CSI Jerusalem...Band on the Run

We continue our investigation where we left off last time with Jesus being arrested in the garden.

It was at this point that Jesus said to the mob, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me” (Matthew 26:55). The cowardly way they came out against Jesus in the dead of night was proof that they knew they had no legitimate grounds for arresting Him.

He was involved in no clandestine insurrection. He had done His teaching publicly and in broad daylight, usually on the temple grounds, in full view of everyone. If there had been lawful grounds for arresting Him, He could have been taken into custody on almost any day during that previous week. The Sanhedrin knew, of course, that such a public arrest could stir the crowd. That is why they had conspired to arrest Jesus secretly. But by saying this, Jesus exposed their subterfuge to the Roman soldiers who probably knew nothing about the Jewish leaders’ real motives.

He added, “But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (v. 56). Thus Christ again sounds the refrain that is the constant theme of all four-gospel accounts of the crucifixion. Despite their hostility to Christ, the men who arrested Him were fulfilling His sovereign purposes perfectly. Their attempts to destroy Him were only achieving His chosen ends, fulfilling a plan that was established before time began. His Word and His will would be fulfilled no matter how fiercely the powers of darkness sought to destroy Him.

The disciples had repeatedly heard Jesus express such absolute confidence in the sovereign plan of God. But under these circumstances, and at this moment, it seemed scant comfort to them. Christ had now been betrayed into the hands of His enemies. There was nothing they could do to stop it. They had never been in any situation that appeared so hopeless—at least not while they were in Jesus’ presence. It had been a difficult few hours, and now utter despair set in. Their eyes were fixed firmly on the circumstances of the moment, not on the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. And therefore they could draw no comfort from Jesus’ reassuring words. Fear began to overwhelm them. “Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (v. 56). The band of disciples were on the run!

Remember that even their desertion occurred so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. They were acting precisely as Jesus said they would. If they reflected on these things at all, they must have realized that not one disaster had befallen them that He had not previously warned them about.

Peter and John secretly followed the mob to the high priest’s house (John 18:15). Nothing is said about where the other disciples went—but they apparently went into hiding.

In fairness to them, we should note that they all would indeed have been arrested or worse if they had stayed in the garden. That fact is evident from Jesus’ plea to the arresting officers, recorded in John’s account: “If you seek Me, let these go their way” (John 18:8). According to John, Jesus said that “[So] that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none’ ” (v. 9). Probably when they heard Jesus say those words, they seized the moment and fled without hesitation.

Here is another part of the story that is usually missed when most people investigate the events surrounding the arrest and murder of Jesus. A mystery man of sorts enters the story. Mark includes a vignette found in none of the other gospels: “They all forsook Him and fled. Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked” (Mark 14:50–52).

Who that “certain young man” was is nowhere stated, but it may well have been Mark himself. The “young men” who laid hold of him were no doubt the Roman soldiers. Whoever this unnamed young man was, he had apparently been in bed, or preparing for bed, when the noise of the mob awakened him. Without taking time to dress, he threw on a linen cloth, perhaps a bedsheet, and followed the noise to see what was happening. Assuming that he was a follower of Christ, the soldiers tried to apprehend him. He escaped, but only by abandoning his makeshift clothing and fleeing into the night naked.

This certainly proves that the disciples themselves were indeed in danger that night.

And so they all deserted their Master. But He was by no means alone. Jesus had earlier told the disciples, “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32).

The divine work of redemption thus continued on schedule. Christ’s sovereign plan would be fulfilled in every detail, despite the opposition of His enemies—and even despite the abandonment of His friends.

The adventure and investigation continues...