Luke 22:47-23:25

47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"
49 When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns."
54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."
57 But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them."
"Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
60 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" 65 And they said many other insulting things to him.
66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67 "If you are the Messiah," they said, "tell us."
Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68 and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."
70 They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You say that I am."
71 Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."
23: 1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king."
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"You have said so," Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
5 But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
16-17 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."
18 With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
22 For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.


Points of Interest:

• ‘are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’—that’s a level of hypocrisy and betrayal that Jesus can’t allow Judas to stoop to.

• ‘touched the man's ear and healed him’—Jesus shows that he really is a child of God. He shows mercy even to the people who are trying to kill him.
But love your enemies, do good to them . . . Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your father is merciful (6:35-36).

• ‘But this is your hour—when darkness reigns’—it’s usually the criminals that work at night or in secret. Jesus is being arrested for things he’s been doing in the middle of the day, in front of huge crowds. It’s the so-called authorities who are hiding their actions under cover of darkness.

• ‘Peter followed at a distance’—Peter has just sworn that he will follow Jesus to prison and death. In the book of Acts, Peter does indeed follow Jesus to prison (Acts 4:3, for example); and church tradition tells us that he eventually follows Jesus to execution, perhaps even on a cross (quite possibly during the persecutions under Nero, mentioned in Wednesday’s passage). Right now, though, the best he can muster is following at a distance—and he doesn’t even sustain that for very long.

• ‘The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter’—Jesus knew this would happen. But there’s room for encouragement in this sobering story. Jesus predicted that Peter would betray him; but he also predicted that Peter would repent, that he would strengthen his companions, that he would eat with Jesus in his kingdom, and that he would share in ruling that kingdom.

• ‘Prophesy! Who hit you?’—they think they’re being clever, but they’re actually in the middle of fulfilling prophecies he has already given: ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law’ (9:22); and, ‘They will mock him, insult him, and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him’ (18:32-33).

• ‘At daybreak’—now that day has come, they can hold a formal trial. Of course, the outcome of the trial is a foregone conclusion.

• ‘the council of the elders of the people’—the council was sort of like a combination of Congress and the Supreme Court; its members were the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. The Roman government gave them a wide degree of authority in all kinds of internal Jewish affairs.

• ‘If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer’—Jesus doesn’t like the idea of answering their question when they don’t really want to know the answer.

• ‘the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God’—Jesus is referring again to the Messianic prophecy from Daniel 7:13-14. It’s a concise, poetic way of saying, ‘Yes, I am the Messiah. Now that I’ve told you, you will kill me; but killing me will only end up leading to my exaltation and the establishment of my kingdom. You’re going to end up bringing about the very thing you are resisting.’ They might not catch all of it, but they understand enough to respond, ‘So, you’re saying you’re the Son of God, then?’

• ‘You say that I am’—basically, ‘See, you figured it out for yourself.’

• ‘led him off to Pilate’—Pilate is the Roman governor. The council needs his approval to apply the death sentence.

• ‘opposes payment of taxes to Caesar’—their real reason for killing Jesus is jealousy. Their formal charge is blasphemy (according to them, he’s claiming to be God when he is not). Neither of these reasons would be of any interest to the Romans; so the council beefs up the charges a bit—with an outright lie.

• ‘claims to be Messiah, a king’—they also frame him as a rebel leader setting up an alternative to Roman rule. That’s another charge that Pilate would have to take seriously.

• ‘I find no basis for a charge’—upon further examination, Pilate determines that Jesus is not a significant political threat.
Luke is stressing the lack of legitimate charges against Jesus to clearly establish that Jesus is not a common criminal. For Luke’s readers, it would be quite scandalous that Jesus was crucified; it’s a form of death reserved for the lowest of the low. Luke is therefore careful to demonstrate that the sentence is completely undeserved.
This doesn’t absolve Pilate of responsibility. Rather the opposite, Pilate is all the more guilty because he knowingly sends an innocent man to death because he’s afraid to let him go.

• ‘he sent him to Herod’—Herod is probably in town for the feast. As a Galilean, Jesus is technically Herod’s citizen. But since the charges have to do with actions in Judea, Pilate has the right to try Jesus (IVP Bible Background Commentary 253); he’s just trying to pass off a difficult case.

• ‘Jesus gave him no answer’—Herod reminds me of something Jesus said earlier: ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah’ (11:29). Herod is asking for a miracle, but for entertainment purposes only. If he were truly concerned about the kingdom of God, he would have listened to John’s call to repent (the sign of Jonah); but instead of receiving John, he killed him. So, Jesus has nothing to say to him.

• ‘I will punish him and then release him’—Pilate suggests that they just send Jesus away with a stiff warning, but the mob that has been gathered by the chief priests and other leaders won’t be placated so easily.

• ‘for an insurrection in the city, and for murder’—they pretend to arrest Jesus out of concern that he will lead an insurrection, but they lobby for a real insurrectionist and murderer—basically, an anti-Roman terrorist—to be let go.

• ‘their shouts prevailed’—they accuse Jesus of stirring up the crowds, but it’s they who have started a riot.

Taking it home:

• For you and your family: Do you feel as if you’ve failed God in some significant way? Ask God for forgiveness. If Jesus’ treatment of Peter is any indication, he’s more than willing to give you another chance. God is rooting for you to succeed.

• For your friends: Jesus healed the ear of one of the people who came to arrest him and kill him. Particularly if any of your friends have been hostile to Jesus, pray that he would draw them to himself by showing them kindness in a way that they know is from him.

• For our city: Pray for the justice system in our city. Ask God that justice would be done. Pray that corruption would be unearthed, and that the innocent would not be punished but protected.