Luke 22:47-53 [ESV]
47 While He was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him, 48 but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" 49 And when those who were around Him saw what would follow, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And He touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
The arrest and seizing of Jesus by the authorities is a very sad moment in the life of Jesus and the disciples. This story is actually found in all four Gospels; however, Luke’s rendition is the most succinct and possibly the most accurate of the four.
When we look at these verses there is a natural division that leads us to three separate ‘movements’ or ‘acts’ to this event. V.47-48 reflect the actual betrayal by Judas, v. 49-51 represent the disciples attempts to defend Jesus, and finally act 3 is found in v.52-53 where Jesus rebukes His captors for their blatant hypocrisy of action by arresting Him at night out and away from the city…
So tonight lets divide up these verses by those parameters and see what we can glean from God’s word to help us to learn and grow in our understanding…
ACT ONE!! v. 47-48
47 While He was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him, 48 but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"
The interconnectedness of these passages is hard to ignore… although this particular passage is about an entirely separate issue than the one preceding it… it is linked together seamlessly by Luke.
47 While He was still speaking
Jesus is still speaking to His disciples about the importance of prayer so that they can stand strong in temptation… Jesus knew what was coming but they did not… Jesus had told them what was coming, but they did not listen OR did not understand.
I believe this speaks to the focus of Jesus. His desire was to FULLY disciple these men. He did not give up on them… He continued to teach up to the very last minute. Jesus could have thrown His hands in the air and retreated back to His prayer with the Father…leaving them exposed and vulnerable when this crowd comes on the scene, but He did NOT do this… He continued to teach them!
…there came a crowd,
But Jesus’ teaching is interrupted… while He is speaking to His disciples there is a ruckus that gets their attention… that ruckus is a crowd coming their way.
…and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them.
Here Judas is out front and the others of the crowd are behind him. Judas is leading but he is NOT the leader. The leader is not actually with the crowd as he is the High Priest… but the High Priest would have had a representative with this ‘posse’. However, Luke is merely pointing out here that Judas was the one in the lead or out front, it is NOT an indication that Judas was behind this betrayal, although he plays a major part!
We can also know that this is historical fact… the historicity of this event rings true because NONE of the disciples or followers of Jesus would have implicated another follower as being the one who betrayed Jesus if it were not a fact. Judas was part of the 12 and Judas had gone out and turned his back on this teacher he had followed for over 3 yrs…
...He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him,
The irony is thick in this verse. Here is a man who had pledged his support and had been with Jesus thru all the miracles and all the healings and all the great works Jesus had done… Judas had seen Jesus turn the Pharisees accusations upside down with His wisdom… Judas had experienced Jesus as NONE other outside of the 12… but yet here he was ready to betray Jesus!
The sad part of this is that Judas chooses to use what was a common practice of greeting a FRIEND as his method of identifying Jesus. The friendly greeting used to bring about a deadly ending. I am sure that Judas had NO idea what this would bring about.
48 but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"
Do you remember that we looked at what Jesus told Judas in the upper room? “What you do… do quickly!” Judas never expected (I bet) Jesus’ reaction here… this is a hostile reaction by Jesus… or it seems a bit hostile to the casual reader.
Basically Jesus is saying, “THIS is how you do it Judas… you betray me by pretending to be my friend!” I can hear it said today… ‘this is bogus…’
Now the other accounts actually have Judas giving Jesus a kiss before Jesus says this… but here Luke says Judas drew NEAR to kiss Him but never relates that he did. By Jesus’ reaction, the implication here is that Judas DID kiss Him.
Who does Judas represent? Judas represents anyone who professes Christ and gives the world the allusion that they are believers, but do not serve Him as called to serve! If we are not obedient to God’s calling on our life, we are betraying that calling… it is like we are betraying Jesus to the very powers of darkness! This relates how horrific it is for us to be disobedient to God’s calling on our life… something to dwell upon!
Act one is about Jesus being betrayed but it quickly flows into Act 2 that is found in v.49-51
ACT TWO!! v. 49-51
49 And when those who were around Him saw what would follow, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And He touched his ear and healed him.
49 And when those who were around Him saw what would follow…
The picture begins to come into focus for the disciples about what was happening. Up to this point, all had been basically just the threat of things happening, but now they actually WERE happening… and they quickly assessed the situation and knew what it was all about!
Now this does not mean that they fully understood what was happening, but they did know the basics… a crowd with soldiers had come in the middle of the night to arrest Jesus and they had been brought here by one of their own… and he had betrayed Jesus in the most heinous of ways… with a KISS! They were mad… they were ready to fight!
