Sermon Tone Analysis

Bible Reading

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...

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.