[سواها قلبي]

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

6- Arrest:

Mark 14 says: " 43 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely." 45 As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him. 46 Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him. 47 And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 48 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled." 50 Then they all forsook Him and fled. 51 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, 52 and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. “

*** The kiss was the beginning of the arrest process. We find that Matthew, Luke, and Mark agreed on this, with a slight difference. As for John, there is no place for the kiss. He also gives a picture completely different from what the three similar gospels narrated. He says:

“3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" 5 They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Then He asked them again, "Whom are you seeking?"
And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." 8 Jesus answered, "I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way," (John 18)

The four Gospels agreed on one important thing, which is that starting from that time, which was in the darkness of the night - because they came with torches and lamps - all the disciples left him and fled.

*** Where were the disciples' doubts?

The Gospels have previously mentioned Jesus' words to his disciples:

"All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:”

Here we are faced with two possibilities:

One is that Christ predicted to his disciples that a plot would be hatched against him. Although it would cause him pain and suffering, it would fail, and God would save him from the murder that awaited him at the hands of its plotters.

Secondly, Christ may have prophesied to his disciples that a conspiracy would be hatched against him, causing him pain and suffering and ending in his death.

If it was the first case... and the disciples saw - as the Gospels clearly narrate - that Christ was arrested that night and the forces of injustice were able to triumph over him and achieve what they wanted... then the disciples must have doubted their teacher who had predicted his salvation... and then events before their eyes later showed that it did not happen...

Only here do doubt, error and apostasy from the faith occur. It is known that doubt is not denial. This is because the thief who is caught may deny stealing, but at the same time he is the first to know for certain that he stole. He does not doubt the theft even though he denies it.

Since the Gospels all show that the disciples did not doubt Christ that night - but rather spoke of Peter's denial that he was one of his disciples - this means that events proceeded as described in that case, ending with Christ's escape from arrest and murder.

As for the second case, which is that Christ prophesied to his disciples that he would be arrested and killed, then what the disciples saw - according to the Gospels as well - is that this is what happened, and there is no room for doubt - then - in this case.

There is no doubt that denying the disciples' doubts on that night would necessarily entail making false predictions about Christ, something that could not have come from him, something we deny and condemn.

From the above, we find that the four Gospels differ regarding the story of the arrest and its circumstances:

Mark and Matthew both report that Judas kissed Christ. Luke reports that Judas was about to kiss him, while John knows nothing about the kiss.

Both Mark and Matthew mention a greeting and conversation between Judas and Christ. Luke is silent about that greeting, while John does not mention anything about Judas except for complete silence after he led the force to arrest him in the garden.

If we ignore what was mentioned in the two stories of the twelve armies of angels and the young man who fled naked, there remain three basic points that must be fully understood in order to stand upon them, and they are:

1- The kiss was the only way to introduce the members of the force to the personality of Christ (according to Mark, Matthew and Luke).. while in John this happened after Christ revealed himself to them in a way that reflects the challenge and steadfastness that the fighters of the faiths and messages possess..

2- An unusual incident occurred at that moment, which stunned the force members and caused them to step back and fall to the ground.

3- The disciples - according to what the Gospel writers narrate - did not doubt Christ for a single moment from the night in which the arrest occurred.

Since the story of Christ, with all its details, always goes back to the prophecies of the Old Testament, especially the Book of Psalms, Psalm 91, which is often cited, says:

“ 9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."

*** Is it not right to say that God’s angels carried Christ in their hands at that moment when the hearts of the believers were about to stray... after Christ and his disciples saw that the power of darkness was about to swallow them up?

And if it is asked, "Where did Christ go after that?"

We say, "And where did Elijah (Elias) go, who was taken up to heaven?"

The Old Testament books say about this:

" 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. (2 Kings 2)

And as Enoch (Idris) was previously raised to heaven, as the scriptures say:

“24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5)

The truth is that it is from God's mercy - Glory be to Him - to mankind that every miracle performed by Christ was preceded by those performed by the prophets before him. If he raised dead people - whose number, according to the Gospels, did not exceed three - then one of the prophets before him raised a great army of the dead. Others also raised individuals who had recently died or who had been dead for a long time.

As for the blessing and multiplication of food that Christ practiced, it also happened with the prophets before him.. and similarly was the process of healing the sick that the previous prophets practiced.. All of this is mercy from God to His creation ****** so that they do not go astray in Christ and be tempted by Him and take Him as a god *****


There's more to come... Your brother, Al-Athram