Jesus Betrayed and Arrested
Matthew 26:47-56
The scene of today’s passage in Matthew 26 is the garden of Gethsemane. It is Thursday night. Earlier that evening, Jesus had celebrated a final Passover with His disciples, during which He predicted His betrayal by one of them and instituted the Lord’s Supper. On the way to the garden, Jesus told them that they would stumble that night because of Him and Peter would deny Him three times. Bringing them with Him to Gethsemane, He agonized in prayer alone with the Father. Three times, Jesus returned to find His disciples asleep. Finally, waking them up, He said, “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” (Matthew 26:45-46).
The time had come, and Jesus courageously faced the events that would lead directly to His death on the cross for our sins. In this scene where Jesus is betrayed by Judas, arrested by the authorities, and deserted by His disciples, we see the remarkable restrained power of Jesus. Nothing that happened that night was beyond the Lord’s control, and yet He willingly surrendered Himself to His betrayer and the mob that came with him. Rather than fleeing, fighting, or calling angels to His rescue, Jesus permitted Himself to be arrested and ultimately to be crucified. As the king who possessed all authority, He willing became our sacrifice.
Matthew indicates a reason behind this by repeating the expression we have heard so often before in the Gospel of Matthew that the word written by the prophets in the scriptures must be fulfilled (Matt. 1:22; 2:15, 23; 5:17; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4, 16, 42). What we see in our passage today is that Jesus willingly surrendered to be our sacrifice as One who was under the authority of the word of God written in the scriptures. It was because every word of Scripture concerning Him must be fulfilled (Matthew 26:54, 56; Mark 14:49; Luke 24:44).
We see His willing sacrifice in fulfillment of scripture first when …
1. Judas Treacherously Betrays (Matt. 26:47-50)
Judas treacherously betrays Jesus. Matthew 26:47 says, “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.” While Jesus is still telling His disciples that His betrayer is at hand (Matt. 26:46), Judas, His betrayer arrives. To highlight the treachery of Judas, Matthew again calls him, “one of the twelve” (cf. Matt. 26:14). He was one of those Jesus chose to be closest to Him. Jesus had known all along that Judas did not believe in Him and that he would betray Him (John 6:64). Even so, Jesus allowed Judas to continue as one of the twelve.
Michael Card wrote a haunting song about Judas’ betrayal called Why? The song says:
Why did it have to be a friend, who chose to betray the Lord?
And why did he use a kiss to do it, that’s not what a kiss is for.
Only a friend can betray a friend, a stranger has nothing to gain.
And only a friend gets close enough to ever cause so much pain.[i]
Jesus answered the “Why” question when He said in Matthew 26:24, “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.” Jesus allowed the treachery of Judas because this is what was written in the scriptures about the Son of Man. Jesus would suffer the betrayal of one of the twelve, because He lived under the authority of God’s written word. He would fulfill every letter of it.
Judas was quite familiar with the garden of Gethsemane, as John writes in his gospel, “And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples,” (John 18:2). Jesus knew that the garden of Gethsemane would be where Judas would go looking for Him. Jesus wasn’t at all surprised by Judas’ coming; He was anticipating it. It was written in the scriptures (Psalm 41:9; 55:12-14). So, our Lord faced His betrayer and the mob determined to fulfill what was written about Him.
Notice that it was no small contingent that came with Judas. It was “a great multitude with swords and clubs” who “came from the chief priests and elders of the people.” A large armed force—Roman soldiers and temple guards—with the authority of the chief priests and elders came to arrest Jesus.
And then came the most notorious act of betrayal in all of human history. Judas had given a sign to those who were going to arrest Jesus, in order to help identify Him to them. And it would be, of all things, the kiss of a friend. Matthew writes, “Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.” Judas’ greeting and gesture implied joy, respect, and affection.[1] In reality, it was none of these. Behind the kiss was traitorous rebellion. It was “hollow with hypocrisy” and “teeming with treachery”[2] Proverbs 27:6 reminds us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Judas pretended to be a friend, but was in fact an enemy.
