The Sword and the Cross

The murder of Jesus was not a just event. His accusers show up in
the middle of the night to arrest him. Jesus proposes a wise
question: "Have you come out as against a robber with swords and
clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple
teaching, and you did not seize me" (vv. 48-49). These men did not
have the courage to arrest Jesus in the day; they waited until no
one else was around so that the darkness might hide their deeds.
They also brought excessive weapons to arrest Jesus; maybe they
remember him overturning the tables in the Temple and don't think
their manpower would be enough to restrain him. Either way, their
actions are cowardly. These events feel more like a city mugging or
a schoolyard brawl than an arrest.