When Judas left the upper room on the evening of Jesus' last meal with his disciples, he evidently made his way to the Jewish authorities—the chief priests, scribes, and elders—and was given a band of men to lead to the Garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus had talked with his disciples on many occasions, for as John writes, "Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples" (18:2).
Thus it came about that Jesus, after his prayer and surrender to God's will in the garden, had scarcely announced to his companions the imminence of his betrayal, when through the darkness he was approached by a crowd, some of them carrying lanterns and torches, others swords and staves. Matthew and Mark describe them as a "multitude" sent by the Jewish authorities, while Luke adds the officers of the temple police and pictures the chief priests and elders as present in person.
John tells us that Jesus went forward to meet them with a question, and that they fell back at his quiet statement that he was the Jesus of Nazareth whom they sought. Judas, the Synoptists record, went up to Jesus and kissed him, confirming that this gentle, defenseless Galilean was the criminal they had been sent to arrest. In this moment of danger, Jesus made a tender plea that his friends might be allowed to go free. (See John 18:3-9; cf. Matt. 26:47-50; Mark 14:43-46; Luke 22:47, 48.)
