LUKE 22:52-54 HOUR OF DARKNESS

HOUR OF DARKNESS

LUKE 22:52-54

Luke 22:52 Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

Susie: Jesus addresses the crowd that came to arrest Him. Luke identifies some of them as high-ranking officials—chief priests and captains.

Susan: Jesus asked them if they were thinking of Him as we would someone on the top ten most wanted list. For their day, they were armed to the teeth!

Luke 22:53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

Susan: They had not arrested Him when He was right there in their own home field, the Temple. He had been there daily without fail during the last week of His life, pouring out from His heart; and not one of them lifted a finger to accost Him there.

Susie: Of course, Jesus taught in the Temple courts in broad daylight surrounded by His followers. The religious officials were afraid to confront Him in front of a crowd of His supporters.

Susan: They may have feared an uprising or even a coup.

Susie: Therefore, they came to arrest Him in the middle of the night under the cover of darkness—the time for cowards and evildoers.

Susan: He told them this was their time in the power of darkness. Satan’s power is that of darkness, and the Father allowed the devil to rear his ugly head through the officials and soldiers.

Susie: In the Bible “light” symbolizes good and “darkness” symbolizes evil. Jesus refers to Himself as “The Light.” Satan is a creature of darkness. We are in the dark until we come to The Light through salvation purchased by Jesus on the cross.

Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Luke 22:54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off.

Susie: Sometimes people question who served as the true high priest at this time—Annas or Caiaphas. The following explains it quite well:

Pulpit Commentary as quoted at https://biblehub.com/luke/22-54.htm

The actual high priest at this juncture was Caiaphas, son-in-law to Annas, who was the legal high priest, but had been deposed by the Roman power some time before. Annas, however, although prevented by the Roman government from bearing the high priestly insignia, was apparently looked upon by the people as the rightful possessor of the dignity, and evidently exercised the chief authority in the Jewish councils. It seems that he and his son-in-law Caiaphas, the Roman nominee, occupied together the high priest's palace. There were three trials of our Lord by the Jews:

(1) Before Annas (John 18:12-18).

(2) Before Caiaphas and what has been termed a committee of the Sanhedrin (John 18:24; Matthew 26:59-68; Mark 14:55-65).

(3) Formally before the whole Sanhedrin at dawn (Luke 22:66-71; Matthew 27:1; Mark 15:1).

Susan: All four gospels identify Peter as following Jesus and His captors after His arrest.

Susie: Only John’s gospel records the fact that another disciple accompanied Peter. Since John often referred to himself in the third person and was somehow known by the high priest, most commentators presume he was speaking about himself. If John was this other disciple, the high priest may have known him because his family’s fishing business was very successful, even to the point of hiring men. Some commentators suggest he may have been a distant relative of the high priest. The Bible does not make this absolutely clear. We found an interesting article here: https://www.bethanybiblechurch.com/2018/09/09/john-18a-was-john-related-to-the-priests/

John 18:15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

Susan: The brash, outspoken Peter whose kinetic energy had earlier led him to lop off the servant’s ear now followed discretely at a distance cloaked in the darkness lest he be recognized and identified as one of Jesus’s disciples. The arrest of His master had shaken him to the core.

Susie: More on the once brave but now overwhelmed and even terrified Peter in the next lesson.

Ponder this and Apply it: None of this caught the Father or Jesus, for that matter, by surprise. The people who arrested Jesus were being used to fulfill the plan put in place from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Jesus points out that darkness is their hour and Satan is the power behind them. We know from John’s gospel Jesus could have slain them all with a word, but He had already surrendered to the will of the Father as He prayed in Gethsemane. There will be times in our lives as believers that seem like darkness has overcome us completely, but if we are surrendered to God’s will and seeking to follow Him, we can rest assured that the ultimate outcome will be for our good and His glory. The darkness cannot overcome The Light!

John 1:4-5 (VOICE) His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light—A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched.