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The Life of ChristSection 101 / 113
Section 101 · The Trials, Crucifixion & Burial (Wednesday Night to Thursday)

The Arrest

A friend arrives at night with a crowd behind him and greets him with a kiss. One of the disciples draws a sword and takes off a man’s ear; the last healing of the ministry is performed on the man who came to arrest him. Then everyone runs.

Matthew 26:47–56; Mark 14:43–52; Luke 22:47–53; John 18:1–124 of 4 accountsReading: CCE

Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column. Narrow to any two to read them side by side.

ProvenanceJSTJoseph Smith TranslationCCECovenant Christian EditionDeleted text shown struck, attributed
Study: reading text with parallel accounts; changes available.

Note. This is where the era’s pattern starts. Matthew and Mark are heavily revised and Luke and John are barely touched, and almost every change brings Matthew or Mark into line with what Luke or John already said. Mark’s bare mention of the severed ear acquires both the rebuke from Matthew and the healing from Luke.

? How to read this edition

The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.

JST
Green: Joseph Smith Translation. Where the Covenant Christian Edition departs in substance from the King James text and the change is in the JST (confirmed against the parallel-column edition). Modernized English (“has” for “hath,” “you” for “thou”) is not marked.
CCE
Burgundy: Covenant Christian Edition. Where the CCE’s reading departs from the King James but the change is not in the Joseph Smith Translation manuscript (e.g. “this day I have begotten you” at the baptism). Some are Joseph’s own readings from his sermons; the section’s Joseph Smith commentary then gives the sermon.
MatthewKJVMatthew 26:47–56CCEMatthew 12:10–12NT 1NT 2

47And while he yet spoke, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomever I shall kiss, that same is he. Hold him fast. 49And immediately he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. 50And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Judas, why have you come to betray me with a kiss?

Then came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him. 51And behold, one of them who was with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest, and smote off his ear. 52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again your sword into its place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53Do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

55In that same hour said Jesus unto the multitudes, Are you come out as against a thief with swords and staves in order to take me? I sat daily with you in the temple, teaching, and you laid no hold on me. 56But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.

MarkKJVMark 14:43–52CCEMark 7:13–15NT 2

43And immediately while he yet spoke comes Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44And he who betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him and lead him away safely. 45And as soon as he had come, he goes directly to him and said, Master, Master, and kissed him. 46And they laid their hands on him and took him.

47And one of them who stood by drew his sword, and smote a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. But Jesus commanded him to return his sword, saying, He who takes the sword shall perish with the sword. And he put forth his finger and healed the servant of the high priest. 48And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are you come out as against a thief, with swords and staves to take me? 49I was daily with you in the temple, teaching, and you took me not; but the scripture must be fulfilled. 50And they all the disciples, when they heard this saying, all forsook him and fled.

51And there followed him a certain young man, a disciple, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body. And the young men laid hold on him, 52and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked, and saved himself out of their hands.

LukeKJVLuke 22:47–53CCELuke 13:10–11NT 2

47And while he yet spoke, behold, a multitude — and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48But Jesus said unto him, Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? 49When they who were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with a sword? 50And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. Enough, enough. And he touched his ear and healed him.

52Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and elders who had come to him, Are you come out as against a thief, with swords and staves? 53When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me; but this is your hour and the power of darkness.

JohnKJVJohn 18:1–12CCEJohn 10:1–2NT 2

1When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden into which he entered, and his disciples. 2And Judas also, who betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus ofttimes met there with his disciples. 3Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, and torches, and weapons. 4Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom do you seek? 5They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus says unto them, I am he. (And Judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them.) 6As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. 7Then he asked them again, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 8Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way — 9that the saying might be fulfilled which he spoke, Of them whom you gave me have I lost none. 10Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 11Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up your sword into the sheath. The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?

