Luke 23:8-12

Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him. He questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers. The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each other.

We read today that Herod really wanted to see Jesus, but all he really wanted to see was something supernatural. He obviously had no interest in Jesus Himself. Jesus refused to say or do anything for Herod at all and it appears that Herod was angered by it. So, instead of being glad to see Jesus, he started mocking Him instead.

I believe that this shows Herod’s great pride because He was not willing to take “no” for an answer. I believe that Herod was unaware of how proud he was. He probably thought that Jesus was the proud one. I have seen people like this many times in my life. They can’t stand it when you don’t do or say exactly what they expect and when you don’t, you are the only problem.

Psychology: It appears that Herod was a person who was used to living as a part of a co-dependency. He would have been the one that expected others to meet his needs through their own sacrifice. Jesus obviously didn’t support the disorder and it immediately put Herod on the defensive. I am sure that Jesus wasn’t thrilled with Herod as he had also had His cousin, John the Baptist, put to death. It was a miracle that Jesus didn’t succumb to power, so in a way, Herod overlooked this miracle because of his pride.

Politics: A common enemy sometimes brings people together who would have been enemies had they not hated the same thing. We see this kind of behavior at work in the middle east today when various enemies work together to get rid of others. Perhaps both Herod and Pilate didn’t like the Jewish leadership and Herod’s gesture of putting fancy “king-like” clothes on Jesus dishonored them by suggesting that the man they hated was their king. This may have shown that they both had a common enemy in the Jewish leadership which made them instant friends. Unfortunately for them, it also showed that they didn’t believe that Jesus was who He said He was.

Luke 23:1-7

The whole company of them rose up and brought him before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

He answered him, “So you say.”

Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

But they insisted, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee even to this place.” But when Pilate heard Galilee mentioned, he asked if the man was a Galilean. When he found out that he was in Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.

I understand that one of Pilate’s jobs as leader of Palestine was to make sure that the people stayed under control. It is interesting that today, people who don’t believe what the Bible says still think this way about Israel. Then, however, the Jews didn’t have their own country but were occupied by Rome. Pilate was handed the job to keep peace.

It is pretty clear that Pilate didn’t want to punish Jesus. He seemed to know the intentions of the Jewish leadership all too well, but He also seemed to realize that that they were capable of making riots that might show that things were getting out of control. Pilate actually appears to have been playing politics against the Jewish leadership but felt that he had to appease them to keep his job.

So what did Pilate do when he was put in a corner? He dished off the responsibility to someone else.

Here we can read the charges that the Jewish leadership was making against Jesus:

• Perverting the nation
• Forbidding the paying of taxes to Caesar
• Saying that He was the Christ and a King
• Stirring up the people

The first two were lies without question. The third one we read here is one that Jesus admitted to, and we also read that Pilate didn’t think that this was worthy of his involvement. I think that it was this last one that really got to him eventually. I think he know that this was a threat. Jesus wasn’t stirring up the people, clearly these leaders were. So, after spending the night being beat, then going through a bad trial with the Jewish leadership, and finally a questioning by Pilate, Jesus is sent off to Herod.

Luke 22:63-71

The men who held Jesus mocked him and beat him. Having blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?” They spoke many other things against him, insulting him.

As soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away into their council, saying, “If you are the Christ, tell us.”

But he said to them, “If I tell you, you won’t believe, and if I ask, you will in no way answer me or let me go. From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

They all said, “Are you then the Son of God?”

He said to them, “You say it, because I am.”

They said, “Why do we need any more witness? For we ourselves have heard from his own mouth!”

It is important to note here that Jesus is claiming to be God in these words. If you don’t know the Old Testament well you will miss the importance of the words: “I Am.” This is the way that God told Israel to refer to Him, so when Jesus used these words in referring to Himself, He was clearly saying that He was God. That is why they felt that they had achieved their goal of exposing “blaspheme” in Jesus.

