Bible Study series: Luke 22:47-65. This is when the mockery and physical violence start. Peter also wept bitterly. Jesus’s words came true.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 22:47-65
47 While he was still speaking, look, a crowd! And the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them and got right up to Jesus to kiss him. 48 Jesus said to him, “Judas, with a kiss you betray the Son of Man?” 49 When those around him saw what was about to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with a sword?” 50 Then one of them struck a servant of the high priest and took off his right ear. 51 Jesus replied and said, “No more of this!” And when he touched the ear, he healed him. 52 Jesus said to the chief priests, the temple guards and elders who came out against him, “You come with swords and clubs, as if to a revolutionary? 53 Even though day after day I was with you in the temple, you did not arrest me. However, this hour belongs to you, even the domain of darkness.”
54 They seized him, led him away, and brought him into the house of the high priest. Peter was following from a distance. 55 Those who lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard sat together, and Peter was sitting among them. 56 A certain servant girl saw him sitting towards the light and stared at him; she said, “This guy was also with him!” 57 But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know him, woman!” 58 And after a short time, another one saw him and said, “You’re one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I’m not!” 59 And about one hour went by, and someone else began to insist, “This guy was surely with him too, for he’s a Galilean!” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” And immediately, while he was still talking, a rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, “Before a rooster crows today, you’ll deny me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
63 Meanwhile, the men who held him in custody began to hit and beat him. 64 Then they blindfolded him and asked him, saying, “Prophesy! Who’s the one who hit you!” 65 And they were saying many other things, blaspheming him. (Luke 22:47-65)
Comments:
47:
I like the elliptical or shortened version in Greek. “Look” translates the standard “Behold!” A crowd of the real criminals approached.
48:
That’s the Greek word order. “With a kiss” comes first. More fully, the word order works out like this: “Judas, with a kiss the son of Man you betray?” Now you know why we have to move things around in English, because our words don’t have case endings as Greek does. But I sure like that particular literal translation. In some cultures—like France—they go cheek to check or even kiss the cheek. Here it was a greeting, part of the “Greetings, Rabbi.” Why does Judas call him Rabbi (see v. 25)? As noted in v. 25, it is not inaccurate, but Peter did proclaim the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Maybe Judas simply cannot bring himself to acknowledge a level of deity for the Lord.
1. Titles of Jesus: Rabbi and Teacher
49:
The eleven remembered Jesus’s words about buying swords, which they did not have time to do, and the two swords which they had already. They asked and took action, before Jesus could answer.
50:
Who took off the right ear of the servant? John’s Gospel reports that Peter cut off Malchus’s ear (John 18:10-11). How do we know the servant’s name? He probably joined the Christian community later, but that’s speculation. He had a high position for a commoner, and many Jews converted to the Messiah immediately after Pentecost, so he may have joined them and told his story. Why wouldn’t he join since Jesus healed his ear? But we don’t know for sure what happened to Malchus.
51:
Now Jesus takes action. First he tells Peter to stop the violence. Then, second, what happened with the ear? The standard Greek word for “touch” is used here, but it can also mean “take hold of, hold” in certain Greek forms of the verb. So did he pick up the ear from the ground, wipe it off, and reattach it with his power? Or did he leave it on the ground and create a new ear? Or was it dangling there and was not cut off completely? The Greek verb means “cut off.” I like the idea that he created a new ear and left the old one on the ground.
His healing the ear indicates Jesus could flatten each of the arresting party with a word. When Jesus was asked whether he was Jesus of Nazareth, he answered, “I am he.” Then the crowd with swords and clubs drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:6). Jesus’s words had power. He was in charge, whether the arresting party knew it or not. But the Father’s will had to be carried out, and it was his will that his Son suffer and die. So the arresting party with swords and clubs had to be allowed forward to accomplish their unjust deed.
52-53:
They were coming out to arrest a criminal, Jesus said. He is being sarcastic here, telling them that he was in the temple during the day, but they did nothing to him. Why not? Recall that in v. 2 the chief priests and teachers of the law wanted to arrest Jesus, but they feared the crowds. They could only commit their injustice in the dark. He is calling them “authoritative cowards,” without actually using the words.
