Now he that delivered him up had given them a sign between them, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he; seize him, and lead [him] away safely.
Judas did not betray Jesus on impulse. He had fixed a signal with the armed crowd in advance, so that a kiss would mark out the man to arrest — and Jesus let the plan run its course.
The signal did more than point Jesus out. It came with an order to hold Him fast. One writer traces the steps that brought Judas here:
It is terrible to think of Judas urging them to hold Him fast! In Judas you get lust of money; you see a progress of sin. He was a thief and had the bag, and carried what was put in it. Then Satan tempts him to betray Him — with the idea, I do not doubt, that the Lord would get free. Then after supper Satan enters into him. He was hardened against all natural feeling, for many a bad man would not betray his friend with a kiss.
Judas picked the sign used between friends. One writer sets that hypocrisy beside what the Lord suffered soon after:
Judas was absorbed with satisfying his own lust, and blind to the glory of Christ. So he dares not only to betray the Lord, but to do it with a kiss. A little later the enemies of the Lord will spit in His face. With equal grace the Lord submits to the awful hypocrisy of the betrayer who kisses Him, and to the insulting contempt of enemies who spit on Him. Wonderful Saviour, who endured such opposition from sinners!
Judas also told the crowd how to take Jesus away. The ESV reads "lead him away under guard"; older translations have "lead him away safely." One writer takes the words as a sneer:
It seems Judas was mocking them when he said, "Lead Him away safely." He seems to have counted on the Lord passing through the middle of His enemies, as on earlier occasions. Then the Lord would free Himself from them, while Judas kept the money he wanted. Judas knew nothing of God's purposes or of the perfection of the Lord's obedience. So he was not ready for the Lord to submit to His enemies to carry out the will of the Father, as He had just said in the Garden: "Not what I will, but what You will."
Each Gospel keeps what fits its picture of Jesus. One writer shows what Mark leaves out of the arrest, and why:
The traitor had given the sign of a kiss, and told them to seize the One he kissed… Peter, ready enough to fight though not to pray, draws his sword, strikes the high priest's servant and cuts off his ear. The healing is not mentioned in this Gospel, because here the Lord is simply the suffering Son of Man, the rejected Prophet of Israel, the smitten Shepherd. Proof of His unbroken power is not the point here, but His bowing to all shame; and the key is, "the Scripture must be fulfilled."
The kiss was part of the cup Christ had to drink. One writer traces what that trial proved, and what it leaves for the believer:
What is the heart of man not capable of? God has allowed all the treachery of the heart to be laid bare, and man to betray Jesus with a kiss. There is not a pang, not a trial, that Jesus does not have to endure to put His heart to the test. Without that, something would have been missing from the cup He had to drink, and the trial of the Lord would not have been complete… All that could wound and crush — God's wrath, Satan's wickedness, man's iniquity — crushed His heart to pieces. And all of it made the immeasurable excellence of Jesus shine before God… And what, after all that, is the position of sinners? Nothing remains but the cost and worth of Jesus for them. In the eyes of God, the one who believes has all the worth of Jesus before God.
The verse names Judas only as the betrayer. He was also an apostle, and that is what makes him a warning:
Reader, think of this! Here was an apostle — a preacher of the gospel, a man who made a great profession of faith. Yet under that cloak lay "a heart trained in greedy practices." It was a heart with a wide place for "thirty pieces of silver," but not a corner for Jesus… He preached the gospel, but he never knew it, never believed it, never felt it… Professing Christians, beware of head-knowledge, lip profession, official piety, mechanical religion. Beware of these things and seek to have a heart for Christ.
- Sign. Judas planned the betrayal in advance, down to the kiss and the order to hold Him fast.
- Progress. Money, then Satan's suggestion, then a heart hardened past all natural feeling: sin grew step by step in a man who preached the gospel.
- Miscalculation. His order may have been a sneer: he expected Jesus to slip free and himself to keep the silver.
- Submission. Mark shows the smitten Shepherd bowing to shame instead of showing power, because "the Scripture must be fulfilled."
- Worth. The kiss belonged to the cup Christ drank; now the believer stands before God in all the worth of Jesus.
And being come, straightway coming up to him, he says, Rabbi, Rabbi; and he covered him with kisses.
In Mark's account Judas walks straight up, gives Jesus a title of honour, and kisses the Man he has just sold. Every part of it looks like love, and every part is a lie.
The word translated "Rabbi" was an ordinary mark of respect among the Jews, and Mark keeps it in its Hebrew form here:
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning 'master, teacher'... It was applied to the Lord, though often translated 'master' in older English Bibles. Among the Jews the levels of honour rose from Rab to Rabbi, and then to Rabban or Rabboni.
That choice of word is not accidental. One writer notes that the other disciples reached for a higher title than Judas ever used:
It is a significant fact that while John and his companions addressed the Saviour as "Lord," the betrayer called Him "Rabbi" only. There is no recorded instance of Judas ever giving Him the higher title. To truly acknowledge Jesus as Lord is the fruit of a work of the Holy Spirit within.
English hides something the Greek makes plain. Judas had arranged one word with the soldiers and then used a stronger one when the moment came:
The word for "kissed Him" is changed from the word Judas used when he gave them this sign. Then he had used the word phileo, I love, or, I kiss. But in his eagerness to make sure they seized the One whom he had once followed, he "covered Him with kisses": kata-phileo, a much stronger word. It is hard to imagine anything more horrible than the way Judas betrayed his Master. And we know from the Psalms how deeply our Lord felt it. See, for example, Psalm 41:9: "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me."
