‘And while he yet spoke, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great crowd with swords and staves, from the chief priest and elders of the people.'
The description is both awesome and contemptuous at the same time. Awesome because it depicts a great crowd, armed to the teeth with swords and staves, descending on the relatively unarmed small party at night, and one that was coming as representing those who saw themselves as the power in the land (apart from Pilate). But contemptuous because of what it contained when considered more carefully. First there was Judas, ‘one of the twelve'. The unnecessary additional description is stressing the enormity of his betrayal. (‘My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, the same has lifted up his heel against me'). Then there was the ‘great crowd'. Matthew deliberately and contemptuously adds ‘great'. So many to deal with so few. And what do their swords and staves suggest if nothing less than a band of brigands? (see 1 Samuel 17:43). A motley crew indeed. It was as though Matthew was saying, ‘this was all that could be expected of those chief priests and elders'. None of the first three Gospels mention the Roman guard standing back in case of trouble. They do not want to so dignify this rabble.
Alternatively Matthew may have been seeking to draw out that it is the Jewish people, backed by the Jewish leadership, who are arresting Jesus (a ‘great crowd' often surrounded Jesus, usually representing the lost sheep of the house of Israel). Their armaments then draw attention to their belligerence in total contrast to the usual crowds (which Jesus later draws attention to). This the other side of the Jewish nation. Their belligerence can be compared to Jesus' quiet response. What a contrast between the two parties.