“arrest me”: it could literally be translated as “stretch out your hands against me.” Surprisingly, even the less literal translations, like the NIV, translate it as “lay your hands on me” presumably in the sense of nabbing him.
“revolutionary”: it could be translated as an “insurrectionist.” It was someone who did not maintain the peace but was in rebellion against Rome and the Jerusalem establishment who cooperated with Rome. His reply about paying tribute to Rome cleared him of any strong opinion about Roman domination (20:20-26). He was more interested in establishing God’s kingdom which would soon go way beyond Israel to the whole world.
“domain”: it is the Greek noun exousia (pronounced ex-oo-see-ah), and the standard definition is “authority” and even “power,” but it can also mean “jurisdiction” or “domain.” I almost translated it as “But this hour and domain of darkness belongs to you,” but the Greek syntax (sentence structure) doesn’t quite work. “This hour” means they came at night. They knew what he meant because they were there, in the dark. This hour was obvious enough.
In any case, the chief priests and leaders and teachers of the law thought they were in the right and in the light, but they were in the wrong and in the dark. This is irony again. They believed that they knew things correctly, but they did not. They were deceived yet exercised power. So this is irony that accompanies political power. How many politicians in the twentieth century thought they were right but wreaked all kinds of damage on the world of people? How many mullahs and sheikhs think they are right, but damage humanity? How do we decide who’s right and who’s wrong? By the results. If an action respects people and creates harmony, then the actions are right. If they produce random devastation and needless destruction, then they are wrong.
Results matter.
“chief priests”:
“elders”:
See this link, and the terms are placed in alphabetical order:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
54:
See my posts at Matt. 26:57-58, 69-75 and Mark 14:53-54, 66-72 for more comments on the denials.
54:
Evidently, where Jesus was standing, he could see out into the courtyard (see v. 61). Peter was following from a distance. First, he cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear. At that moment surely Peter expected Jesus to work his power and flatten everyone, as John’s Gospel says (18:6). Second, now he is following from a distance or afar. But Jesus surrendered to the authorities, but mainly to his Father’s will. So, was Peter expecting a signal from Jesus to start the Revolution, or was he genuinely concerned for his Lord’s safety? Curiosity as to what was about to happen? I sense that Peter really did care for Jesus and exhibited courage to go this far in the Jesus Movement. But, sadly, he was misguided. He still couldn’t perceive God’s plan: Jesus had to die for him and you and me.
Matt. 26:58 says Peter sat there to see the end. The end of Jesus’s life? If so, then he did catch on to the events playing out. But it is doubtful that he knew the theology of the Jesus’s crucifixion or atonement, as he came to realize in his first epistle (1 Pet. 1:18-21; 2:21-25; 3:18, 22; 4:1-2). Those verses are masterpieces of theology, succinctly stated.
55:
The Greek syntax (sentence structure) is difficult, but one has to match up the case endings, and things work out. But this post is not about the details of grammar. This verse is the set-up or staging scene. It’s dark, and the fire provides light for the three truth-tellers. Peter was sitting so the firelight shone on him. He was from Galilee, and apparently he thought people would not recognize him in crowded Jerusalem. He miscalculated.
56-57:
First Denial
She looked closely at him. Peter must have been nervous when she stared at him. Did he look away? Did he put his “hoodie” down over his face a little more? “This guy” translates the standard demonstrative pronoun “this one” or “this man.” She must have had an informal accent and manner of speaking. “This guy!” He called her “woman.” The NET commentator says this is a polite form of address, similar to “Madam” or Ma’am.” Okay, but I really wonder how courteous Peter was. He was too frightened to be courteous.
58:
Second Denial
Then a short time later—a time element to alert Luke’s readers that these three denials happened quickly, within about 70-80 minutes. “Man, I’m not [one of them]!” Peter just says, “I’m not!”
