Group Bible Study

We are continuing to meditate on Jesus on trial before the high priest and elders of Israel. The high priest looked for Jesus to incriminate Himself by speaking blasphemy. He said,  “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”  62 “ I am ,”   said Jesus.   “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” These words by Jesus was enough for the high priest, and he ripped open his outer shirt. The tearing of the clothes of the high priest was a graphic way of stating that something blasphemous had just happened. In this case, the Jewish leadership clearly understood that Jesus was making the statement that He was (and is) God in the flesh. After they reached the verdict, they continued the beating and humiliation. Luke described the beating with these words:   63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him.   64 They blindfolded him a...

Today we want to look at what Jesus endured before He was crucified—His appearance before Anna, Caiaphas and the council of Elders of Israel. Israel’s system of jurisprudence was one of the best in the world, and truth was held in high esteem, except when it came to Jesus. A man could not be questioned without his lawyer being present. Jesus was given no lawyer. A man could not be tried during the night, yet Jesus endured two trials at night by Annas and Caiaphas before His third public trial at dawn before the Sanhedrin, i.e., the elders of Israel. If there was a guilty verdict, those giving the judgment were to stay a full day in the place where the pronouncement of guilt was stated in case someone came forward with additional evidence.    Also, Israel’s system of jurisprudence also held that no one could incriminate himself and that there needed to be at least two witnesses. Therefore, Jesus was silent before His accusers. More than 600 years previously...

We are continuing our meditation on Peter being broken and made tender to the Lord by his three-time denial of Christ. While we have adequate resources to fight our own battles, the Lord lets us carry on until we come to the place of brokenness and an end to self-will. The Holy Spirit will bring us to a place where we find ourselves devoid of help, having no strength left to accomplish what needs to be done, having no backup plan, and no one but God to call to for help. That is the point at which God steps in to fight our battles for us. When we are weak, then we are strong in Him (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).  When the right time comes, and the work of God in us is complete, then God has compassion on us, i.e., when He sees that our strength is gone and we have no reserve backup plan, we find complete deliverance and dependence on God. What do you think God is teaching you through your own life experiences at this present time? Do you know what the lessons are yet? In Chapter 18 of t...

  How painful it was for Peter to hear the cock crow a second time and be immediately reminded of Jesus' words that, before the cock crows, he would deny his Lord three times. In God's sovereignty, the very same instant when Jesus was brought out of the house of High Priest Annas to go to the house of Caiaphas was the same time that Peter and Jesus heard the cock crowing. As soon as the words of his third denial left Peter's lips, the Lord looked at Peter and their eyes connected. There was no accusation in Jesus' eyes, only sadness for Peter. The Greek word translated "looked" (v. 61) is  emblepo. This word describes a fixed look, almost a stare. This look from Jesus broke Peter's heart; he remembered all his protestations that he was capable of standing in the hour of trial, but instead, he failed miserably. He went outside the courtyard and wept bitterly. The verb "wept" describes a sad, mournful cry like those grieving the death of a loved ...

We are continuing our meditation of the arrest of Jesus and the subsequent events of Jesus' trial. There in the courtyard of the High Priest, Peter made his first denial of the Lord. A young girl did not believe Peter’s first denial and so came up close to look at his face in the light of the fire. Matthew wrote that the fireside denial was before some people:   69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said.  70 But he denied it before them all. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said (Matthew 26:69-70).   Luke tells us that the servant girl looked closely at him seated in front of the fire, and she accused him before the other people sitting around the fire, saying, “this man was also with him” (Luke 22:56). His denial to those around the fire constituted his second denial. This sudden accusation is the way temptation will often come to us. We give the enemy ...

  As Peter followed at a distance, getting closer and closer to the high priest’s palace, what kind of thoughts occupied his mind, do you think? It is possible that his thoughts were on his words to Jesus that he would not fall away and was ready to go to prison and death.    31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.  32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."  33 But he replied,  "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death ."  34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me" (Luke 22:31-34). Simon Peter was not yet ready for the responsibility that God wanted to put upon his shoulders. He was too overconfident in himself. So, the question before us today is how does God bring change to our lives when we fall short of what He is making us be? Our passage in Luke about Pet...

We have before us a story that is not unlike what many go through in their walk of following Christ. The story of Peter’s denial while under pressure and fear should comfort and encourage many who have had the enemy lie to them that they have committed the unforgivable sin. The Holy Spirit directed Luke and the other Gospel writers to focus on a side story away from the central drama of the crucifixion. We are to see that God is full of grace and mercy toward those who have, by their actions, denied Christ.    It was more than likely past midnight when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. John tells us that they bound Christ before leading Him across the Kidron Brook to the Palace of the high priest on the west side of the Temple area. Annas had been the high priest for ten years, and the position was supposed to be for life, but the Roman procurator Gratus had deposed him. The son-in-law of Annas, Caiaphas, held the title of High Priest, but he was more a ...