Luke 22:41-47

41-46 Compare Mat_26:39-46; Mar_14:35-42.

44 Compare Heb_5:7-8.

47-48 Compare Mat_26:47-50; Mar_14:43-46; Joh_18:3-9.

48 The gentle forbearance is the most crushing quality of this question. The Lord does not berate him for his act. He does not denounce him for his deed. But it hurts His heart that he should cover his crime with a show of affection.

49-51 Compare Mat_26:51-54; Mar_14:47; Joh_18:10-11.

49 Doubtless the Lord allowed the apostles to harbor the mistaken impression that He was about to meet force with force so as to afford Him an opportunity to reveal His true attitude in a most striking and instructive manner. So far as we know, He had never healed His enemies. Blessing was reserved for the faithful and friends. So that, in this simple miracle of healing the ear of the high priest's slave, we can see a moral glory which is nowhere else displayed.

52-54 Compare Mat_26:55-57; Mar_14:43-53.

52 Behind all the acts of men the Lord always saw the sovereignty of God. Since it was His Father's will that He should suffer on the Passover, He knew that His enemies would be helpless to take Him until the proper time. So He had calmly ignored the threatening attitude of the chiefs, and taught openly in the very temple itself. Now the day had come for Him to be offered up. Now, since it was God's time, it was their hour.

54 Compare Joh_18:12-14.

55-60 Compare Mat_26:58; Mat_26:69-74; Mar_14:54; Mar_14:66-71; Joh_18:15-18.

55 That Peter really intended to be loyal to his Lord cannot be doubted, especially as he did not run away but followed as closely as he dared, keeping Him in sight. It demanded some courage to enter into the courtyard of the chief priest. But there was nothing in what he say of the trial to give him confidence. If they maltreated his Master as they were doing what would they do to His disciples? What a vast difference between his conduct here and his magnificent courage in the Pentecostal era! Now he is afraid of a mere maid, then he defies the whole Sanhedrin. Yet this failure was the very foundation of his future firmness. From the instant that the Lord looked at Peter he was a changed man. Bitter self-reproach takes the place of boasting. Confidence in Christ replaces self-conceit. He has learned the lesson of true reatness, as he writes in his first epistle: "Be humbled, then, under the mighty hand of God, that He should be exalting you in season" (1Pe_5:6).

61-62 Compare Mat_26:75; Mar_14:72.

63-65 Compare Mat_26:67-68; Mar_14:65.

66-71 Compare Mat_26:59-66; Mar_14:55-64; Joh_18:19-24.

66 The Sanhedrin was the highest religious court in Israel and should logically have been the one to pass upon His claims and confirm them. Had they been at all what they were supposed to be, He could easily have convinced them. But they were so utterly apostate that the Lord recognized the futility of having anything to do with them. They were not sincerely inquiring into His claims but were seeking evidence to convict Him. He well knew that they wanted Him to claim to be Christ that they might use it against Him. They wanted Him to say that He was the Son of God that this might be evidence of blasphemy and lead to His death. This is why He says "You are saying that I am! " If He did not claim it they would have no case against Him. And even thus, though He refused to speak the words, they catch at His retort. What a travesty of righteousness! What a mockery of religion is this highest and holiest of Jewish tribunals! Pilate had some sense of justice left, but they were utterly shameless. Their light had become darkness.