If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go

 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."  And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.  Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God." 

- Luke 22:54-69 

Yesterday we read that, coming out of the place where they had the Last Supper,  Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and his disciples also followed Him.  When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.  Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.   When He rose up from prayer, and had come to the disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.  Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep?  Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."  And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"  When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?"  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this."  And He touched his ear and healed him.  Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."   Peter's first test in the temptation to deny Christ comes from a girl.  A traditional way to see this is as an icon of the temptation of Adam by Eve (Genesis 3:6).  In the story of the Cross and the Resurrection, this image is rectified -- our fallen state is overcome in Christ -- when women are the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection (24:1-10).

And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.  My study bible tells us that Peter is so overcome with fear that neither Christ's prediction (v. 34) nor the crowing of the rooster calls him to repentance, but only the Lord's gaze causes him to weep bitterly.  However, as stated by St. Ambrose of Milan, "through tears, what cannot be defended can be purged, for tears wash away the offense which is shameful to confess out loud."

Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.  The contempt expressed here is obvious; it's a strange, abusive, brutish form of the demand for Christ to prove who He is, which Jesus has encountered many times from the leadership (see 11:29).   These men reflect the base attitude and abuse of power of those who wish to crucify Him, who refuse faith.

 As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  My study bible points out here that Jesus has asked many questions of the Jewish leaders which they refused to answer because doing so would have meant confessing Him as the Christ (see 20:4-7; Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 3:4).

"Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Jesus makes the claim, fully and boldly, effectively declaring Him to be equal with God.

What is truth?  How is it used, and what does it mean?  Who respects and loves truth, and why?  All of these questions are important to ask ourselves as we view not only Peter's failure to uphold the truth as he knows it, but also the work of those who brutally mock Christ, and the leadership -- whose job it is to guard, preserve, and disseminate the truth of Jewish spiritual history for the people.  Yesterday we read that as He was seized and arrested, Jesus said, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."  The power of darkness is linked to lies and lying, deliberate ignorance, the lack of light in all its ramifications and meanings.  In today's reading, we may once again consider the central importance of love of truth to faith and to our understanding of who Christ is.  We can watch and look at these events and how the truth is treated in each one.  St. Peter is filled with fear and denies he knows Christ.  We know what the truth is.  Does it matter if these people who approach St. Peter know that he is one of the followers of Christ?  Perhaps not.  But it matters to St. Peter whom he confesses, and most deeply whether or not he is loyal to Christ.  And this is his great failing and betrayal, the source of his bitter tears at the glance of Jesus toward him.  The brutish people who've seized Jesus and contemptuously mock Him tell us of true contempt for truth, a total lack of respect for spiritual reality, a brute blindness in their abuse of their prisoner.  The last thing that matters there is truth, even a basic respect for spiritual understanding of Christ as preacher of the God of Israel.   These men reflect the heart of the real corruption of the leadership, whose top priority is to preserve their places of power and authority, which Jesus threatens simply because His truth is not something they uphold.  And here we come to the real crux of the matter:  what is Christ's truth?  He knows these men, and understands them thoroughly, and knows full well that truth is the last thing that really matters here, above self-interest.  He says, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  But nevertheless, He states the truth of what is to happen:  "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  It is up to His hearers what they do with that truth, how they will respond to it.  He has, in a sense, forewarned them about who He is, what He is, what power will be at work even after they have killed Him.  What they do with that is up to them.  And this is God's place in our midst.  We are offered this truth of God's love, God's power, God's reality.  As Jesus taught in the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (20:9-19), God sends His representatives, even His Son, over and over again, to tell the truth about the reality of our spiritual state and the love with which we are created and upheld in life, and how God calls us to be "like God."  What our religious and spiritual leadership does with that truth is their responsibility and choice.  What we do with that truth within ourselves is also our choice.  Witness testimony is an important thing to consider when we read the story of Christ.  The truth He tells is all about salvation.  It is not about proofs.  It is not even about convincing anyone.  Everything He does is an attempt to save, because the very nature of His truth is salvific.  In this sense, truth and salvation are linked, and a love of truth is necessary for faith of the kind He asks of us, and calls us to witness ourselves.  Let us consider St. Peter, and know that loyalty to this truth is what He asks, and commands, and that whenever we fail we must always return to it, and to Him.