The arrest of Jesus was a pivotal event in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

recorded in the

canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

. It occurred shortly after the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

(during which Jesus gave his final sermon), and immediately after the kiss of Judas, which is traditionally said to have been an act of betrayal since Judas made a deal with the chief priests to arrest Jesus. The event ultimately led, in the Gospel accounts, to Jesus's crucifixion. The arrest led immediately to his trial before the Sanhedrin, during which they condemned him to death and handed him to

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

the following morning. In

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

, the events from the Last Supper until the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

and

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

of Jesus are referred to as the Passion. In the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, all four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus's arrest, trial, crucifixion,

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, and resurrection. In each Gospel, these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more intense detail than any other portion of that Gospel's narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening.Powell, Mark A. ''Introducing the New Testament''. Baker Academic, 2009.

Biblical narrative

John 7:30 and 32 refer to early attempts to arrest Jesus which were unsuccessful. Luke 4:29 recounts that "everyone in the synagogue" in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

laid hold of Jesus and "dragged him out of town", but he escaped and continued "on his way". According to the canonical gospels, after the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples went out to Gethsemane, a garden located at the edge of the Kidron Valley, thought by scholars to probably have been an olive grove. Once there, he is described as leaving the group so that he could pray privately.''The Synoptics: Matthew, Mark, Luke'' by Ján Majerník, Joseph Ponessa, Laurie Watson Manhardt 2005 page 169''The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament'' edited by John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck 1983 pages 83-85 The synoptics state that Jesus asked God for the burden of death by crucifixion to save humankind be taken from him, though still leaving the final choice to God. Luke states that an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

appeared and strengthened Jesus, who then accepted God's will and returned to his disciples. The synoptics state that the three disciples that were with Jesus had fallen asleep, and that Jesus criticized them for failing to stay awake even for an hour, suggesting that they pray so that they could avoid temptation. At that point, Judas gave Jesus a kiss, as a pre-arranged sign to those that had accompanied Judas as to who Jesus was. Having been identified, the officers arrested Jesus, although one of Jesus's disciples attempted to stop them with a sword and cut off the ear of one of the arresting officers. The

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

specifies that was Simon Peter and identifies the wounded officer with Malchus, the servant of

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) was the High Priest of Israel during the first century. In the New Testament, the Gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John indicate he was an organizer of ...

, the

High Priest of Israel In Judaism, the High Priest of Israel (, lit. ‘great priest’; Aramaic: ''Kahana Rabba'') was the head of the Israelite priesthood. He played a unique role in the worship conducted in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem, ...

. Luke adds that Jesus healed the wound. John, Matthew, and Luke state that Jesus criticized the violent act, insisting that they do not resist Jesus's arrest. In Matthew, Jesus made the well known statement " all who live by the sword, shall die by the sword". The account in the Gospel of John differs from that of the synoptics: only in John do Roman soldiers help to carry out the arrest. Judas leads the arresting party to Jesus, but rather than Judas pointing out Jesus, John has Jesus himself, "knowing all that was to happen to him", ask them whom they are looking for; when they say "Jesus of Nazareth", he replies "I am he",Note, the word "he" is supplied by the translators; the Greek has "I am", the Ego eimi, which explains why the arresting party is stunned. at which point all members of the arrest party went backward and fell to the ground.''The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke, Volume 1'' by Craig A. Evans 2003 page 487-500 Only in the earliest version of Jesus's capture, appearing in the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

14:51–52, is there any mention of a fleeing naked young man. The arrest of Jesus and Judas' role in acting as a guide to those arresting him are subsequently referred to by Peter in .

Gallery of art

File:Duccio Maesta detail3.jpg, From the '' Maestà'' by

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

, 1308–1311 File:Dieric Bouts - The Arrest of Christ with kiss of Judas and ear of Malchus ca1485.jpg, Dieric Bouts, –1460 File:Douffet, Gérard - Taking of Christ with the Malchus Episode - c. 1620.jpg, ''The Taking of Christ'' by Gerard Douffet, c. 1620

Notes

References

*Brown, Raymond E. ''An Introduction to the New Testament'' Doubleday 1997 *Brown, Raymond E. et al. ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'' Prentice Hall 1990 *Kilgallen, John J. ''A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark'' Paulist Press 1989 *Miller, Robert J. Editor ''The Complete Gospels'' Polebridge Press 1994 {{Life of Jesus in Christian art Passion of Jesus Judas Iscariot Caiaphas Gethsemane

Biblical narrative

Gallery of art

See also

Notes

References