Captain Obvious

Northwest Gospel Church - East Vancouver

Luke 22:54-71 | Andrew Murch | In this passage, Luke turns the focus on Peter and shows us the sad failure of a disciple. Peter sits among the group huddled around the courtyard fire. One of the servant girls eyeballs Peter, and says “This man also was with him.” Peter’s retort was, “Woman, I do not know him.” There could hardly be a stronger way to deny Jesus, and it was pretty much all downhill from there.
It looks completely hopeless save for one observation that Luke gives that no other Gospel account does: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” This is a pathetic fall that landed amid shreds of hope as “he went out and wept bitterly” (v. 62). Luke also wants us to see one other important truth: the word of Jesus is solid. There is an irony in what happens next. Even as the religious leaders treat Him as a phony prophet, in their actions Jesus’ prophecy is being fulfilled. Whether it’s Peter’s denial or the beginning of the mockery of Jesus, he wants us to see how sure and solid Jesus’ word is. Chapter 22 comes to an end as Luke focuses on Jesus’ true identity. Morning comes and the Jewish leadership carts Jesus off to their council chamber (v. 54). Jesus is asked point-blank if he is the Christ, the long-awaited Savior of Israel. Jesus replies, “But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” (v. 70b) They take Jesus’ words as an affirmation, and they move quickly to punish him for what they consider to be blasphemy.