Lucas 22
G. Campbell Morgan · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 22
Morgan - Jesus did not mean that if you serve in a lowly place, you will be always be given a great place. He meant that in God’s eyes, the lowly place is the great place. “Service given, not gained, is the true greatness, for it is the sign of real fellowship with the Lord Himself.” Serves (waits on) (1247)(diakoneo) was waiting on tables (Lk 17:8, Jn 12:2) and was undignified to the Greeks. An astonishing, unimaginable reversal takes place when the returning master (the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) rewards his servants by waiting (diakoneo) on them (Luke 12:37+). That day will be like the night in John 13:4-17. Once again as so often in the Christian life, we see the paradoxical truth that the way up is down, a truth our fallen flesh will fight against until the day we fall asleep in Jesus or are raptured! (See Spiritual Paradox in the Christian Life) Jesus used diakoneo in John 12:26 (NOTE THE KEY WORD!) giving us all a conditional promise that "If (third class condition = potential action, there is a note of indefiniteness) anyone serves (diakoneo in present tense - as our lifestyle!) Me, let him follow (akoloutheo = IN HIS STEPS, AS HIS DISCIPLE! IN the present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) Me; and where I am, there shall My servant (diakonos - Whose servant? Who is our Master?) also be (IN HIS PRESENCE); if (third class condition) anyone serves (diakoneo in present tense - as our lifestyle!) Me, the Father will honor (timao) him (cf 1Pe 1:7)." Bob
Lucas 22
Morgan - “The very greatness of God is finally demonstrated, not in the height and the glory of His eternal throne, but in the depth and grace of His amazing stoop to our humanity and to the death of the Cross.”
Lucas 22
Morgan wrote, “His faith did not fail . . . when he was denying his Master. Neither did his love fail. What did fail? His hope, . . . and when hope is gone, courage fails and man becomes a coward.” Perhaps hardship has caused us to “deny” the Lord. Like Peter, we still love Jesus, but oh, how shameful our actions! Though Satan may assume the power To carry out his goal, It's true that in our darkest hour The Lord is in control. —DJD Satan's ploys are no match for the Savior's power. THE BOUNCE TEST "I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail." -- Luke 22:32 With cranberries, it's the bounce that counts. While the quality of some fruits is judged by their firmness and color, the best cranberries are distinguished by their ability to "bounce like a golf ball." "Science Digest" reports that freshly picked berries are processed by pouring them down a series of steplike boards. At each level, only those berries that bounce over an 8- to 10 inch barrier pass the quality test. Christians face a "bounce test" too. The strength of their faith can be measured by their ability to bounce back after a fall. Although failure is painful, it offers an occasion to reaffirm our heart's devotion to Christ. Jesus knew that the apostle Peter was about to trip over his own self-confidence and zeal by denying Him. Yet the Lord saw beyond this devastating failure to the disciple's repentance and restoration. When He assured Peter that He had prayed that his faith would not fail, He was saying, in effect, "Peter, you will bounce back after your fall." Though oftentimes we stray from You And disregard Your Word, In tenderness You bring us back -- Our gracious, loving Lord! - Dennis J. De Haan The Lord may allow us to fall down so that we'll learn to look up. Robert Neighbour - Satan Seeks to Sift the Saint - "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift yon as wheat, but I have prayed for thee" (Luke 22:31, 32). That Simon needed sifting we do not doubt. That Simon was sifted we are sure. However, the sifting that Simon received was not the sifting that satan desired. Simon Peter was the one who seemed full of human energy and self-trust. He had said, "Though all men offend Thee, yet will not I." Thus, Simon needed sifting. Simon was the one who gladly drew a sword in behalf of his Master. Certainly he was reproved, for he was fighting when he should have been seeking guidance — yet, the fighting showed his careless abandon, and his courageous love in behalf of his Master. Still, Simon needed sifting. Simon was the one who followed Christ into the home of the high priest. Peter (Simon) had been reproved for using a sword, and to be sure he thrice denied knowing the Lord, still Simon was there — across the hall — and the others were not there. Yet, Simon needed sifting. Satan knew the power of this impetuous fisherman. He reckoned on him as the one man, among the twelve, whom he had most reason to fear. Satan reckoned well. After years proved satan's surmises were correct. It was Peter who was leading spokesman at Pentecost. It was Peter who led in the great marches of the