LUKE 22 (PART 4): TESTIFY TO JESUS

Today’s poem comes from
‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:47-71.

Yesterday I shared
how Judas betrayed Jesus
with a Death kiss,
and today we will learn
how Jesus responded to it.

As always,
Jesus starts with a question,
“Judas, are you betraying
the Son of Man
with a kiss?”

It's typical of Jesus
to ask a question,
when He already knows
the answer behind it -
the reason is because
He is giving man
opportunity to repent. 

It's truly glorious
how Jesus uses His sword,
to cut away
the soul from his flesh!

And Judas,
the man who was a friend;
a man who gave up everything
to follow Jesus -
His desire for money
left an opening for Satan to come in.

And Satan,
the evil spirit behind Judas's betrayal -
walked into the garden prepared to attack.

And he came in swinging,
not with a fist,
through an act of aggression,
but through a kiss,
an act of affection.

Can you imagine?
Your worst enemy,
using your loved one,
to get the job done?

Imagine the hate and jealousy
that Satan must have
for God's favorite son!

And right behind Judas
stood an army of men -
chief priests and elders,
and officers of the temple guard -
All were sinners who hated Jesus
because they did not believe
that He was the One.

Yet, the Ones who loved Jesus
stood right next to Him,
and in response to what they saw,
the disciples asked Jesus
if they should strike the haters
with their swords?

And before Jesus could answer,
the disciple named Peter,
struck the servant of the high priest,
cutting off his right ear.

Jesus shouted, “No more of this!”
Then He touched the man’s ear
and healed him.

Jesus then turned to the men and said, 
“Am I leading a rebellion,
that you have come
with swords and clubs?
Every day I was with you
in the temple courts,
and you did not lay a hand on me.
But this is your hour -
when darkness reigns.”

“When darkness reigns” -
what do you think Jesus means by this?

“Then seizing him, they led him away
and took him into the house
of the high priest."

"Peter followed at a distance.
And some there had kindled a fire
in the middle of the courtyard
and had sat down together,
Peter sat down with them.”

“A servant girl saw him
seated there in the firelight.
She looked closely at him and said,
“This man was with him.”
But Peter denied it."

"A little later,
someone else saw him and said,
“You also are one of them.”
Peter replied, “Man, I am not!”

About an hour later another asserted,
“Certainly this fellow was with him,
for he is a Galilean.”
Peter replied,
“Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
And just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed."

"The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.
Then Peter remembered
the word the Lord had spoken to him:
“Before the rooster crows today,
you will disown me three times.”

Luke says that Peter went outside
and wept bitterly -
I believe this was his opportunity
to repent and ask for forgiveness.

At the same time,
that Peter repented,
the Lord Jesus was being humiliated 
for our transgressions.

The men who were guarding Jesus
began mocking and beating him.
“They blindfolded him and demanded,
“Prophesy! Who hit you?”
And they said many other
insulting things to him.”

I try not to get angry
when reading these words -
I try not to be like Peter
who used aggression to defend.

It's not even the insults
that were hurled,
what upsets me the most 
is that these men
had no idea
what prophecy meant!

They must have taken the same bait
that most men take -
believing that prophecy is the same
as divination.
They must have thought Jesus
was a soothsayer,
a person who could tell the future
through a source not of God.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says,
“When you come into the land
that the Lord your God is giving you,
you shall not learn to follow
the abominable practices of those nations.
There shall not be found among you
anyone who burns his son
or his daughter as an offering,
anyone who practices divination
or tells fortunes or interprets omens,
or a sorcerer or a charmer
or a medium or a necromancer
or one who inquires of the dead,
for whoever does these things
is an abomination to the Lord.
And because of these abominations
the Lord your God
is driving them out before you."

So they did not believe
that the source of Jesus was God.
The did not see that Jesus
was the Suffering Servant
foretold through the prophet Isaiah.

They did not believe Jesus
was the Messiah,
the One who would come
to redeem them
which was foretold by the prophets
whose source was God - 
Moses, Micah, Samuel, David,
Hosea, Zechariah, Jeremiah or Daniel. 

"At daybreak,
the council of the elders of the people,
both the chief priests
and the teachers of the law,
met together,
and Jesus was led before them. “

“If you are the Messiah, tell us.”
Jesus answered,
“If I tell you, you will not believe me,
and if I asked you, you would not answer.
But from now on,
the Son of Man will be seated
at the right hand of the mighty God.”

They all asked,
“Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”

Then they said,
“Why do we need any more testimony?
We have heard it from his own lips.”

And that my friend,
is a great question -
"Why do we need any more testimony?"

I ask you this,
Do you think WE are called to testify to Jesus?

Do you believe that Jesus
is the beloved Son of God?
Do you believe that Jesus
is the Messiah prophesied
in the Old Testament?  

Do you believe that Jesus
is the blessing
that was declared
to reverse the curse?

Do you believe that Jesus
is the good news -
the Word that existed
since the beginning of the world.