Luke 22(01–65)

Introduction

In the passage we studied the last time, the Lord quoted from Psalm 110 which foretold how he, the Lord Jesus, will sit enthroned at God’s right hand side until his enemies are overthrown and made subject to him. And shortly after quoting from Psalm 110 the Lord spoke about the time when he will return to earth with power and great glory. At that time, he will come like a great king to deal with his enemies once and for all; and to bring his people into the new heavens and earth where they will live with him and where they will reign with him for ever and for ever.

That’s what will happen in the future. But before that happens, the Lord must first suffer and die for his people, offering himself up on the cross as the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice for sins. And that means, his enemies will first triumph over him, because they will arrest him and beat him and crucify him. They will carry out their wicked plans against him and they will put him to death. And that’s what we begin to see happen in today’s passage, because today’s passage begins with Judas agreeing to betray the Lord into the hands of his enemies; and it ends with the Lord being mocked and beaten by the men who were guarding him. And in the next passage, the Lord was tried by Pilate, the Roman governor, and sentenced to death. And he was taken away and crucified and buried. And so, it seemed for a time that his enemies had triumphed over him, because the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the Pharisees and everyone else who did not believe in him and who hated him got what they wanted. For a time, it seemed that the Lord Jesus was crushed under their feet. It seemed that they had won a victory over him. But afterwards, God the Father raised him from the dead and exalted him to the highest place, so that he is now enthroned at God’s right hand side in heaven. And he will remain there until the day comes for him to return with power and great glory to put his enemies under his feet and to give eternal life to his people who believed in him.

And one of the features of today’s passage is the role of Satan. It wasn’t just the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who were against the Lord Jesus. Satan was against him too. The devil was against him. God had foretold in the Garden of Eden that the serpent, or the devil, will strike the heel of the Saviour. God foretold that the devil will attack the Saviour. And already in Luke’s gospel, we read how the devil attacked him by trying to tempt the Lord Jesus to disobey his Father’s will. But the Lord withstood his temptations. And now, in today’s passage, the devil attacked him once again. But this time, he attacked him through one of his disciples, causing Judas to betray the Lord into the hands of his enemies. And then, the Lord also spoke about how the devil wanted to sift Peter like wheat. He wanted to crush Peter and the other disciples. The devil wanted to hurt the Lord by hurting his people. And then the Lord also spoke of the opposition his disciples would face afterwards. And so, the devil’s opposition would continue afterwards. And when Judas led the crowd to the place where the Lord was, so that they could arrest him, the Lord spoke in verse 53 of how the hour had come when darkness reigns. Darkness, the power of Satan, was about to triumph over the Lord Jesus. The devil was going to strike the Lord’s heel and cause him to suffer. He was going to kill the author of life.

But thanks be to God, because the darkness was not going to last for ever. Satan would only triumph for a little while. And on the third day, God raised his Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King from the dead to live for ever. And everyone who believes in him and yields their life to him receives forgiveness and peace with God and the hope of everlasting life in the new and better world to come.

We can divide today’s passage into five parts. In the first part, Luke tells us how Judas agreed to betray the Lord. In the second, the Lord and his disciples gathered together to eat the Passover. In the third, the Lord announced to his disciples that one of them would betray him. In the fourth, the Lord announced that Satan wants to crush the disciples. And in the fifth part, the Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before being arrested.

Verses 1 to 6

If you have a Bible with you, please turn with me to verses 1 to 6 where Luke tells us that the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as the Passover, was approaching. This was meant to be an occasion when the Jews looked back with thankfulness to God for rescuing them from their captivity in Egypt in the days of Moses. But instead of having holy thoughts, the chief priests and the teachers of the law were thinking about how they could kill the Lord Jesus.

Furthermore, this was also the time when the devil entered Judas Iscariot. Luke doesn’t explain how the devil entered him. But we see the effect Satan had on him, because even though Judas was one of the Lord’s disciples, the devil managed to turn Judas against his Master so that he went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guards and discussed with them how he might betray the Lord.

There were several things for them to discuss including how much they would give to Judas for his help; and how he should do it, because — as you can see from the end of verse 6 — it had to be in a place and at a time when no crowd was present. If there was a crowd present, some of the people might rise up to defend the Lord Jesus. And the chief priests didn’t want that. They wanted the Lord arrested quietly and secretly. And so, Judas had to wait for the right moment. And as we’ll see, he didn’t have to wait very long.

Before moving on, I should say that it’s significant that this took place around the time of the Passover. At the time of the original Passover, in the days of Moses, the Jews were told to take a lamb and kill it and smear the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes. And when the Lord went through the land that night to punish the people for their sins, he killed every firstborn male in every home in Egypt. He killed every firstborn male, except in those homes where there was blood on the doorposts, because when the Lord saw the blood of the lamb, he passed over those homes and spared the people inside. Because a lamb had died, the people inside were safe from God’s wrath. And the New Testament makes clear that the Lord Jesus is the true Passover Lamb, because the reason he shed his blood on the cross was to save us from God’s wrath for our sins. Because the Lord Jesus died in our place, those who trust in him are saved from God’s wrath and receive the free gift of eternal life.

And so, it’s significant that the Lord died at the time of the Passover, because he is the true Passover Lamb who shed his blood for the complete forgiveness of all our sins.

Verses 7 to 20

In verses 7 to 20 we read that the Lord and his disciples gathered together to eat the Passover meal.

According to verse 8, the Lord sent Peter and John to make preparations. So, they would have had to buy a lamb and bring it to the priest in the temple who would offer up part of it as an offering to God. The remainder was handed back to be roasted and eaten. And when the disciples asked the Lord where they should eat the meal, they discovered that the Lord had made an arrangement with an unnamed person to use the upper room of his home.

