Mark 14:43  And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
44  And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.
45  And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, master; and kissed him.
46  And they laid their hands on him, and took him.
47  And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
48  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?
49  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.
50  And they all forsook him, and fled.

Judas had certainly sold his soul to the devil. There was a process that took place to get Judas to this place. He was not born in this place. He was born as a lost sinner. As a lost sinner he chose to develop the philosophy of greed in his life. He loved money. We all love money at some point in our lives. We love the things that money can buy. Children see things they like and they tend to expect their parents to buy them for them. They lack the understanding of what things cost and how a person acquires the ability to purchase something. As children grow up they build a philosophy of how economics works for them.
I spoke with a man recently who talked of a broken relationship within his family. The man had some wealth and he stated that the broken relationship was due to greed. It is sad when someone allows money to cloud their sense of reality. That is what Judas did. We know that he sold Jesus into the hands of the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. Earlier Jesus asked the question:

Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

That is an important question to consider. Greed and the love of money are a common trap for many. Our government is full of individuals who operate under the love of money. They plan policies that will benefit themselves and their investments. The love of money has had a large part in bringing our country to the moral collapse we are facing. That love of money is not just among our politicians, but it is also among many citizens of this country. In the book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are told of the collapse of the economic system of the Tribulation time. That collapse will shock the world of that time.
In our text, immediately after Jesus had spent time in prayer with His Father, Judas came with his great multitude of soldiers. They were armed with swords and staves. They were coming after twelve people — Jesus and the eleven disciples. Among the disciples were fishermen and tax collectors. They were not warriors. Judas and the chief priests had convinced those coming to take Jesus that they needed a large army to overthrow Jesus. They would discover that their large entourage and their weapons could not take Jesus. He gave Himself into their hands.
The worst part of this group was that the chief priests, the scribes and the elders were in this mix. They were the ones who prided themselves in being the spiritual leaders of the Jews. Yet, here they were, encouraging the arrest of, in their minds, one man. They rejected the facts about Jesus Christ. They attributed His wonderful works and His powerful teaching, to the devil.
The Bible tells us that there was a point where the devil entered into Judas. After that point, he became a hardened man. He would walk up to Jesus and kiss Him, as a token of identity. A kiss is often used as a sign of endearment. It is something that friends do to one another. Judas chose not to be a friend of Jesus.
In verse 45 we read that Judas even addressed Jesus as “Master, master”. That was an official title of honour. Yet, Judas despised Jesus.
The soldiers laid their hands on Him and took Him. Jesus was already surrendered to the will of His Father and this was evidence of that fact. He never fought against the religious leaders or the Romans with swords and staves. He debated the false teachers. He rebuked and exposed their lies. He did not need to use physical force against them. His Words and His actions were more powerful than all their weapons.
One of Jesus’ disciples chose to try to protect Jesus in this moment of surprise. It was not a moment of surprise to Jesus and it should not have been a moment of surprise to the disciples, but they had not accepted Jesus’ warnings on this matter. Mark does not identify the person with the sword. John 18:10 tells us that it was Peter who drew his sword at this time. He cut off the servant of the high priest’s ear with that sword. Luke recorded that Jesus stopped any further attack and healed that servant’s ear. John tells us the servant’s name was Malchus. No doubt that man was thankful for this healing.
Jesus turned His attention to the great multitude and questioned them as to their actions. Why had they come against Him with this show of force now? He had been with them in the temple and other places, but they did not rise up against Him then. He taught them that what they were doing was in fulfilment of the Scriptures. This should have been a rebuke to them, but they were so blinded by their hatred of God that they did not allow the truth to enter in.
Jesus had come for a specific purpose. He knew the timing of events in His life. He had fulfilled all that was planned for Him up to this point. The time was right for Him to lay down His life for the sheep. The process to get to that place would be violent. That violence would not be due to Jesus’ resistance, but as an expression of the hatred that the people had developed toward Jesus.
We learn that the rejection of Truth will affect different people in different ways. We also learn that a multitude of people will act differently than an individual will. We also see the power that money has on those who love it. Judas acted in an impulsive way here. He would soon change his mind on what he did. His change of mind would not be for his benefit, nor for the benefit of anyone else.
We read in verse 50 that they all forsook Him and fled. That would be the eleven. They had just shortly before this insisted they would not forsake Him. Peter had led that charge, but their words were just empty words.
We need to be submissive to the will of God in order to be able to stand strong for the Lord. There is a need to stand for the truth today, but we cannot do that in the flesh. We need discernment as to how we respond to different situations. Those who are saved need to walk in the Spirit and not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
In our text, this was not the time for the disciples to put up resistance against the actions of the wicked. The disciples had rejected all of Jesus’ teaching on this matter and it was the fear of man that stopped them from fighting back. They were not submissive to the will of God and they needed to be taken out of the way. God removed them without harming them physically. He had further plans for them. They needed to be further prepared for God’s plan for them.
It is important to know the Lord and serve Him with humility.
Pastor Bartel