The problem with the accusation of “blaspheme” is that it if Jesus was God then the charge could not stand because it isn’t blasphemous for God to call Himself God. If a man calls himself God then he is being blasphemous. The Jewish leadership was taking it for granted that Jesus was only a man, without looking at the evidence about whether He was really telling the truth or not. A person seeking evidence would have had to do research on the claim before making the assumption that it is “obvious.” This is not unlike how people today argue against Creationism in favor of Evolutionism. They claim that it is obvious that Creationism requires a God and so Evolutionism must be correct, but this is not an argument. Of course, Creationism requires God, that’s the point. That’s like saying because Creationism is Creationism it must be wrong! This is just a way of avoiding a real search for truth. The assumption that anything that requires God is automatically incorrect is a fallacy. Since it relies completely on assumption, it is arbitrary and neither scientific nor reasonable.

It is interesting that there was really no difference between the guards who beat Jesus with fists and the leadership that beat him up with lies.

Logic: This judgment was based on a well understood and documented fallacy called: “begging the question” or “circular reasoning.” According to Dr. Jason Lisle it is defined as: “[A fallacy that is committed] when a person merely assumes what he is attempting to prove, or when the premise of an argument actually depends upon its conclusion.” You can learn much more about logic and logical fallacies by studying Dr. Lisle’s book: “The Ultimate Proof of Creation.” Also, in the book of John, you can read more about the Pharisees circular logic. The argument was illogical and fallacious making a mockery out of the trial.

Luke 22:54-62

They seized him, and led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed from a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, and had sat down together, Peter sat among them. A certain servant girl saw him as he sat in the light, and looking intently at him, said, “This man also was with him.”

He denied Jesus, saying, “Woman, I don’t know him.”

After a little while someone else saw him, and said, “You also are one of them!”

But Peter answered, “Man, I am not!”

After about one hour passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Truly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean!”

But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned, and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the Lord’s word, how he said to him, “Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.” He went out, and wept bitterly.

We already know that Jesus was expecting this to happen and like everything that God says it was true. No matter how hard we try to be good, we will always fail in the end. Just like we cannot think of ourselves as better than Peter, Gentiles should never think of themselves as better than the Jews. The Jews were not any worse than anyone else in the world. The difference was that the Jews had the law and when they attempted to follow it they failed. Any other group of people would have done the same. The same thing goes with us and Peter. Peter was put to an extreme test before the Holy Spirit was given and He failed.

I believe that one thing this event demonstrates is that we cannot defend Christ in a sense that we could bring anything to Him that He has not already given to us. He doesn’t need us, we need Him and when He is in us He is defending Himself through us. If we try to do good works on our own we will ultimately fail. Peter thought he could defend Jesus but He couldn’t even stand strong enough to keep from lying to a servant girl. We don’t have strength in ourselves to do anything but protect our own selves. Obviously, Jesus was not a mere man because He was doing the opposite of Peter and standing up for us with His life.

We don’t know how Jesus looked at Peter, but I believe He looked at Him with mercy. I believe when He looked at Peter He looked in such a way as to say, “Peter, I’m dying for your sin right now.” Peter could have decided to hang himself or decide that he was not fit to be a disciple. Jesus told him earlier that Satan wanted him, but Jesus prayed for him. When it happened Peter was broken and realized he would receive forgiveness. Isn’t that how it was with us when we realized our sin and believed in Jesus for our salvation?

Luke 22:45-53

When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief, and said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

While he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” A certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

But Jesus answered, “Let me at least do this” —and he touched his ear, and healed him. Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn’t stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

One thing that I observe about mankind is how often we choose to do the “right thing” at the wrong time. In this passage, everyone is missing the mark and only Jesus is there to make sure that things happen according to God’s plan. This is an example of how stressful and harmful it is when we fail to believe in what God says.

First we read that, rather than praying, the disciples slept before the most traumatic event that would ever take place to them. Jesus tried to warn them but just like we do sometimes, they didn’t pay attention. Then, Judas actually betrays Jesus with a kiss, performing an act of love as an act of hate. Then, one of the disciples comes out swinging a sword. He misses all of the soldiers and cuts off a servant’s ear!

