Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” All of them deserted him and fled.

A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked. (Mark 14:44-52)

People sneak when they know they’re being bad. Under cover of darkness those who had conspired to destroy Jesus arrived. Why was it necessary for Judas to identify Jesus for the soldiers and leaders of the Sanhedrin? Wasn’t Jesus a public figure? Wasn’t he well known? Those sent out to arrest him had probably never actually seen him in the flesh. They had no pictures to guide them. They’d only heard about him. On top of that, they were trying to arrest him in the dark. Having someone to identify Jesus was critical to success, therefore.

Judas’ only purpose was to identify Jesus. To help make the arrest work, Judas tried to minimize suspicions by greeting him in an ordinary way, with a kiss, so that the other disciples wouldn’t suspect that Judas was doing something despicable. That way Jesus could be arrested before anyone was able to put up a fight.

But of course Jesus wasn’t going to fight back, even though he wasn’t alone and even though one of the disciples drew blood. Jesus wanted the scriptures to be fulfilled. He knew what had to happen and was willing to do God’s will. He surrendered peacefully, while his disciples to fled in panic.

God’s will is sometimes very difficult. Sometimes we’ll have to do it alone. Sometimes those we thought we could count on will vanish. Sometimes they might even be working against us. Jesus knows how hard it can be from personal experience. So Jesus is always ready to be a source of encouragement for us.

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