Luke 22:47-62
Introduction
Most of us know firsthand how much the acts of betrayal and denial sting. As we continue our Walk to the Cross, La Via Delarosa, we find our Lord facing both betrayal and denial. In this case, these two terrible acts are perpetrated by friends.
Last week, we examined the disciples’ argument concerning who among them would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Certainly, they all knew that Jesus is the greatest in God’s kingdom, but they were jockeying for positions of prominence next to him. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He knew the drama that awaited him. So, he used this occasion to again teach his disciples that God’s view of leadership differs drastically from the view of humans. Jesus reminded the disciples that God calls and uses servant leaders. Jesus came to serve others, not to be served. His followers are also called to serve others.
In Luke 22:31, Jesus told Peter that Satan desired to sift him like wheat. That is a graphic image. Spiritual warfare is a significant aspect of the week of Christ’s passion. Satan entered the heart of Judas when he met with the chief priests and agreed to give Jesus into their hands. Here, the enemy is going after Peter. But in the midst of this spiritual warfare, Christ offers hope, just as he always does. Jesus told Peter that he had prayed for his faith not to fail. What an encouragement that had to be to Peter in the days ahead. The King of kings and the Lord of lords prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail during his engagement in spiritual warfare. In this passage, Peter objected to the Lord’s declaration, seeking to prove his loyalty to Christ. He said that he was ready to go to prison and even to die for Christ. Jesus predicted [accurately] that Peter would deny three times that he knows him before the rooster crows.
Another text follows that points to spiritual warfare and the cosmic battle between God and Satan that ensued during the passion of the Messiah. In Luke 22:39, Jesus went with the disciples to the Mount of Olives as was his custom. Gethsemane was very familiar to Jesus and his disciples. They likely spent many nights camping out and sleeping there. Further, it was a place where Jesus often went to pray. When Jesus arrived at the place, he requested that the disciples would pray, asking God to protect them from temptation. Prayer along with the Word of God are our primary defenses against temptation. Jesus walked a little farther and he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 23:42). As stated in Luke 9:51, Jesus resolutely set his focus on Jerusalem and what awaited him there. He recognized God’s power to remove the cup of death that he was about to drink, but even so, he expressed his resolve to be obedient to the will of the Father. After being strengthened by an angel, he prayed even more earnestly. When he finished the prayer, he found the disciples sleeping. Again, he implored his disciples to pray so that they would not fall into temptation. Just as we often fail to pray, apparently, they failed to follow Christ’s instructions and they entered into temptation. All of the disciples deserted Jesus on this night.
Betrayed
While Jesus was still speaking to his disciples, Judas, one of the twelve, led a crowd to Jesus where he had been praying. The notation that Judas was one of the twelve underscores the enormity of the betrayal.[1] This crowd consisted of the chief priests, the officers of the guard and the elders (Luke 22:52), all part of the opposition to Christ. They desired to arrest Jesus for a long time, but they were afraid to arrest him during the day because of the crowds that supported and praised the ministry of the Messiah. Here they approached Jesus under the cover of night when Jesus was away from the crowds. But all of this was a part of God’s redemptive plan for humanity. Judas drew near to Jesus, intending to betray him with a kiss, the common greeting of friends in that culture. This account supports the historicity of Jesus betrayal by one of his disciples. As Robert Stein notes, “No one in the church would have created a story in which one of Jesus’ own disciples betrayed him.”[2] The horror of betraying a friend was heightened by the use of a kiss to do so. Judas, in concert with the devil (Luke 22:3), betrayed the sinless Son of God into the hands of sinners.
As the disciples recognized what was happening, they asked Jesus if they should strike out with their swords. Before Jesus could answer, one of the them struck the high priest servant, cutting off his right ear. John 18:10 reveals that the perpetrator was Peter and the servant’s name was Malchus. Instead of encouraging violence, the Prince of Peace put an end to the aggression. Then, as an act of compassion, he touched and healed the servant’s ear. One would expect that such an act of kindness would remove the air of violence and vengeance in the garden of Gethsemane, but the fate of the Lord was sealed. His kingdom was not of this world. Further, the Messiah demonstrated his teachings by loving and meeting the needs of his enemy. Jesus looked at the opposition, asking why they came to arrest him with swords and clubs. Further, he challenged their cowardice by reminding them he was with them every day in the temple courts and they made no attempt to lay a hand on him, but they came under the cover of darkness away from the crowds. As Leon Morris notes, “The clear implication is that there is something underhand in this clandestine arrest.”[3] But just as the triumphal entry into Jerusalem was Christ’s day, this was the hour of the opposition when the powers of darkness were unleashed.
Denied
After Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, he was taken to the high priest’s house. Like the other disciples, Peter had abandoned Christ, but he followed along from a distance to the high priest’s house. Some of the onlookers, built a fire to warm themselves and they sat down together. Peter sat down with them. A servant girl looked closely at Peter by the firelight. She recognized Peter as one who had been with Jesus, but Peter denied it saying that he did not know the man. A little later someone else recognized Peter as one of the disciples, but again, he denied it saying that he did not even know the man. After about an hour, still another man stated that certainly Peter was one of Jesus followers because his Galilean accent betrayed him. Again, Peter denied the accusation saying, “Man, I don’t even know what you are talking about” (Luke 22:60). At the moment of this third denial, immediately a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked directly at Peter. The was something in this “look” that triggered Peter’s memory of the Lord’s prophesy.[4] It signified Jesus interest, love, and concern for Peter.[5] This was Satan’s attempt to sift Peter like wheat (Luke 22:31). Peter remembered the Lord’s words accurately predicting that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Overcome by his grief and spiritual failure, Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Peter’s grief was really a positive experience. Paul wrote to the people at Corinth, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10, ESV). Godly grief leads a person to repentance, salvation, and restoration. Peter’s grief had this impact on his life enabling him to assume a role of leadership among the Apostles after Christ’s resurrection. Godly grief stands in sharp contrast to worldly grief that produces death.[6] Judas felt remorse that drove him to end his own life after betraying Jesus, but his grief was worldly and led to death. On the other hand, Peter’s godly grief led him to repentance and restoration with Christ.
Applications
- When betrayal and denial grip our lives, we have a Lord who understands (“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15, ESV). He will help us through these heart wrenching experiences by his grace and presence.
- We need to obediently take every opportunity to share our faith with others. If we refuse, like Peter we choose to deny Christ.
- Godly sorrow (from the conviction of the Holy Spirit) produces repentance that leads to salvation and restoration (2 Cor 7:10), salvation for the unbeliever and restoration for the believer.
- Prayer was the means by which Peter was kept from falling away from the faith. Likewise, prayer keeps from us from falling to daily encounters with temptation.
[1]I. H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 835.
[2]Robert H. Stein, Luke, The New American Commentary, vol. 24 (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1992), 560.
[3] Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 332.
[4]Ibid., 334.
[5]W. L. Liefeld, “Luke,” in F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 1035.
[6]M. J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI; Milton Keynes, UK: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Paternoster Press, 2005), 539-540.