Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 26:55

"In that hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a robber with swords and staves to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and ye took me not." — Matthew 26:55 (ASV)

Luke says that this question was put to “the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders.” Yet even to them Jesus only addressed a mild expostulation, instead of the terrible denunciation that their conduct deserved. It did seem a great farce for multitudes with swords and clubs to go out from Jerusalem, at midnight, to arrest “the Man of Sorrows,” who would not allow one of His followers to draw a sword in His defence. Yet even His foes knew that He possessed extraordinary power if He only chose to exert it and their numbers, arms, and authority were so many unconscious tributes to His royal dignity and might.