Mark 14:41-45
Mark 14:41 (KJB)
And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your
rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into
the hands of sinners.
Now Jesus finishes His prayer time and with a confidence that what He was going
to face was the will of God and not a worldly diversion. He comes to His
disciples and tells them to sleep on because the time they will have to sleep
will be short since the men were on their way to arrest Jesus. Jesus was now
fully committed to the will of God for Him and now because His humanity was real
and His suffering was real, His commitment would now be put to the test. He did
not use any of His divine power to keep Him from the cross and he did not turn
aside from any of the trials or tests which were part of the judgment that
sinners deserved. In other words, every possible situation was covered to make
sure there was full atonement and removal of the sin from the soul of the Elect.
Mark 14:42 (KJB)
Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
Once their time of rest was over, Jesus commanded them to rise and it was time
for them to go. Judas the betrayer was at hand with troops from the temple guard
to arrest Jesus and probably some Roman soldiers were also there. They were
going to meet them so Jesus could be betrayed into their hands. This verse shows
that Jesus gave Himself and no one took Him by force. (John 10:18 KJV) No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my
Father.
Mark 14:43 (KJB)
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.
While Jesus was speaking the entourage had arrived at the Garden to take Jesus.
Notice the verse says that Judas was “one of the twelve.” This is a consistent
warning that there will be those down through the ages who will pretend to be a
Christian but are not and can cause havoc in any church or ministry. This is why
we are to be very discerning when we choose people to join a church or to work
in a certain ministry. They came out to Jesus carrying swords and staves. Staves
are like clubs almost like a staff. They were expecting Jesus to resist and His
disciples to put up a fight. After all the miracles they witnessed, did they
actually think swords and staves could really force Jesus to come with them if
He did not want to? Well the chief priests and elders were acting according to
the only way they knew, force as if they were coming against a criminal.
Mark 14:44 (KJB)
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.
Judas gave them a sign that whoever he kisses will be the one that they want
since these guards did not know who Jesus was. There was obviously some
commotion at this point so Judas wanted to be sure they arrested the right
person and not someone else who would have tried to protect Jesus and give Him
time to escape. Then Judas tells them that they need to hold Him fast, that is,
to seize Him or forcibly take hold of Him. This is where the saying “kiss of
death” had originated.
Mark 14:45 (KJB)
And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master,
master; and kissed him.
Then Judas, upon coming to Jesus says to Him “Master, master,” “Hail Master” in
Matthew 26:49. (Mat 26:49 KJV) And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said,
Hail, master; and kissed him. The greeting “hail” was a common greeting and
meant “to rejoice.” How could Judas greet Jesus with a greeting like that while
he was betraying Him. Then after Judas greeted Jesus, he then gave Him the “kiss
of death,” so now the identification was made. The treachery of the betrayal by
Judas was made more disreputable by the fact that he called Jesus “Master”
implying some type of loyalty to Jesus when he was loyal to his own greed.