Matthew 26:47-58
One disciple had not slept like the others. It was Judas. Here he is at the head of a threatening band come to take the Lord Jesus away. And how does this despicable man point out his Master? — by a kiss, loaded with hypocrisy. "Friend," — the Saviour replies to him — "wherefore art thou come?" What a final question calculated gently to probe the soul of the unfortunate Judas. But from this point it is too late for the "son of perdition" (John 17:12). These arrows for the conscience (see also v. 55) are the only defensive acts of the One who gives Himself up. The twelve may fail, but at the same moment more than twelve legions of angels are armed and on the alert, so to speak, ready to intervene at the request of the Father. All the mighty power of God is at Christ’s disposal if He wishes to avail Himself of it. But His hour has come. Far from hiding away or defending Himself, on the contrary, He restrains the arm of His over-impulsive disciple, the one who a few moments later shows the real measure of his courage by fleeing with his companions!
But already, in the palace of the high priest, the scribes and elders are gathered together in the middle of the night to carry out the supreme act of injustice (Psalms 94:21).