12Then the band, and the captain, and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,

No recorded JST change in this account.
Cross-references · other works
Exodus 3:14 (CCE 2:5) · I AM THAT I AM↗Zechariah 13:7 (CCE 1:37) · smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered↗Psalm 41:9 (CCE 41:2) · mine own familiar friend hath lifted up his heel against me↗Psalm 55:12–14 (CCE 55:2) · it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance↗Isaiah 53:7 (CCE 19:2) · he opened not his mouth↗John 10:17–18 (CCE 6:27) · no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself↗
Joseph Smith on the betrayer

What Nearer Friend Had Judas Than the Savior?

From Apostates the Faithful Have Received the Severest Persecutions

The Scriptural Teachings index answers this passage with a letter rather than a sermon. Writing in January 1834 from Kirtland to the scattered Saints in Missouri, with his own church coming apart around him, Joseph Smith made the arrest into a description of how betrayal works, and located it precisely: not in enemies, but in friends who once had the light and lost it.

Letter, “The Elders of the Church in Kirtland, to Their Brethren Abroad,” 22 January 1834 · published in the Evening and Morning Star, April 1834, 152 (History of the Church 2:23; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 67)

From apostates the faithful have received the severest persecutions. Judas was rebuked and immediately betrayed his Lord into the hands of His enemies, because Satan entered into him. There is a superior intelligence bestowed upon such as obey the Gospel with full purpose of heart, which, if sinned against, the apostate is left naked and destitute of the Spirit of God, and he is, in truth, nigh unto cursing, and his end is to be burned. When once that light which was in them is taken from them, they become as much darkened as they were previously enlightened, and then, no marvel, if all their power should be enlisted against the truth, and they, Judas like, seek the destruction of those who were their greatest benefactors.

What nearer friend on earth, or in heaven, had Judas than the Savior? And his first object was to destroy Him. Who, among all the Saints in these last days, can consider himself as good as our Lord? Who is as perfect? Who is as pure? Who is as holy as He was? Are they to be found? He never transgressed or broke a commandment or law of heaven — no deceit was in His mouth, neither was guile found in His heart. And yet one that ate with Him, who had often drunk of the same cup, was the first to lift up his heel against Him. Where is one like Christ? He cannot be found on earth.

Margaret Barker · who was wearing the Name

The Servants of the High Priest

Everyone arrested in this garden is described by their relation to the high priest: his band, his officers, his servant. Barker’s work on what the high priest actually wore on his forehead gives that detail an edge the King James does not carry: the office that sent the arresting party was the office that bore the Name, and the man they came for had just spoken it.

The Great High PriestBYU Studies 42, nos. 3–4 (2003) · public lecture at Brigham Young University, May 9, 2003 ↗
Translations say that he wore the words “Holy to the Lord,” but Jesus’ contemporaries understood the Hebrew words differently. Aristeas, a visitor to Jerusalem in the first century before Christ, and Philo a few years later both record that the high priest simply wore the Name, the four Hebrew letters YHWH. Wearing the Name enabled the high priest to take upon himself the uncleanness of the people’s offerings. In other words, when he was the Lord, the high priest was also the sin bearer. This must have been the original significance of the fourth commandment: “You shall not bear the Name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who…”
The Temple Roots of the Liturgy© Margaret Barker, 2000 · on Ezekiel 9:4 ↗
Signing with a cross was also a custom from the first temple. When Ezekiel received his vision of the destruction of Jerusalem, he saw the six angels of judgement and a seventh figure, who was instructed to pass through the city and mark a letter tau on the foreheads of those who were faithful to the LORD (Ezek 9.4). In the old Hebrew alphabet, the tau is a diagonal cross, the sign which was also used when the high priest was anointed on his forehead (b.Horayoth 12a). The anointed high priest was distinguished from the one who only wore the garments of high priesthood (m.Horayoth 3.4), and, since the true anointing oil had been hidden away in the time of Josiah (b.Horayoth 12a, b.Kerittoth 5b), the tradition of anointing the high priest in this way must have been another first temple custom which was not observed during the second temple.

Barker is describing the first-temple high priesthood, not this arrest. The juxtaposition is the editor’s.