Saturday, March 31, 2007
Lent Bible Reading Challenge Day 35
The Arrest of Jesus

Matthew 26:47-56

As I read this passage today - I'm struck by the fact that Jesus is betrayed with a kiss. That action that most expresses hospitality, friendship, love, acceptance, trust, passion, tenderness and relationship. It's with a kiss that Judas chooses to betray Jesus. Didn't everyone know who he was? Why didn't Judas just jump out from behind the bushes in that dark garden and shout "that one, in the dirty robe! - get him!" Or why didn't he just point him out in the safe and secure silence of a distant spot? And then everyone - the closest friends and confidants of Jesus flee. They don't just hide, or hesitate, they flee.