St Mark Chapter XIV : Verses 43-52
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| Judas Iscariot & a great multitude with swords and staves. J-J Tissot |
[44] And he that betrayed him, had given them a sign, saying: Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he; lay hold on him, and lead him away carefully.
[45] And when he was come, immediately going up to him, he saith: Hail, Rabbi; and he kissed him.
[46] But they laid hands on him, and held him.
[47] And one of them that stood by, drawing a sword, struck a servant of the chief priest, and cut off his ear.
[48] And Jesus answering, said to them: Are you come out as to a robber, with swords and staves to apprehend me?
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| Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he... J-J Tissot |
[50] Then his disciples leaving him, all fled away.
[51] And a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and they laid hold
on him.
on him.
[52] But he, casting off the linen cloth, fled from them naked.
[43] Et, adhuc eo loquente, venit Judas Iscariotes unus de duodecim, et cum eo turba multa cum gladiis et lignis, a summis sacerdotibus, et scribis, et senioribus. [44] Dederat autem traditor ejus signum eis, dicens : Quemcumque osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum, et ducite caute. [45] Et cum venisset, statim accedens ad eum, ait : Ave Rabbi : et osculatus est eum. [46] At illi manus injecerunt in eum, et tenuerunt eum. [47] Unus autem quidam de circumstantibus educens gladium, percussit servum summi sacerdotis : et amputavit illi auriculam. [48] Et respondens Jesus, ait illis : Tamquam ad latronem existis cum gladiis et lignis comprehendere me? [49] quotidie eram apud vos in templo docens, et non me tenuistis. Sed ut impleantur Scripturae. [50] Tunc discipuli ejus relinquentes eum, omnes fugerunt. [51] Adolescens autem quidam sequebatur eum amictus sindone super nudo : et tenuerunt eum. [52] At ille rejecta sindone, nudus profugit ab eis.
Notes
43. Judas Iscariot , one of the twelve. All the Synoptists speak of Judas as one of the twelve. Judas’ name is given in full by each Evangelist, lest Jude, another of the apostles, should be mistaken for the traitor. One of the twelve points out the heinousness of his crime :— the traitor was a privileged companion of our Lord. While Jesus was delivering His discourse in the Cœnaculum, and praying in the garden, Judas had been making final arrangements to betray our Lord.
a great multitude. Relatively great, as the garden was not very large. If the soldiers and the Temple guards numbered together three or four hundred, these, with those who followed out of curiosity, would seem a large number.
multitude. This included —
(a) A band of soldiers (St John xviii. 3). A detachment from the Roman cohort stationed in the Tower of Antonia. One of the six tribunes would head this detachment, and the soldiers would be armed with swords (St Luke xxii. 52).
( b ) The magistrates of the Temple, — i.e. the officers of the Temple guards. These guards were composed of Levites whose office it was to guard the Temple night and day, to open and shut its massive gates, etc. They were not trained soldiers.
(c) The servants from the chief priests (St John xviii. 3). These might be slaves or hired servants, and probably they were armed with staves (i.e. cudgels).
(d) Some of the chief priests and the ancients (St Luke xxii. 52).
from the chief priests, etc. : sent by them in the case of the Levitical guards and servants, and procured by them from the Romans in the case of the band of soldiers.
44. had given them a sign. Judas had evidently not anticipated that Jesus would come forward to meet His enemies, therefore a sign was necessary to point Him out to the Roman soldiers.
They would naturally follow Judas, and probably did not know Jesus, the more so that extra soldiers were placed on duty at the time of the Pasch. Besides, it was night when Jesus was taken, and in spite of its being full moon, it would have been difficult to distinguish our Lord from one of the disciples under the olive trees or in the grotto. Hence the necessity for a sign from the traitor and for the lanterns and torches (St John xviii. 3).
Whomsoever I shall kiss , that is he.
In the East the kiss is a sign of friendship, as with us. It was also usual for the disciples of the Rabbis to salute their masters with a kiss as a sign of respect; they kissed the knee, hand or foot. Perhaps by this token Judas wished to act as a faithful disciple, and to conceal his treachery, at least from the other apostles, whose anger he might have feared . He must have known that Christ was aware of his base design. St Matthew and St Luke give our Lord’s words to the traitor : Friend, whereto art thou come? (St Matt. xxvi. 50). Judas, dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss? (St Luke xxii. 48). Then it would seem that Jesus advanced towards the soldiers and asked whom they sought, and that when he replied I am he, they fell to the ground.
lay hold , etc. Judas’ suggestion was prompted by his knowledge of our Lord’s power. On a previous occasion Jesus had passed through the midst of enemies when they had tried to cast Him down from the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built (St Luke iv. 29), and Judas would have heard of this from the first four companions of Jesus. Judas had witnessed, too, how at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Jews took up stones to cast at Him, Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple (St John viii. 59). It seems clear that the traitor had completely lost faith in our Lord as the Messiah, and it is possible that he may have really brought himself to look on Jesus as a false prophet.
lead him away carefully. Perhaps Judas feared that the disciples of Jesus would strive to rescue our Lord.
