Verse 43. And when they came, they found packs of sleeping: for their eyes were burdened... they were heavy not only from sleep, but also from sorrow, as Luke said (22:45), since they were already convinced of the death of the Saviour. Mark (14:40) said: "And I do not know what was reported to Him."

Verse 44. And he left them, going to the packs, praying the third, the same word of the rivers. He prayed for the second and third time, showing that one should pray more often and not weaken. He comes to the disciples for the second time to expose their weakness. For after the rebuke they not only did not reform, but fell so asleep that they could not even answer Him. Therefore, the Savior did not even rebuke them this time. Luke (22:43 and 44) said in more detail, namely, that an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him, that is, calling Him as a man to be strong and of good courage, and that, being in podvig, He prayed more diligently, that we also would pray more diligently in times of danger, and that His sweat was like drops (θρομβοι) of blood dripping on the ground; θρομβοι — lumps, i.e. thick drops of blood. By this he said not that Jesus Christ sweated blood, but that from these death throes he began to sweat profusely. In order that everything that has happened should not seem to be a pretense, the Saviour not only shows sorrow on His face, but reveals it much more clearly and prays more than once; An angel comes to Him to maintain courage, but He still feels anguish and prays more earnestly until He sweats profusely. He does and endures all this in order to convince him that He did not perceive mankind in a phantom, but in reality. If there are those who do not believe in His incarnation, even after all that is proper to man has happened to Him, how much more would they not believe if this did not happen. It is also necessary to pay attention to how did the Evangelists know what the Savior said during prayer, how many times He prayed, then about the Angel, and about everything else in general? Then all the disciples slept, and then, leaving Him, they fled. I think that the Teacher Himself said this to the disciples after the Resurrection, when He appeared to them for forty days, as the Book of Acts says (1:3).

Verse 45.Then come to Thy disciples, and say unto them, Sleep, the rest, and rest... He said this, reproaching and reproaching them for sleeping in the moment of the most danger, and forgetting even His repeated persuasions to watch and pray; as if he were saying, "Hitherto ye have not been awake; Sleep and rest if you can.

Verse 45. Behold, the hour draws nigh..., i.e. betrayal. St. Mark (14:41) says that before these words Jesus Christ said: "Come (απεχει"), i.e., the devil has received power against Me, or: "That which pertains to Me ends, i.e., it receives fulfillment; for Luke also (22:37) said: "If it is for me, I will have an end."

Verse 45. And the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. This is understandable.

Verse 46. Arise, let us go: behold, draw nigh and betray Me. And by doing so, he showed that he died voluntarily. Knowing beforehand that they are coming against Him together with the betrayer, not only does he not flee, but even hastens to go out to meet them, saying: "Let us go to them." Luke (22:46) says that Jesus Christ said to His disciples: "Why do you sleep; Arise and pray that you may not enter into the attack. He probably said this before, and then added, "Arise, let us go."

Verse 47. And again I say unto Him, Behold, Judas, one of the two, come, and with him many people with weapons and drekols, from the bishops and the elders of men. One of the Twelve is added as a sign to show that he was one of the first disciples. This is set up as a rebuke of Judas, but it also applies to the other disciples; However, evangelists are not ashamed to write about this, because everywhere they care about the truth. John (18:3) says of Judas: "Receive the spira and the servants of the bishops and Pharisees, and come there with the luminaries, and the lights, and the weapons." Spira was a band of warriors hired for money, and the luminaries were the so-called lanterns.

Verse 48. And deliver Him up, and give them a sign, saying, If I kiss Him, He is, have Him. After such a denunciation, Judas tries to conceal that he is betraying the Savior. Therefore, he does not betray Him directly, but invents a kiss, hoping for the meekness of the Saviour, that He will not reject him, while He was more worthy to shame him and deprive him of all condescension, since he betrayed so meek. Fearing that Jesus Christ would somehow evade the malefactors, as He had often done before, He commanded: "Have Him and lead (Him) safely." This was added by Mark (14:44). But Jesus Christ, in order to prove to Judas that it was in vain that he had surrounded himself with guards, and that he would never have taken Him against his will, went out and said to them, as John wrote (18:4-6): "Whom are you seeking? And he answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am. And Judas, who had betrayed Him, stood with them. And when he said unto them, I am, I have gone backwards, and have fallen to the ground. This is the power of words! they could not even endure the words: I am; although they had lanterns and lamps, they were blinded together with the traitor, and although they were armed with swords and spears, they were scattered and fell. But having shown His power, Jesus Christ then admitted them and again asked, "Whom are you seeking? And they decided: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, "Say unto you, that I am: If ye seek me, leave them ye go" (John 18:7, 8). Judas did not change in the least after all this, and did not deviate from his assumption in any way.

