Matthew 26:47 - 67
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”[d]
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward 61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”[e]
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.66 What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Question:
ReplyDeleteThis all seems straight forward. Am I missing anything?
Here's a few -
ReplyDeleteGiven all that was going on, why does Jesus call Judas "friend" (vs 50)?
Peter uses a sword that Jesus tells him to put away. Why does Peter have a sword? How does this fit into Mt 10:34 where Jesus talks about His bringing a sword or Lk 22:35-38 where Jesus tells the disciples to carry swords?
http://reformedperspectives.org/articles/kno_chamblin/NT.Chamblin.Matt.26.47-56.pdf says:
ReplyDeleteNote the distinction between v. 22 (words of the Twelve), "Surely not
I, Lord [Kyrie]," and v. 25 (words of Judas), "Surely not I, Rabbi."
["What you are about to do,
do quickly"] and reflects Jesus' newly regained poise and his sovereignty in these events. If it is a
question, it elicits no information but administers a rebuke steeped in the irony of professed
ignorance that knows very well why Judas has come" (Carson, 547). Bruce suggests, in light of
the appearance of such an expression on a 1st-century glass goblet (probably from Syria), that
Jesus may intend "to remind Judas of their recent table- fellowship"
As Jesus is arrested, one of his companions strikes the high priest's servant with a sword (v. 51),
apparently with the intent to kill (cf. v. 52). Jn 18:10 identifies the disciple as Peter, and the
servant as Malchus. Jesus' response accords with his earlier teaching. He makes peace (5:9), and
commands that the sword be returned to its scabbard (v. 52; interestingly, the one Evangelist who
relates that Jesus healed the ear is Luke the physician, 22:51). Jesus thus embodies the teaching
of 5:38-42. "Turning the other cheek" (5:39) is significant because one has the right, the freedom,
not to do so. Likewise, Jesus' submission to arrest is significant because of his freedom to refuse
arrest, and his right to invoke a power easily able to prevent it (26:53). A mission of twelve
legions of angels would provide Jesus and the Eleven with one legion each - no less than 6,000
angels per person! (cf. Gundry, 539).
Moreover, just as "turning the other cheek" (5:39) is
3
itself an expression of power - which may effectively draw or drain hostility from the other person
- so Jesus here, in the garden, deliberately turns himself over to his enemies both human and
demonic, allows their malice to envelop him - and by that very means conquers them.
The close of the passage presents a dramatic contrast. The reality of Jesus' power is evident in
that he stands his ground and submits to arrest. But "all the disciples deserted him and fled"
(v. 56) - vivid proof that they lacked such power, and also the consequence for their having
exercised the wrong kind of power (v. 51).
https://williamdearnhardt.com/2010/12/13/jesus-called-judas-friend/ addresses Von's question #1 (thank you):
ReplyDeleteWhen Judas betrayed Jesus, did you notice what Jesus calls him in the verse above? He did not call him a traitor. He did not call him a back stabber. He called him friend. I don’t think Jesus was just trying to be nice either. Jesus always called things the way He saw them. He was straight forward even with the Pharisees calling them whited sepulchers and brood of vipers. So when Jesus called Judas friend I am sure as far as He was concerned they were friends. Jesus knew His war was not with flesh and blood but against Satan himself. Jesus looked past how Satan was using Judas and He saw a friend. Let us accept the invitation in 2 Peter 1:4 and partake of the divine nature, and look past the faults of those around us and only see friends as Christ did on the night He was betrayed.
http://www.fgcbellflower.org/filerequest/1418.pdf says:
ReplyDeleteThis wasn’t just a sarcastic statement, Jesus was sincere
when he called Judas his friend and he meant it. Yet for 3
years Judas had practiced unfaithfulness to the Lord. He
was stealing money from the treasury all along, and in the
end he betrayed the Lord for more money, 30 pieces of
silver.
Why did Jesus put up with such a thing? He knew all men
and surely he knew what was going on in Judas’ heart. It
was one giant object lesson for time and eternity to show
us how to treat people, even our enemies.
Even with betrayal Jesus loved Judas soul, and it could
have turned out different with repentance. Jesus was not
going to fall into the trap of Satan with “offense.” Without
forgiveness you become as bad as the person who
betrayed you. Bitterness is not worth it, and Jesus knew
it. In his mind Christ was not hostile towards Judas. He
didn’t think angry vengeful bitter thoughts against Judas,
no instead he “chose to call him friend.”
http://web.ccbce.com/multimedia/BLB/Comm/jon_courson/Jhn/Jhn006top_v70-71.html says:
ReplyDeleteWhy Jesus Chose Judas:
Jesus chose Judas in order to fulfill Bible prophecy.
Jesus chose Judas in order to relate to you personally.
Maybe you have been hurt by someone who has betrayed your trust, broken your heart, misunderstood your motive, and `lifted his heel against you' to kick you in the teeth. Jesus Christ knows exactly how you feel.
Jesus chose Judas for an impartial witness of His moral excellency.
Jesus chose Judas in order to enlighten us about hypocrisy.
Jesus chose Judas in order to warn us powerfully.