Jesus had to die for the world, just as He had already told them. What was happening was God’s plan for this time. Later, there would be a need for the disciples to defend themselves, but now was not that time. I can easily see how it may have looked like the right time for fighting, though, but we shouldn’t live by sight but by faith in what Jesus says. We read here that, Jesus not only kept the disciples from getting arrested, but also made sure that our redemption plan kept going by healing the servant’s ear.

Jesus even uses this moment to start teaching. His lesson was about God’s timing! We should be seeking God and His timing according to His word. It is so easy it is for us to misinterpret the correct way and think we know what to do on our own. I thank God that Jesus helps us in our weakness as He did the disciples here because we always have an imperfect understanding based on how things seem to us. May God help us to know, understand and believe His word.

Luke 22:39-44

He came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him. When he was at the place, he said to them, “Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.”

He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Years ago I used to get confused about this passage. It didn’t make sense to me that Jesus would ask the Father to get out of going to the cross. That sounded like a desire to disobey the Father which would be a sin. I believe God made it more clear to me over time. Jesus is the one and only Messiah. He is the only perfect man. There is no one who deserved His Father’s love more than Himself and there has never been anyone who loved the Father as much as He did. None of us can be in Jesus position here because all of us deserve punishment and none of us really know and love God like Jesus does.

There is only one fear that the Bible allows and that is the fear of God and Jesus knew that He was about to take on a punishment from a Father who He knew had terrible punishment capability. It only makes sense for a righteous person to detest the thought of being sinful, to detest the thought of being punished by a fearful God, to detest the shame of being a sinner when what is deserved is honor. These are righteous feelings, but I believe the most horrible thing was the thought that the love of His Father would be turned into hatred for the sin of mankind. Many have lost a loved one and almost no torture can compare to this. To be loved deeply by the most powerful love and to lose it must have been beyond a human’s capacity to hold. I am not sure about this but I believe if the Father had not sent an angel, Jesus body may have died right there in the garden because these mental things were too much to bear.

I have been told by military special forces that psychological attacks can be worse than the mere physical ones. It’s good to know that the Father gave Jesus the strength to continue even though this horrible event was to take place. It is also obvious to me that the Father was suffering as well. This is the extent to which God was willing to demonstrate His love for us.

I also want to say that I don’t believe that we have to pray this prayer like Jesus did. It would only be right for us to both be willing and able to do the Father’s will. When we turn away from our own will it is the will of our sinful flesh. Jesus didn’t ever have evil desires, He didn’t want to see the wrath of God and we should never want to see it either. He had to face it and we will never be asked to face it. So, “Thy will be done” is entirely different for us.

Luke 22:35-38

He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?”

They said, “Nothing.”

Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword. For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’ For that which concerns me has an end.”

They said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.”

He said to them, “That is enough.”

It’s pretty obvious that “turning the other cheek” can be take too far. We see here that Jesus was advocating the use of weapons for self defense. He was also advocating a savings account for times of need.

Notice that Jesus Himself highlighted the change from what He had said earlier. He also mentioned what was different. Jesus was no longer to be there with them and was to be considered as a criminal.

It may be hard for some people reading this to believe, but as I speak, there are those who live to kill Christians and believe that they are doing a good thing for mankind. In a very real sense, the criminalization of Jesus and His followers continues to this very day. If I am understanding this right, it makes sense, then, that Christians need protection too.

There are two kinds of protection mentioned here. One is savings in money, and the other is a means of self defense. I believe it may also be safe to say that insurance may be a good idea.

Some people believe, that when Jesus told them to “turn the other cheek” that He was talking to a Messianic Israel. In other words, this command only works correctly when Jesus is actually physically ruling on earth. I have considered this and I don’t yet know if that is correct. It is clear, however, that Jesus did advocate the use of weapons and money when the time was right.

Notice that there is no need to stockpile weapons. All that was required was a simple, sufficient defense for ourselves. Am I advocating getting a gun? Yes. Although these instructions may have been specific to the disciples at this time, they were Jesus’ instructions given right before His death and He did give reasons that are logical and fit the situation of many Christians today.