MARK 14:44 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.”
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: the one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard — the kiss as the arranged signal is the intimate betrayal's identifying mechanism. In a torch-lit night garden, the crowd cannot reliably identify Jesus; Judas provides the identification through the greeting sign of a close friend. The intimate sign (a kiss) used for betrayal is the deepest possible exploitation of friendship.
Church Fathers on Mark 14:44
After that our Lord had prayed three times, and had obtained by His prayers that the fear of the Apostles should be amended by future repentance, He, being tranquil as to His Passion, goes to His persecutors, concerning the coming of whom the Evangelist says, 'And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas Iscariot, on of the twelve.'
This is not put without reason, but to the greater conviction of the traitor, since though he was of the chief company amongst the disciples, he turned himself to furious enmity against our Lord.
For he who despairs of help from God, has recourse to the power of the world.
Read all 16 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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