The Lord met the kiss with the same grace He would show His enemies a little later:
Judas is taken up with satisfying his own desire and blind to the glory of Christ. He dares not only to betray the Lord, but to do it with a kiss. A little later the enemies of the Lord will spit in His face. He submits to the awful hypocrisy of the betrayer who kisses Him with the same grace as He submits to the insulting contempt of the enemies who spit on Him.
Judas was still trying to hide his part in the arrest. Mark records no word at all from the Lord in reply:
It seems Judas was still acting a foolish, deceitful part. He wanted to look as though he had no connection with these temple soldiers, so he goes ahead of them with the signal he had arranged: his kiss. How could he think that such miserable treachery could remain concealed? The Lord knew his every motive. Yet when Judas used the flattering words, "Teacher, Teacher," and kissed Him, the Lord did not answer in anger. In fact Mark records no answer at all, though Matthew and Luke do.
The betrayal was no accident. One writer treats it as part of the cup the Lord had to drink:
Of what is not the heart of man capable? God has allowed that all the treachery of the heart should be laid bare, and that man should betray Jesus by a kiss. There is no pain and no trial that Jesus does not have to endure, to put His heart to the test. Without that, something would have been lacking in the cup which He had to drink... Everything that could wound and crush — God's wrath, Satan's wickedness, man's sin — bruised His heart to pieces. And all of it made the immeasurable excellence of Jesus shine before God.
Judas had a place among the apostles. That place did not make him a child of God:
No gift of power is a sign of eternal life, not even the edifying gift of prophesying. A man might be an apostle of Christ, but not a child of God. "You must be born again," begotten by the word of truth; which Judas never was. He was near on the outside and far off in truth — not only a stranger in heart but an enemy.
- Nearness — Judas got as close as a man can get, close enough to kiss. Outward closeness to Christ is not the same as life from Him.
- Nearness without confession — he says "Rabbi," teacher. He is never recorded saying "Lord." Only the Spirit gives a person that word.
- Nearness turned weapon — he chose affection as his signal, then poured it on, covering Him with kisses.
- Nearness met by grace — the Lord takes the traitor's kiss with the same grace He will show when enemies spit on Him. In Mark He gives no answer at all.
- Nearness in God's hand — God let the treachery come out into the open. Without it the cup would not have been complete, and the worth of Jesus less clearly shown.
And they laid their hands upon him and seized him.
Judas has given his signal, and the crowd from the chief priests closes in. In one short sentence, Mark records the moment they take hold of the Son of God. Two questions follow. Why could hands reach Him now, when they never could before? And why did He let them?
Until now, no one could lay a hand on Jesus. One writer ties that to a fixed hour that had now arrived.
What is meant by this "hour"? How long did it continue? How is it distinguished from all that went before it, and all that followed after it? As to what went before, they could not touch Him till that hour had come. He must be a willing captive as He was a willing victim. But now the hour of the evening has arrived, and He becomes their captive. The moment you leave that hour, which stretches on to the three hours of darkness, you have a completely new era... Now He puts Himself into their hands. He was a willing captive now, as He was a willing victim on the cross. They took Him!
Whose hands were these? One writer names them, then looks past them to the power driving them.
And now they laid hands upon the Lord and seized Him. The rough hands of the inhuman Roman soldiers took hold of that sinless body of the Lamb of God. So did the cruel hands of the hate-filled Jewish crowd. Satan energized them all, and he stands behind all this and what follows. It is the hour of darkness, when darkness displays its power upon Him, the willing sacrifice.
The arrest comes right after Judas kisses Him. Jesus met that gesture the same way He would later meet open insult.
So, absorbed with satisfying his own lust, and blind to the glory of Christ, Judas dares not only to betray the Lord, but to do it with a kiss. A little later the enemies of the Lord will spit in His face. With the same grace, the Lord submits to both: to the awful hypocrisy of the betrayer who kisses Him, and to the insulting contempt of enemies who spit on Him. What a wonderful Saviour, who endured such hostility from sinners!
The next verse shows a disciple drawing a weapon. That reaction came from a better motive than Judas's, and was still wrong.
Judas the betrayer was not ready for the Lord to submit to His enemies. Neither was Peter, a true disciple. His name is not given here, but we know it was Peter who drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priest. Moved by lust, Judas betrays the Lord; moved by love, Peter defends the Lord. Yet despite his sincerity, Peter was opposing the path of the perfect Servant of Jehovah.
Another writer sets the sword beside the sleeping that came just before it.
Judas comes with his kiss. Jesus submits. Peter, who slept during the earnest prayer of his Master, wakes up to strike when his Master yields Himself as a lamb to the slaughter.
Mark says the servant's ear was cut off, and stops there. One writer explains the silence.
The healing is not mentioned in this Gospel, for here the Lord is simply the suffering Son of man, the rejected Prophet of Israel, the Shepherd struck down. Proof of His undiminished power is not the point here. His bowing to all shame is. The key is, "the Scripture must be fulfilled."
Jesus points the crowd back to all the days they left Him untouched. One writer draws out the real reason the arrest works now.
Jesus reasons with those who had come to take Him. He reminds them that He had been within their power all along, humanly speaking, and they laid no hands on Him. It happens now for a very different reason — the purposes of God and the word of God must be fulfilled.
- Hour — Hands reached Him only when the hour came; before it, they could not touch Him at all.
- Handed over — In that hour He put Himself into their hands: a willing captive first, a willing victim after.
- Hypocrisy — The same grace met the traitor's kiss and would later meet the spitting of open enemies.
- Haste — Peter's love drew a sword and so fought against the very path his Master had chosen.
- Hidden reason — Behind those hands stood God's own purpose and a Scripture that had to come true.