Luke 22 verses 54-71. So there's a statistic about these four books we call the Gospels.
! And that makes it very clear that these Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they were never intended to be biographies of Jesus.
They were always, always intended to be a Gospels, a kind of genre of literature to itself.
They were to be messages of good news. And the stat is this, from about 35% to 50% in one of the Gospels,
we find that the Gospel is devoted to the last single week of the Lord Jesus' life.
One of the Gospels, on all of the Gospels, in all of them, something like 10-40% covers the last 24 hours of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that isn't how you write a biography, is it? That's how you do it.
But it is what makes these books good news. They are all about the death of the Lord Jesus.
Because in each case, it indicates to us that the authors understood what is fundamental,
and what is absolutely essential to the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
It is not just the great things that he said, or the great things that he did, or the wonderful works and miracles.
The Gospels are here to teach us, in the form of the narrative,
that the Lord Jesus, what he came into the world to do, quite specifically,
was to die for the sins of his people.
That is what Christianity is all about.
That is what the Gospels are all about.
That the Lord Jesus came into the world to die for sinners.
And that is why the focus is on these last days, and especially on these last hours.
And woven into Luke's Gospel, that we've been studying,
we not only learn what happened to the Lord Jesus,
but Luke tells us the story in such a way,
that we're able to understand why it is the things that happened to him, happened to him.
And there's a sense in which the key to those verses,
that we've read today, is found in verse 67.
Can you see it?
They say, if you are the Christ, tell us.
And these verses, in one way or another,
have all got to do with either recognising or refusing the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christ.
As the Messiah.
It means the anointed one.
So in the Old Testament,
there are particular individuals that are anointed
by God to lead his people.
There were prophets.
And there were priests.
And there were kings.
And they were anointed by God to lead his people.
So, in various places in the Old Testament,
God has promised one day that there would appear a great prophet.
A great prophet.
A greater prophet than Moses.
One whom the people of God should listen to.
And he promised that one day there would be a greater priest.
A greater priest than Melchizedek.
Who would come and who would appear.
And he would be the great sacrifice for his people's sins.
And one day a king would appear,
who would sit forever on the throne of David.
And would rule his people from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth.
And so it is very, very striking.
That here, the Sanhedrin,
the Jewish ruling council,
that they are asking Jesus,
and they are not really interested in the answer Jesus makes clear.
They are asking Jesus,
are you really the Christ?
Are you really the fulfilment of all Old Testament prophecy?
How about the coming saviour?
And it's fascinating to see,
how these three offices of the Lord Jesus,
that he is the prophet,
he is the priest,
and he is the king,
are woven by Luke into this passage.
And strikingly, in each case,
what Luke shows you,
is he is rejected.
He is rejected as king,
he is rejected as prophet,
and he is rejected as priest.
So let's look at that.
I'm going to try and be brief,
both morning and evening.
So in the first case,
he is denied as king.
He is denied as king by Simon Peter.
In this deeply poignant event,
Peter, who clearly loved the Lord Jesus,
who is almost later,
he is almost later,
begging Jesus to believe him.
He says to him at the end of Luke's gospel,
Lord, you know that I love you.
You know that I love you.
And he said a few hours earlier in this event to me,
he said,
even if all the other disciples run away and desert Jesus,
I will always follow you.
I will always follow you as king and as master.
And then Luke so cleverly,
though he is speaking geographically,
there is a double entendre there,
isn't there,
in verse 54.
He says, doesn't he,
and Peter was following at a distance.
Now that was true in space and time,
wasn't it?
It was true geographically,
but it did begin to be true in the heart.
The physical distance between Peter and the Lord Jesus,
spoke of his desire for his own safety,
and his own security.
And Simon Peter was to learn that night,
wasn't he,
that night,
that when a man or a woman or a boy or girl
seeks their own safety,
with respect to the Lord Jesus,
that is when we find ourselves in greatest danger.
And so it was here with Simon Peter.
This cold spring night,
he is in the courtyard of the high priest,
and somewhere up there on the second floor,
perhaps,
even within here's shot,
perhaps with an eye shot,
the Lord Jesus,
as we read in verse 63 to 65,
the Lord Jesus is being abused.
And Simon Peter is desperately frightened.
And though he loves Jesus,
which is why he is there in the first place,
he is effectively denying that Jesus is king.
Actually,
this passage is a very striking example,
isn't it,
of something that we all know in our lives,
of what is a common example,
a common principle,
that if we're in a new situation,
we're with new people,
we face a challenge to our Christian faith,
and we don't respond faithfully,
the first challenge is brought to us,
and we don't respond faithfully,
then the second challenge comes,
and it makes it very difficult,
doesn't it?
And then the third challenge comes,
and we've not responded faithfully,
and it's almost impossible.
For us to stand for Jesus Christ,
and many of us know,
we've been in that situation,
we've failed when the first challenges come.
You're in school,
you're a student,
you're in a new job,
you've moved into a new flat,
there's new friends,
there's new colleagues,
and the opportunity comes,
and the challenge comes,
and you effectively say,
I don't know Jesus,
and I'm not going to speak for Jesus.