When Jesus sat at the table and said one would betray Him, no one pointed a finger and said, `It's the guy down there with the black cape, the black hat, the beady eyes, the handlebar mustache. It's Judas.' No, no one suspected Judas. No one even suggested Judas. On the contrary, each of those men around the table was aware of his own vulnerability
Jesus chose Judas in order to show His beauty.
I have good news for you: Not a single person sitting here is in a worse place than was Judas at this point. And Jesus called Judas ‘friend ’.
So too, the Lord could be saying to you today, `Wherefore art thou come? I'm giving you one more opportunity to come to Me.'
http://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Matthew/Matthew%20Chapter%2026%20Third%20Continued.html says:
ReplyDeleteMatthew 26:49 "And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him."
“Hail, Master”: It was used by the Jews and Greeks as a mode of salutation among friends. It would here seem to express the "joy" of Judas at finding his Master and again being "with him."
Master - In the original, means "Rabbi”.
“And Jesus said unto him, Friend”: It seems strange to us that Jesus should give the endeared name "friend" to a man that he knew was his enemy, and that was about to betray him.
It should be said however, that this is the fault of our language, not of the original. In the Greek there are two words which our translators have rendered "friend" - one implying "affection and regard," the other expresses more nearly what we mean by "companion."
It is this "latter" word which is given to the disaffected laborer in the vineyard: "'Friend,' I do thee no wrong" Matthew 20:13; to the guest which had not on the wedding-garment, in the parable of the marriage feast Matthew 22:12; and to "Judas" in this place.
“Wherefore art thou come?” This was said, not because he was ignorant why he had come, but probably to fill the mind of Judas with the consciousness of his crime, and by a striking question to compel him to think of what he was doing.
Jesus was fully aware of why Judas was there. This statement was made for Judas. Jesus was saying, some friend you are. This was the signal, and the soldiers took Jesus into custody.
http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/1783/why-does-jesus-tell-the-disciples-to-buy-swords says about swords:
ReplyDeleteThe way I always have read that is that Luke 22:36 is meant to be taken metaphorically: "Dangerous times are coming and you must be prepared." But as usual, the disciples don't get it. A possible parallel situation is:
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”—Mark 8:14-21 (ESV)
In that case, Jesus wanted his disciples to think of leaven (and bread) in a metaphorical sense, but they re-interpreted his statement to be somehow related to their failure to bring lunch. Here, Jesus took a moment to turn the confusion into a teaching opportunity.
But in the upper room, Jesus didn't take (or have) the time to correct them. Perhaps part of the reason is that he knew what Peter would do when Jesus was arrested:
And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.—Luke 22:49-51 (ESV)
Presumably if Peter knew that Jesus wasn't talking about real swords, he would have left his in the room or known not to use it against the guards. As for why Jesus was willing to have Peter remain in the dark, I'm not sure the text tells us. My speculation is that he wanted the disciples to think about it later and realize that his Kingdom was not established with swords and spears.
To Luke's readers, the idea that a kingdom could be established with two swords would be preposterous. If Jesus were speaking literally, we'd expect the detail to be paid off literally. And yet, the only time his followers used a sword was against the high priest's servant and Jesus clearly discouraged further violence. Luke likely included the saying about buying swords to demonstrate to his Roman readers that the church could not be a military threat to the Empire.
http://www.biblegems.com/MAT26V51.HTM says:
ReplyDeleteIn Luke’s account of these circumstances surrounding the arrest of Jesus, Jesus actually told the disciples to go and buy a sword. They went and came back with two swords and Jesus said that two swords were sufficient. Obviously, two swords would not have been sufficient to fight off the armed mob that came to arrest Jesus; but two swords were sufficient to accomplish the purpose that Jesus had for them. Jesus wanted to teach the disciples a lesson about violence. Even when He was arrested, Jesus was thinking of ways to use that situation to teach His disciples. The Lord will attempt to do the same thing in our lives. In everything that happens to us, we should always ask ourselves the question, “What does God want me to learn from this?”
Jesus was teaching the disciples a lesson about violence. He said, “They that live by the sword, shall die by the sword.” The disciples were young men. The people in most societies who are the most prone to become violent are the young men. The disciples lived in a violent time. The Romans ruled with a ruthless arm of iron, and Jesus Himself would soon be a victim of a miscarriage of justice at the hands of the Romans. It would have been easy for the disciples to have concluded that they needed to fight fire with fire, and that they needed to use the force of arms to accomplish their goals or to avenge the death of their leader. Simon the Zealot, one of the disciples, had already been a member of the Zealots, as signified by his name. The Zealots were a group similar to some of the paramilitary groups in our country that advocated armed resistance to the government. But Jesus said that He could have called 10 legions of angels to destroy His enemies if He wanted to use force, but Jesus proved that love is stronger than hate, and peace is wiser than violence. It may be the will of God for you to learn to suffer in peace. If you endure your suffering properly by faith, and do not return an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, you will be glad that you did, and when all is said and done there will be a positive result from it, and you will see good triumph over evil.
This same lesson about violence needs to be learned today. There is a lot of violence in our society also. There are those who commit violent crimes, and there are those who commit acts of violence in the home. Most of the violence: both of a criminal nature and a domestic nature, is committed by young men. Striking another person for any reason is unacceptable if you are going to heed this warning given by Christ. To learn this lesson is listed as a qualification in I Timothy and Titus where it says that “no striker” should ever be a pastor.