ready to fight and die for their beloved Master, asked, "Lord, shall we
smite with the sword?" Peter, waiting not for a reply, drew his sword
and delivered a poorly aimed stroke at the head of one of the nearest of
the crowd, whose ear was severed by the blade. The man thus wounded was
Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Jesus, asking liberty of His
captors by the simple request, "Suffer ye thus far,"[1246] stepped
forward and healed the injured man by a touch. Turning to Peter the Lord
rebuked his rashness, and commanded him to return the sword to its
scabbard, with the reminder that "all they that take the sword shall
perish with the sword." Then, to show the needlessness of armed
resistance, and to emphasize the fact that He was submitting voluntarily
and in accordance with foreseen and predicted developments, the Lord
continued: "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he
shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then
shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"[1247] And
further, "the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink
it?"[1248]

But, though surrendering Himself unresistingly, Jesus was not unmindful
of His rights; and to the priestly officials, chief priests, captain of
the temple guard, and elders of the people who were present, He voiced
this interrogative protest against the illegal night seizure: "Are ye
come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat
daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But
all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be
fulfilled." Luke records the Lord's concluding words thus: "but this is
your hour, and the power of darkness." Unheeding His question, and
without deference to His submissive demeanor, the captain and the
officers of the Jews bound Jesus with cords and led Him away, a Prisoner
at the mercy of His deadliest enemies.

The eleven apostles, seeing that resistance was useless, not only on
account of disparity of numbers and supply of weapons but chiefly
because of Christ's determination to submit, turned and fled. Every one
of them forsook Him, even as He had foretold. That they were really in
jeopardy is shown by an incident preserved by Mark alone. An unnamed
young man, aroused from sleep by the tumult of the marching band, had
sallied forth with no outer covering but a linen sheet. His interest in
the arrest of Jesus and his close a