And you know, don't you?
How much more difficult it becomes.
And how impossible it can be,
when that third challenge comes.
And so Peter's story is my story.
And perhaps it's your story too.
A man who loves Jesus,
but denies Jesus as a king.
And what was his mistake?
Well it's actually portrayed here very graphically.
It's a mistake that Simon Peter's made once before,
isn't it?
You remember Jesus had called him to walk on the water.
And on that occasion he walked on the water,
and as long as his eyes were fixed on the Lord Jesus,
he's been able to do that, hasn't he?
In some extraordinary way to walk on the water.
But as soon as his eyes move from the Lord Jesus,
and the fear of his circumstances begins to dawn on him,
well it's the moment he begins to sink.
And it's exactly the same in Luke 22.
He turns away from the Lord Jesus,
to think,
how can I keep myself safe?
And how can I defend myself?
In case anybody knew that he was a disciple of the Lord Jesus.
And so it's impressive we take our eyes off the Lord Jesus,
it's so simple and yet it's so obvious, isn't it?
And yet it's the greatest problem in the Christian life.
You're in a situation where the thing,
where you need,
you know that to be kept safe,
in that situation,
you need to kind of give up on the Lord Jesus.
It's very, very costly, isn't it, to follow Jesus.
But Peter discovered in this passage,
it is even more costly not to follow him.
And so here the king is on trial.
The king is on trial.
And he denied him.
And as we notice, actually in the passage,
an hour or two passes,
Peter is in the courtyard.
Do you notice that verse 59?
And after an interval of about an hour,
still another insisted, saying,
certainly this man also was with him,
for he too is a Galilean.
And so we're meant to understand this,
Luke makes this clear,
that while this was happening,
something else was happening in the high priest's house.
And verse 63,
the men are holding Jesus in custody,
at the same time,
in an ongoing way.
They are mocking him,
and beating him,
and blindfolding him,
and insulting him.
And they say to him,
prophesy.
Prophesy.
Who is it that struck you?
And so even as Peter is denying Jesus as king,
the soldiers are mocking him as prophet.
He was the one who spoke the truth of God.
You know that,
in the Old Testament,
one of the words that is used for a prophet
is that of a seer.
A seer.
Somebody who is able to see
into the secrets of God.
Somebody who is able to see
into the hearts of man.
Somebody who is able to see
what God is going to do in the future.
The prophet was a seer.
And so do you see what they are doing?
They say,
so you are a seer.
You are a prophet.
Let us blindfold you.
And now tell us what you see.
And so they slap him.
And they abuse him.
And they play with him.
And they molest him.
Sometimes you find yourself in a situation
where you think Jesus cannot possibly
understand this situation.
Well, you just need to read the Gospels,
don't you?
To find that there is no situation in life
for which the Lord Jesus
is unable to come to us and say,
I understand your situation.
You think of believers in Iraq this morning
fleeing from their lives.
Jesus can come to them and say,
I know what it is to be abused.
I know what it is to be persecuted.
The thing that strikes me here is this.
We've been told in the Gospels
that Jesus knew Peter was going to betray him.
In a sense you can say,
Jesus was mentally prepared for the moment.
And this passage makes it clear
that he is in command of the moment.
But what can prepare you for this?
What can prepare you for this awful isolation?
The terrible drinking of this cup of desolation
at the hands of the officers of the high priest's house.
Imagine how this began for these men.
They may have heard his word.
They may have heard him preach, some of them.
They may have rejected his word.
They may have seen his followers
and found themselves inwardly mocking Jesus.
And they couldn't help themselves.
You can imagine when these soldiers went home that night
and they told their wives what they'd done.
How could you possibly do that to Jesus of Nazareth?
And they could have said,
well it was out of character.
Other people made me do it.
But if their wives had any sense
they would have said to them,
no, it wasn't out of character.
It was a revelation of what your character is really like.
You see, it is a trajectory, isn't it?
You begin by harboring your heart,
it's Jesus' word,
and rejecting him.
And then slightly mocking him
into a superior attitude.
And then you find yourself hating him.
And so Jesus here is on trial as king.
And he shows his regal dignity
as he is also mocked as prophet.
And here is the tragedy.
They blindfold him.
But it is they themselves are blind
to his true identity.
They blindfold him.
And yet it is they who are blind
to his true identity.
And we need to know that.
As our Lord Jesus is mocked and scorned
in the world in which we live.
As his word is treated terribly
in the world in which we live.
As he is mocked and scorned
it is they who are blind,
not the Lord Jesus Christ.
So even as he shows his royal dignity,
that royal dignity is denied
by Peter in his life.
And even as he is the prophet
whom God has sent
about people who said,
no man ever spoke like this man.
We find that he is mocked as prophet.
And then in a very striking way
we find that he is sacrificed
as high priest.
He is sacrificed as a high priest.
Now how does this come about?
It's very interesting isn't it?
Here you've got these two events
that go side by side.
You have the guards
and the soldiers.
