The Hour of Darkness and the Look of Grace Text: Luke 22:47-65
Introduction: The Controlled Chaos of the Cross
We have come to the moment in the story where all the lines of history converge. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Son of God has just finished praying, submitting His will to the Father's. And as soon as He says, "Not my will, but yours, be done," the gears of that will begin to turn with terrifying speed. What follows appears to be, from a merely human vantage point, a scene of chaos, betrayal, injustice, and failure. A friend turns traitor, the loyal disciples turn to carnal weapons, the boldest of them turns coward, and the religious leaders of Israel turn into a lynch mob. It looks like everything is coming apart.
But we must read this with spiritual eyes. This is not a plan going wrong; this is the plan going right. This is not chaos; it is covenant. Every event here is meticulously choreographed. Jesus is not a victim swept away by events; He is the sovereign Lord striding purposefully toward the cross. He refers to this moment as "this hour and the authority of darkness." And it is their hour, but only because His Father gave it to them on a leash. The darkness thinks it is having its great triumph, but it is actually being harnessed to accomplish the greatest good the world has ever known.
In this passage, we see three great conflicts, three great collisions of two kingdoms. We see the collision of worldly betrayal and divine purpose in the kiss of Judas. We see the collision of carnal power and spiritual power in the sword of Peter. And we see the collision of human failure and sovereign grace in the denial of Peter. In each instance, the kingdom of this world appears to be winning, but in reality, the kingdom of God is establishing its authority in the most unexpected way imaginable, through weakness, suffering, and sacrifice.
The Text
While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was coming ahead of them, and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" And when those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, "Stop! No more of this." And He touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a robber? While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not stretch out your hands against Me, but this hour and the authority of darkness are yours."
Now having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest, but Peter was following at a distance. And after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, "This man was with Him too." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him." A little later, another saw him and said, "You are one of them too!" But Peter said, "Man, I am not!" And after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, "Certainly this man was with Him too, for he also is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and cried bitterly.
Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him while they beat Him, and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, "Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?" And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.
(Luke 22:47-65 LSB)
The Traitor's Kiss and the King's Rebuke (vv. 47-53)
The scene opens with the arrival of the mob, led by the most unlikely of figures.
"While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was coming ahead of them, and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, 'Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?'" (Luke 22:47-48)
The treachery is intimate. It is not an enemy from without, but a friend from within. Luke emphasizes this: "the one called Judas, one of the twelve." He was part of the inner circle. And he uses the sign of friendship and loyal affection, a kiss, as the signal for the arrest. This is the very picture of diabolical evil. Evil does not create; it perverts. It takes the good things of God, like love and friendship, and twists them into instruments of death. The world still operates this way. It uses the language of love to justify sexual perversion, the language of compassion to justify the murder of the unborn, and the language of justice to justify theft.
Jesus's response is not one of surprise. He is in complete command. His question, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" is not for information. It is a final, piercing arrow aimed at what is left of Judas's conscience. He names the sin precisely: it is betrayal. He names the victim: the Son of Man, the Messianic King from Daniel 7. And He names the means: the twisted symbol of a kiss. Jesus exposes the sin in all its grotesque ugliness.
The disciples, seeing this, react as any red-blooded man would. They ask, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" And one of them, who we know from John's gospel is Peter, does not wait for an answer. He swings his sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest's slave, a man named Malchus. Peter's zeal is admirable, but his theology is carnal. He is trying to bring in the kingdom of God with the weapons of men. He thinks the problem can be solved with violence. But Jesus's kingdom is not of this world, and it does not advance by the sword.
Jesus's response is immediate. "Stop! No more of this." He rebukes the violence of His own disciple. And then, in the middle of His own arrest, surrounded by enemies, He performs His last miracle before the cross. He touches Malchus's ear and heals him. This is the signature of the true King. While His disciple wounds, He heals. He shows grace to the servant of His enemy. This is the gospel in miniature. We come at Him with our own swords of rebellion, and in response, He heals us.
Then Jesus turns to the mob's leadership, the chief priests, temple officers, and elders. He exposes their cowardice. "Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a robber?" They are treating the Prince of Peace like a violent revolutionary. He points out their hypocrisy: He was in the temple every day, teaching openly. They could have taken Him then. But they came at night because they were creatures of the dark. Then comes the key to the whole scene: "but this hour and the authority of darkness are yours." He is not their victim. He is in control. This is an appointed hour, a permitted authority, all within the sovereign plan of His Father.
