Friend, why have you come?

 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

- Matthew 26:47-56

In our present readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He has just finished having the Passover meal with His disciples, at which He instituted the Eucharist, the celebration of the New Covenant.  In yesterday's reading, we were told that Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He took said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What!  Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"   The chief priests and elders send a great multitude to seize Jesus.  Elsewhere, we know that Jesus has escaped being taken before by seemingly vanishing through a crowd, and in somewhat mysterious ways those sent to arrest Him were simply unable to do so.   Origen comments that they feared what they considered to be His capacities as an exorcist.  Jesus calls Judas, "Friend," and in a sense we could say that He is still trying to save him, offering Judas another chance for repentance.  But it should be pointed out that this word is not philos, which is the common word for "friend" (as in a lover of something, such as in the word Philadelphia, which means "brotherly love" -- philos + adelphia, "brothers").  It is a word instead (etairos) that means "companion" or "comrade," from a root indicating "clansman."  Hilary of Poitiers points out that Jesus does not use this term for others of His followers.  Instead, there is a parallel in the parable of the Wedding Feast, when the king asks a man who has attended, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?"  That man's reply was also to be speechless, as is Judas without an answer (Matthew 22:12).  In another parable, the vineyard owner says to the grumbling worker, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong" (see Matthew 20:13-16), and asks if his complaint is from envy ("Is your eye evil because I am good?").  To use "Friend" in this way is to do so as rebuke.   We contrast this with Jesus' statement to His disciples in John 15:15, "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."   When speaking here to His disciples, the word used for "friends" is philous.

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"   Jesus rebukes the disciple (identified as Peter in John 18:10) who uses the sword.  My study bible says Peter still does not understand that Christ is going to His death willingly, that salvation for all human beings might be fulfilled (indeed, for the life of the world).  A legion is 6,000 soldiers; and so the twelve legions of which Jesus speaks here are 72,000 angels.  That His death was foretold in the Scriptures (see for example Isaiah 53) served to strengthen the disciples at this time of the most extreme test.

In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  Again Jesus emphasizes the fulfillment of the Scriptures, and perhaps we may take that as yet another sign to the disciples that He is going willingly to His death, for immediately afterward they forsook Him and fled.

It is remarkable to note Jesus' boldness in His meekness:  that is, He does not struggle and fight, He chastises Peter for using a sword to defend Him from arrest, and yet His boldness is also apparent in speaking the truth and in confrontation:  He challenges Judas by calling him "Friend" and asking why he has come.  He boldly tells Peter that He could pray and summon twelve legions of angels from the Father.  He faces the multitude armed to take him "as against a robber" and challenges them as to why they didn't bother to take Him as He sat daily in the temple teaching.  His affirmation that this is in accordance with Scripture is also a warning to those who take Him, because the Scripture also gives His identity as Christ, the Messiah.  Throughout this period of His arrest and questioning, we will see this combination of boldness and meekness.  It makes clear what a strong character Jesus has, because He never shrinks from the truth as it is given to Him to speak it.  But where He stays silent, and does not give a struggle, it is in acceptance of what God the Father has given to Him to do.  And this is a great line of discernment.  Jesus' humility and acceptance is before God, first and always.  The truth He tells is the spiritual truth of His mission, and He does not shrink from doing so.  He is not one who seeks the "praise of men" but rather the praise of God.  Indeed, even the leadership (the Herodians) at one point, when they approached Him in the temple, said to Him, "You do not regard the person of men" as a testimony to His righteous truthfulness.  In an interesting parallel to this understanding of Jesus' character, Hillary of Poitiers comments that "the reason for Judas’s kiss was that we might discern all our enemies and those who we know would delight in raging against us"  (trans. M. Simonetti, 2001).  Jesus allows Judas' kiss, and speaks peacefully to all, so that the betrayal only becomes more clear, says Origen.  In this sense is "Friend" used as a rebuke, since Jesus has offered Judas only friendship, and is in turn being betrayed.  Indeed, this word for "friend" is minus the love indicated in philos.  Commentaries such as these indicate a very special insight about judgment, and that is that the goodness -- even the meekness -- in Christ's behavior acts as discerning tool of those who behave with belligerence and hostility.  It becomes, in effect, a way of building judgment in the world, of proving out what is truly in the heart of individuals who respond in such a way, despite their calling Him "Master."  In such a light we also have to see Jesus' telling the truth even on trial and to those who are directly hostile to Him.  It first of all is an offer for repentance, but it is also a tool of discernment of the hearts of the individuals who respond to Him with hostility to that truth.  Jesus does not work by coercion, because faith does not work that way, love does not work that way.  A true friend of Christ is one who loves Christ.  Peter's sword must be put up -- and there is a profound and powerful reason why.  We would all do well to remember this.  Our souls might depend upon it.