While
he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” A certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “Let me at least do this”—and he touched his ear, and healed him. Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn’t stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Luke 22:47-53
Luke 22 [45.] When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief, and said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Luke 22 [47.] While he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Luke 22 [49.] When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” A certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
Luke 22 [51.] But Jesus answered, “Let me at least do this”—and he touched his ear, and healed him. Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn’t stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Luke 22 [54.] They seized him, and led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed from a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, and had sat down together, Peter sat among them. A certain servant girl saw him as he sat in the light, and looking intently at him, said, “This man also was with him.”
Meaning:
Jesus has just urged his sleeping disciples to rise and pray (Luke 22:45-46), and before he finishes, armed men appear among the olive trees. These verses tell of his arrest in three short movements: the betrayer’s kiss, the disciples’ sword, and Jesus’ calm words to those who came to seize him. Mark and Matthew record the same events (Mark 14:43-47; Matthew 26:47-49), and John names the swordsman as Peter and the servant as Malchus (John 18:10-11).
- “he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them”
Luke stresses the horror of it: the guide of the arresting crowd is “one of the twelve.” Satan had entered into Judas, and he had agreed with the chief priests to hand Jesus over “in the absence of the multitude” (Luke 22:3). The night-time garden gave them that chance. Earlier, after the temptation in the wilderness, the devil had left Jesus “until another time” (Luke 4:13). That time has now come.
- “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
A kiss was the usual greeting of a disciple to his teacher, a sign of respect and affection. Judas turns it into the signal for arrest. Mark records that he had told the crowd, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he” (Mark 14:44). Jesus addresses him by name and exposes what he is doing, yet he does not curse him. His question is a final appeal to Judas’ conscience. The scene fulfils the sorrow of the psalm: “Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).
- “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
Earlier that evening the disciples had shown Jesus two swords, and he had said, “That is enough” (Luke 22:38). They misunderstood him and now think the moment for fighting has come. One of them does not wait for an answer. In Matthew Jesus says, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). The kingdom of God is not defended by force.
- “he touched his ear, and healed him”
Only Luke, the physician, records this last healing miracle before the cross. The words “Let me at least do this” can be read as Jesus halting his disciples or as asking his captors to allow one more act of mercy. Either way, he stops the violence and repairs the harm done by his own follower. He heals a man who had come to arrest him. Here he lives out his own teaching: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).
- “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness”
Jesus then speaks to the chief priests, temple captains and elders. They come with swords and clubs as if he were a violent bandit, though he taught openly in the temple every day (Luke 21:37). Mark adds, “But this is so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled” (Mark 14:48-49), recalling Isaiah’s words that the Servant “was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). Jesus calls this night their hour, the brief time God permits evil to act, and “the power of darkness.” Yet even this darkness serves God’s purpose. As John writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it” (John 1:5).
The Significance of Luke 22:47-53
- Faithfulness, not outward show
Judas used a sign of love to hide betrayal. Jesus calls his followers to a loyalty that is real, not merely spoken or displayed.
- The way of Christ is not the sword
The disciples reached for weapons; Jesus reached out to heal. Believers are called to answer hostility with mercy, refusing revenge and seeking the good even of those who oppose them.
- Calm trust in God’s hour
Jesus faced betrayal and arrest without panic. He knew that the hour of darkness was limited and that his Father’s plan would stand. Those who follow him can face dark seasons with the same confidence.
Cross-References:
Mark 14:45: "When he had come, immediately he came to him, and said, “Rabbi! Rabbi!” and kissed him." Mark’s account of the betrayal.
John 18:10-11: "Put the sword into its sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not surely drink it?" Jesus accepts the Father’s will.
Psalm 41:9: "Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me." The betrayal by a friend.
Luke 6:27: "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" Jesus practises what he taught.
Conclusion: At the moment of his arrest Jesus faced a betrayer’s kiss, a disciple’s sword and a crowd armed as if against a robber. He named the betrayal, stopped the violence, healed the wounded servant and calmly declared that this was the hour of darkness, permitted for a time within God’s plan. His response shows the love of enemies, the refusal of the sword and the trust in the Father that he asks of all who follow him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible