The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 27. Jesus Arrested by the Faithless
DO YOU BETRAY ME WITH A KISS?
After the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples left the upper room and went to a garden called Gethsemane.
Jesus knew that he was about to face the most difficult moment of his life. Everything that had happened up to this point was leading to this moment. His mission, and the reason he was born, was to die for the sins of humanity. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, knowing that he would soon be arrested, harshly treated, and die to save his people. As the time to do this came closer, Jesus felt the pressure of what he had to do.
Jesus was going to take the punishment for all the wrong things people have done. This is called the atonement. Atonement means that Jesus was going to make things right between God and people. By dying on the cross, Jesus would take the place of his people and suffer the punishment that they were supposed to suffer.
He did this because he loved us and wanted us to be forgiven. Through his sacrifice, we can be close to God again and be forgiven for our sins. In fact, the righteousness or goodness of Jesus would be given to us. Jesus was, and forever will be, the hero of humanity. And if he is your hero, you will be saved from all your sins.
As they arrived in the garden, Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He continued with Peter, James, and John. He became sorrowful and troubled. He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken from me. Yet let your will be done, not mine.” Jesus knew that the will of God was for him to continue with the plan, and he prayed like this to commit himself to it. As he said in another place, “Now my soul is troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” The Father and Son had agreed to this plan even before the creation of the world.
Notice that when people wanted miracles and blessings, they never talked about the will of God. Jesus did not ask them to think about it. He only demanded faith from them. He even asked some people, “Do you want to be healed?” He did not say, “Does God want you to be healed?” He asked about the will of the people, not the will of God. In another place, Jesus said, “If you stay with me, and my teachings stay with you, then you will ask what you will, and it will be done for you.” When it comes to miracles and blessings, what is your will?
Faithless people teach the opposite thing. Since they have no faith to receive miracles or to perform miracles, they want to say that miracles only happen by the will of God. When miracles never happen, they can just say it is never the will of God.
Do you see how sneaky this is? It is a trick. They have no faith, but if you believe what they teach, you will never find out that they have no faith. Then they will still appear very spiritual and important to everyone. But their teaching is against the whole pattern of the ministry of Jesus.
When Jesus returned to his disciples, he found them sleeping. He said, “Could you not stay up and watch with me for even one hour?” And he went back to pray again. Each time he came back, he found them sleeping.
Perhaps the disciples did not understand the seriousness of the moment. Imagine how alone Jesus could have felt. He was about to be arrested and condemned, and to be punished for the sins of the whole world, when he himself had never sinned. But his closest friends did not understand him and could not help him. He had to do this alone. Yet, he was not alone, because God was with him.
Meanwhile, in the city of Jerusalem, one of the disciples was making a terrible decision. Judas Iscariot had gone to the religious leaders and agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Judas had been with Jesus and the other disciples, but Satan had taken hold of his heart.
Judas knew that the religious leaders were looking for a way to arrest Jesus. He offered to arrange a place and time for them to arrest him. He would identify Jesus by giving him a kiss, a greeting of friendship that would become an act of betrayal.
Jesus returned to his disciples one last time and found them sleeping again. He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? But the time has come. The Son of Man will be handed over to sinners. Get up! Let us go. The one who betrays me is here.”
While he was still speaking, Judas arrived with a large crowd of people armed with swords and clubs. They were sent by the faithless religious leaders who were against Jesus.
Judas stepped forward and greeted Jesus with a kiss, saying, “Greetings, Rabbi!” But Jesus asked, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
And Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous criminal, that you bring swords and clubs to arrest me? I have been teaching at the temple every day, but you did not arrest me. But this is your moment, when evil dominates.”
As the people moved forward to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and slashed at one of the servants among them, cutting off his ear. But Jesus said, “Enough of this,” and he ordered Peter to put his sword away. Christians will not use violence to spread the influence of Jesus Christ. We will use messages and miracles. Then Jesus touched the man’s ear and healed him. Even at a time like this, Jesus was healing people.
Earlier, Jesus had told his disciples, “Tonight, all of you will run away and leave me. As the prophet said, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'” Of course, the disciples did not want to think that they would leave Jesus. And Peter exclaimed, “Even if the others leave you, I will never leave you.”
Jesus answered, “I will tell you the truth. Tonight, before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not even know me.” But Peter could not accept this. He said, “Even if I must die with you, I will never say I do not know you!” And all the other disciples said the same.
However, at this moment when Jesus was being arrested, the disciples were terrified. Certainly, they did not want to be disloyal. They did not want to leave Jesus alone. But they were not strong enough. They were not as strong as they thought. So they ran away, and left Jesus by himself as he was led away.