He was BETRAYED…Did He see it coming?

Do you know the story about Jesus being arrested? You usually think of being who break the law getting arrested, but Jesus did nothing wrong. In fact, He was the only person ever who never sinned!

But even though it was wrong that Jesus was arrested, God knew it would happen and used it as a part of His plan. Read on for Fast Facts about Easter on His arrest!

Betrayal 

Have you ever had a friend who wasn’t nice to you? Maybe even did something really mean? Jesus understands because that happened to him. His disciple, Judas Iscariot, was one of his closest friends.

One day Judas went to the chief priests and asked them what they would give him for turning in Jesus. They agreed to give Judas thirty silver coins for his help. Later, Judas led a crowd of people and soldiers with weapons to arrest Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane in the middle of the night.

Judas gave Jesus a kiss, which was the sign to the chief priests’ soldiers which one was Jesus. They arrested Jesus, and the disciples (His best friends) all ran away. Later Judas regretted his part in Jesus’ arrest. He tried to give back the money and hung himself.

It’s a sad story but God used it for His perfect plan to save the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus. That part we can be thankful for.

The Garden 

Just before He was arrested, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives to pray, right after the Last Supper with His disciples.

The Bible says Jesus prayed so hard that His sweat was like drops of blood falling. He asked God the Father to “remove this cup from Me”, meaning the suffering He was about to endure. By going to the cross Jesus would be drinking the cup of God’s wrath for us all. He knew that the cross would be very painful both physically and spiritually, so He asked God to take it away.

But ultimately Jesus wanted to be obedient to His Father more than anything. And His love was so great for us, He WAS willing to go to the cross. What a great love! 

Arrest 

Jesus was still praying in the garden when a large mob of people and soldiers with clubs and swords came. Judas was with them and he kissed Jesus. The disciples were ready to fight and Simon Peter cut the ear off of the servant of the high priest! Jesus said, “No more of this!” and healed the servant’s ear on the spot.

He told them He was Jesus and to leave His followers alone. He then asked them why they came at night when they could have arrested him any time during the day at the temple? That’s a good question. The answer is they were afraid of the many people who believed in Jesus.

They arrested Jesus for claiming to be God, especially because many of the people believed that to be true. Arresting Jesus in the middle of the night seemed to be a safer option for chief priests, so that the people who believed in Jesus wouldn’t be able to protest His arrest.

After tying Jesus up, they took Him to the high priest’s house for a trial. Even though Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to rescue Him, He chose to go peacefully.   

Trials  

After Jesus was arrested, they took Him to Caiaphas’ house, the high priest, where they had a religious trial. Annas and Caiaphas asked Him many questions and people lied about things that Jesus had said. But Jesus was innocent so they found nothing wrong.

Finally, the high priest asked Jesus if He was the Son of God and He said “You have said so.” They ripped their clothes and said He was worthy of death for claiming to be God. The Jewish leaders could not condemn Him to death so they had to take him to the Roman court.

Here Jesus was tried by Pontius Pilate, then King Herod, and then again by Pontius Pilate. They also found nothing wrong with Jesus and wanted to release Him. But the Jewish leaders and their mobs kept yelling “Crucify Him!” so Pilot washed his hands (to show he didn’t want anything to do with Jesus’ death) and gave Jesus over to be crucified.   

Disciples 

Do you ever mess up with your friendships? We all do once in a while and Jesus’ disciples were the same. They were Jesus’ closest friends, but they didn’t always stick by Him.

First, Jesus asked them to pray with Him in the garden and they kept falling asleep! Then Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Ouch! And when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus the disciples scattered.

Simon Peter did stay close by with a couple others and was waiting outside the house where Jesus was being tried. But when people asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples, he denied even knowing Jesus three different times. Jesus told him this would happen and when the rooster crowed, Simon Peter remembered Jesus’ words and ran away crying bitterly.

It was a dangerous time to be a close friend of Jesus and the disciples were afraid. But what a difference after Jesus rose from the grave! These same disciples preached that Jesus was the Messiah to many, many people. And they also died for their faith in him.