Church in its mission among the Jewish people during many years. Satan, therefore, sought to sift Peter. He turned against him with all the cunning and power of his mighty hand. His purpose was to make shipwreck of Peter's faith. He wanted to do with Peter what he accomplished with Judas — he wanted to turn Peter, body and soul, against the Lord. Christ knew Peter's weak spots, he anticipated satan's attack. The Lord just put His great big arm around Peter and said, "Simon * * satan * * I." Jesus Christ fought Peter's battle. He allowed satan to sift Peter for Peter's good. In truth satan became, against his will, and beyond his purpose, the chisel in the hand of God to knock off many of the rough spots in Peter's character. Peter came forth from satan's wiles a better and a stronger man. Before satan had finished his sifting process Peter could use swords, and curse and swear; after the sifting was done, Peter could preach with boldness, a Gospel of marvelous power, and he could even die the death of a martyr in his fidelity to his Master. Satan will always seek to sift us to our hurt. He will try to pull us down. He will seek to overturn our faith, to weaken our prayer life, and thus to kill our testimony. Blessed be God. There is still One Who builds a hedge about us, as He did about Job, of old. Satan can only get at us as God permits, and then not to our ultimate undoing, but to our ultimate enrichment. What we must do is to follow the Lord fully, and we need have no fear of satan's sifting. The Attitude of Christ Toward the Backslider - Robert Neighbour "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee" (Luke 22:31, 32). We have placed Peter and his backsliding last of all. We do not know that we should have done this, although in a sense, backsliding is the climax of sinning. Surely it is an evil thing and bitter, when one forsakes the Lord their God. Peter was not only a disciple, favored with closest contact with the Lord, but he was a man who had made large boasts concerning his own integrity. Peter, however, soon learned the frailty of the flesh. Let us notice briefly some of the steps of Peter's fall. 1. He was self-confident. He said, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." In this statement Peter seemed to say to the Lord, "You will do well to watch James and John, Simon Zelotes and Bartholomew, Judas and Thaddeus, but, Lord, I am all right." It is well for us to remember the words: "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 2. He forgot to watch and pray. When they went into the Garden, Christ told Peter, James and John "watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Peter was tired, borne down with his grief, and before he knew what he was doing, his weary eyes were closed. Peter slept, and sleeping he could not watch. Thus he deserted the Lord in the hour of His greatest need. While Jesus was praying and sweating as it were great drops of blood, Peter was sleeping. 3. He cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. This was seemingly an effort on Peter's part to make up for his failure in sleeping. The Lord rebuked Peter and told him to put up his sword. 4. He followed afar off. Peter went up the miff tree; his feelings were wounded; he would not utterly desert his Lord, but he pouted and followed from afar. 5. He warmed at the enemy's fire. Peter did not go in with Christ, but stayed in the room across the way and warmed himself. 6. He cursed and swore. He said, "I know not the Man" (Matt. 26:72, A. S. V.). He said it with an oath; he said it to a maid. We have briefly outlined in Peter's fall, the usual course of a backslider. Oh, how bitter, how disappointing it is to see a man who promised allegiance, proving no more than a deserter! Is not the church to-day filled with men who have left their Lord? They promised all fidelity; they were baptized, setting forth the death of their old man, and their resurrection to newness of life, but they have gone back with a great backsliding. What a sin is this! What then is the attitude of Christ toward His deserters? When a man deserts his wife, the law considers him criminal. When the soldier deserts his army, he is court-martialed and shot. What is the attitude of Christ? Let us follow once more the case of Peter. 1. "I have prayed for thee." Christ told Peter that satan had desired to sift him as wheat, but that He had prayed for him. 2. "The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter." When Peter swore and thrice denied his Lord, the Lord Jesus looked upon him with inexpressible love and tenderest compassion; the result was that Peter went out and wept bitterly. 3. "Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter." Peter was not left out when the Lord sent word for His disciples to meet Him in Galilee. 4. "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?" When Christ met the disciples by the sea, He opened His heart and received Peter back into the place of loving confidence. 