Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 18:1

"When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where was a garden, into which he entered, himself and his disciples." — John 18:1 (ASV)

Jesus and the disciples left the room where they had convened, descended from the city, crossed the Kidron Valley, and made their way up the lower slope of the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane (the name assigned to the olive grove on the side of the mountain, meaning “oil press”). Jesus often used this place to meet with his disciples (cf. Lk 22:39). The city was filled with visitors at the Passover season and would have had little room for lodging within its walls. Neither Jesus nor the disciples were wealthy; so they probably camped outdoors during their visit to the temple for the Passover Week. Judas, probably having attempted to find Jesus at the house where he and the others ate the Last Supper, went to Gethsemane, expecting to locate him there.