To The Metal

⁶³ Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. ^64 [a]And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?” ⁶⁵ And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

Luke 22:63-65

Jesus mocked and beaten.  Galatians 6:7 states “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Here was Jesus, all man and all God, being mocked and beaten by men whose names and faces are not remembered by man.  They are known by God though.

Jesus took it all.  Such restraint I cannot imagine, it was just a short time later where Jesus would breathe His last and die for the sins of all.  I don’t have the same restraint, I’d likely have turned them all into a fine red mist and doomed mankind in the process.  Jesus died to save the souls of the very men who killed Him.

⁵⁴ Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵ Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. ⁵⁶ And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”

⁵⁷ But he denied ^[a]Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”

⁵⁸ And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.”

But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”

⁵⁹ Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”

⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!”

Immediately, while he was still speaking, ^[b]the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster ^[c]crows, you will deny Me three times.” ⁶² So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:54-62

Prayer, journaling, devotional – Luke 22:54-62.  Peter denies Jesus and weeps bitterly.  Three years Peter walked with Christ, witnessed miracles, prayed, and learned.  He was declared the rock upon Jesus would build His church.  Many times Peter boldly rose to defend Jesus without hesitation, yet now he cowers and hides due to the foothold he gave Satan though disobedience.

He slept when Jesus told him to pray.  He followed Jesus after the arrest even though He argued for the disciples to go their own way while He was arrested.  Had Jesus wanted Peter to be with Him, all He needed to do was not heal Malchus’s ear.  Instead He performed one last miracle and spared Peter a fate beside Him, for now at least.

After the third denial, the rooster crowed signaling the dawn of a new day, and with one look, Jesus brought Peter to repentance.  I don’t believe He wanted His disciples to see any of what was to come, perhaps to spare them?  All but John would have violent ends for their faith.

I think of all the times I”ve had my own moments of denial or doubt, and generally have been corrected quickly when I see God move in the slightest which immediately brought me conviction and turned me back to Him.  My sharp tongue usually reaps the quickest turnaround these days as moments after some inappropriate humor or sarcasm slips out I realize my sin and repent.

We are to heed Him, follow Him, and lean on Him.  His ways are not our ways, they are greater than our ways, all we must do is have faith and follow His lead.

⁴⁷ And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. ⁴⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁹ When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

⁵¹ But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.

⁵² Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? ⁵³ When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Luke 22:47-53

Betrayal and arrest at Gethsemane.  A multitude of armed soldiers along with members of the Sanhedrin show up to arrest Jesus, led by Judas.  Judas approached Christ and betrayed Him with a kiss, as even though He had taught all week in the temple and apparently tormented the Sanhedrin enough to warrant His death… They had no clue what he actually looked like.  They could not recognize Him in a crowd.

Peter then lashed out with a sword to try and defend, but Christ quickly rebuked him, telling him to permit what was happening.  By healing the servant, Jesus removed the evidence of the crime which Peter had committed and spared him a similar fate (for now).  Jesus looked to the multitude and admitted that this was their hour, as they displayed the power of darkness in contrast to His light.

³⁹ Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. ⁴⁰ When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

⁴¹ And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, ⁴² saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” ^43 [a]Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. ⁴⁴ And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

⁴⁵ When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. ⁴⁶ Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:39-46

The prayer in the garden.  Jesus returns to the garden of gethsemane with His disciples for the last time.  There He encouraged them to pray as He went off to pray Himself.  There He would yield to the will of the Father.  An angel appeared shortly after, which brought Him strength but also a reminder of the realm and Father He would soon be separated from as He took on the sin of the world.

These verses also refer to Jesus’s sweat becoming like drops of blood as he prayed, now whether he was sweating so profusely from stress that it dripped off him like blood… or he actually sweat blood from hematidrosis due to the immense distress of separation from the Father (not to mention knowing the torture that awaited him) is not clear from the wording.

He returned to find His disciples asleep. Exhausted, sorrowful, and with no idea of what was coming.  Again, Jesus told them to rise and pray, lest they fall into temptation.  Jesus knew what was coming for Him and for all of them, and He was working even in those last days to prepare them in the best way possible, through communion with the Father in prayer.

³⁵ And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?”

So they said, “Nothing.”

³⁶ Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. ³⁷ For I say to you that this which is written must still be ^[a]accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”

³⁸ So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.”

