Matthew 26:56, commentary and pictures

At the midnight seizure in Gethsemane He was taken with a kiss and an armed band and hurried through hostile hearings before Annas, Caiaphas, Herod and Pilate toward insult, scourging and crucifixion. All this was done because the Scriptures of the prophets had to be fulfilled, and He willingly allowed Himself to be taken and bound in obedience to that necessity He had already opened to His disciples. He had power to escape, for the power that struck the band prostrate could have held them helpless and His Father would have given more than twelve legions of angels, but He refused deliverance and accepted drinking the cup the Father had given Him. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled in different directions, leaving Him alone in the hands of the mob in His hour of greatest need, terror-stricken for their own lives and offended that He would not use His power to deliver Himself. Their failure warns against self-confidence and presumption, for safety under trial depends on distrusting self and trusting only God's wisdom with thorough conversion.

Arrest to Fulfill Prophecy

The setting is Gethsemane after long agony in conflict with satanic agencies striving to divorce Him from God. He approached and entered it in utter sadness and strange silence unlike anything seen before, His sorrow deepening as He proceeded, His form swaying as if about to fall, every step taken with labored effort while groaning aloud under a terrible burden so that twice His companions supported Him or He would have fallen to the earth. Throughout His earthly life He had walked in the light of God's presence, but now He seemed shut out from sustaining light, numbered with transgressors to bear the guilt of fallen humanity with the iniquity of all laid upon Him who knew no sin. Sin appeared so dreadful and the weight of guilt so great that He was tempted to fear being shut out forever from His Father's love, feeling the terrible wrath of God against transgression as exceeding sorrowful even unto death, with great drops of blood coming from the pores of His skin and moistening the ground, yet He would not yield, and since the Passover supper He had taken neither food nor drink.

The seizure came at midnight in Gethsemane by Judas, one of His professed disciples, betraying Him with expressions of love, with a kiss, at the head of a band of men and soldiers with staves and spears and swords. He was then hurried through a night of scene after scene, taken alone to Annas, then to Caiaphas, then to Pilate, then to Herod who would not sentence Him yet allowed mockery and insult, then back to Pilate. The Sanhedrin condemned Him to death, but He could not be executed without Pilate's confirmation, so He was brought before Pilate that He might be legally condemned. That path led through insult, mockery and scourging, borne with dignity and failing not, and with denial by one of His closest disciples, toward condemnation and being taken to be crucified.

But all this was done because the Scriptures of the prophets had to be fulfilled. He willingly allowed Himself to be taken and bound in obedience to that necessity, accepting the suffering the Father had given Him and drinking the cup His Father gave Him, a future He had already opened before His disciples among events leading to fulfillment. He exposed the injustice of secret armed arrest because He had taught openly daily in the temple and could have been taken there, yet He yielded to chief priests and captains coming with swords and staves as against a thief because thus it must be.

He had power to escape, for the same power that struck the armed band prostrate and helpless could have held them helpless until He and His companions escaped. He could have prayed to His Father for more than twelve legions of angels, but He refused deliverance and did not resist His enemies by force. When cords were brought for hands that had only done good, Peter in vehement anger cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, but Jesus freed His hands, said Suffer ye thus far, touched the ear and made it instantly whole. He rebuked the sword, warning that all who take the sword shall perish with the sword, rejected defense by Peter, and through insult, mockery and scourging spoke no word more than was essential to glorify God.

Disciples Forsake and Flee

Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled, scattering in different directions in different ways and leaving Him alone in the hands of the mob. In the hour of His humiliation and greatest need they abandoned Him instead of giving Him sympathy and comfort, leaving Him without them to face condemnation and crucifixion. When the test came and their Leader was humiliated, their flight fulfilled the Scriptures of the prophets concerning that night of betrayal.

They fled terror-stricken and afraid for their own lives, offended that He made no effort to deliver Himself from His enemies. They had just seen His power prostrate His captors to the ground and heal the servant's ear that Peter cut off, and knew He could deliver Himself from the murderous mob, so they were disappointed and could not understand why He submitted to being taken and bound. Mortified by conduct they could not understand, they blamed Him for permitting such humiliation to Himself and to them.

Terror seized them even though they had gathered around Him, and at Peter's suggestion that they save themselves they all forsook Him and fled, following his lead. In doing so they did exactly what they had all declared they would never do. Their flight shows that Peter was not the only one who proved fearful in the hour of trial. Peter and John later regained their composure and followed the mob at a distance.

This scattering of every man to his own and leaving Him alone had been foreseen by Jesus in the upper chamber and foretold by Him, so their flight fulfilled His prediction. He had opened this future before His disciples as part of the events leading to the fulfillment of the prophets' Scriptures. Yet He would not be alone, because the Father would remain with Him.

Instead of comfort they reproached Him, and friends and even His own brethren denied and forsook Him amid the cruelty that led to His crucifixion. Jesus had prepared the faithful by bringing an earlier crisis while He was still with them, when self-seeking and fickle followers turned away and exposed themselves. Because they had already seen that turning away, they would not be wholly surprised when He was mocked, condemned and abandoned, nor bear the added sorrow of seeing others abandon Him in that severe trial.

Warning and Encouragement

The flight of all the disciples when their Leader was humiliated stands as a warning to His followers against self-confidence, self-righteousness and presumption. Peter had been faithfully warned of his defect of character, yet in self-confidence he boasted a constancy superior to the other disciples and declared his willingness and readiness to follow his Master to prison and to death. When Christ stood condemned in humiliation wearing the shameful crown of thorns in the judgment hall, Peter, who had been earnest, forward and loud in fidelity and love, repeatedly denied his Lord at the very time he could have shown bravery and fidelity. His confidence in his own fidelity did not keep him faithful.

Safety when the storm of opposition comes like a sweeping tempest depends on distrusting self and trusting only the wisdom of God, with thorough conversion. The same self-trusting, self-confident spirit still leads to the same failure, and self-trust makes a person unreliable under trial.

Even though He was without sin, Jesus in His greatest trial endured betrayal, denial and abandonment, so those who face opposition for doing right should not expect better treatment than their Master. Their abandonment reflected lack of the stronger faith in Him as Redeemer that they needed to withstand temptation, and neglect of Scripture's lesson that faith works through love. In the hour of His humiliation when He most needed their sympathy and comfort, those who were dear to His heart forsook Him and reproached Him instead of giving it. After His death they felt the loss of His presence and regretted the loving attention they had failed to give Him, and when He came back with them to Gethsemane on the way to His ascension they were surrounded on every side by reminders of His unrequited love.

His falling into the hands of Caiaphas and Pilate serves as a comparison for the renewed crisis and persecution of evangelical Christians.