John 18:1-3

¹When he had finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and He and His disciples went into it. ²Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. ³So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

After the last supper that Jesus celebrated with His disciples, He went out with them, marching to His death through the dark and gloomy Kidron Valley, into the Garden of Gethsemane. Although John does not record it, this is a time of deep and bitter agony for Jesus, a time when, knowing that He was about to undergo the most horrible ordeal ever encountered by mankind, taking upon Himself the abominable filth of our sins and suffering for them the unmitigated wrath of the Holy God, He poured out His heart to God in unspeakable anguish (Mark 14:32-42).

But let us be grateful that His resolve was firm, that He never ceased to follow the Father’s will to perfection, and that, “having loved us, He loved us to the end” (John 13:1)! And note that John doesn’t record that this was difficult for Jesus. John’s focus has clearly been, throughout our study of his gospel, on the divinity of Jesus. Jesus is the Sovereign Lord. He has this situation completely under His control. He has proclaimed that the time has come, not because He merely foresees it coming, but because He will be the One to orchestrate the coming to pass of the course of His entire life.

Judas arrives, having known the frequent meeting place of the disciples, with a detachment – a large group – of soldiers and officials. This fact shows the guilty conscious of Judas, for if he had thought he was innocent, he would not have needed to bring so large a brigade, complete with weapons to arrest one Man.