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Humble Hero
Savior then said, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you
seek Me, let these go their way”—pointing to the disciples. He was
ready to sacrifice Himself for them.
Judas the betrayer did not forget the part he was to act. He had
given a sign to Jesus’ pursuers, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the
One; seize Him.” Now, coming close to Jesus, he took His hand as a
familiar friend. With the words, “Greetings, Rabbi,” he kissed Him
repeatedly, and he appeared to weep as if in sympathy with Jesus in
His danger.
Jesus said, “Friend, why have you come?” His voice trembling
with sorrow, He added, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man
with a kiss?” This appeal should have awakened the betrayer’s con-
science, but honor and human tenderness had left him. He had given
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himself up to Satan and had no power to resist him. Jesus did not
refuse the traitor’s kiss.
The mob now laid hold of Jesus and set about to bind those hands
that had always been employed in doing good.
The disciples were disappointed and indignant as they saw the
cords brought forward to bind the hands of the One they loved. In
anger Peter drew his sword and cut off an ear of the high priest’s
servant. When Jesus saw what had happened, He released His hands,
though held firmly by the Roman soldiers, and saying, “Permit even
this,” He touched the wounded ear, and it was made whole instantly.
Then He said to Peter, “Put your sword in its place, for all who
take the sword will perish by the sword. 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 in place of each disciple.
“Oh, why,” the disciples thought, “does He not save Himself and
us?” Answering their unspoken thought, He added, “How then could
the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” “Shall I not
drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
The scheming priests and elders had joined the temple police
and rabble in following Judas to Gethsemane. What a company
for those dignitaries to unite with—a mob armed with all kinds of
implements, as if in pursuit of a wild beast!
Turning to the priests and elders, Christ spoke words they would
never forget: “You come out against Me with swords and clubs as
you would against a thief or a robber. Day by day I sat teaching in