Jesus is taken and bound - Flight of the Disciples

Consummatum est. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Our Lenten meditations continue with posts taken from a Simple Exposition of the Circumstances of the Passion of Jesus Christ (1761) by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori.

I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the end of the relevant paragraph.

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Tecum tutus semper sum.
Ad Jesum per Mariam.

This grace I ask of thee to-day: obtain for me a continual remembrance of the passion of Jesus, and of thine also, and a tender devotion to them.

Jesus is taken and bound - Flight of the Disciples

Judas betrays Christ. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Rise up, let us go. Behold he that will betray Me is at hand.[1] Knowing that Judas, along with the Jews and soldiers who came to capture him, was at hand, the Redeemer, still bathed in the sweat of death, rises with a pallid countenance, but with a heart all on fire with love, and goes to meet his enemies, in order to deliver himself into their hands. On seeing them he said. Whom do you seek?[2]

Imagine, O my soul, that Jesus then said to thee, Tell me whom dost thou seek? Ah! my Lord, and whom will I seek but Thee, who art come from heaven on earth to seek after me, and save me from perdition?

[1] [42] Rise up, let us go. Behold, he that will betray me is at hand.
Surgite, eamus : ecce qui me tradet, prope est. [Mark 14]

[2] [4] Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said to them: Whom seek ye?
Jesus itaque sciens omnia quae ventura erant super eum, processit, et dixit eis : Quem quaeritis? [John 18]

They took Jesus and bound Him. [3] Alas, a God bound! What should we say if we saw a king taken and bound in chains by his own servants? And what do we say now that we see a God in the hands of the rabble? O blessed cords that bound my Redeemer, bind me also to him; but bind me so that I can nevermore withdraw myself from his love; bind my heart to his most holy will, so that henceforth I may wish only what he wishes

[3] [12] Then the band and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews, took Jesus, and bound him:
Cohors ergo, et tribunus, et ministri Judaeorum comprehenderunt Jesum, et ligaverunt eum.  [John 18]

Behold, O my soul, how one seizes his hands, another binds him, and others insult and strike him: the innocent Lamb permits them to bind and strike him as they please. He makes no effort to escape from their hands, he does not call for aid, he does not complain of so many injuries, nor does he ask why he is so maltreated. Behold the prediction of Isaias verified: He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter.[4]   He neither speaks nor complains; for he offered himself to the divine justice in order to make satisfaction and to die for us; and therefore he permits himself to be led as a sheep to the slaughter, without opening his mouth.

[4] [7] He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth.
Oblatus est quia ipse voluit, et non aperuit os suum; sicut ovis ad occisionem ducetur, et quasi agnus coram tondente se obmutescet, et non aperiet os suum. [Isai 53]

Behold him in chains, dragged from the garden, in the midst of a tumultuous crowd, and brought in haste before the high priest! And where are his disciples? What do they do? If they are unable to liberate him from the hands of enemies, they surely accompany him in order to defend his innocence before the judges, or at least to console him by their presence. But no, the Gospel says, Then his disciples leaving him, all fled away[5] How great was the pain which Jesus Christ felt at seeing himself forsaken and abandoned by his beloved disciples. Alas! Jesus then saw all those who, after having been specially favored by him, would afterwards abandon him, and ungratefully turn their back upon him.

[5] [50] Then his disciples leaving him, all fled away.
Tunc discipuli ejus relinquentes eum, omnes fugerunt. [Mark 14]

Ah, my Lord, I have been one of these unhappy souls, who having received so many graces, lights and calls, have ungratefully forgotten and forsaken Thee. Accept me for the sake of Thy mercy, now that I return to Thee with a penitent and sorrowful heart, never again to leave Thee. O treasure of life, O love of my soul!