And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
Matthew 26:49
While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Luke 22:47-48
Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
John 18:4-5
The Claim: Matthew says that Judas identified Jesus with a kiss, but Luke and John say that Judas did not kiss Jesus.
The Explanation: This contradiction claim is similar to the one here and here. A lack of details does not create an actual contradiction.
Both Luke and Johnnever claim that there was no kiss, they just didn’t expressly state that there was a kiss. Given the response of Jesus in Luke, it can be concluded that Judas did kiss Jesus, because it wouldn’t make sense for Jesus to talk about Judas betraying him with a kiss if Judas did not kiss him.
As for John, there is nothing in John that suggests the kiss didn’t happen. In the culture of that time, it was a normal practice for a disciple to greet his teacher with a kiss, so John probably didn’t view the kiss itself as a significant or out of the ordinary event. Regardless of why John doesn’t record the kiss, John does record that Judas was there, so it is not impossible for all of these passages to co-exist. Therefore, since the passages are compatible with each other, there is no contradiction.