John 18 f. The Arrest, the Trial, and the Passion.
John 18:1-11. The Arrest. Jesus leaves the room, or the city, and crosses the Kedron (cf. 2 Samuel 15:23) to a garden where He often went, so that the place was known to Judas. Contrast the careful arrangements for secrecy in the preparation of the upper room. Judas guides hither Roman and Jewish soldiers. In Mk. Roman soldiers are not mentioned till after the condemnation. As the Jews represent Jesus-' influence over the people as a serious political danger, there is nothing improbable in the use of Roman troops to prevent disturbance at the arrest. The word used, speira, is the usual description of the cohort, but it is also used more generally. Jesus, knowing what His action means, comes out from the garden or His place of retirement in it, and asks whom they seek. The traitor is disconcerted. His plans for identification are not needed, and he stands by with nothing to do. There is momentary confusion, and the soldiers fall back in surprise at the unexpected behaviour of the dangerous criminal. Some fall down. If the author has exaggerated the incident, he has hardly made it the miracle of omnipotence, that puts its predecessors into the shade, of which we read in some commentaries. Jesus repeats His question. If they want Him, let the rest go. So it comes about that His saying that none should be lost was literally fulfilled. Again the incident is natural, even if the author uses it for apologetic purposes. In the incident of Peter and Malchus the names are given by Jn. alone. Such additions may indicate either true knowledge, or the later love of supplying the names of places and persons, so that its bearing on the historical character of the account is inconclusive. The words of the Lord (John 18:11) seem to presuppose acquaintance with the Synoptic account of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42 and parallels).