5. "Feed My lambs, * * Feed My sheep." The Lord restores to Peter his work as one of the Twelve, and a noble work that proved to be. Of one thing we may assure ourselves, be it ever so wicked for a Christian to backslide and to deny his Lord, our God is full of compassion and is ready to forgive. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Rod Mattoon - Jesus warned Peter and the disciples that Satan desired to sift them like wheat. This sifting of wheat basically referred to the repeated, swift, and violent shaking of the wheat in a sieve. The sifter would shake the sieve from side to side in order to get the chaff to surface to the top. It was then discarded. The sieve was then put through a teeter-totter motion. The sifter would blow over the material, so that what remained of the chaff gathered in an easily removable pile. The purpose for the sifting was to save the wheat that had been separated from unwanted material. The sifting of Satan offers some important lessons that we need to consider. 1. Sifting was for the purpose of purifying the wheat When the Lord puts us through a sifting process, He desires to purify our lives and get the chaff out. Satan, however, sifts a person to destroy them. His temptations are for the purpose of destroying us spiritually. This is what happened to Judas Iscariot and what he tried to do to Peter. 2. Sifting was for the purpose of exposing the chaff That is what Satan desires to do in us. He wants to expose our chaff, our faults, our sins, or our weaknesses, for the purpose of hurting our testimony for Christ and to lead others astray. 3. Sifting was done to separate the wheat from the chaff the good from the bad Satan sifts us to separate us from that which is good. He wants us to discard that which is good in our lives. When a Christian has been sifted by Satan, he discards the Bible, he stops hanging around Christians, and he gets out of church. He separates himself from that which is good. 4. The up and down, teeter-totter motion of the sieve was to sift the wheat Satan desires that we be up and down or unstable in our lives. He tries to get us distracted and from focusing our faith in the Lord by bringing temptations, trials, and turmoil into our lives. In fact, it was James who said, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). (Mattoon's Treasures from Luke) Paying The Price Read: Luke 22:31-34,54-62 I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. —Luke 22:32 Imagine being able to do anything you wanted to do without having to be concerned about costs or consequences. You could have success without risk or sacrifice. A happy marriage without having to work at it. Education without exams. We all realize, though, that’s not the way life works. To know the joy of success, we must pay the price of commitment and learn from our failures. Before Jesus was arrested and put on trial, Peter expressed his devotion to Him by saying, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). When that noble intention was put to the test, Peter’s resolve melted under pressure. He denied three times that he knew Jesus (vv.56-60). But his failure wasn’t final. He later reaffirmed his love for the Lord (John 21:15-19). And when empowered by the Holy Spirit he became a bold witness (Acts 2-12), willing to be imprisoned and even die for his Lord (John 21:18-19). To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage, To do my Master's will! —C. Wesley Commitment comes with a cost. Luke 22:33 But he said to Him, "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!" KJV Luke 22:33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. I am ready to go both to prison and to death 2 Kings 8:12,13; Pr 28:26; Jeremiah 10:23; 17:9; Mt 20:22; Mt 26:33-35,40,41; Mark 14:29,31,37,38; John 13:36,37; Acts 20:23,24; 21:13 Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE DECEITFUL NATURE OF PRIDE But he said to Him, "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!" - Peter seems to totally disregard the Lord's previous words of warning (Lk 22:31-32)! Here he brazenly manifest his typical overconfident bravado (swaggering show of courage). I have heard saints say "I am never tempted to _____ sin." While I am glad they can say that, they need to be aware that the only reason they have been able to resist that sin is because of God's provision of grace not their self-energized self-control! It is a dangerous thing in Christianity to say "I would never commit that sin." Beloved, as Peter will soon prove, when God removes His hedge of protection and gives our depraved sin nature full sway, we are capable of virtually any sin, whether "respectable" or "heinous!" Including even denying our Lord Jesus Christ! Simon should have prayed Ps. 139:23, 24, a good prayer for all disciples from time to time! Mt 26:35 adds this detail - "Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too." J C