Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, following the Last Supper with His disciples, 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 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?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  It seems quite important to note that Jesus is still making an effort to save Judas, as He greets him as "friend."  St. Matthew's text refers to Judas as His betrayer, giving us again a sense of how deep this betrayal truly is from one who was His disciple for three years, living with Him and sharing all things in common with the others.

 

 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.  Jesus rebukes St. Peter here (we know it is St. Peter as he is identified in John 18:10) for using the sword, for St. Peter still does not understand that Christ is going to His death willingly, so that salvation for humankind might be fulfilled.  A legion is 6,000 soldiers, my study Bible reports, so twelve legions is equal to 72,000 angels.  That Christ's death was foretold in the Scriptures served to strengthen the disciples at this hour of their greatest test.  

With one word of clear direction, Jesus sets out with clarity our whole understanding of this terrible betrayal and seizure of the one innocent and sinless Man.  He asks those who show up in the middle of the night to seize Him, "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."  Then He adds the words of clear direction for all of us, so that we understand why this is happening and what it is all about, and so that we have the lens through which to view it.  He says, "But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  The disciples will take these words and remember.  They will remember His several warnings of this time before it happened.  They will remember that He goes voluntarily.  They will remember that all that happens in Christ's ministry occurs in fulfillment of the Scriptures.  They will understand that no matter how difficult things become, how devastating these actions are, and no matter what they will witness and experience, there is a plan unfolding, a sense in which God's salvation works even through the evils they will see.  And so Jesus gives clear direction, even as He is being seized and betrayed, in the midst of injustice, even as He protests that He was with those who seize Him daily in the temple openly teaching, and they did not seize Him then.  He lays out all of it. And with His words that these events happen in fulfillment of the Scriptures we are meant to understand several things.  First, that the Scriptures of the prophets do not "make" things happen, but are written because these events are foreseen in the Spirit, where time does not exist as we understand it.  Moreover, Jesus as Christ, the Messiah, comes in fulfillment of the Scriptures in terms of His whole mission as Incarnate Lord, again as foreseen (not made to happen) by God's prophets.  We can see this indicated not simply in Jesus' words here today, but throughout the Gospels and the Epistles, as various Scripture is quoted in support of that understanding.  Jesus is, in fact, the Incarnate Lord of the Old Testament, which He clearly indicates when He says to the religious leaders, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad," and, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:56, 58).  Jesus' repeated predictions to the disciples of what was to come in His Passion (with considerable detail), the prophecies fulfilled through Scripture, and His teachings and sayings throughout His ministry, all confirm that regardless of what they think or see, there is one Lord in charge, there is a salvation plan being fulfilled, there is a mission of Christ in this world working out as it must -- even using the evil that comes -- and moreover, all of this foreshadows and defines their own mission to come in the world, and is the foundation of the establishment of the Church.  At the Last Supper, Jesus taught the disciples, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered' " (see Saturday's reading; Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13:7).  All of this structures a way in which we are to see that not only is there an ultimate Authority, and a salvation plan that is in place, but moreover, even the evil that occurs will somehow be used by God in a way that benefits a universal salvation.  Thus St. Paul can write, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  None of these understandings take away from people's responsibility for their choices, as Jesus most starkly explains when He prophesies His betrayal by one of the disciples, "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born" (see Friday's reading).  In a certain sense, moreover, this is affirmed when Jesus tells St. Peter, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword," for He's indicating that through manipulation and force we cannot necessarily control the outcome we desire; moreover we determine our own way of demise.  All of this should give us pause when we go through our own tragic betrayals, difficulties, even undergo evil things in this world that we know are wrong.  For Christ has indicated in His Passion that even the worst of things can be used by God for ultimate salvation, and so we should consider that God can create good even in our lives from the worst of wrongs and hardships.  Let us take heart in the true depth of our faith, and seek Christ's light even in the darkest of times we might face and know.

 

 

 

 

Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the Passover Supper, Jesus came with the disciples 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 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?"  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.  My study Bible comments here that Jesus rebukes Peter (who is identified in John 18:10) for using the sword.  Peter still does not understand that Christ goes to His death willingly, so that salvation for humankind might be fulfilled.  A legion is 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions is equal to 72,000 angels.  That Christ's death was foretold in the Scriptures would strengthen the disciples at their time of greatest test.  