Matthew 26:71 says Peter went out to the porch, while Mark (14:68) says he went out to the gateway or forecourt. The porch and gateway (or forecourt) pose no consistency problem, since it is easy to envision how the two are connected. Luke, on the other hand, is silent about where Peter was, so it is difficult to prove a contradiction from silence, in case the reader of this post ever meets a skeptic. Peter could have moved, and Luke simply did not mention it.
59-60:
Third Denial
Peter had a Galilean accent, which for the people of Jerusalem may have sounded “hick” or country.
Luke mentions another time marker: about an hour. Though the denials did not happen rapid-fire, one after another, they still took place in a short time. While Peter was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Mark 14:72 says the rooster crowed a second time on the third denial, while Matt. 26:74 has one crow, and Peter would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.
61:
We already looked at the sequence of the denials and the rooster crowing in v. 61. Let’s move on to more important things—the meat and real purpose of this pericope.
This verse is powerful. As noted, the high priest’s house must have had a window or large doorway that looked out onto the courtyard or the porch or the gateway. When the rooster crowed, Jesus turned to look at Peter. Jesus must have heard Peter’s loud voice (“Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”) to know he was out there. Wow. What a scene!
Jesus looked out at Peter. The Greek can literally be translated “looked into.” It can mean to “gaze searchingly.” But I really like the translation “looked into” Peter, as if Jesus read his soul, though I settled for “looked at.” I believe Jesus looked with love and compassion because he knew he was going to restore the lead apostle. Recall that Jesus had already prayed for him that his faith would not fail (vv. 31-32). Ultimately, it did not fail him, after Jesus worked to restore him (John 21:15-19).
62:
This is the saddest verse in Peter’s life of discipleship. He had been rebuked by Jesus before, when Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Matt. 16:23). But now he had denied him three times. When Jesus gazed into his soul, the look must have been powerful. Peter left to go outside and “wept bitterly.” Lexicographers Liddell and Scott offer these definitions of bitterly: “pointed, sharp, keen” … of sound “sharp, piercing, shrill”; of persons “sorrowing.” Peter sobbed and cried it all out of his system.
As noted in the previous verse, I really like how Jesus restored him, because Peter is such a likeable man!
For some reason I always picture him as husky and masculine, a rough-hewn character with a weak self-edit button from his mind to his mouth. Jesus had to smooth out even more rough edges in Peter’s soul. Peter’s two epistles show how far he came. They are mature and wonderful (see the excerpt in vv. 63-65, next).
63-65:
Now the scene shifts the focus from Peter to Jesus himself, alone. And the scene is awful. He is getting beaten and hit and punched. They blindfold him and hit him and demanded him to prophesy, as if he were a prophet from the Old Testament. Samuel knew where Saul’s donkeys were (1 Sam. 9:20). Surely Jesus could tell them which donkey was striking him! Okay, I wrote that into my commentary, just to say how they underestimated who he was; yes, he was a prophet, but he was more than that. He was the Son of God, the Messiah.
Let’s expand and apply this verse to our lives.
Is unjust suffering part of our life as a Christian?
Peter wrote masterfully, no doubt from his memory:
19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.” [Is. 53:9]
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Pet. 2:19-24, NIV)
Maybe in the free world we don’t have to suffer persecution, but events in 2020, when governors shut down churches because of a flu panic indicates how weak our churches are. Could the church’s compliance to the shutdown prophesy worse things to come? We shall see.
GrowApp for Luke 22:47-65
1. The disciples were confused. They did not understand that their Lord was destined to die. They even took the wrong action, when one of them cut off a servant’s ear. Were you ever deeply confused when your plans didn’t work out? How did you respond?
2. Peter hit rock bottom, denying Jesus three times. Have you ever hit rock bottom? Have you ever denied, by word or action, your Christian walk with God in front of your old friends? How did God restore you?
3. Study 1 Peter 2:20-24. Does it say you are also called to suffer sometimes in your life when persecution comes? If you are not presently undergoing unjust persecution, how can you support the suffering church around the globe?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
