Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 22 : 47-54 "VIOLENT RESISTANCE"
Day 299 – Luke 22
Text: Luke 22 : 47-54
VIOLENT RESISTANCE
Peter had misunderstood Jesus when He gave them this advice,
“But now, he who has a money bag,
let him take it, and likewise a knapsack;
and he who has no sword, let him sell
his garment and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
When the Disciples saw the detachment of soldiers coming to arrest Jesus, they said to him,
” ‘Lord, shall we strike with the sword?’
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest
And cut off his ear.”
Luke 22:49-50
John identified the person who did this. He wrote in his Gospel,
“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it
and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off
his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.”
John 18:10
“SHALL I NOT DRINK THE CUP WHICH MY FATHER HAS GIVEN ME? ” John 18:11
Jesus stopped Peter from going on a rampage. It would have been suicidal if the disciples had attacked the armed detachment of soldiers anyway. Violence was never the way of Jesus. The Disciples should have known that by now! He gave Peter a stern order,
“Put your sword in its place,
for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
Mathew. 26:52
Jesus went on to heal Malchus. We read an astonishing event. The Man whom the soldiers had come to arrest took time to heal the injured servant of the high priest!
“But Jesus answered and said,
‘Permit even this.’
(More understandably, “No more of this” NASB, NIV)
And He touched his ear and healed him.”
Luke 22:51
Jesus went on to say to Peter (and the other disciples),
“Shall I not drink the cup which My Father
Has given Me?” John 18:11
The reference to the Cup is surely significant. This was the Cup Jesus spoke of when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had accepted the Cup as from His Father. His Father had given Him this Cup to drink. He would drink this Cup!
“TWELVE LEGIONS OF ANGELS” Matthew 26:53
Jesus had been assured that the Cup which He was about to drink was indeed from His Father’s hand. He was not afraid of the soldiers who had come out to arrest Him. He did not need Peter to defend him with a sword.
Jesus then went on to make a startling statement.
“Or do you not think that I cannot now pray to My Father,
and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?”
Matthew 26:53
A full legion would comprise both infantry and cavalry. In full strength, it can number up to 6000 troops. Multiply that by twelve! Just one word, just one request from the lips of Jesus, and the entire Roman army would have been wiped out, let along this detachment of soldiers sent to arrest Him.
The temptation to unleash might of this kind was put away. It would have been Satan’s kind of scenario. He would have loved to see Jesus call upon the mighty angels of God to engage in battle. He would have loved to see the disciples become violent. That would have played into his nefarious schemes! Jesus would then have been unable to complete what He came to do. He would then not be able to fulfil what the Scriptures had said!
“HOW THEN COULD THE SCRIPTURES BE FULFILLED, THAT IT MUST HAPPEN THUS?” Matthew 26:54
Jesus was most conscious of His Father’s will. That will was contained in the Scriptures. He had done everything according to His Father’s will all this while. He was determined that He would continue to fulfil the Scriptures, and thus express complete obedience to His beloved Father! Jesus reminded Peter of the fact that what was happening was already prophesied in the Scriptures. He had already foretold all these things to His Disciples. They must not but understand and accept the will of God.
As He spoke to His captors, Jesus once again made reference to the Scriptures.
“I sat daily with you, teaching in the Temple,
and you did not seize Me.
But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets
Might be fulfilled.”
Matthew 26:56(Cf. Mark. 14:49)
What filled the mind of Jesus as He allowed Himself to be arrested? What could give Him the kind of calmness and control in His life at that moment? You would have guessed right if you had said, “The Scriptures…”
How powerfully the Word of God impacted the heart, mind and spirit of Jesus! What power it gave to His life. Are the Scriptures impacting us similarly?