The Son of Man in the Hands of Men

PRAY: God of the universe. God beyond space and time. Humble us, we pray, and by your revelation cause us to see you as you really are. Break the bondage of self-deception and love of sin for each one who still views themselves as too good for you. Magnify your own greatness and save them by your grace. May all of us here perceive by faith the true person and work of the God-Man Jesus Christ, to love him and trust him. And as we come to know Jesus better, Father, make us more like him and more faithful in telling others everything we have come to know of him… because you have made known to us his true worth. Receive all the glory now and in your eternal kingdom, and in our hearts today. Amen.

INTRO: There’s no way around it. our section of text in Luke for study and application, Luke 22:47-65, is painful and gut-wrenching. But it is also awe-inspiring and love-inducing.

It’s painful and gut-wrenching to see the wickedness of our own hearts in the betrayal of Judas and our own failure in the denial of Peter. It’s painful and gut-wrenching to watch the brutal mockery and rejection of mankind toward a loving God in human form, and to understand our complicity in the reason he must be treated this way and put to death.

But it’s awe-inspiring and love-inducing because Luke shows us plainly how Jesus, in complete control, lovingly and willingly accepts such betrayal, denial, and mockery. Jesus astonishes us with the completeness of his control and composure to accomplish the Father’s will according to prophecy. He astounds us with his compassion. And we are both crushed and mesmerized by what he willingly accepts in order to walk the path that will defeat the enemy and purchase his own.

We mustn’t fight this tide, but let it sweep us out into the deep of adoration for God. The right response is to stand in awe of Jesus. If you will accept him, or have become his through faith, Jesus did this for you.

Luke 22:47–53 ESV

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?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 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? 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.”

(Let me ask a question to set up this and the other two sections we’re studying today.) Is God beholden to the plans of men? While all these other human players are responsible for their actions (Judas, the disciples, the religious leaders, Peter, the captors), Jesus is not only self-controlled but also in control of these events. Jesus submits to this willingly. He goes peacefully.

The Son of Man in the Hands of Men: Betrayal

There are three elements Luke emphasizes in the betrayal and arrest at night in Gethsemane. The first is…

1. Jesus knew about this betrayal and its result. (vv. 47-48)

[Explain some details] - Who is this “crowd”? See v. 52. There are delegates of the religious leaders (complicit with social elders), and then the muscle sent along: evidently both officers of the temple and even apparently Roman soldiers (Jn 18:3), and quite a large number of them.

-Luke highlights both the depth of Judas’s betrayal and Jesus’ foreknowledge of these things. Judas had been one of the twelve chosen and closest followers of Jesus. And this was his grand plan to identify Jesus as the man they should arrest, with a secret sign:

Matthew 26:48 ESV

Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.”

(perhaps bc of the dark, to be absolutely certain, and because not everyone in the arresting party would have known Jesus by face, only by reputation) The plan was to greet him with a kiss of friendship and respect. The irony and hypocrisy is thick.

-Luke has told his readers already to expect Judas as a betrayer (Luke 22:3-6), but it isn’t as if this dramatic irony (in the literary sense of that term), that the other disciples didn’t know of Judas’s plan to betray Jesus, applies to Jesus himself. Luke shows in Jesus’ response (Lk 22:48) that he was well aware of it, and therefore calls attention to the hypocrisy: “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

In spite of the depth of this betrayal, we see that Jesus is under control, knowing who is in control. (Which in this case is himself, as a member of the Triune Godhead. In our case, we rest in God’s sovereign control and providential working. ***)

2. Jesus stops his followers from defending him by force and has compassion on his enemy. (vv. 49-51)

When his disciples can see the band approaching and know what is going to happen, they ask, “Shall we strike?” Should we fight? … And then the most brazen of them (and perhaps brave as well), without waiting for an answer from Jesus, takes the small sword he has and attacks, resulting in the high priest’s slave losing an ear. - For whatever reason, neither Matthew, Mark, or Luke identify this disciple as Peter. It’s the author of John who tells us that.

John 18:10 ESV

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

This same author, whom we think is probably the Apostle John, knows the priest (Jn 18:15) and his household well enough to be able to name this bondservant who lost an ear and had it miraculously healed.