How does Jesus respond to Judas’ kiss? Matthew 26:50 says “But Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, why have you come?’” This word for friend is only used two other times in the New Testament, both in Matthew. In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, the vineyard owner addresses his grumbling worker, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong…” (Matt. 20:13). And in the parable of the wedding feast the king says to the man without a wedding garment, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” (Matt. 22:12). Each time, this word indicates a friendly bond which has somehow been disregarded or even spurned.
While the NKJV translates Jesus’ reply as a statement, I think the NASB and ESV a make more sense when they translate it as a statement or command from Jesus, “Friend, do what you have come for” (Matt. 26:50 NASB). The point is that Jesus saw through Judas’s greeting to know the real reason for which Judas had come. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. He knew it fulfilled the scriptures. He willingly submitted to the Father’s will in it. Yet, Judas was still responsible for the evil, treacherous act of betrayal.
At this point, Matthew tells us, “Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him,” (Matt. 26:50b). The fact that they “laid hands” on Jesus fulfills the words that Jesus had spoken only moments before: “the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners,”[3] (Matt. 26:45). Jesus not only had foreknowledge of His arrest, He was had control over it and willingly surrendered to it.
So in fulfillment of the scriptures, Judas treacherously betrayed the Lord.
Next, we see that Jesus was a wiling sacrifice in fulfillment of the scriptures, in how …
2. Peter Violently Retaliates (Matt. 26:51-54)
Matthew 26:51 tells us, “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.” Matthew doesn’t tell us which disciple did this, but John 18:10 tells us, “Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.”
After hearing Jesus’ repeated warnings that all His disciples would stumble and Peter would deny Him, I imagine Peter thinking, “This is it! I promised my Lord that I wouldn’t deny Him, even if it meant dying. Now’s my chance to prove my loyalty. I’m going to go down fighting!” So, Peter “rushes in to defend Jesus with characteristic courage and impetuousness,”[4] taking out His sword and swinging for the head of Malchus. At this point, my guess is that Malchus was able to duck and only lost an ear to Peter’s sword.
How Peter’s reckless act of the flesh must have grieved our Lord! How contrary to His own heart of humility, love, and submission! The weapon that our Lord taught us to use in the advancing of His kingdom is not a literal sword, but rather “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). Jesus Himself used the sword of God’s word in the wilderness against the devil. To each temptation, Jesus responded, “It is written . . .” (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). The literal sword has its legitimate place in this world as a tool of the state to punish evil (cf. Romans 13:3-4). But that place is not in the hands of Jesus’ followers for the advancement of His kingdom.[5] As Calvin comments, “we are much more courageous and ready for fighting than for bearing the cross”[6]
Jesus immediately put an end to Peter’s reckless violence, saying, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword,” (Matt. 26:52). In that one statement, Jesus forever barred the advancement of His kingdom by the use of the sword. On Friday morning, when Jesus was standing before Pilate, He said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here,” (John 18:36). The great hymn, “Lead On, O King Eternal” by Ernest Shurtleff reminds us how we advance the Kingdom of God in this world:
Lead on, O King Eternal, ’till sin’s fierce war shall cease
And holiness shall whisper the sweet Amen of peace;
For not with swords loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums,
With deeds of love and mercy, the heav’nly kingdom comes.[7]
Notice that it is not the armed guards and soldiers who put an end to Peter’s fight—it is Jesus. Then, in an act of mercy toward both Malchus and Peter, Luke tells us that Jesus “touched his ear and healed him” (Luke 22:51).
