Matthew 26:36-46

Gethsemane

26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 26:37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became anguished and distressed. 26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, ¹  “My Father, if possible, ²  let this cup ³  pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 26:40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He ⁴  said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? 26:41 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, ⁵  “My Father, if this cup ⁶  cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.” 26:43 He came again and found them sleeping; they could not keep their eyes open. ⁷  26:44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same thing once more. 26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 26:46 Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer ⁸  is approaching!”

Luke 22:39

On the Mount of Olives

22:39 Then ⁹  Jesus ¹⁰  went out and made his way, ¹¹  as he customarily did, to the Mount of Olives, ¹²  and the disciples followed him.

John 18:1-11

Betrayal and Arrest

18:1 When he had said these things, ¹³  Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴  There was an orchard ¹⁵  there, and he and his disciples went into it. 18:2 (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times ¹⁶  with his disciples.) ¹⁷  18:3 So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers ¹⁸  and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. ¹⁹  They came to the orchard ²⁰  with lanterns ²¹  and torches and weapons.

18:4 Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, ²²  came and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” ²³  18:5 They replied, ²⁴  “Jesus the Nazarene.” He told them, “I am he.” (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them.) ²⁵  18:6 So when Jesus ²⁶  said to them, “I am he,” they retreated ²⁷  and fell to the ground. ²⁸  18:7 Then Jesus ²⁹  asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 18:8 Jesus replied, ³⁰  “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for ³¹  me, let these men ³²  go.” ³³  18:9 He said this ³⁴  to fulfill the word he had spoken, ³⁵  “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” ³⁶ 

18:10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, ³⁷  cutting off his right ear. ³⁸  (Now the slave’s name was Malchus.) ³⁹  18:11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” ⁴⁰ 

[26:39]  ¹ tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:39]  ² tn Grk “if it is possible.”

[26:39]  ³ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

[26:40]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:42]  ⁵ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:42]  ⁶ tn Grk “this”; the referent (the cup) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:43]  ⁷ tn Grk “because their eyes were weighed down,” an idiom for becoming extremely or excessively sleepy (L&N 23.69).

[26:46]  ⁸ tn Grk “the one who betrays me.”

[22:39]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:39]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:39]  ¹¹ tn Grk “went.”

[22:39]  ¹² sn See the note on the Mount of Olives in Luke 19:29.

[18:1]  ¹³ sn When he had said these things appears to be a natural transition at the end of the Farewell Discourse (the farewell speech of Jesus to his disciples in John 13:31-17:26, including the final prayer in 17:1-26). The author states that Jesus went out with his disciples, a probable reference to their leaving the upper room where the meal and discourse described in chaps. 13-17 took place (although some have seen this only as a reference to their leaving the city, with the understanding that some of the Farewell Discourse, including the concluding prayer, was given en route, cf. 14:31). They crossed the Kidron Valley and came to a garden, or olive orchard, identified in Matt 26:36 and Mark 14:32 as Gethsemane. The name is not given in Luke’s or John’s Gospel, but the garden must have been located somewhere on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives.

[18:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the wadi of the Kidron,” or “the ravine of the Kidron” (a wadi is a stream that flows only during the rainy season and is dry during the dry season).

[18:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a garden.”

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “often.”

[18:2]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “a cohort.” The word σπεῖραν (speiran) is a technical term for a Roman cohort, normally a force of 600 men (one tenth of a legion). It was under the command of a χιλίαρχος (ciliarco", v. 12). Because of the improbability of an entire cohort being sent to arrest a single man, some have suggested that σπεῖραν here refers only to a maniple, a force of 200. But the use of the word here does not necessarily mean the entire cohort was present on this mission, but only that it was the cohort which performed the task (for example, saying the fire department put out the fire does not mean that every fireman belonging to the department was on the scene at the time). These Roman soldiers must have been ordered to accompany the servants of the chief priests and Pharisees by Pilate, since they would have been under the direct command of the Roman prefect or procurator. It is not difficult to understand why Pilate would have been willing to assist the Jewish authorities in such a way. With a huge crowd of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover, the Romans would have been especially nervous about an uprising of some sort. No doubt the chief priests and Pharisees had informed Pilate that this man Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, or in the terms Pilate would understand, king of Israel.

