Big Idea: Jesus dreads what is to come, but he nevertheless accepts his Father’s will and does not resist when he is arrested.

Understanding the Text

The action moves from the supper table to the place on the hillside where Judas knows Jesus is to be found, and to which he will lead the arresting party. Jesus’s refusal to hide or evade capture by going elsewhere and his prohibition of armed resistance show that he has fully accepted the violent fate that he has repeatedly predicted to the disciples on their way to Jerusalem. Everything is happening as Scripture has indicated, and Jesus’s agonized prayer confirms his acceptance of that divinely ordained pattern. The endgame begins with this scene on the Mount of Olives, and it will play out through the rest of chapters 22–23, with Jesus o…