We note that the Gospel tells us that when Jesus was arrested, then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  He will not fight in a traditional sense with material power and weapons, but He accepts what happens as a fulfillment of the Scriptures, and knows that the occasion of His Passion will also be the occasion for bringing Resurrection to the world.  This great paradox of acceptance of what is unjust -- because there is a greater justice being served by God's activity -- becomes something we must wrestle with.  How do we know God wants us to walk through something difficult and unfair?  How do we know, when we are going through a type of injustice, whether or not fighting in a conventional sense -- or even a judicial one -- is appropriate to us?  We know, moreover, that these events do not happen "because the Scriptures say so," but in fact the truth is the reverse:  the Scriptures say so because God foresees such events.  There is a well-known expression that says that one must pick one's battles.  But how do we know what battles God wants us to fight and in what way?  Certainly Christ's way of "fighting" in this particular battle will be with His words and His testimony, and all that He has preached and taught has already come before and will serve as refutation to the false charges made against Him.  But He will also go through His Crucifixion and suffering, even though Jesus could "pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels."   His reliance is not on the sword, but on God.  There have been times in my life where in prayer and according to my faith I have felt that God did not want me to try to correct every injustice, even every lie someone might want to tell about me.  This is so even for things I cared deeply about, even when I was going to lose people I cared deeply about.  But there are spiritual reasons behind such movements of faith, just as God has a salvation plan for the world in which Jesus' Crucifixion, even as an enemy of the Roman state and the Jewish nation, will play a key and inescapable role.  It will become the occasion for the greatest revelation of one of the miracles of God, the great sign that Jesus is the Christ.  This is the sign Jesus has repeatedly prophesied Himself when signs were demanded of Him, which He called "the sign of the prophet Jonah" (Matthew 12:39 16:4).  We live in a climate that is intensely focused on righting all wrongs, and it's quite possible that the story of Jesus and His Crucifixion has been entirely instrumental in our hyper-awareness of injustice, and even the demands of conscience that ask to correct such wrongs.  But in our personal lives, we live in a world where injustices happen, where evil is not conquered once and for all, where -- thanks to media of all types -- lies, half-truths, and deliberately misleading stories continue unabated and in ever-expanding ways.   Had Christ lived today, we can only imagine what means would be available for slandering His life and cause, deliberately misleading people as to His motivations.  But in our own personal experience of the world, especially in carrying our own crosses and following Him, we need to see our lives in the same way that Christ now faces His life.  That is to declare for ourselves that we must rely upon God and our faith to lead us through such times of trial and difficulties, even when we're lied about, even when an injustice is happening, for it is God who may bring us through them and use them as instruments of God's spiritual power and truth in the world.  We don't know all the ways and means and outcomes that may be effected even through our suffering when we do so with Christ at our side, and through strengthening our faith in all the ways that we can.  Sometimes we will be called upon to fight with words, as Christ so eloquently does, by clinging firmly to the truth and refusing to go along with lies.  Sometimes we will go into an arena with powerful testimony, and prepared as we might be.  But sometimes, when it is futile to speak even for the sake of the accusers, we might be prayerfully silent, as we will see Jesus do as well when He knows they are beyond repentance.  But nothing is lost or wasted in the economy of God and of our faith.  Jesus has told the parable of judgment, of the Sheep and the Goats in this reading, and, like the prophets and martyrs Christ has repeatedly mentioned, we don't know when our own suffering in our faith will be used as an occasion for God's purposes, for judgment, for the work of the Holy Spirit in the world (John 16:8-11).  We don't know how even our own suffering might be used by God when our faith tells us to accept.  We know that we will face difficulties in life; although we all could envision a life where every injustice is corrected, where we may right every wrong and challenge every slight, perfect justice does not exist in this world.   It is still beset with the effects of sin and evil, where every temptation to manipulate and abuse power remains with us, and may even be magnified through new methods of manipulation and coercion.  But our lives are meant for more than the simply worldly, and when we lose the rock of faith we lose this perspective.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus called upon the disciples to "watch and pray."  In the world of temptations which proliferate on social media, to participate in bullying or "canceling" others, to believe false stories or half-truths promulgated to encourage us to join a kind of mob, let us always watch and pray.  Let us be awake to the realities that are around us, trusting in prayerful faith to walk us through, to practice our own just behavior and righteousness toward others.  Let us remember that humility is a key to our faith.  Jesus teaches us to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16), so that we may pick our battles wisely, to stand in the deep truths of faith that matter, and remain a part of the foundation Christ has brought to us.  For this is the higher ground, the place we need to be, the place in which Christ stands and to which He calls us at all times -- even when our friends may flee.

