Matthew 26:55-56

The mob did not need to arrest Jesus secretly and violently at night. They could have found Him easily any day during the Passover season teaching in the temple courtyard. Their nighttime arrest made Jesus look like a dangerous criminal. Jesus pointed out that their time and manner of arresting Him said more about them than about Him. They were the stealthy ones, not He.

"The Lord not only reprimands His disciple, but He also reproves the crowd which is taking Him. Even in His arrest Jesus is King." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 306.]

"The characterization of the crowds [in Matthew’s story] develops along two lines: through their interaction with Jesus; and through their being contrasted with their leaders. Until Jesus’ arrest, the reader’s attitude toward the crowds is largely one of approval and sympathy." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 24.]

"On balance, then, the Jewish crowds are ’well-disposed’ toward Jesus but ’without faith’ in him. In being without faith in Jesus, they contrast with the disciples. And in being well-disposed toward Jesus, they contrast with their leaders." [Note: Ibid., p. 25.]

Matthew again pointed out that all these events fulfilled Scripture, a point of particular interest to his Jewish readers (Matthew 26:56). It was imperative that Messiah fulfill prophecy. The writers of the Old Testament Scriptures were prophets, God’s authoritative representatives. By fleeing, the disciples fulfilled one of these prophecies, as Jesus had predicted (cf. Matthew 26:31; Zechariah 13:7).