Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 14:50

"And they all left him, and fled." — Mark 14:50 (ASV)

Jesus protested against the manner of his arrest. The crowd sent from the Sanhedrin had come after him with swords and clubs, as if he were a dangerous criminal or insurrectionist of some kind. He had been teaching every day in the temple courts. They could have arrested him there. Why then had they come at night? And why had they chosen to arrest him outside the city? The obvious answer is that they feared the people’s reaction to Jesus’ arrest.

The circumstances of Jesus’ arrest were a fulfillment of Scripture (Isaiah 53:12, or perhaps Zec 13:7; cf. Mark 14:27). The disciples failed to stand by Jesus and left him completely alone.