While several Gospel writers have Jesus unequivocally putting this violence to a halt, only Luke mentions that Jesus heals the slave who lost an ear. What a compassionate thing to do for one who has come against him as an enemy, and whom he heals without even a request for healing.

Jesus’ control is evidenced by his confrontation of his disciples’ plan to fight back, his calm and composure, and even his compassion toward this enemy.

Jesus could have stopped this himself, but he does not. As Luke’s account of these events is actually the most brief, we learn in John that he asks his heavily-armed attackers, “Whom do you seek?” And when they answer “Jesus of Nazareth,” he responds with “I am,” and it literally knocks these men to the ground (Jn 18:4-6).

So too Matthew adds this explanation from Jesus to his disciples when he stops them from fighting…

Matthew 26:53 ESV

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

If a Roman legion at full strength had as many as 6,000 soldiers, then Jesus is pulling out a really big number of angels, like numbering 72,000! What would 600 mere men be against even one angel, let alone 72,000? The point is, Jesus is telling them, no, I could stop this, but I will not. Scripture must be fulfilled that this must be so (Mt. 26:54).

This was the will of the Father in answer to Jesus’ prayer that very night, and therefore Jesus was submitting to such treatment willingly to fulfill the plan.

Finally, Luke’s third emphasis here is that…

3. Jesus rebukes the hypocrisy of those who have come to arrest him, calling attention to the condition of their hearts. (vv. 52-53)

Jesus knew that he was going to be “numbered among the transgressors” (Lk 22:37), but he reveals that he’s never done anything that they should come after him with swords and clubs. He has never behaved like a plundering rebel (“robber”), a violent criminal known for pillaging and looting! No doubt they could have simply asked him to come and he would have complied.

But what Jesus draws attention to now is what they are revealing about themselves with this behavior. We’ve seen repeatedly that they feared the people and therefore wouldn’t arrest Jesus in front of them in broad daylight, much less while he was only peacefully teaching them in the temple. (It’s as if he’s saying) “If what I have been doing is so sinister and so obviously wicked, then why wouldn’t you arrest me publicly in the temple?” … “This reveals more about you than it does about me.”

Jesus uses this present act of coming after him under cover of darkness to metaphorically represent their spiritual condition. - ***your hour, and power of darkness***

This much is clear: Jesus is still in charge. Jesus knew all of this was coming, but he allows it and goes with them peaceably. As he confronts Judas, and the disciples, and the arresting party, Jesus’ response of confrontation and correction is calm & composed, with compassion still flowing out of him, in spite of this rejection and betrayal. So again we see that Jesus submits to this willingly. He goes peacefully.

The result for us should be to stand in awe of him: in admiration and adoration. … If you will accept him, Jesus did this for you.

Luke 22:54–62 ESV

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 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.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 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.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

The Son of Man in the Hands of Men: Denial

So from the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is betrayed and arrested, they lead him away to the palace of the high priest. Just before this, all the disciples have at least temporarily fled into the darkness (Mt. 26:56), which, we should note, fulfilled what Jesus had spoken to them: “You will all fall away because of me this night.” (Mt. 26:31) Although they have scattered into the night, Luke informs us that Peter then decides to follow at a distance to the high priest’s house. Once there, John’s Gospel tells us that another disciple (probably John) has returned as well, with some connection to the priestly family, and helps get Peter admitted into the courtyard (Jn 18:15-16).

From the parallel accounts we learn that Peter’s denials take place while Jesus is interrogated by Annas (Jn 18:13-24) and then Caiaphas (Mt 26:57-68) during the dark morning hours. Luke telescopes all three denials together, as do Matthew and Mark—almost like, “While Jesus was being questioned, this is what was going on in the courtyard.”

We also learn in Matthew that Peter’s denials escalate in vehemence (Mt. 26:69-75), but Luke straightforwardly emphasizes that each of the three denials took place, so that the whole thing was exactly as Jesus had predicted.

Jesus predicted this denial and its result. (vv. 54-62)

In v. 34 of this same chapter Jesus told him, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.”

The first denial came when a servant girl, the one who had let him in, said, “This man also was with him.” v. 57* (And Mt. “I do not know what you mean.”)

