Jesus Teaches While Handcuffed (Matthew 26:45-56).

Class Outline:

Wednesday March 11, 2026

 

MAT 26:47-56

While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him." 49 Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, "Hail, Rabbi!" and kissed Him. 50 And Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him. 

 

51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.  53 "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?  54 "How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?" 

 

55 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.  56 "But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets." Then all the disciples left Him and fled. 

 

Background: 

 

Judas sent as a scout ahead of a multitude; armed to arrest; his sign is a kiss.

 

Kiss: Judas goes down in history as the great betrayer and the great hypocrite.

 

Jesus gives three teachings: in two cases He begins with a question, and to Peter He gives a command.

 

They are really appeals to them all: Judas, then to Peter, then to the mob. 

 

What is implied in each teaching is the question of the identity of each hearer. Flowing from identity is purpose.

 

All three teachings from the bound Jesus.

 

The first question to Judas:  

 

MAT 26:47

"Friend, do what you have come for." 

 

Better translation: “Friend, why are you here?”

 

In other words, “What are you doing here? Why have you come? Have you thought it through, what you are doing?” Implied in the question is “What do you hope to accomplish by this? What will it achieve for you?” 

 

Implied in the question is his identity: Judas the betrayer is a hypocrite. 

 

A hypocrite originally was a stage actor. It is natural that the meaning would evolve to: a person who pretended to be someone they were not.

 

Judas’ identity is a hypocrite and his purpose follows as a betrayer. 

 

Judas never believed (MAT 26:24).

 

Reveals an evangelical message - Good feelings about Christ does not mean that you believe Him to be who He really is. 

 

All unbelievers are hypocrites. Live a lie: no judgment, all will be okay, my works will save me (I haven’t killed anyone) God is not a judge….) .

 

Knowing will help you ask the right questions to reach them (stone in their shoe). 

 

Second teaching to Peter:

 

Command: Return your sword; we could perhaps ask Peter: “What are you doing?” 

 

Peter’s identity: Peter the rock who trust in himself.

 

Who should he have been? Peter the disciple who would follow the Lord’s lead. Was Jesus acting? Resisting arrest? He is bound and He let them do it. But Peter the rock is ready for action. 

 

Peter’s purpose: action of the wrong kind. 

 

Common trap for all of us: We think we’re strong when we are weak. Gethsemane lesson, we are always weak on our own. Humanity; even our Lord’s; we have to attach to the Lord / commune / walk and talk with by grace (flow / pipeline from God to you). 

 

Peter trusted in himself and we can all slip right back into that mindset. Then, we act on our own and do the wrong thing, even with the best intentions.

 

We can all act outside the will of God with good intentions. This time Peter forgot that he was taught to love his enemies, and the Lord’s enemies. 

 

“All who take the sword shall perish by the sword.” You can’t keep fighting everyone and expect to survive. 

 

Also, Christ could have prayed for the Father to send more than 12 legions of angels (70,000). But this was not the way it was to be.

 

The third teaching / question to the mob:

 

“Who do you think I am?” 

 

Identity: mob with mob mentality: loss of individuality, diffusion of personal responsibility, emotions become contagious, conformity and extreme opinion.

 

This mob is under orders, but in Jesus’ teaching, He reveals that their orders are irrational. 

 

The Lord points out a premise: You saw Me in the temple: I am a teacher. 

Then He presents a hypothesis: Could I be a robber? Even a Zealot?

Conclusion: No. 

 

Swords and clubs are for violent criminals who are likely to resist.

 

Some think that Christianity and reason do not mix. That is a terrible lie. The Lord’s teachings often ask His listeners to think, consider: to move from true premise to true conclusions (much also in epistles). That is the God given gift of reason. 

 

The mob purpose: do the bidding of their leaders, the chief priests and elders, to arrest the Son of Man like He was a robber without reason. 

 

The world lives with mob mentality. I think that people today have it worse than ever due to social media and smart phones.

 

The application to the mob is also evangelistic. You cannot convert a mob. You can convert the individuals in a mob. The only power to do so is the gospel.

 

Example of officials being removed from mob mentality: 

 

JOH 7:45-46

“Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”

 

Jesus asks a great question: Am I a robber? Think and reason!

 

Our conclusion is the identity and purpose of Christ.

 

His identity is the God, Man, Messiah.

 

He is the Son of Man. In DAN 7:13-14. He is the one who comes in the clouds and who is given an everlasting kingdom in which all nations and peoples and tongues will serve Him. 

 

He doesn’t look like that right now as He is handcuffed and surrounded by armed men. But that it because His everlasting dominion over His kingdom is not a dominion by force. Those who serve Him will love to serve Him. His kingdom is a family of love.

 

In order to make a family, every member has to be changed.

 

The Lord appeals to Judas, Peter, and the mob because every member of His kingdom has to be completely changed. Great commission - we do the same. And with the same heart. 

 

His purpose: to fulfill the Scriptures.

 

PSA 22:1-5

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. 

2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;

And by night, but I have no rest. 

3 Yet You are holy,

O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 

4 In You our fathers trusted;

They trusted and You delivered them. 

5 To You they cried out and were delivered;

In You they trusted and were not disappointed. 

 

PSA 69:9

 For zeal for Your house has consumed me,

And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. 

 

ZEC 13:7

 "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,

And against the man, My Associate,"

Declares the Lord of hosts.

"Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;

 

ISA 42:2-3

 "He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street. 

3 "A bruised reed He will not break

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

 

ISA 49:5-7

 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,

To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him

(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,

And My God is My strength), 

6 He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;

I will also make You a light of the nations

So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." 

7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,

To the despised One,

To the One abhorred by the nation,

To the Servant of rulers,

"Kings will see and arise,

Princes will also bow down,

Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You." 

 

ISA 53:3-6

 He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 

 

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted. 

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed. 

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him. 

 

May we tie our lives to the Words of Scripture as He does. He loves the will of the Father and the promises of the Father in Scripture more than His life or His own comfort.

 

The glory of all that God is and does is what matters. The truth, righteousness, goodness, love, peace; the life of God our King.

 

The church has been given the gift of the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit, the Word, eternal union with Christ. We can be just like Him. You and I must be. Look at Him here. Poised and teaching, trusting and hoping, ready and able.