While
he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priest and elders of the people. Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, “Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.” Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Matthew 26:47-49
Matthew 26 [42.] Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.” He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let’s be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
Matthew 26 [47.] While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priest and elders of the people. Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, “Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.” Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Matthew 26 [50.] Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. Behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?”
Meaning:
Jesus had just said, “Behold, he who betrays me is at hand” (Matthew 26:46), and while he is still speaking Judas arrives. With him comes an armed crowd sent by the religious leaders. Judas identifies Jesus in the darkness with the most intimate of greetings, a kiss. Mark tells the same story (Mark 14:43-47), and Luke and John add details (Luke 22:47-48; John 18:2-3).
- “Judas, one of the twelve”
Matthew repeats the phrase he used when Judas first went to the chief priests (Matthew 26:14). The reader is not allowed to forget that the traitor was one of Jesus’ chosen inner group. John adds that Judas “knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples” (John 18:2). He used the knowledge he had gained as a friend to guide Jesus’ enemies.
- “a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priest and elders”
The crowd was made up of the temple guard and servants of the high priest, and John mentions a detachment of soldiers with “lanterns, torches, and weapons” (John 18:3). They came at night, armed, as if to capture a dangerous rebel. Jesus later pointed out the absurdity: he had taught openly in the temple every day, and they had not arrested him (Matthew 26:55). The leaders had planned to take him “by deceit” and away from the crowds (Matthew 26:4), and now they had their chance.
- “Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.”
In the dark garden, with several men around Jesus, the arresting party needed a clear sign. A disciple commonly greeted his teacher with a kiss as a mark of respect and affection. Judas turned that sign of love into a signal for arrest. Scripture had long recognised such false affection: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse” (Proverbs 27:6). In Israel’s history Joab took Amasa “by the beard with his right hand to kiss him” and then killed him with a hidden sword (2 Samuel 20:9-10).
- “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him
Judas greets Jesus with a respectful “Hail” and the title “Rabbi”, the same title he used at the supper when he asked, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” (Matthew 26:25). The word Matthew uses for the kiss can suggest a warm, repeated kiss, which makes the hypocrisy even darker. Luke records Jesus’ sorrowful question, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48).
- “Friend, why are you here?”
Jesus’ reply, recorded at the start of the next verse, is remarkable. He calls Judas “Friend”, a word Matthew uses elsewhere for someone who has wronged a kind master (Matthew 20:13; Matthew 22:12). It is not bitter, but it exposes Judas and gives him a last chance to face what he was doing. Then the guards laid hands on Jesus and took him (Matthew 26:50-52).
The Significance of Matthew 26:47-49
- Love can be counterfeited
Judas used a sign of love to do the worst evil. Outward signs of devotion, whether words, gestures or religious practices, mean nothing if the heart is false. Jesus looks for sincere love.
- Jesus met betrayal with grace
Jesus did not curse Judas or resist. He called him “Friend” and let himself be taken. Peter later wrote that “when he was cursed, didn’t curse back” (1 Peter 2:23).
- Betrayal by friends hurts deeply
David cried, “my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). Jesus knows this pain, and he can comfort those who have been betrayed.
Cross-References:
Mark 14:43-47: "Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him, and lead him away safely." Mark’s account of the signal.
Proverbs 27:6: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse." False affection exposed.
Psalm 41:9: "who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me." Betrayal by a close companion.
Matthew 26:50-52: "Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him." The arrest that followed the kiss.
Conclusion: Matthew 26:47-49 records how Judas, one of the twelve, came to Gethsemane with an armed crowd from the chief priests and elders. He had arranged a sign, and he greeted Jesus with “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus answered, “Friend, why are you here?” The passage exposes the horror of false love and shows the grace of Jesus toward the one who betrayed him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible