Gethsemane and Peter’s Denial

Gethsemane

Lk 22:39 Jesus went as he was won’t to the Mount of Olives.  Wont is accustomed; doing customarily.  You should have a place you are wont to go and pray so that in a time of crisis you know you can meet God there.  Many people wait till a crisis comes to try to find God and they expect him to be there.

Jesus’s Admonition

Lk 22:40 Pray that ye enter not into temptation.  Matt 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.  Lk 8:13 They on the rock… in time of temptation fall away.  Lk 11:4 lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.  Gal 4:14 my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not.  Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried…. So, this is not a temptation, like lust, but a trial.  Pray to get through this.

Jesus’s Agony

Lk 22:41-42 he separated himself from them, kneeled down and prayed.  “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me”.  This is a cup which Jesus must drink, Jn 18:11.  It involves the shedding of his own blood, Lk 22:20.  Not a literal drink.  With this cup he became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 1 Jn 2:2.  He became sin for us who knew no sin.

Lk 22:43 an angel from heaven strengthened him.  He needed this divine strength to go through with the plan.

Lk 22:44 in agony.  Agony is intense pain of mind or body; the struggle that precedes death.  Matt 26:38 My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.  He prayed more earnestly.  He sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  There is a medical condition called hematidrosis.  It is linked to extreme stress where a person sweats blood from unbroken skin.

Lk 22:45 he arose from prayer and found the disciples sleeping for sorrow.  So, they weren’t just being lazy and disobedient.  They were sorrowful and thus sleepy, like depression fatigue.

Lk 22:46 he said, “rise, and pray, lest ye enter into temptation”.  Get up.  If your posture of prayer is conducive to sleep, you need to change your posture.  Jesus started out kneeling, but eventually fell on his face, Matt 26:39.  Temptation is still looming.  What is the temptation?  He knows they are going to be offended in him, Matt 26:31.  And he knows Peter will deny him.  The temptation is twofold, to no longer believe (that thy faith fail not), which they did, Mk 16:14, and to abandon him, which they didn’t.

Jesus went away to pray three times, Matt 26:44.

Jesus’s Arrest

Lk 22:47 a multitude came with Judas who kissed Jesus.  The kiss was a sign to the multitude since it was night, Matt 26:48-49.    Lk 22:48 he was betrayed with a kiss, Prov 27:6.

Lk 22:49-51 the disciples asked if they should smite with the sword.  Peter didn’t wait for the answer.  He cut of Malchus’s right ear, Jn 18:10, and Jesus healed him.  Then he told Peter to “Put up thy sword into thy sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it”? Jn 18:11. This is what set Peter off.

Lk 22:52-53 chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders were there.  Jesus raised the question, “Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves”?  They didn’t come after him while he was in the temple.  Then he said, “this is your hour and the power of darkness”.  Your hour has a couple of applications here.  First, it’s their destined moment of opportunity to fulfill their purpose.  Second, it’s a time set on God’s clock, like Rev 9:15.  The power of darkness is Col 1:13 in Satan’s kingdom, Eph 6:12.

Peter’s Denial

Lk 22:54 they led him to the high priest’s house and Peter followed afar off.  When the sheep get a little separated from the flock they are in danger of attack from the lion.  You should always stay with the flock.

Lk 22:55-60 and now Peter was set up for the denial.  What follows is a brief description of his denials.  For a more thorough study to reconcile Luke’s account with the other gospels see Peter’s Three Denials.  See also Peter’s Denial.

Notice that these denials take place over time.  The first denial is in the hall, v.55.  The second denial is “after a little while”, v.58.  And the third denial is “about the space of an hour after”, v.59.  Peter had a lot of time to think about what he was saying.  In the third denial he started cursing and swearing, Matt 26:74.  And the cock crew, v.60

Lk 22:61-62 As soon as the Lord heard the cock crow, he turned and looked at Peter.  That’s when Peter remembered what the Lord had said, “Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice”.  And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.  This was a breaking he would never forget.

To study the prior lesson, click on Who Is The Greatest. To study the next lesson, click on The Trial of Jesus.