The Arrest Was a Surrender

Day 41: Matthew 26:47-67

“Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” - Matthew 26:53 ESV

We don't hear a lot of teaching about the night hours that led up to Jesus' crucifixion. Sure, we know Jesus was in the Garden, sweating blood; but we don't really dig into the time when He was falsely accused during the cloak of night.

Let's make one thing clear: Jesus was not apprehended because of the mob's force. He was forthright with his words above. The arrest was actually a surrender.

The powers that were at his disposal would boggle our minds like they did when Elisha's servant got a glimpse of heaven's armies in 2 Kings 6:17: “'Then Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.’ And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

What unseen angelic hosts surrounded Jesus as he was captured in the Garden?

Our Savior surrendered.

It would be a painful night of spitting, slapping, bleeding, mocking, sorrow, and intense pain even before He made it to the cross.

And He did it for you. He did it for me. It was the only way. The quote from Craig Keener below amplifies this thought:

"Jesus was voluntarily doing the Father’s will (26:39, 42), and the Father still would have granted him twelve legions of angels (one for himself and each disciple) had he asked; but the Father had called him to face death for the very ones who had just abandoned him. In Matthew’s world angels will assist at the end (cf. 13:41–42; 16:27; 24:30–31), but in the present time dependence on them for deliverance without God’s permission would yield to Satan’s test (cf. 4:5–7)." - Keener, C. S. (2009). The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (p. 643)

We do not serve a Savior who was apprehended because He was weak; instead, it was a display of His strength.