45. immediately going up to him. Judas went on first to give the appointed sign.
Hail, Rabbi. Judas gave the customary salute to his Master.
he kissed him. The original Greek word implies that Judas kissed our Lord effusively and affectionately. The same Greek verb is used by the Evangelists of St Mary Magdalene when she kissed our Lord’s feet. Our Lord suffered the indignity of the traitor’s kiss, and replied calmly, Judas , dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss ? (St Luke xxii. 48):
47. One of them, etc. St John alone gives the name : Simon Peter. Before St Peter struck the servant of the high-priest, they that were about him, seeing what would follow, said to him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword ? (St Luke xxii. 49). Perhaps while the others were asking the question, St Peter, ever impulsive, attacked Malchus.
It has been conjectured that the Synoptists, who wrote their gospels much earlier than St John, omitted to mention St Peter’s name, in order not to expose him to the vengeance of the Jews. St John wrote after St Peter’s martyrdom.
a servant: literally the servant. St John, who knew the high-priest, was able to give the man’s name, Malchus.
cut off his ear. St Luke’s account runs thus : And one of them struck the servant of the high-priest , and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answering , said: Suffer ye thus far. And when he had touched his ear , he healed him (xxii. 50, 51). The Apostles had two swords, as we learn from St Luke. They said : Lord , behold here are two swords (xxii. 38).
It was customary for the pilgrims to carry weapons of defence, as they were liable to be attacked by the bands of robbers that waylaid the caravans. As Jesus healed the man’s ear by touching it, it is most likely that the ear was not quite severed from the man’s head.
48. Jesus , answering (i.e. beginning to speak) : though Jesus may he said to have answered to their deeds rather than to them.
Are you come out. St Luke tells us to whom these words were addressed. Jesus said to the chief priests, and magistrates of the temple , and the ancients that were come unto him (xxii. 52).
as to a robber (i.e. a brigand). One of a band of outlaws.
49. I was daily with you , etc. Jesus possibly referred specially to His teaching in the Temple during Holy Week. He addressed these words to the chief priests and ancients, for He had not taught the Roman soldiers.
But that the scriptures may be fulfilled. St Matthew gives the full meaning : Now all this was done , that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled (xxvi. 56). Our Lord was evidently referring to the betrayal by one of His own familiar friends, to His falling into the hands of His enemies, and to the accomplishment of the prophecies that were yet to be fulfilled in Him.
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| The disciples all fled away. J-J Tissot |
They may have sinned against faith and lost confidence in Christ as the Messiah, or against charity in deserting Him in His hour of trial, though they still believed in Him. It is true that Jesus, in a sense, allowed them to withdraw when He said to His captors, If therefore you seek me, let these go their way . ... Of them whom, thou hast given me, I have not lost any one (St John xviii. 8, 9). All did finally bear witness nobly to Christ and His Gospel, but this was after the descent of the Holy Ghost.
51. a certain young man. Most expositors prefer the suggestion that this was no other than St Mark himself, and this opinion is based on the following arguments —
(a) Such a trifling detail would have no special interest except to the one personally concerned.
(b) The young man must have lived near Jerusalem, since he was in night attire, and seemed to have been disturbed in his sleep. Now, it is known that St Mark inhabited Jerusalem, and it is supposed that the upper room, where Christ ate the Pasch, belonged to John, Mark’s parent. We may conjecture that Judas first led the soldiers to the Cœnaculum, and not finding Jesus there, then went on to Gethsemani. If this be so, it would be perfectly natural that St Mark, aroused from sleep, should follow to see what would happen. Other persons suggested are, the owner of the garden, Joses the son of Cleophas, or Lazarus. One argument in favour of Lazarus is that the Jews had determined to kill him. But the chief priests thought to kill Lazarus also (St John xii. 10).
52. linen cloth : the sindon which served as a sleeping garment, and also as a shroud. It was made of fine Indian muslin. The word sindon is derived from “ Sind,” where these cloths were manufactured.
Additional Notes
Note. — Incidents peculiar to one Evangelist —
(a.) The soldiers fell backwards. St John.
(b) Jesus healed Malchus’ ear. St Luke.
(c) The seizure and escape of the young man. St Mark.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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