Verse 49. And he came to Jesus, saying, Rejoice, Rabbi. And kissed Him. Luke (22:48) says that when Judas approached Jesus Christ to kiss Him, Jesus Christ said to him: "Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" He magnanimously expressed to him the purpose of kissing and reproached him for making a sign of love a sign of betrayal. However, He did not push Him away, but accepted the kiss, and allowed Himself to be taken. Having received such proof of His power, meekness and love for mankind, Judas, however, remained more evil than any beast.

Verse 50. And Jesus said to him, "Friend, (do,) on whom thou hast come." Then he laid his hand on Jesus and ate Him, as had been agreed. You see the ineffable mercy: as long as you were not betrayed, you took care of the traitor; therefore even now He called His worst enemy a friend. The words: "On which Thou camest" should be read not interrogatively, because He knew why Judas came, but affirmatively; they have the following meaning: that for which you have come; that is, act in accordance with your goal, throwing off all veils from it. The goal was betrayal, and kissing and speech served as a cover.

Verse 51. And behold, one of those who are with Jesus, he stretched out his hand, and drew out his knife, and smote the servant of the bishop, and cut off his ear. Luke (22:49-50) wrote: "And when he saw what happened with him, he said to him, 'Lord, if we strike with a knife; And one of them struck a certain bishop's servant and cut off his right ear. John (18:10) also named the one who struck, saying: "And Simon Peter, having a knife, take it out, and strike the bishop's servant, and cut off his right ear: and the name of the servant is Malchus." While others were still asking, he, as hot-headed, did not wait for an answer, but cut off his ear. The disciples had two knives, as Luke said (22:38), which they took probably after the supper; The knives were so large that they could be used to repel attackers. Seeing what had happened, Jesus Christ said, "Leave it until then," and touching his ear, He healed him; this was added by Luke (22:51). By the words: "Until now, Jesus Christ showed that the servant of the high priest lost his ear for the most wise purpose, precisely to show that the chief priests were deprived of hearing the prophecies concerning Him, i.e. understanding them, through envy. By healing the servant He showed His mercy to them, and that He could have avenged Himself on them if He had willed; He also taught those who do evil to us to do good. But how does it strike with the sword the one who is commanded not to take revenge? First of all, he did it not for himself, but for the Teacher, and then he was not yet perfect; but see how much he endures afterwards and meekly endures all this. Someone may wonder how it was that the disciples were not captured and killed after the incident with the servant of the high priest. Without a doubt, the power that blinded and threw to the ground also dispelled the anger for cutting off the ear.

Verse 52. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your knife back in its place: for those who take the knife with the knife will perish." He rebuked him and showed him that one should not use the sword to protect God; This, of course, forbade all weapons. For all who took the sword... — there is a prophecy about the destruction of the Jews who came against Him. John (18:11) says that Jesus Christ said: "The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" showing that all this is done not by their authority, but by the permission of the Father, and that He was obedient to the Father until His death.

Verse 53. Or does he think that I cannot now beseech My Father, and the Angel will present Me with more than twenty legens! A legion is the largest detachment of an army. He did not say, "I can destroy them, lest His words seem incredible, especially on account of the preceding sufferings, namely, sorrow, sorrow, despondency, sweat, and all that He had recently experienced as a man." They did not yet have a proper understanding of Jesus Christ; therefore He speaks of Himself with humility. He spoke of so many legions of angels, in order to encourage the disciples who were dead with fear, because once upon a time even one angel killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand in a short time (2 Kings 19:35).

Verse 54. How will the Scriptures be fulfilled, as it befits it? If I, he says, will not be killed in this way, how will the prophetic Scriptures concerning My death be fulfilled, which write that it must be so, that this is how I must die?