And He said to them, “It is enough.”

Luke 22:35-38

Jesus knows the road ahead for His disciples will be treacherous and challenging as they will be seen as transgressors.  Where previously He sent them out with the clothes on their back, here he commands them to be prepared with money, supplies, and swords.  

I don’t see Christ suggesting the weapons for offense, but possibly defense here, or even as tools for trade.  Nobody was going to overthrow Rome or retake Jerusalem with a pair of swords, only the word of God could do that.  Swords would be of no use, as evidenced by Peter’s actions in the garden of Gethsemane shortly after this section of scripture.

“…the things concerning Me have an end.”  Even now as He prepares His disciples, the reality of what is in motion still evades them.

^31 [a]And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

³³ But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”

³⁴ Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:31-34

Jesus predicts Peter’s denial.  I do not read any anger or disappointment here from Jesus, although both could have been normal reactions, Jesus is God.  Note that Jesus corrects Peter by calling him Simon.  If Peter was the rock upon which Christ would build His church, Simon was the flawed man, still subject to worldly fear and sin, and this was who Jesus addressed.  

He quickly corrected the boldness and pride Peter displayed with the truth of things to come.  To show compassion towards Peter who failed to stand with Jesus during His final trial shows just how great and loving He truly is.

²⁴ Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. ²⁵ And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ ²⁶ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. ²⁷ For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

²⁸ “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. ²⁹ And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Luke 22:24-30

The disciples argue about greatness.  The disciples stumbled into worldliness and pride again, behaving less like devout followers of Christ and more like the unsaved.   Jesus quickly took them to task, and reminded them that even He came to serve as they have served Him through His many trials.  

They are all seated at the same table here, both servants and served – and while all will eventually drink from the same cup, this last trial Jesus would be undertaking alone.

¹⁴ When the hour had come, He sat down, and the ^[a]twelve apostles with Him. ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶ for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸ for I say to you, ^[b]I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

²⁰ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. ²¹ But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. ²² And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

²³ Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

Luke 22:14-23

Jesus institutes the Lord’s supper.  Also known as the last supper, this would be the last time Jesus ate with His disciples before He was betrayed and crucified.  He says plainly that this is the last time He would eat or drink until the kingdom of God comes.  

The cup represented His blood, shed for all, while the bread represented His body, broken for all.  It is not made clear in this section if even now anyone but Christ and possibly Judas knew what was coming, despite very clear statements about it from Jesus Himself.  He even called out His betrayer, not by name, and said “woe to him.”  Jesus grieved for Judas.

While Christ’s separation from God would be temporary, Judas’s separation would be forever.

Jesus knew what was coming for Him, and He certainly understood what was coming for Judas, an eternity separated from God.  Judas had every opportunity to change his path, even after the betrayal he could have repented, but he did not.  

The disciples, as they did, argued amongst themselves over who would betray Jesus instead of focusing on the living God seated before them.

⁷ Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be ^[a]killed. ⁸ And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”

⁹ So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”

¹⁰ And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. ¹¹ Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ ¹² Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.”

¹³ So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

Luke 22:7-13

Jesus and His disciples prepare the Passover.  This is a good lesson in obedience and trusting all things in the Lord.  Jesus sends Peter and John into the city with a very specific task.  As he laid out finding the colt for His entry into Jerusalem, here He lays out precisely what Peter and John had to do.  

I don’t see anyone questioning here, they simply obey the Lord and the events transpire exactly how He had planned.

22 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. ² And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.

³ Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. ⁴ So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. ⁵ And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. ⁶ So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

Luke 22:1-6

The plot to kill Jesus.  As the Passover approaches, the Sanhedrin sought to have Christ killed but could not be seen publicly as having a hand in it.  They feared an uprising at the hand of the people who welcomed Him into Jerusalem and followed Him.  They had to pin the entire thing on Rome.

Enter Satan who found a foothold in the heart of Judas Iscariot.  Among other things, Judas is a cautionary tale to those who seek and obtain power in the church.  Nobody is safe from Satan or his influence, anyone can fall.  The closer we get to Jesus the greater the threat we are to the enemy.  For the cost of a slave, 30 pieces of silver, Judas provided a way to turn Christ over.

The Sanhedrin would persist… not much longer, and Rome could be blamed for all of it.