Luke 22:55-58 54And after they arrested him, they led him away and bought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter was following at a distance.
Peter is the focus of the next scene as Jesus is arrested and brought to the home of the high priest. Luke is not detailed about what happened at the high priest’s house. His focus in the previous chapters since 22:21 has been on the disciples’ failure to believe and act in the ways Jesus had taught them. In many ways, Peter followed the same path as Judas by denying Jesus. Peter denied in a more private, less threatening way, resulting in shame. Judas’s denial was more public, which led to the arrest. All four Gospels record Peter’s denial.
Luke’s order of events is different than Matthew’s and Mark’s, possibly because he wanted his presentation to be more logical and orderly. Jesus put up no resistance but allowed himself to be arrested by the crowd. Luke does not give the name of the high priest since that is not his purpose here, but we learn in Matthew 26:57 that the priest was Caiaphas. John 18:13–27 states that Jesus was brought to the house of the high priest Annas before he was brought to the house of Caiaphas. The Sanhedrin may have later gathered at Caiaphas. The details are not clear but are not contradictory either. Each Gospel writer gives certain emphases.
Peter showed some bravery by following the procession from a distance. It was still dark, and so he was relatively safe. Jesus was the focus, and so man following behind would have not be noticed. Others may have been attracted to the commotion as well. Matthew 26:58 hints that Peter wanted to see what would be the outcome of Jesus’ arrest. He at least was curious, but it may have been out of his commitment, though small, that he made back in verse 33 that he would even go to prison and death for Jesus. He seemed brave at the moment, but he was lacking the assurance of faith that comes through prayer. Jesus had that assurance, but Peter and the other disciples had fallen asleep when they should have been praying. Human strength can only take us so far until we need the power of God’s presence with us. We may be like Peter and say that we are strong and make big claims, but our words are meaningless unless supported by faith in and fellowship with God.
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