And a bit later, apparently instigated by the first servant girl (Mk 14:69) interacting with another servant girl (Mt. 26:71), who must have also been talking to others gathered around, so that various people were asking him if he was one of his disciples (Jn 18:25). Here in Luke then, Peter directed his answer at one more vocal guy in particular (“You also are one of them”): “Man, I am not.” (Mt 26, he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”)

Finally, after about an hour (Luke tells us), still another person was more insistent that Peter had been with Jesus, because he had been in the garden at the arrest, a relative of the slave Malchus whom Peter had swiped with the small sword (Jn 18:26). But when it seems that Peter must surely now just admit that he is who they think he is, he will answer, v. 60*.

And immediately, while he’s still going on in defense of himself (even invoking a curse on himself if he is lying, and swearing by this or that, Mt. 26:74), the rooster crowed. Luke alone tells us that Jesus, at that very moment, had a line of sight view of Peter, and looked knowingly, directly at him. Peter remembered, and he came apart.

Jesus not only knew this denial would come, but he also knew what would result from it. Jesus gave Peter a knowing look so that Peter would learn this hard lesson. (vv. 61-62)

Luke 22:32 ESV

but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Did Peter learn the lesson that he can’t be faithful to Jesus just by sheer grit of self-determination, that he in fact needed to trust in God to sustain and strengthen him in trial? - :et me put it this way: How would anyone have known about Peter’s embarrassing denials fulfilling Jesus’ prediction unless Peter told them? The eyewitness account to these events is Peter himself. He’s the source.

As we’ve been seeing, Jesus was composed and in control at his betrayal and arrest. Jesus was so composed and in control during his interrogation, and compassionate, as to knowingly make sure Peter learned from this failure. And now, we are briefly reminded of another thing that Jesus knew/predicted was coming.

Luke 22:63–65 ESV

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

The Son of Man in the Hands of Men: Ridicule

This ridicule is a symptom of their rejection of him. Earlier in his ministry, when Peter had confessed for the group that Jesus is “The Christ of God,” Jesus said to them…

Luke 9:22 ESV

saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Again later he told them specifically…

Luke 18:32–33 ESV

For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

Jesus lovingly endures this treatment, knowing where it leads. (vv. 63-65)

This mockery and beating (v. 63), this blasphemy & slander (64-65) is only the beginning. In the hours that follow, there will be worse mockery and treatment, even flogging and crucifixion.

But Luke wants us, like Theophilus, who know the story, to know it more specifically and concretely… to respond more appropriately and deeply to Jesus.

Jesus shatters our selfish ambition and hypocrisy (Judas & the religious elite). Jesus shatters our self-trust (Peter, and all the disciples). Jesus endured such hostility from sinners (the blasphemy of his captors) in order to save us from our own depravity and inability. Such is what Jesus willingly endured in the hands of men, so that by his sacrifice and vindicating resurrection, we might have eternal life—a forgiveness of sin and restoration to God… that depends not on our accomplishment, but on his.

What Are We Doing With Jesus?

God continues to be betrayed, denied, and mocked. How long will he allow it? God is patiently bearing with the hatred of his own creatures until he has collected every.single.one of his sheep. But we do not know when that full number is complete. And because we do not know, the day of the Lord will come like a thief (2 Pet 3:10).

If that day should come today or tomorrow, or if the Lord should see fit to let your earthly life expire, what have you done with Jesus? Have you responded in faith?

Or having confessed Jesus as Lord, for whom are you living? What you presently doing with Jesus?

If we will seek to know him more, we will obey him better. - I can’t believe how lazy I can be about seeking to know God. Saved by grace, purchased with his blood, given the indwelling Spirit! Why am I wasting precious moments on anything other than knowing God through Jesus Christ?

And how will I help others know him? Where will I find motivation to share him instead of being fearful of rejection or reprisal? Is the answer not found in knowing him better?

How will I stand with Christ in suffering and opposition? Is the answer not to walk before him in dependent prayer and in submission to what he says about his character and will in his word?

When I study this text, I am at once crushed by the weight of God’s love and grandeur as well as overcome with admiration and gratitude toward Jesus. I want to know the heart of this God, this Jesus.

PRAY: God of all glory and grace, grant your people the inner strength to endure in adoring you this week with everything that we are and have... until we worship you face to face for all eternity. Amen.