June 25, 2023

Luke 22:54-71

⁵⁴ Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵ And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. ⁵⁸ A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. ⁵⁹ About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” ⁶⁰ Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 

⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”⁶² And he went outside and wept bitterly.

⁶³ The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. ⁶⁴ They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” ⁶⁵ And they said many other insulting things to him.

⁶⁶ At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷ “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸ and if I asked you, you would not answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” ⁷⁰ They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” ⁷¹ Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

Read Luke 22:54-60

1. What do we need to know from the previous chapter in Luke to fully understand this passage?
2. What do you imagine was going through Peter’s mind during this sequence of denials?
3. Discuss some of the reasons Peter had from hiding his association with Jesus.
4. In what ways have you been tempted to deny Jesus? What motives tend to lie behind those kinds of temptations?

Read Luke 22:61-62

1. What a powerful and convicting moment for Peter. Have you ever experienced one of those moments when the reality of your weakness and failing is made painfully clear to you? What was that like for you? How did you respond in that moment?

Read Luke 22:63-65

1. The guards blindfolded and beat Jesus. They mocked him, implying that a true prophet would know who hit him. Discuss the irony of this in view of the previous few verses.
2. The guards in the story are experiencing one reality. We, the readers, are shown a deeper, more complete reality to which the guards themselves are blind. Discuss how this may be true of the entire narrative of Christ’s suffering and crucifixion.

Read Luke 22:66-71

1. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus tried to keep people from talking too much about his identity as the Messiah. Why do you think he is so open about it here?
2. How might these verses be helpful in responding to those who claim Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah?