Luke 22:54-62 Peter's denial.
Parallel passages Matt 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, John 18:25-27. Jesus had
already told Peter this would happen (Luke 22:34), even to the specifics of
three denials, to be followed by a rooster crowing. Typically a rooster starts
crowing at the first sign of light in the morning, while Jesus had been
arrested after dinner and an hour of prayer, so it was clear that this would be
an all-night affair.
What
gives us strength to own Christ before others? In the case of Peter it wasn't
much of a threat when a servant girl asked him if he was with Jesus. Many since
have faced torture and death for refusing to deny Him. There is probably a
spiritual basis for Peter's loss of nerve. Jesus had already explained that the
power of darkness was empowering the priests to carry out their plan, and that
God's plan had to be carried out. Peter at this point was not yet a part of
that plan in any direct sense. So it seems likely that Peter was facing the
challenges of these events without the Holy Spirit indwelling, and under the
pressure of the same demonic forces that had entered Judas. Circumstances in
our day are completely reversed. The Holy Spirit now indwells believers, and
the devil was defeated at Calvary.
Luke 22:63-65 Jesus is mocked and
beaten by the soldiers. Parallel passages Matthew 26:67-68, Mark 14:65, John
19:2-3. In those days, there were no such things as constitutional rights, and
the Roman Army, as an occupying force, was not limited by any need to respect
the non-Roman subjects of the Empire. Execution itself was a brutal affair,
designed specifically to prolong the public spectacle of the agony of death, as
an official policy, to deter rebellion. The officers let the soldiers have
their fun. And so the prophecy of Isaiah 52:14 and 53:4-5 was fulfilled.
The
downside of this approach to subjugation of conquered peoples is that it
prevents any possibility of winning their support in any meaningful way. The
Roman Empire was strong like iron, but intrinsically brittle (Daniel 2:40-43).
Although it would endure for several hundred more years in one form or another,
it would not be an eternal kingdom. The festering hatred of the subjugated
peoples, along with the structural weakness resulting from wanton debauchery at
the top, would eventually weaken it to the point where external enemies would
destroy it. As human empires go, it would last a long time. Part of the
extension of its existence can be traced to the adoption of Christianity as a
means of establishing a common social norm that was more cohesive than mere
military might. The extent to which Constantine's conversion was a matter of
heart, versus a choice for political expediency, might be debated without
cloture. And yet, the Roman Empire was ultimately used by God in many ways to
enable the gospel to be spread throughout the known world. But it was in much
the same way that God raised up Pharaoh for His own glory, or used the High
Priest as a cog in the plan of salvation. So the Roman soldiers, in mocking and
beating Christ, were providing the physical instantiation of the wounds that
would provide for our healing (I Peter 2:24).
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