ACC ~ John 18 v3

A BAND OF SOLDIERS

AUGUSTINE: It was a band not of Jews but of soldiers who were given legal authority by the governor to take the so-called criminal and crush any opposition that might be made. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 112.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:416*; CCL 36:634.

PREVIOUSLY UNSUCCESSFUL, THEY NOW SEIZE JESUS

CHRYSOSTOM: These men had often at other times sent to seize him but had not been able. And so it is plain that this time Jesus voluntarily surrendered. And how did [the Jewish leaders] persuade the band to accompany Judas? They were soldiers [1] who had made it their practice to do anything for money. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 83.1. [2]

[1] Gk stratiōtai, “mercenaries.”

[2] NPNF 1 14:307**.

WHY SO MANY?

ORIGEN: It may be asked why a great multitude was gathered against him with swords and staves. According to John, this great multitude was a contingent of soldiers and officials sent by the chief priests. Maybe it was because there were so many now that believed in him that so many also assembled against him. They were afraid that a great number of believers would snatch him out of their hands. But I think there was another reason for a multitude being gathered against him. Those who thought that he could cast out demons through Beelzebub [1] thought he could by some sorcery or magic escape from the midst of those who sought to hold him. And perhaps some of them had heard how once, when he was just about to be cast headlong from the brow of the mountain, he escaped the hands of those who held him—not by ordinary human flight but by one beyond human nature. [2] … There are many even now fighting against Jesus with spiritual swords and staves of evil spirits in the same way as these did. Jesus always gets the better of their plots, although for a time he receives their attacks on him in order that the sins of those who plot against him may be complete and the wickedness of their will against the truth of God’s only-begotten, the Word, may be made known. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 99. [3]

[1] Mt 12:24.

[2] Mt 4:6.

[3] AEG 6:3-4**; GCS 38 2 (11):217.

THE WITNESSES OF DENIAL WILL TESTIFY

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Take the cross first, therefore, as an indestructible foundation, and build on it the other articles of the faith. Do not deny the crucified. For if you deny him, you have many to arraign you. Judas the traitor will arraign you first. For he who betrayed him knows that Jesus was condemned to death by the chief priests and elders. The thirty pieces of silver bear witness. Gethsemane bears witness, where the betrayal occurred. I am not even speaking yet of the Mount of Olives on which they were with him at night, praying. The moon in the night bears witness; the day bears witness, and the sun, which was darkened. For it endured not to look on the crime of the conspirators. The fire will arraign you by which Peter stood and warmed himself. If you deny the cross, the eternal fire awaits you. I speak harsh words so that you may not experience harsh pains. Remember the swords that came against him in Gethsemane so that you do not feel the eternal sword. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 13.38. [1]

[1] ESUS IS INFORMED THAT LAZARUS IS SICK | JOHN 11:1-5

REAL DANGER

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The crowd that accompanied the traitor when they made their attack on Christ carried lanterns and torches. They would seem to have guarded against stumbling in the dark and accidentally falling into holes, for such accidents often happen in the dark. But, how unfortunate for their blindness! The miserable men, in their extreme ignorance, did not perceive that they were stumbling on the stone concerning which God the Father says, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling block and a rock of offense.” [1] They who happened to be afraid of falling into a small hole did not see that they were rushing into the depths of the abyss and the very bowels of the earth. And they who were cautious in the twilight of evening took no account of perpetual and endless night. For those who impiously plotted against the light of God, that is, Christ, were doomed to walk in darkness and the dead of night, [2] as the prophet says. And not only this, but they were also doomed to vanish away into outer darkness, there to give an account of their impiety against Christ and to be consigned to bitter and endless punishment. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 11.12. [3]

[1] See Rom 9:33.

[2] See Is 59:9.

[3] LF 48:568*.

Jn