December 4, 2011 – Luke 22:21 - 22:53

The supper ends in such an odd fashion. It is enough. And with the discussion about the swords, it just feels odd. The footnotes talk about Jesus statement being out of frustration that they still are not grasping what is about to happen or that He is trying to prepare them for what to do when He is gone. When they went out earlier, they didn’t seem to have any issues or backlash to their preaching. After He is gone, there will be persecutions and martyrdom. But they appear clueless.

I love how Christ tells Peter He is praying for Him in particular. Notice that He is not praying for Peter to not deny Him, He understands that this is going to happen and may even be necessary to build Peter up later. He is praying for what happens after the betrayal, that Peter seeks forgiveness and does not lose hope. Judas changes his mind after the betrayal, but he does not have the hope and does not seek forgiveness. He feels he is beyond it and so commits suicide. Christ understands the role Peter will play and prays not for his perfection, but actually for his humility to admit that he sinned. Notice the arrogance of Peter in saying he would not deny Jesus and even trying to fight in the garden. But that is not Christ way and Peter’s lesson of humility was needed for what was to come. Therefore Christ prays for Peter to get up after his fall, He does not pray that the fall not happen. We should keep that in mind when we wonder why rough times come upon us.