14:43
Judas now appears, along with a crowd armed with clubs and swords. The armed crowd probably included the temple guard. This crowd, or mob, had been sent by the religious leaders to do their dirty work. As mentioned earlier, the purpose of Judas was to provide cover for the chief priests. One of His own betrayed Him, there must be something wrong! Note the last words in v42, “Here comes my betrayer”. Judas may have thought he was surprising Jesus, but Jesus knew what was happening and was ready.
14:44,45
Greeting someone with a kiss was a normal form of respectful greeting in the society, so it should have signified that Judas respected Jesus. Instead it signified that he was betraying Jesus. We may wonder why the guards needed to know who the one was that they were to arrest. We do need to remember that they didn’t have television or the internet in those days! Even so, it is still a little strange. Jesus had been prominent, and in the temple area. Also, one would think it was obvious who was the leader. To make matters worse, Judas even called Jesus “Rabbi”.
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