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?

Verse 55. In that hour Jesus spake unto the people, As a thief hast come forth with weapons and drekols to see me; all the days I have sat in church with you, and do not eat me. And by this He shows that He was not taken by their power. As they couldn't take Him then, so they couldn't now, if only He didn't want to. Luke (22:52) says that Jesus Christ said this to the chief priests, the rulers of the temple, who were gathered against Him. He probably spoke to them and to the people. From this it will be seen that Judas, having taken a detachment of the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees, went in front, followed by some of the chief priests, the rulers of the temple, and the elders, as Luke has indicated in the passage indicated, partly to encourage the messengers, and partly to see that they might not be bribed. He calls the leaders of the temple those who guarded the temple together with the soldiers; Judas had spoken to them before.

Verse 56. Behold, all things may come to pass, that the prophetic writings may be fulfilled... All this, that is, that I desired to be taken, happened in order to receive the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures, which only spoke of My death.

Verse 56. Then all the disciples left Him, fleeing. When they heard that Jesus Christ, in accordance with the Scriptures, gave Himself up voluntarily, and saw that it would no longer be possible for Him to flee from them, they fled, in accordance with His true prediction. Mark (14:51-52) added that a certain young man, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he, leaving the veil, fled naked from them. Some say that the young man was from the house in which Jesus Christ ate the Passover, and others say that it was James, the brother of the Lord, who used only clothes all his life. He wrapped himself in a blanket on the nag, i.e. on the body.

Verse 57. (The soldiers) led Jesus to Caiaphas the bishops, where the scribes and elders were gathered. Mark (14:53) and Luke (22:54) wrote a similar thing; but John, who, beginning with this passage, writes about everything more extensively and in more detail, as he was present at all this, says (18:12-13): "And the Spira, and the thousands, and the servants of Judaism, took Jesus and bound Him, and brought Him to Anna first: For Caiaphas's father-in-law, who was the bishop of that year. Then, having told in detail all that happened in the house of Annas, which the other Evangelists omitted, he says at the end: "And His ambassador Anna is bound to Caiaphas as a bishop" (18:24).

Verse 58. And Peter followed Him from afar to the bishop's court... Soon returning, he and John saw Jesus Christ off from afar. John, as an acquaintance of the high priest, was allowed to come closer, as he himself narrates (John 16:15). The other three Evangelists unanimously mention Peter alone, out of necessity, in order to show that the Saviour's prophecy about his denial was fulfilled, and in order to teach how bad it is to rely on oneself and not to trust in God. And John also mentioned himself for the sake of accuracy; but so that it would not seem that he was praising himself for following the Teacher in such danger, he hid his name and said: "And after Jesus went Simon Peter and the other disciple" (John 18:15).

Verse 58. And going inside, sitting with the servants, he saw the end. The three Evangelists say that Peter's three denials took place in the court of Caiaphas, and John says that in the court of Annas, his father-in-law; and yet they do not disagree with each other, because they both had one house and one courtyard, having two separate rooms in them. It should be said that, according to Matthew (26; 69, 71, 73), first one maidservant frightened Peter, then another, and finally those who stood there; according to Mark (14; 66, 69, 70), first one maidservant, then the same again, and finally those who stood there; according to Luke (22; 56, 58, 59), first the servant, then someone else, and finally someone else; and according to John (18; 17, 2, 5, 26), first the servant doorkeeper, then some others, and finally one of the servants of the high priests, a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off. But if you look closely, you won't even find any disagreement. At the first renunciation there was one servant, whom the four Evangelists mention. At the second denial, according to John, some asked Peter; these some were: the maidservant of whom Matthew spoke, and the same one mentioned by Mark, and someone else of whom Luke wrote. Mark and Matthew alike said that at the third denial Peter was asked by those who were standing there, among whom there could be another mentioned in Luke, namely, this was the servant of the high priest of whom John spoke. Having paid attention to what had to be noticed, it is necessary to explain what follows, namely, what happened in the house of Caiaphas, and which John did not mention as related by the other Evangelists.

Verse 59-60. And the bishop and the elders and the whole assembly sought false witness against Jesus, that they might kill Him, and not find Him... As it seemed to them, testimonies, but in truth, perjury; or, knowing that no evidence would be found against the innocent, they sought perjury. They wanted to condemn Him as guilty, and therefore they form a judgment seat, and seek false witness; they themselves become both judges and accusers; they try to accuse Him before themselves, since they have never hoped to overcome Him before other judges.