“Lesson 57: Luke 22,” New Testament Seminary Teacher Manual (2016)
“Lesson 57,” New Testament Seminary Teacher Manual
Lesson 57
Luke 22
Introduction
As His mortal ministry drew to a close, Jesus instituted the sacrament, taught His disciples to serve others, and commanded Peter to strengthen his brethren. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice began in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was arrested and tried before Caiaphas. While the Savior was being tried, Peter denied knowing Him.
Suggestions for Teaching
Luke 22:1–38
The Savior institutes the sacrament and instructs His Apostles
Ask students to each imagine (or you could invite two students to act out this activity) that he or she and a family member are sitting on the floor. The family member wants to stand up and asks for help.
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How well can you help them if you stay seated on the floor?
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What difference would it make if you stood up first?
Explain that this analogy can help us understand what we can do to help lift others spiritually.
Invite students to look for truths as they study Luke 22 that will help them know how to help lift others spiritually.
Summarize Luke 22:1–30 by reminding students that near the end of His mortal ministry, the Savior met with His Apostles to observe the Passover. During that time, the Savior announced that one of His disciples would betray Him, instituted the ordinance of the sacrament, commanded that it continue to be administered in remembrance of Him, and taught His Apostles that those who serve others are the greatest of all. The Savior also commended His Apostles for continuing with Him and promised them that one day they would sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
Invite a student to read Luke 22:31–32 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Savior said to Simon Peter. Invite a student to read verse 31, footnote a aloud.
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What did the Savior say that Satan desired? (Satan wanted to sift Peter and the Saints as wheat.)
Explain that wheat is sifted by separating kernels of grain from the rest of the wheat.
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What have you learned about Peter that shows he already had a testimony? (If necessary, remind students that Peter had declared his testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God [see Matthew 16:13–17].)
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According to verse 32, what did Peter still need to experience before he could strengthen his brethren?
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What is the difference between having a testimony of the gospel and being converted to the gospel? (Having a testimony of the gospel means we have received a spiritual witness of the truth through the Holy Ghost [see Guide to the Scriptures, “Testimony,” scriptures.lds.org]. Being converted to the gospel means “changing [our] beliefs, heart, and life to accept and conform to the will of God (Acts 3:19)” [Guide to the Scriptures, “Conversion, Convert,” scriptures.lds.org]).
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Based on what the Lord told Peter, what can we do when we are converted to the gospel? (Students may use different words, but make sure they identify the following truth: When we are converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can strengthen others. Consider inviting students to mark the phrases that teach this truth in verse 32.)
Invite a student to read Luke 22:33–34 aloud. Ask the class to follow along and look for how Peter responded to the Savior’s admonition to become converted and strengthen his brethren.
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How did Peter respond to the Savior’s admonition?
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What did the Savior prophesy Peter would do?
Explain that a more detailed version of this account is recorded in Matthew 26. Invite a student to read Matthew 26:35 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Peter said to the Savior after hearing the prophecy.
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How did Peter respond after hearing this prophecy?
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What can Peter’s response teach us about what he thought of the strength of his testimony?
Luke 22:39–53
The Savior suffers in Gethsemane, sweats great drops of blood, and is betrayed by Judas
Explain that after the Passover, the Savior and His Apostles went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Invite several students to take turns reading aloud from Luke 22:39–43. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Savior did after He came to the Garden of Gethsemane. Invite students to report what they find.
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According to verse 43, who helped the Savior have the strength to do Heavenly Father’s will?
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What truth can we learn from this account about what Heavenly Father will do for us if we seek to do His will? (Students may identify a variety of truths, but make sure it is clear that if we are willing to obey Heavenly Father, He will give us the strength to do His will.)
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What are some of the ways in which Heavenly Father might strengthen us?
Explain that most of the time the help we receive from Heavenly Father will not come from the appearance of angels but that He will help us in the ways He knows will be best for us. Invite students to ponder a time when they felt strengthened by Heavenly Father as they sought to do His will.
Explain that Luke’s account of the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane includes an important detail that is not included in the accounts given by Matthew and Mark. Invite a student to read Luke 22:44 aloud. Ask the class to follow along and look for how Luke described the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane.
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How did Luke describe the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane? (You may want to invite students to mark the words in verse 44 that teach the following truth: Jesus Christ sweat great drops of blood as He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. You may want to point out that this aspect of the Savior’s suffering was prophesied of more than a century earlier [see Mosiah 3:7].)
To help students further understand what the Savior experienced, explain that the Savior described His own suffering in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 19. Consider inviting students to cross-reference Doctrine and Covenants 19:18 with Luke 22:44 in their scriptures. Invite a student to read Doctrine and Covenants 19:18 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Savior described His suffering.
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What additional details do we learn about the Savior’s suffering from His own description in verse 18? (Jesus Christ’s suffering caused Him “to tremble because of pain, … to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit.”)
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What thoughts do you have knowing that Jesus Christ suffered so much for you?
Summarize Luke 22:45–48 by explaining that after the Savior suffered in Gethsemane, He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.
Invite a student to read Luke 22:49–51 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Peter did when the chief priests and others came to arrest Jesus (see John 18:10, which is the only account that identifies Peter as the Apostle who cut off the servant’s ear).
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What did Peter do to the servant of the high priest?
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What is remarkable about what the Savior did for the servant?
Summarize Luke 22:52–53 by explaining that the Savior asked why the chief priests and others were arresting Him during the night instead of during the day when He was at the temple.
Luke 22:54–71
Jesus is tried before the Sanhedrin, and Peter denies knowing Him
Summarize Luke 22:54 by explaining that when the Savior was taken to the high priest’s house to be tried, Peter followed.
