Not long after Jesus emerges from his night of fretful prayer, Judas finds him and is accompanied by a crowd ready to arrest Jesus. With such evil in his heart, Judas offers the Son of God a kiss as he arrives to betray him. Jesus is taken aback by his audacity and asks, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 4:47-53).

The other disciples realize the danger they are in, and one takes out a sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priest! Jesus, who has already surrendered to his fate, calms the chaos. He tells his followers to stand down and heals the wounded ear. He agrees to his arrest, reminding them that he has always been peaceful throughout his ministry, never inciting violence or resorting to force.

4. Peter Denies His Master

Jesus is led away, and his disciples begin to fear. They knew that whatever happened to Jesus could also happen to them, and their faith was still weak. They had not yet understood God’s full power and plan for his Son.

Luke 4: 54-60 tells us that Peter denies knowing Jesus on three occasions. A servant girl identifies Peter as a follower of Jesus, and he immediately denies it. A little later, a woman says he was one of Jesus’ disciples, and he declares her to be wrong. Finally, another asserts that Peter must have known Jesus, and he tells him no.

As soon as the rooster crows, Peter is reminded that Jesus foretold Peter’s betrayal. Rather than continuing to distance himself from his leader, he stops and weeps bitterly, seeing his sin. In this quiet moment of grief, Peter repents, and later, Jesus meets him again to establish Peter as the rock of his soon-to-emerge church.

We see two moments of men who followed Jesus betraying him with two different outcomes. Judas died a terrible death, separated from God because he never repented for his sin. Peter became the rock of God’s church because his heart was grieved by his sin and turned back to God through repentance.

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