44Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “The one I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead him away safely.” 45And directly coming to him, he went up to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him … 4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon Him, went and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they went backward and fell to the ground.
Truth to Learn
Those who are righteous are bold even in the face of danger.
Behind the Words
“Kiss” is translated from two different Greek words in this passage. In Mark 14:44 it is from phileō, meaning “to be fond of.” It is used here to indicate an act of fondness, in other words, a kiss. In verse 45, however, it is translated from kataphileō, which is a compound made up of kata, used as an intensifier and phileō. This represents “a fervent kiss.”
The word translated “knowing” in John 18:4 is a form of eidō, meaning “to know.” It is expressed here as a participle in the perfect tense. The participle indicates ongoing action and the perfect tense indicates action that occurred before the main verb (He went forward). In other words, previous to this event, Jesus already knew all that was going to happen to Him.
“Went backward” is from aperchomai eis ta opisō, which means “to go away backward.”
Meaning Explained
There is a very dramatic contrast in these verses between the manner in which the works of darkness and the works of righteousness are carried out. We see Judas, who selfishly betrayed Jesus, acting under false pretense with subtlety and deceit. He could simply have pointed to Jesus and told the others, “He’s the one.” If he had, however, the other disciples would immediately have known that he was a traitor.
Instead, Judas told the mob ahead of time that he would kiss Jesus as a sign that He was the one to take. This gave Judas “reasonable deniability” with the other disciples. Even though both actions would have accomplished the same purpose, in Judas’ mind the kiss would not appear to be a betrayal. Also notice that it was not the kind of kiss that would normally be expected from a disciple to his teacher, it was a fervent kiss which would indicate to the casual observer as if Judas greatly admired and respected Jesus. This was outright deception.
Jesus’ actions represent the polar opposite. Even though He already knew what was going to happen from the moment He surrendered Himself, to his death on the cross (and beyond), He boldly approached His captors. He asked who they were looking for and readily admitted that He was the one.
His response to the mob is interesting. He said “I am.” The word “He” does not appear in the Greek text. Notice that this is precisely the name that God gave to Moses when asked what His name was – “I am.” And the power of His name drove His captors flat onto their backs!
Application
Even in the face of serious consequences, being honest and forthright is the way the righteous behave. Do you have the courage to follow your Lord’s example?
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2019 Will Krause. All rights reserved