Jesus could easily have fled. Judas left with little more than a good guess where he would find Jesus once he rendezvoused with the Temple Guard and Roman troops. Only if Jesus remained consistent with His habits would Judas avoid looking the fool. However, Jesus had faced everything up to now with equanimity. He refused to act from fear. On the other hand, knowing His trials and death were prophesied did not make it easy. He was still a man. They had gone to pray in the Garden quite often. If ever He needed that time with the Father, it was this very night. The arrest was at hand, and Jesus knew He had to surrender.
He led His remaining disciples across the Kidron Valley into the place they always went. To all appearances, it was a night like any other night so far. The disciples did not understand this was the moment of crisis. Jesus warned them to pray they avoid too harsh a trial. Then He walked away some distance and prayed. Jesus needed very much to hear from His Father one more time the utter necessity of this awful path, this cup of bitter poison. The Father's response was not deliverance from the sorrowful task, but an angel to bring an extra measure of strength for the task. So great was the agony, sweat poured off Jesus, much as the blood would in just a few hours. This was His last night to pray in this place.
Luke shows the paradox of spiritual crisis being so unobtrusive in the material world. Everything was about to change irrevocably for all Creation, yet the only mark on earth was a damp spot on the ground and dim memories in sleepy minds. When the time had come, Jesus was ready. The battle was over, and all that was left was tidying up the formalities. The disciples missed the whole thing. Jesus found them sleeping, because, Luke tells us, they were too burdened. The heaviness of their eyelids was a symbol of heavy minds not yet set free by the Spirit to understand. They knew nothing except Jesus scolding them for what came naturally, saying something about an awful trial.
Every trial begins with an arrest. The ignorant dreams of the disciples about a kingdom on earth were about to be taken away forever, even as their Master was being taken away by a mixed mob of troops and officials. It was truly overkill to bring such a massive group, and Judas looked ridiculous with his effusive greeting of his former Rabbi. Jesus mocked the whole thing as unnecessary. So was the response of His disciples, for it was too late to fight. The battle had been utterly spiritual in nature, and was over. If they fought now, all of them would be dead quickly, and save the Jewish and Roman governments a lot of trouble. Jesus had to ensure He died for no earthly just reason at all. Wounding a few hapless human pawns was pointless. Jesus demanded the disciples desist fighting and let it be.
Jesus healed the wounded man -- such an awful threat He was! To the massive throng which came out to arrest Him, He ridiculed their show of force. What did they fear that they couldn't arrest Him in the His daily teaching sessions in the Temple, right there in their laps? Well, they would have their brief hour of power over Him. Again, the sense of paradox was excruciating. They felt so very threatened only because He needed no earthly power to destroy them. So to feel safe, they had to side with Satan to keep what they were so sure God had given them. All the while, they had no idea what God had actually given. Not only had they missed entirely the vast spiritual riches, they had corrupted the word of Moses and lost the rich earthly blessings available through the Law. And because Jesus dared call attention to this, they wanted Him dead in the worst way.
Brave Peter, who swung the blade in Jesus' defense, had now passed the moment of his human bravery. Even as it declined, he still had the courage to at least tail the arrest party from a distance. The most probable route was down the Kiddron to the Hinnom Valley, then around below the old Pool of Siloam, and up the western side through the Tyropoeon Valley. The Residence of the High Priest was just off the street running up that shallow draw. The night was cool at that season, so while the officials and their prisoner met in the open entryway of the house, the servants clustered in the yard below around a fire. Peter was among them. Someone recognized him. Then someone else. In the idle chatter, his Galilean accent gave him away. Each time, Peter denied with increasing vehemence knowing Jesus.
The moment had come for Peter, and the rooster crowed. A glance from Jesus, standing as the center of attention in the entryway above, was all it took to remind Peter what Jesus had warned. Peter wept bitterly and ran away. Yet another spiritual paradox. Among men, he was the worst, a traitor to his Master. On the spiritual level, it was simply a matter of stripping away the last shred of human dignity so he would be ready to know the depth of his need before the Lord. Until that moment, Peter was not yet ready to use.
Things got worse for Jesus, though. As they waited for the sun to rise, the soldiers holding Him beat and mocked Him. That the officials permitted this only served to indict them as criminals. At long last, daylight shone. Jesus was brought before the officially convened Sanhedrin. They asked Him whether He claimed to be the Messiah. Wrong question. They were not competent to judge the matter. If they were to actually entertain the question, He could prove He was the Messiah. However, they had no real interest in the matter, wishing only a pretext to turn Him over to Rome, since they could not lawfully order His execution. That would only serve His plans, since He was just a step or two from taking His throne in Heaven.
They seized upon this as the one thing they felt was within their purview. Did He claim to be the Son of God? His answer was an idiom, roughly equivalent to, "You wouldn't think to ask if you weren't already convinced in your hearts it was true." Because they were spiritually blind and hardened to conviction, it was like handing them the one thing they needed. In their minds, He had blasphemed in their presence. There was no further need for legal proceedings; He had confessed.
The vast gulf between the eyes of the flesh and the eyes of the Spirit could not be more obvious. In the former, what happened that night was probably routine in many ways. It would be forgotten. Indeed, many have denied the story since it took place. Sadly, many deny the spiritual power of the story by overly embellishing it with a very human grade of holiness. Luke left out so many details because what really mattered would be hard to explain in words. Only a spiritual mind could receive the unspeakable weight of that moment in the garden. For Jesus, the hardest part was already past. He was ready for what would follow.
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By Ed Hurst
08 November 2008
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