Here is a clear picture of how the disciples had misunderstood what Jesus was saying. In v.36 Jesus has used an illustration about selling one’s cloak to buy a sword… to illustrate the need to be spiritually prepared for the coming persecutions they would be facing… but we see that they took Jesus literally by their actions here and in v.50.
…they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear…
One of the disciples asks Jesus and another simply leaps into action… He is going to defend Jesus or die trying and he is going to take out as many as he can… He attacks a young servant boy first and cuts off his ear!
Now what do these disciples represent for us? Have you ever been in a situation and you ‘jumped into action’ trying to work things out on your own instead of deferring to Jesus? That is what these disciples are doing here…
They have panicked in a moment of fear and they have taken matters into their own hands. They don’t want Jesus to be arrested and a mode of self preservation is kicking in here as well… they don’t want to be arrested or persecuted either. However, Jesus does NOT allow this to continue…
51 But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And He touched his ear and healed him.
In the midst of His arrest, Jesus had the time to teach and show compassion. He admonished and rebuked His own disciples who were attempting to defend Him, and he healed and restored a young man who was part of a crowd who had come to arrest, humiliate and eventually put Jesus to death.
In the midst of His persecution Jesus was still reflecting the love of God in his demeanor… teaching his followers and loving the lost! This shows us His patience with them but also His love for all people. He took the time to heal this man in the midst of being arrested.
What about if you were arrested today… would you look for a chance to do a favor to the one arresting you? Jesus did… Jesus acted out in God’s love!
Can you imagine how impactful that was for the man who had lost his ear? Do you think it changed his perspective of who Jesus was? What does this mean for us?
Well it reveals to us that when people treat us bad and persecute us… we are NOT called to return that evil… How easy is it to revel in the destruction of your enemy? Well that is NOT what Jesus did, in fact, He reached out to help His enemy…
This act by Jesus reveals the grace of God to us… in that there is NO ONE beyond the healing reach of God… not even His enemies! Not even those who arrested Him!
Act 2 is about the disciples and Jesus’ reaction to His betrayal and it is followed very quickly by Act 3 that is found in v.52-53…
ACT THREE!! v. 52-53
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
This act is about Jesus’ response to those who had come to arrest Him. This crowd of people who had come to arrest Jesus represent those in this life who are hostile toward Jesus…
There are those in this life who have hostility toward Jesus because of their beliefs and they BELIEVE Jesus is wrong… like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day…
There are those in this life who have hostility toward Jesus simply because of what someone else has said, someone they respect or look up to has bashed Jesus in someway… like the servants of the religious leaders…
There are those in this life who’s hostility toward Jesus is based on personal gain or advancement… such as Judas or any of the soldiers at the scene…
Their hostility is there even when they see His grace and mercy… even when they see His love being lived out and proclaimed, they are still hostile! When Jesus’ loves they become MORE belligerent. And Jesus speaks to these people and asks them a question that really shames them and those who sent them…
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
The Greek term here for ‘robber’ is the same term Jesus used in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Those robbers were there to strip that man, rob him of his wealth, AND take away his dignity… Jesus was asking these men why they were treating Him in such a way! HE had not robbed anyone, He had been highly visible in the area, but yet they wait till nightfall to come and arrest Him outside the city walls… Jesus was asking them WHY they did that!
This is an open and blatant rebuke of those who had come to arrest Him AND to those who had sent these people to arrest Him… Jesus rebukes them here for their cowardice in NOT arresting Him in the Temple where He had been each day… but instead they wait for the cover of darkness!
The cover of darkness is where the evil one lurks and it is where these people choose to come to Jesus… revealing their true intentions in this arrest.
Jesus basically tells them how cowardly they are by telling them, “Hey I have NEVER hidden from You and I have been where you could have arrested me on many occasions… but you choose to do this in the dark, out of the city, away from the people… because they feared the people!
Then Jesus reveals to them WHY they are doing what they are doing… that is because they are merely agents of the prince of darkness… Satan himself. Jesus relates this in v.53 when He says,
53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
Here Jesus is not fighting the arrest but merely pointing out that this arrest was a spiritual issue that comes directly from this enemy He had described a few verses earlier… the one who desires to sift us as wheat.
The powers of darkness lie behind the human activity in this event because this is a cosmic battle… and we are but players in this battle… this battle is between the good and the evil. The domain of evil is present and at this time it was determined by God that the darkest would come just before the dawn.
How often do we find ourselves in a place of darkness, either on our own accord and decisions OR by the manipulation of someone else… Our immediate reaction is to DO something and take matters into our own hands… we must learn to rely on Jesus and place our faith in the Father as Jesus did here on this night!
