In this passage everyone who was close to Jesus—from Judas to the disciples who planned to follow him to the death—either betrays or abandons him to his opponents. As Jesus faces injustice alone as a victim, he shows us the depth of his love: when not another human being stood with him, our Lord nevertheless continued in the Father's plan to save us.

Jesus' enemies (here probably the Levite temple police) came armed as if he were a l h st h (26:55), the term Josephus most frequently applies to revolutionaries (Moule 1965:119). They did not understand that the real threat Jesus posed was quite different—and that his execution would signal the beginning of his messianic triumph.