How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the Last Supper, Jesus came with disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and said to them, "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 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?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  Let us take note that Christ is still trying by any means to save Judas.  He has given him a warning at the Last Supper, even as it was made clear that Judas was intending to betray Him (see He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me).  Here again, at this scene of open betrayal, Jesus asks, calling Judas Friend, "Why have you come?"  It is yet another prompting for Judas to think about what he is doing, to repent, a last chance even as he betrays Christ.

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.  Here Jesus gives another rebuke to Peter (identified as the one who stretched out his hand and drew his sword in John 18:10).  My study Bible says that Jesus rebukes Peter for using the sword because Peter still does not understand that Christ is going to His death willingly, that salvation of humankind might be fulfilled.  My study Bible explains that a legion is 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions equal 72,000 angels.  That Christ's death was foretold in the Scriptures served to strengthen the disciples at their hour of greatest test. 

Jesus repeatedly emphasizes the fulfillment of the Scriptures.  My study Bible explains, quite importantly, that the prophecy of this death being foretold in the Scriptures served to strengthen the disciples at this hour of their greatest test.  This emphasis illuminates for us the essential function of prophecy.  It is not simply to foretell, or to give people a sort of expectation, although these functions remain a part of prophecy.  But Jesus, for example, prophesies about the destruction of the temple, together with end times to a lengthy extent in Matthew's Gospel (see chapters 24 and 25).  We need to ask ourselves why this is so.  It is not simply for those who immediately hear, although of course it was important and essential to the first apostles, the followers of Christ, and to the Church they would go on to establish.  But as was observed throughout our commentary on those chapters, and in the notes quoted from my study Bible, prophesy is not given so that we make timetables of events to come.  Neither do those prophesied events occur simply to fulfill prophecy, as some conclude from Christ's words here.  The prophecy exists so that when we see such events unfolding, we might comprehend them with the perspective of the Scripture.  Jesus gives the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 24:32-35) with just this admonition:  "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!"  His constant injunction is to watch and pray:  prophesy is given to us so that we are aware of what is happening and not asleep to the reality and meaning of events we observe.  Here Jesus speaks of the fulfillment of the Scriptures in the secrecy and stealth with which He is taken, not in the light but in darkness, and that He is treated as a thief ("numbered with the transgressors" reads Isaiah 53:12), so that the disciples may understand with certainty what is truly happening here -- and that we who follow understand as well.  Events do not happen in order to fulfill prophecy, but we are given prophecy in order to understand those events when they do happen.  It is the event itself of the Crucifixion, in all its meanings and effects which reach even beyond our understanding, that is at the center and cause of the prophecy, and not the other way around.  The prophecy of what is happening, of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah (among other Scripture) allows us to understand these events in a true perspective given by God, so that we know what we serve and Whom it is we worship, so that we understand the meaning of these events.  And the prophesy serves the foundation of faith of these disciples, even through the events they experience are so devastating and so terrifying.  As my study Bible puts it, at this hour of their greatest test.  And this, once again, is our own reality as well, with the Scriptures giving insight even to our own suffering in His name, our understanding of what it means to call ourselves "Christian" and to be His followers.  For He gives us a light through the darkness, even the worst sorts of darkness we can imagine in our lives.  He challenges us -- even through these events -- to maintain our faith, that there is a way through the darkness, and even that God is capable of using the greatest evil, through our faith, to create good, even to bring salvation to the world.  Let us have faith and know what it means to have prophecy, to follow our faith through all things, and know that even the darkest moments of our own lives can serve the power in the Cross, for redemptive strength that is possible for the One with whom all things are possible (Matthew 19:36).  Jesus tells Peter, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword," raising for us the question:  In what (or Whom) do we put our faith?  Christ teaches us to rely upon God, and that message remains as important as it ever was, and perhaps now more than ever.