Jesus Arrested
Scripture
Matthew 26:47-56
Mark 14:43-50
Luke 22:47-53
John 18:1-11
Key Differences
John does not record Judas' kiss. It is
likely to have occurred before the soldier's made their presence
known and the other events of John's account occur.
In John, Jesus asks "Who do you want?" and then
responds "I am He." The Greek doesn't record the "he" but
rather I am. Just was speaking the name of God and not
just identifying Himself as the one they were looking for.
The very force of the name of God being spoken by God in flesh
causes the soldiers to fall to the ground.
Mark records that a young man followed the group
and fled away naked when the soldiers seized him. This was
most likely the author Mark himself. Acts 12:12 tells us
that the believers gathered in the house of Mary, the mother of
John Mark. This was quite possibly the location of the
Upper Room where the disciples frequently met and where Jesus
held the Last Supper. If this were the case, Mark would
have been nearby the Last Supper. As Judas went to betray
Jesus it is likely that he first looked for Jesus at Mark's
house but not finding Him there, continued to other places that
he knew Jesus frequently went. Mark may have ran off to
warn Jesus of the men looking for Him but did not arrive on
time. None of this is found in scripture but is simply
putting pieces together. Mark is thought to be the young
man who fled away naked by most theologians regardless of the
events that led up to this.
Additional Commentary
It may appear strange that Judas must identify
Jesus to those who wanted to capture Him. This makes more
sense when we consider two matters of the circumstance though.
Even though almost all of Jerusalem has heard of
Jesus, this did not make Him necessarily identifiable. In
an era before television and photographs, the only way to know
what Jesus looked like would have been to actually see Him.
Even those who witnessed His miracles may not be able to
identify Jesus. At the feeding of the 5,000 many people
witnessed the miracle but very few would have been close enough
to see Jesus and get distinguishing features.
The other fact is that it is night. The
soldiers and others with them are carrying torches. This
sheds light for only a few feet. Even up close, a torch
would give flickering light and cast strange shadows. Only
someone who knew Jesus well would be able to identify Him from
any kind of distance in those circumstances.
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