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Author: Stephen Weller
692 words, 4 minutes read time

The Kiss of Judas

Scripture: Mark 14:44-45; Luke 22:47-48; John 18:2-3

With the previous lesson we finished the section about Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane, preparing his heart for the horrendous suffering he is about to experience. With this lesson we start a section that can be divided into two parts: (1) Jesus betrayed with a kiss, and (2) Jesus arrested.

^{Lk 22:47} While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. ^{Jn 18:2} Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers ^{Mk 14:43} from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, ^{Jn 18:3} went there with lanterns and torches, ^{Mk 14:43} and swords and clubs.

While Jesus was still talking to his disciples about their sleeping and not praying, a crowd arrives, led by Judas, who was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. Since Jesus was not meeting his expectations over establishing an earthly kingdom to stand against Rome, he decided to betray him and provide a time and place when Jesus could be arrested. Jesus was not caught by surprise by this and knew this would happen when he chose him as one of the twelve. However, it was necessary for the enemy to have a person close to Jesus to know when and where they could find him in private and arrest him without having his followers around.

As one of the disciples, Judas knew the place in the garden where Jesus often met with his disciples. Having been at the Passover meal and being sent away as if on assignment, he knew the timing and place where Jesus would be that night and went and procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and scribes and elders, and went to where Jesus was with lanterns, torches, swords and clubs to arrest him.

^{Mk 14:44} Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. ^{Lk 22:48} but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

Those who came with Judas was described as a crowd. Up to this point a “crowd” usually was positive toward Jesus as they assembled about him to have their needs met and to hear his teaching and witness his signs and wonders, but tonight this crowd was not ordinary as it was led by Judas, one of the twelve, with the intent of removing the influence Jesus had over the people who followed him.

To identify Jesus under their poor lighting conditions, Judas established a sign with those who would arrest him; the sign was to be a kiss. The kiss was the customary way for friends in ancient Israel to greet one another, but now it was being used as a means of betrayal. The instruction from Judas was to seize the one I kiss and lead him away under guard. At that point the assignment of Judas would be finished.

When Judas came with the unfriendly crowd, he came up at once and identified Jesus as a Rabbi and kissed him to which Jesus says, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” Jesus asks the question to point out the hypocrisy of using a sign of friendship as a sign of hatred and betrayal.

Conclusion

With the time of prayer over at Gethsemane and Judas and those with him arriving at the entrance to the garden, Judas completes his assignment by identifying Jesus as the one to arrest with a kiss of friendship. At this point one would assume that the ones who came to arrest Jesus would take control, but as we see next time, control remains with Jesus until he surrenders it.