47 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, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “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 said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Luke 22:47-71
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
63 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. 64 They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65 And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.
66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, 67 “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”
The Judgment of the Sanhedrin – Luke 22:47-71
The temptation had arrived. Judas Iscariot was leading a crowd of men carrying clubs and swords ready for an armed showdown. Judas, being one of the Twelve, knew exactly where they would be. The chief priests and scribes were expecting Jesus and the disciples to put up some sort of resistance, which is why they sent the extra muscle to bring Jesus in. You could feel the tension in the air, would this turn into a bloodbath?
There was a sign that Judas had given to the crowd to indicate which man they should arrest. He would betray Jesus with a kiss on the cheek, a common gesture you would make to someone you consider an equal. If you were a slave, you would kiss the feet of your master, a subject to a king, you would kiss their hand, but an equal, well you would kiss their cheek. Kissing someone on the cheek is still a very common practice in Mediterranean cultures.
Jesus looks Judas in the eye, bewildered, and asks, ‘Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?’ Is this how you want to do this? Even in the last moment, Jesus would call Judas to repent. Jesus still called Judas reconsider his actions. It wasn’t too late to turn towards forgiveness. Sadly, Judas would never do that. His is a tragic tale of greed and betrayal, culminating in a final act of self-destruction. It would have been better, Jesus says in Mark, that he was never born than to betray the Son of Man.
Yet here he was. Crowd of thugs in tow, ready to arrest Jesus and bring Him before the council of elders – also known as the Sanhedrin. The disciples quickly woke up from the sleepiness and realised that something was about to go down. They ask Jesus, ‘shall we strike with the sword?’ Is it time for armed resistance? Before Jesus gets a chance to calm the situation, Peter lunges forward and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Now, I can’t imagine Peter intended to cut his ear off. It’s likely that Peter lunged forward intending to hit him in the head. The servant managed to dodge it in just enough time, likely clearing the sword by millimetres, but not enough to save his ear. It came clean off. Peter was proving to Jesus just how dedicated he was. He was going to die in battle for the Lord.
The situation had already turned bloody. Jesus seizes the initiative and stops the conflict before it can escalate and commands His disciples to put down their weapons. Then He takes the ear of the servant and heals Him. All eyes are on Jesus now. What was He going to do? He asks a question, ‘have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.’ He speaks to the hypocrisy of the whole situation. The men were cowards, only seizing Jesus when it seemed favourable to them. They were treating Him like a criminal when He was nothing of the sort. This was their hour to act in this grand narrative – but also the hour of action for the dark spiritual powers. After all, Satan was present in Judas, leading the whole entourage.
Jesus allows Himself to be arrested by them. This disciples are incredulous, but it quickly turns to fear. They all scatter trying to avoid being arrested alongside Jesus. To be fair to the disciples, the thugs did try to seize them as well, even ripping the clothes off one of bystanders in Mark 14:51-52. They weren’t too concerned with the Twelve. They had the man they wanted. They brought him to the high priest’s house to await trial in the dead of night, away from the prying eyes of the Romans and the crowds.
They began to gather in the courtyard, kindling a large bonfire to warm the people nearby. Peter, having run away at first, now came back in secret. He wanted to see what was going to happen, so he tried to blend in with the crowd so that no one would arrest him and bring him to trial with Jesus. It wasn’t a great plan. A servant girl recognised him, and in a loud voice began to blow his cover to the thugs around him. ‘This man also was with him,’ she says. Peter must have gone pale, realising that any moment someone might seize him too. In fear and panic, he denies having ever known Jesus. Another person says the same, ‘you also are one of them.’ Peter once again denies having known Jesus – knowing full well what might happen to him if they all find out who he really is. But his accent betrays him. He clearly is Galilean, a point another person brings up. Once again, Peter denies Jesus bringing his total up to three.
The rooster crowed and it suddenly dawned on Peter. Earlier that night Peter had been resolute in dying alongside Jesus in battle. Now facing the real threat of being put to death, he is a coward. Without adrenaline and the glory of battle, Peter was nothing but a coward. In misery, Peter remembers Jesus word to him, and weeps bitterly. All hope is lost.
Jesus stands before the Sanhedrin, something you can read about in Matthew 26:57-68. The Gospel of Luke is written to Gentiles, so less focus is given on the Jewish council. Worth noting however that the whole trial was a sham. This was likely the first and only time that the Sanhedrin had met at night, as there was a strict rule against it:
“Let a capital offence be tried during the day, but suspend it at night.”
—Mishna, Sanhedrin IV. 1.
Breaking their own rules and customs, they sentence Him to death before the crowd were awake and could intervene. Luke skips this section – choosing to summarise the decision of the council during their meeting the following morning. Jesus is handed over to be mocked and beaten. They blindfold Him and begin to strike Him, asking Him to prophesy who had hit Him. They also blasphemed Him in many ways. These men would not be treating Jesus this way if they knew who He was. This was only the beginning of the ordeal that Jesus would have to endure.
Having already established Jesus’ guilt during the night, they hold a quick meeting in the morning. A feeble attempt to obey their own laws. There they question Him one last time. ‘Are you the Messiah (Christ)?’ Jesus notes that no matter what He says they won’t believe Him. Either He says He isn’t the Messiah, and they will think He is lying (for He would be), or He will say that He is the Messiah, and they won’t believe Him anyway. But Jesus does say something more profound than either. ‘From now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.’ Jesus tells them the truth as plainly and directly as He can. What is that truth? He reveals His divinity.
Now the claim Son of God was not a divine claim, for Adam and Solomon, even angels, are referred to as Sons of God in the Old Testament. According to Daniel 7:13-14, as we have seen earlier, the Son of Man comes on the clouds of heaven to be given authority, power and glory from the Ancient of Days and will be worshipped with the worship only due to God by all nations. The Jews held that the Son of Man must be God Himself, so for Jesus to claim this role, He was claiming divinity. It is blasphemy of the highest order, and in Matthew 26:65, the high priest tears his robe. Jesus is to be put to death for claiming to be the Son of Man. They went into this trial with nothing on Jesus. Absolutely nothing worthy of putting Him to death. But Jesus has just handed them exactly what they needed. Jesus Himself gave them the legal grounds they needed to execute Him.
Like Peter, do we make strong professions of belief in Christ, only to deny Him when it costs us anything? Are we willing to fight for Jesus when it brings us glory, but unwilling when there is no glory to be had?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Although we are weak like Peter, you are strong and capable of giving us everything we need. Peter didn’t have the Holy Spirit, but we have everything we need to stick firm in you. Help us we pray. In Jesus Name, Amen.