And they cease,
they stop their viciousness
to the Lord Jesus.
And they are it seems
taking Jesus to be tried
by the Sanhedrin.
And there is an event
that is described at this moment.
It's the last time
Simon Peter denies him as king.
It's the end of the soldiers
mocking him as prophet.
And just at that point
the eyes of Simon Peter
and the Lord Jesus meets.
Do you see that in verse 61?
And the Lord turned
and looked at Peter.
And Peter remembered
the saying of the Lord.
How he had said to him
before the cock crows today
you will deny me three times.
But Luke tells us
only a little bit
of what the Lord Jesus
had said to him.
Do you remember
what Jesus had said to him?
It's there in verses 31.
to verse 34.
What Jesus said was this.
Simon, Simon,
behold Satan
demanded to have you
that he might sift you
like wheat.
But I have prayed for you
that your faith
may not fail.
I have prayed for you.
Can you think of that moment
when Simon Peter
goes out
and he weeps
bitterly in the darkness
in the cold
of the Jerusalem night
with the prophecy
of his denial
still ringing
in his ears.
But there was also
that promise
of the Lord Jesus
wasn't there?
That he would be
Simon Peter's
great high priest.
I will pray for you.
I have prayed for you.
That he would be
to Simon Peter
what the high priest
was to God's people.
He would wear
on his breastplate
with jewels
engraved on it
the names
of the tribes
of Israel.
That he might
carry them
on his heart
before the presence
of God
and he would pray
for his people
in all their weakness
and their failure
and their needs.
And so in amazing
in an amazing way
Jesus is a priest.
Indeed he is a high priest.
That Jesus is taken
before the Sanhedrin
and there before
the Sanhedrin
he is sacrificed
as a priest.
There's two interesting things
and woven it.
I don't think the high priest
probably knew this.
But it's interesting
the only way
that a high priest
could be tried
and condemned
is if he was tried
and condemned
by the whole ruling council.
And that is what
is happening in Luke 22.
And there's another
strange oddity.
Before the great
day of atonement
other priests
kept the high priest up
and awake
all night.
And it's almost
as if those two traditions
that had grown up
around the liturgy
of ancient Judaism
they are coming true
before their very eyes.
The high priest
was doing the very things
that they would do
to a high priest.
And now they turned
this great high priest
into a sacrificial beast
upon the altar of Calvary.
And in this amazing way
despised
and rejected of man
a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief.
It is though Luke
is saying to you and I
do you see
what is happening here?
That the king
is being rejected
that the prophet
is being despised
and that the high priest
is being made a sacrifice.
Don't you see
he is exactly
the saviour
he is exactly
the Messiah
he is exactly
the Christ
that he promised
to be.
And there are lots of ways
we can apply this
let me apply this
in one way
it is this
think about Simon Peter
Jesus came into this world
for failures
failures like Simon Peter
failures like you
and failures like me
and he came into the world
for people who would
deny him
and people who would
demean him
and reject him
and that he would
die for us.
I was with Dick Lucas
the other week
and Dick Lucas is fed up
because William Taylor
the minister of St. Helens
William Taylor's son
has got a cockerel
and a cockerel
every morning
at about 5 o'clock
crock-a-doodle-doo
it starts
you know
when you are 88
that is a bit tired
isn't it
and every morning
he is woken up
by this cockerel
and it got me thinking
about Luke 22
can you imagine
for Simon Peter
even in the cities
in those days
there would have been
cockerels
can you imagine
every single morning
he was woken up
by a reminder
that he denied
his saviour
that was his alarm call
every single morning
there was a reminder
that he denied
his saviour
three times
but every single morning
there was an alarm clock
there was a reminder
of God's grace
that Jesus Christ
had said to him
Simon Simon Peter
I am the high priest
who prays for you
it's what gripped
the apostle Paul
wasn't it
in Romans chapter 8
do you remember
who is going to bring
any charge
against God's elect
it is God
that justifies
who is going
to condemn me
when Christ
has died for me
and has risen for me
who is at the right hand
of the throne
of the most high
and he intercedes for me
failure
we've all been there
haven't we
you have been there
the times
when I denied
the Lord Jesus
the sins of my heart
the sins
that haunt me
day in
and day out
and we can get
no release from them
and where are you
going to look
where will you look
for salvation
and for mercy
we are to look
to this
you see that again
in verse 32
I have prayed for you
that your faith
may not fail
and that is something
isn't it
that we have to hang
on to
when we struggle
but the Christ
who has come
to reign over us
is the Christ
who has come
to die for us
he is the Christ
who ever lives
at the right hand
of his father
to make intercession
for us
so when Satan
tempts me
to despair
and tells me
of the guilt within
at what I look
and see him
there
who made an end
of all my sin
and that is it
isn't it
and so when we say
we need to fix
our eyes
on the Lord Jesus
it is not some
pious platitudes
it is because
when our eyes
are fixed
on the risen
ascended
and seated
Lord Jesus Christ
we know
that we are his
and we know
that we are safe
let's pray