Divide students into pairs. Provide each pair with a copy of the following chart (or write it on the board). Invite students to read the scriptures referenced in the chart and complete the chart with their partners.
New Testament Seminary Teacher Manual—Lesson 57
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What happened to Peter? |
What did Peter say? | |
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Why do you think Peter might have been tempted to deny knowing Jesus to each of these people?
Invite a student to read Luke 22:61–62 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what happened after Peter denied knowing the Savior.
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What happened after Peter denied knowing the Savior?
If possible, display the picture Peter’s Denial, by Carl Heinrich Bloch. This picture is available on LDS.org.
Peter’s Denial, by Carl Heinrich Bloch. Courtesy of the National History Museum at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, Denmark. Do not copy.
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If you had been in Peter’s position, what thoughts or feelings do you think you might have had as the Savior looked at you? Why?
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How does Peter’s experience illustrate the difference between having a testimony of the gospel and being converted to it?
Explain that although Peter had a testimony of the gospel, he was not yet completely converted. However, he recognized his weakness, became wholly converted, and devoted his life to serving God and sharing the gospel.
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What lessons can we learn from Peter’s experience?
Summarize Luke 22:63–71 by explaining that the Savior was mocked and smitten by the chief priests.
Conclude the lesson by inviting students to write in their class notebooks or scripture study journals several things they can do that can help them become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Encourage them to do one of the things on their list this week.
Commentary and Background Information
Luke 22:32. Peter’s conversion to the gospel
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught the following about Peter:
“Peter is the classic example of how the power of conversion works on receptive souls. During our Lord’s mortal ministry, Peter had a testimony, born of the Spirit, of the divinity of Christ and of the great plan of salvation which was in Christ. ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,’ he said, as the Holy Ghost gave him utterance. (Matt. 16:13–19.) When others fell away, Peter stood forth with the apostolic assurance, ‘We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.’ (John 6:69.) Peter knew, and his knowledge came by revelation.
“But Peter was not converted, because he had not become a new creature of the Holy Ghost. Rather, long after Peter had gained a testimony, and on the very night Jesus was arrested, he said to Peter: ‘When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.’ (Luke 22:32.) Immediately thereafter, and regardless of his testimony, Peter denied that he knew Christ. (Luke 22:54–62.) After the crucifixion, Peter went fishing, only to be called back to the ministry by the risen Lord. (John 21:1–17.) Finally on the day of Pentecost the promised spiritual endowment was received; Peter and all the faithful disciples became new creatures of the Holy Ghost; they were truly converted; and their subsequent achievements manifest the fixity of their conversions. (Acts 3; 4.)” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 162–63).
Luke 22:32. “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles confirmed the importance of being converted:
“In order to strengthen his brethren—to nourish and lead the flock of God—this man who had followed Jesus for three years, who had been given the authority of the holy apostleship, who had been a valiant teacher and testifier of the Christian gospel, and whose testimony had caused the Master to declare him blessed still had to be ‘converted.’
“Jesus’ challenge shows that the conversion He required for those who would enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 18:3) was far more than just being converted to testify to the truthfulness of the gospel. To testify is to know and to declare. The gospel challenges us to be ‘converted,’ which requires us to do and to become. If any of us relies solely upon our knowledge and testimony of the gospel, we are in the same position as the blessed but still unfinished Apostles whom Jesus challenged to be ‘converted.’ We all know someone who has a strong testimony but does not act upon it so as to be converted. …
“Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become” (“The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 33).
President Harold B. Lee described how being converted to the gospel can help us to strengthen others:
“You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be” (“Stand Ye in Holy Places,” Ensign, Oct. 2008, 47).
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the relationship between testimony and conversion, as well as differences between them, in his general conference address “Converted unto the Lord” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2012, 106–9).
Luke 22:44. “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood”
Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that the Savior’s agony was physical, mental, and spiritual:
“It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, … [producing] unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).
Luke 22:62. “And Peter went out, and wept bitterly”
President Gordon B. Hinckley noted that we can make errors similar to Peter’s, but through repentance we can be forgiven of those errors:
“Peter, affirming his loyalty, his determination, his resolution, said that he would never deny. But the fear of men came upon him and the weakness of his flesh overtook him, and under the pressure of accusation, his resolution crumbled. …
“As I have read this account my heart goes out to Peter. So many of us are so much like him. We pledge our loyalty; we affirm our determination to be of good courage; we declare, sometimes even publicly, that come what may we will do the right thing, that we will stand for the right cause, that we will be true to ourselves and to others.
“Then the pressures begin to build. Sometimes these are social pressures. Sometimes they are personal appetites. Sometimes they are false ambitions. There is a weakening of the will. There is a softening of discipline. There is capitulation. And then there is remorse, self-accusation, and bitter tears of regret. …
“… Recognizing his error, repenting of his weakness, [Peter] turned about and became a mighty voice in bearing witness of the risen Lord. He, the senior apostle, dedicated the remainder of his life to testifying of the mission, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the living Son of the living God. …
“… These mighty works and many more unmentioned were done by Peter who once had denied and sorrowed, and then rose above that remorse to carry forward the work of the Savior. …
“Now, if there be any … who by word or act have denied the faith, I pray that you may draw comfort and resolution from the example of Peter who, though he had walked daily with Jesus, in an hour of extremity denied both the Lord and the testimony which he carried in his own heart. But he rose above this, and became a mighty defender and a powerful advocate. So too, there is a way for you to turn about, and add your strength and faith to the strength and faith of others in building the kingdom of God” (“And Peter Went Out and Wept Bitterly,” Ensign, May 1979, 65–67).