[18:3]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “officers of the chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:32, 45; 18:3, 12, 18, 22; 19:6. They are different from the Levites who served as “temple police” according to K. H. Rengstorf (TDNT 8:540). In John 7:32ff. these officers had made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest Jesus, and perhaps this is part of the reason why their leaders had made sure they were accompanied by Roman soldiers this time. No more mistakes were to be tolerated.

[18:3]  ²⁰ tn The words “to the orchard” are not in the Greek text but are repeated from v. 1 for clarity.

[18:3]  ²¹ tn These were lamps that had some sort of covering to protect them from wind and rain. In earlier usage the word meant “torch” but by NT times it apparently meant a lamp designed to be used outdoors, so “lantern” is a good contemporary English equivalent.

[18:4]  ²² tn Grk “knowing all things that were coming upon him.”

[18:4]  ²³ tn Grk “Whom do you seek?”

[18:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “They answered.”

[18:5]  ²⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Before he states the response to Jesus’ identification of himself, the author inserts a parenthetical note that Judas, again identified as the one who betrayed him (cf. 18:2), was standing with the group of soldiers and officers of the chief priests. Many commentators have considered this to be an awkward insertion, but in fact it heightens considerably the dramatic effect of the response to Jesus’ self-identification in the following verse, and has the added effect of informing the reader that along with the others the betrayer himself ironically falls down at Jesus’ feet (18:6).

[18:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “moved back” (but here a fairly rapid movement is implied).

[18:6]  ²⁸ sn When Jesus said to those who came to arrest him “I am,” they retreated and fell to the ground. L. Morris says that “it is possible that those in front recoiled from Jesus’ unexpected advance, so that they bumped those behind them, causing them to stumble and fall” (John [NICNT], 743-44). Perhaps this is what in fact happened on the scene; but the theological significance given to this event by the author implies that more is involved. The reaction on the part of those who came to arrest Jesus comes in response to his affirmation that he is indeed the one they are seeking, Jesus the Nazarene. But Jesus makes this affirmation of his identity using a formula which the reader has encountered before in the Fourth Gospel, e.g., 8:24, 28, 58. Jesus has applied to himself the divine Name of Exod 3:14, “I AM.” Therefore this amounts to something of a theophany which causes even his enemies to recoil and prostrate themselves, so that Jesus has to ask a second time, “Who are you looking for?” This is a vivid reminder to the reader of the Gospel that even in this dark hour, Jesus holds ultimate power over his enemies and the powers of darkness, because he is the one who bears the divine Name.

[18:7]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[18:8]  ³¹ tn Grk “if you are seeking.”

[18:8]  ³² tn The word “men” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The translation uses the word “men” here rather than a more generic word like “people” because in context Jesus referred only to the eleven remaining disciples who were loyal to him and were present at his arrest.

[18:8]  ³³ sn A second time Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he,” identifying himself as the one they are seeking. Jesus also added, “If you are looking for me, let these men go.” Jesus successfully diverted attention from his disciples by getting the soldiers and officers of the chief priests to admit (twice) that it is only him they were after. Even in this hour Jesus still protected and cared for his own, giving himself up on their behalf. By handing himself over to his enemies, Jesus ensured that his disciples went free. From the perspective of the author, this is acting out beforehand what Jesus will actually do for his followers when he goes to the cross.

[18:9]  ³⁴ tn The words “He said this” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. There is an ellipsis in the Greek text that must be supplied for the modern English reader at this point.

[18:9]  ³⁵ sn This expression is similar to John 6:39 and John 17:12.

[18:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Of the ones whom you gave me, I did not lose one of them.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.

[18:10]  ³⁷ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[18:10]  ³⁸ sn The account of the attack on the high priest’s slave contains details which suggest eyewitness testimony. It is also mentioned in all three synoptic gospels, but only John records that the disciple involved was Peter, whose impulsive behavior has already been alluded to (John 13:37). Likewise only John gives the name of the victim, Malchus, who is described as the high priest’s slave. John and Mark (14:47) both use the word ὠτάριον (wtarion, a double diminutive) to describe what was cut off, and this may indicate only part of the right ear (for example, the earlobe).

[18:10]  ³⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “The cup that the Father has given me to drink, shall I not drink it?” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.