Jesus then made it clear that such violence wasn’t necessary at all. In Matthew 26:53 Jesus says, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” A legion was normally five or six thousand soldiers. We’re told in Scripture that the angel of the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian solders overnight (Isaiah 37:36). Imagine the might of twelve legions of holy angels! This is the power that Jesus had at His disposal. But, He chose not to use it. It’s not that Jesus could not resist His arrest but that He would not.[8] Jesus is submitted to the Father’s will.
That’s the point of Jesus’ question in Matthew 26:54, “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” The scripture must be fulfilled. Jesus went willingly to the cross, submitting to the word of God.
Finally, we see that Jesus was a wiling sacrifice in fulfillment of the scriptures, in how …
3. Jesus Willingly Surrenders (Matt. 26:55-56)
Demonstrating His authority and control over the whole situation, Jesus turns from rebuking Peter to rebuking those who have come to arrest Him. Matthew 26:55 says, “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.”” They are treating Jesus like a “robber,” the same word John used to describe Barabas (John 18:40), who Luke tells us, “had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder,” (Luke 23:19). They come armed with swords and clubs as if Jesus was a murderous insurrectionist.
What had Jesus done that was so threatening? The most dangerous thing He had done was “teaching in the temple,” where “the blind and the lame came to Him, … and He healed them,” (Matt. 21:14). The officials didn’t dare come with swords and clubs to seize Jesus when He was doing that! Not that they didn’t want to seize Him in the temple, “But,” Matthew 21:46 tells us, “when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.” These thugs have not overpowered Jesus. The Lord has restrained His divine power to surrender Himself over to them.
Then, for the second time, Jesus indicates why He is willingly surrendering to these evil men, “But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled,” (Matt. 26:56). One of those scriptures Jesus had quoted to His disciples earlier that night—Zechariah 13:7, “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.” Matthew records the fulfillment of that scripture writing, “Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled,” (Matt. 25:56b).
In the garden, Jesus had told them, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” (Matt. 26:41). Here, the disciples show the weakness of the flesh. They boasted too loud, prayed too little, slept too much, and acted too impulsively. And when push came to shove, they had no strength, no courage, no conviction, and no ability. They all failed miserably.
Except for the fact that all of this was the Father’s will and the fulfillment of scripture, it all seems so strange. Judas betrays. The mob seizes. Peter fights. Angels hold back. Jesus is arrested. His followers flee. None of that seems right—unless, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). Unless “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,” (Matt. 20:28). Everything Jesus did, He did in obedience to the Father and in fulfillment of Scripture.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He willingly laid down His life for His sheep. He does so as the King, the Son of Man and Son of God, under the authority of the scriptures. Jesus went willingly to the cross for you and for me. It is our traitorous and rebellious sin for which He died. On the cross He paid the debt of sin I owe. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
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[i] Michael Card, Why, on Album: Known By The Scars ℗ 1985 Sparrow Records. Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSzKiUTov_w accessed 1/17/2026.
[1] Joy is implied in the word “Greetings” (Greek χαίρω chairō) used to indicate all kinds of friendly greeting, expressing the wish of happiness and well-being. Respect is implied in the title “Rabbi” from the Hebrew, meaning “great one.” Affection is implied in the kiss, “A kiss and embrace were an accepted mark of affection of a pupil for his teacher” (MacArthur).
[2] Rod Mattoon, Treasures from Scripture, quoted on Precept Austin, https://www.preceptaustin.org/matthew-26-commentary#26:47 accessed 1/17/2026.
[3] John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew (New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC)), (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), p. 1111.
[4] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 547.
[5] Greg Allen, The Hard Road to Triumph, https://bethanybible.net/index.php/2009/04/05/the-hard-road-to-triumph/, accessed 1/17/2026.
[6] John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, 3:243.
[7] Ernest W. Shurtleff, Lead On, O King Eternal, public domain. See https://hymnary.org/text/lead_on_o_king_eternal_the_day_of_march, accessed 1/17/2026.
[8] France, The Gospel of Matthew, (Grand Rapids, Mich. : Eerdmans, 1985) p. 1008.