The Disciple's Denial and the Lord's Gaze (vv. 54-62)
The focus now shifts from the mob's betrayal to the failure of Jesus's closest follower.
"Now having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest, but Peter was following at a distance." (Luke 22:54 LSB)
Here is the first step on the road to denial. Peter is following, which is good, but he is following "at a distance." He wants to be close enough to see what happens, but far enough away to stay safe. A disciple at a distance is a disciple in danger. This leads him to the next compromise: he sits down at the enemy's fire. He is seeking warmth and comfort in the courtyard of the high priest, among the very people who have come to destroy his Lord. When we seek the comfort of the world, we are setting ourselves up to deny Christ.
And the denials come, just as Jesus predicted. First, a servant girl points him out. Peter's response is blunt: "Woman, I do not know Him." A little later, another man identifies him. "Man, I am not!" An hour passes, and a third man insists, pointing to his Galilean accent. Peter's final denial is emphatic: "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." The great apostle, the rock, the one who swore he would die for Jesus, has been completely undone by a servant girl and a few bystanders.
And then, the signal. "Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed." The sound must have pierced Peter's heart. But it was not the sound that broke him. It was the sight. "And the Lord turned and looked at Peter." Jesus was likely being led across the courtyard at that very moment. Their eyes met. What was in that look? It was not a look of condemnation or an "I told you so." It was a look of profound sorrow and covenant love. It was a look that communicated the awful reality of Peter's sin and, at the same time, the unbreakable promise of Jesus's grace. It was a look that said, "You have failed, just as I said, but I have prayed for you, and I will restore you."
This look accomplished what no rebuke ever could. "And he went out and cried bitterly." These are not the tears of despair, like Judas's. These are the tears of repentance. This is the godly sorrow that leads to life. Peter has hit rock bottom. All his self-confidence is shattered. He has seen the depths of his own weakness and, in the same moment, the heights of his Savior's grace. And it is in that brokenness that his restoration will begin.
The Mockery of Men and the Silence of God (vv. 63-65)
While Peter weeps in the darkness outside, Jesus endures the darkness inside.
"Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him while they beat Him, and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, 'Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?'" (Luke 22:63-64 LSB)
The scene is one of brutal humiliation. They beat Him, and then they mock His prophetic office. The irony is staggering. They blindfold the one who is the Light of the world and demand that He prophesy, at the very moment His great prophecy about Peter's denial has just been fulfilled to the letter. They are mocking the very one who sees all things, the one who knows their hearts better than they know themselves. They are blindfolding the Judge of all the earth and striking Him.
Luke summarizes the rest of their abuse by saying, "they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming." The very men who will accuse Jesus of blasphemy are here committing it themselves, reviling the holy Son of God. This is the world's response to the presence of perfect holiness. It cannot tolerate it. It must either bow the knee or mock, spit, and crucify. There is no middle ground.
Conclusion: The Look That Saves
This passage lays before us the raw reality of the human heart and the unshakeable reality of God's grace. In Judas, we see the heart that loves money more than Jesus, a love that leads to treacherous betrayal and ultimate despair. In the religious leaders, we see the heart that loves power and position more than truth, a love that leads to hypocrisy and murder.
But in Peter, we see ourselves. We are the ones who make bold promises to God in the light, only to crumble in fear when the darkness presses in. We are the ones who follow at a distance, who warm ourselves at the world's fires, who deny Him with our words and with our lives. We are all deniers.
The central question of this passage, then, is not whether you will fail. You will. The central question is what happens after you fail. When the rooster crows in your life, when your sin is exposed, what will you do? Will you, like Judas, go out and hang yourself in despair, trusting in your own remorse?
Or will you, like Peter, catch the eye of the Savior? The good news of the gospel is that even while we are sinning, even when we are arrested and bound, the Lord turns and looks at us. It is a look of grace that breaks the heart and then binds it up. It is a look that leads not to despair, but to bitter, cleansing, repentant tears. That look is still available to you today. Whatever your denial, whatever your failure, turn from the fire of the world and look to the face of Jesus Christ. For in His gaze, there is not condemnation, but the promise of a full and free restoration.