To The Metal

⁶ When Pilate heard ^[a]of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. ⁷ And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. ⁹ Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. ¹⁰ And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. ¹¹ Then Herod, with his ^[b]men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.

Luke 23:6-12

Jesus faces Herod.  Realizing that Jesus was under the jurisdiction of Galilee, Pilate passed the buck to Herod, the same man who had John the Baptist executed.  Herod was eager to meet Jesus, thinking He might entertain with a miracle like some sort of sideshow act.

As Herod questioned, then began to mock Christ, Jesus remained silent.  He was turning the other cheek and taking on the sin of Herod as well as His accusers.  Through this trial, Herod saw no guilt in Jesus worthy of death.  He dressed Christ in a “gorgeous” robe (perhaps an attempted appeal to vanity?) and sent Him back to Pilate.

Curiously the author points out here that Pilate and Herod, once at enmity, were now friends due to the shared interaction with Jesus.

Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate. ² And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting ^[a]the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”

³ Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

He answered him and said, “It is as you say.”

⁴ So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.”

⁵ But they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”

Luke 23:1-5

Jesus handed over to Pontius Pilate.  SO many lies, so much false witness by the Sanhedrin here.  They walk over the law to enforce their own law and protect their power at the cost of their own salvation.  Pilate correctly saw nothing of fault in Jesus.  Whether he truly felt as such or this was merely to pass the buck is not clear in this verse.

The Sanhedrin focused on crimes against the state, as that was their audience, still firmly holding on to any loophole they could find to distance them from the final result of these trials.  Jesus was not perverting the nation, forbidding to pay taxes, or claiming to be King (on his own) but he did not argue the point when Pilate inquired specifically if He was King of the Jews.

Again, Pilate saw no guilt in Christ here.  This further incited the accusers, so much so they actually told the truth (which was no crime).  Did Christ stir up the people and teach?  Absolutely He did, more so than the Sanhedrin could have ever hoped under their own worldly authority. 

Jesus delivered salvation under the authority of God which completely usurped the power of the Sanhedrin and rendered them impotent.

⁶⁶ As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, ⁶⁷ “If You are the Christ, tell us.”

But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. ⁶⁸ And if I ^[a]also ask you, you will by no means answer ^[b]Me or let Me go. ⁶⁹ Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.”

⁷⁰ Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?”

So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.”

⁷¹ And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”

Luke 22:66-71

Jesus faces the Sanhedrin.  Emboldened by His arrest and captivity, the Sanhedrin confronts and accuses Jesus yet again.  No more pretense or trick questions here, what they ask now they already know the answers to but deny the truth.  Is Jesus the Christ?  Yes.  Would that truth change them, make them believe, or let Him go?  Of course not.

Their love of power far exceeded any fear of God here.  They had seen and heard of all His signs and wonders, they saw, actively allowed, and aided in the fulfillment of prophecy… but all their wicked and hardened hearts desired was that last confession that Jesus is the Son of God.  Then they could find comfort in their legalism as it justified their crime.

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.