesus abandoned Him at this hour.

Even the nameless stranger, while he remained for a short while, witnessing the event, when he was grabbed, and faced arrest by the soldiers, he fled in panic and fear.

Application and Conclusion

A.1. Recognise that We are Also Deserters

This final account of the nameless person in Mark’s Gospel, and fled naked and ashamed, must lead us to ask how we would respond in such a circumstance.

We must ask if we would be any different than the disciples.

The flight of the disciples exposes their grave failure.

Mark’s vivid portrayal of it helped his first readers to understand “its own lapses in following Jesus during periods of suffering (and perhaps persecution)

The early church would have experienced great persecution and suffering.

Perhaps there were those who fell into the way of denying Jesus due to their own fears.

They would have felt the conviction of their own ways, but then had received encouragement to read, not only of the desertion of Jesus in this passage, but of the later restoration of of the relationship with Christ.

And so with ourselves today, we must ask ourselves how we respond to Christ.

Have we denied Christ in our own lives?

As we consider the Scriptures, and the nature of man, the nature within ourselves, we must recognise that we are ourselves deserters of God in many respects.

“As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”” (Romans 3:10–12, NIV84)

The biblical picture of the human heart in its fallen state is that it does not follow the paths of God, but rather wants to follow its own paths.

Or to put it another way, as long as man stands to gain something through obedience and following, then they will follow.

But as soon as man stands to lose too much, then they would rather flee.

And with the human heart, this is not so much a matter of self-preservation, but a matter of self-gratification.

It was this very fact of the waywardness, and the wandering of the hearts of man that led Christ to the place where he was now.

Isaiah 53:6–9 NIV84

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

But friends, this was the bad news.

The disciples fleeing from Jesus was merely another indicator of the inability of man to remain steadfast in the ways of God.

But where man failed, Christ succeeded.

A.2. Rejoice in What Christ Has Done for You

The panic of the disciples stands in stark contrast to the quiet composure of our Saviour in this account.

In 1 Peter, the apostle Peter takes that picture from Isaiah 53 of the sheep going astray, and then turns it into a beautiful description of the sheep returning to the Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

The argument of Peter as he builds up to these words is that each of us should submit to earthly authorities, even if by doing so, we face afflication...

1 Peter 2:21–25 NIV84

21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

The reason that we should rejoice as believers today, is because Christ stood firm in the place where we failed.

Sometimes motivational preachers and teachers like to enthuse people with positive thinking, and so they say “you were born for greatness”

“You were born a winner”

“Greatness is inside of you”

As if there is something in you as a person that achieves greatness.

But Scripture tells us that in the only place where being great mattered - being in right standing with God - we all failed.

But Christ succeeded.

Paul spoke about the fact that His entire life was bound up in Christ.

Philippians 1:21 NIV84

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

You see our lives should not be marked with a desire for greatness (as the world defines it), but for godliness.

A.3. Live Now in Obedience, by His Power

Relationship comes before obedience. If we don’t have a relationship with this Jesus, then we will never be able to obey Him.

We will live the rest of our lives trying so hard to live up to a standard in order to earn our salvation, but we will continue to fail desperately, and it will drive us to despair.

NB!! Make sure you relationship with Christ is right first!!

Once you know you are living in the power of Christ - not relying on your own performance to earn God’s peace - but relying only on what Jesus has done for you, then you will begin to see the fruit of living for Him.

Now I would call you, if you are in relationship with Christ, to pray that He would fill you, and give you the grace to become more like Christ as you trust in Him.

As a very practical application from the example of Christ...

One of the ways that we can learn to be like Jesus Christ is through modelling His peace and His love in the face of betrayal.

We often respond to abandonment or betrayal in anger, by dwelling on the circumstances.

We often seek to get even or make our betrayers suffer intensely for how they've wronged us.

Do you feel betrayed by someone close to you?

Perhaps that is by your spouse?

Perhaps that is by your children?

Perhaps you feel betrayed by a friend who promised to stand close, but when the time of need came, they left you, and you felt the isolation.

How do you respond to that?

If we look at Jesus' example, we not only see a proper model of how to handle betrayal, but we recognise that He has endured such betrayal, understands our position intimately, and loves us even though we were betrayers of Him ourselves.

We read in Hebrews that Jesus understands all that we encounter and are tempted with, yet did not sin in his own temptations.

He pressed on to the task that he was called to by the Father.

We know that he instructed Judas to do what he'd set his mind to.

If we have been betrayed by someone close to us—and eventually we all will—our first response should be to consider Him who was betrayed, and let that even in our own lives remind us of Christ’s love for us.

Christ loved me so much, that even though I was a sinner, and my sin held Him on the cross, He allowed Himself to be betrayed for my sake.

We can then cry out to Jesus who loves us, pursues us, and intimately understands the reality of that betrayal.

And then we can pray for God’s grace to show love and kindness and compassion to anyone who has betrayed us.

Do you see how the Gospel can allow this to happen in your life?

Can you see how a true and deep appreciation of what Christ has done for you can translate into a different perspective in dealing with that issue in your own life.

Goal today - that you leave here worshiping God, worshiping our Saviour!

I want you to leave here this morning deeply moved to consider what Jesus did for us in allowing Himself to be betrayed for our sakes.

If we as believers are betrayed, let down by others, we should not respond with anger, bitterness, hatred.

Let us pray for spirit-filled responses as we humbly confess our own neediness, and Christ’s great love for us!

Bibliography

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark (Vol. 10, p. 593). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 438). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.

Geddert, T. J. (2001). Mark (p. 353). Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.