And so, they gathered around the table in that upper room. The Lord said in verse 15 that he was eager to eat the Passover with them before he suffered. And so, he knew what was about to happen to him and how he would soon suffer and die for the sins of his people. But he also knew that his death was not the end, because he went on in verse 16 to refer to eating the Passover again when it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He’s probably referring here to the time when he will come again with power and great glory as king to judge the living and the dead. At that time, his people will take part with him in the heavenly banquet in the world to come. Luke also tells us that he took a cup and passed it to his disciples, saying to them that he would not drink wine again until the kingdom of God comes. And so, he’s referring to the same thing: though he will soon suffer and die for the sins of his people, nevertheless he will be raised to life and will come again one day as king.

And in verses 19 and 20, the Lord instituted what we call the Lord’s Supper. And so, he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it and offered it to his disciples, saying to them that this bread is his body given for us. That is to say, the bread signifies or represents his body which he was going to give up to death for our salvation. And he commanded them and us to do this in remembrance of him.

And in the same way, he took the cup and said that this cup is the new covenant in his blood which is poured out for us. That is to say, this cup signifies or represents the new covenant. When he mentions the new covenant, he’s referring to God’s promise through the prophet Jeremiah to remember our sins no more. The blood of bulls and goats and sheep which the people offered again and again and again under the terms of the Mosaic covenant could not really take away their sins. In fact, those Old Testament sacrifices only ever reminded the people that they were sinners who needed forgiveness. And they longed for God to provide them with a true sacrifice that would take away their guilt for ever. And the true sacrifice is the one which the Lord Jesus offered, when he offered himself on the cross. Because of his self-sacrifice, God now promises to remember our sins no more. He promises to remove them from us as far as the east is from the west. He promises to cast them into the depths of the ocean and to cover them up and blot them out. And every time we take the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper, we’re reminded that the Lord’s body was broken and his blood was shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins. God has promised in his covenant to remember our sins no more. And God never ever ever breaks his promises.

Verses 21 to 30

And from this high point, the Lord then announced the terrible news that one of them was going to betray him. He said in verse 22 that he, the Son of Man, will go to his death as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him. And so, while there is the promise of forgiveness for those who believe, there is woe for the one who betrayed him.

And notice, of course, that the Lord says that his death was decreed. He means it was decreed by God. It was planned by God. It was God’s will for his Son to suffer and die like this, because there was no other way for us to be saved except for him to give up his life in our place. There is nothing we can do for God or give to him to make up for all that we have done wrong. There is nothing we can give to him to repay him for our shortcomings. But God, who is rich in mercy, decreed that his Son would pay for our sins with his life and make peace between us for ever. Though the chief priests and teachers of the law hated the Lord, and they conspired together with Judas to kill him, and though the devil hated him and wanted him to die, nevertheless it was at the same time the Father’s will for Christ to die for us and for our salvation.

Since the Lord announced that one of them would betray him, the disciples then began to discuss among themselves which one of them would do this. And that led to a completely different kind of discussion, because after discussing which one of them was the worst, they began to discuss which one of them was the best. Do you see that in verse 24? A dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered the greatest. And we can imagine them, can’t we? One suggests to another that he might be the one to betray the Lord. ‘Me? You’ve got to be joking. It’s more likely to be you!’ And the first disciple replied: ‘It’s not me. I’m a better disciple than you are!’ ‘No, I’m a better disciple than you are. Let me tell you about what I’ve done!’ ‘No, let me tell you what I’ve done!’ And on it goes.

But the Lord rebuked them. He said that this is what the kings of the Gentiles do. They lord it over their people. In fact, those who exercise authority over the people called themselves ‘Benefactors’. They think they’re doing the people a favour by bossing them around. Their attitude is: how could the people manage without someone like me to tell them what to do? That’s the way kings and leaders acted in those days. But, says the Lord to his disciples in verse 26, you are not to be like that. And, of course, he’s saying it to us as well, isn’t he? We’re not to be like that. Instead of lording it over one another, instead of bossing one another around, instead of trying to put others down and building ourselves up, we’re to be different. The greatest one of us should be like the youngest. And the youngest in any family isn’t able to boss anyone around, because who is going to listen to the youngest? And the one who rules should be like the one who serves. And so, that’s what we’re to do. That’s how we’re to behave. Instead of trying to rule over one another, we’re to serve one another.

And then, the Lord referred to himself in verse 27: though he is their Lord and Master, he is among them as one who serves. And we’re to follow his example, because instead of demanding that others serve us, we should be willing to love and serve the people around us.

At the beginning of King Charles’s coronation service, he was met by a small boy who welcomed him into the church in the name of the King of kings. And Charles replied by saying, ‘In his name and after his example, I come not to be served but to serve’. Whereas pagan kings lord it over their people, God gave his people the idea of a servant leader. The kings of Israel and Judah were appointed by God to serve the people and to care for them. Instead of making themselves rich, they were to provide for the people. And in every nation which has been influenced by Christianity the same idea is taught: that people in positions of authority are to be servants who use their power for the good of their people. And so, the new prime minister talked on Friday about public service, because the job of the members of parliament is to serve the public. And this is true not only for kings and queens and members of parliament, but it’s true for all of us. We’re to love and serve one another just as Christ our Saviour came to love and serve us.

And this part of the passage ends with the Lord commending his disciples for staying with him in his trials. They kept trusting in him despite all the hardships they suffered because of him. And he promises them a kingdom. That is to say, they will share with him in his kingdom in the new and better world to come, where they will eat and drink with him at his table; and where they will sit with him on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. He probably means that they will be given a place of honour in his coming kingdom.

And so, in this life, we’re to serve one another. And in this life, we may very well suffer trials and tribulations for the sake of Christ. Nevertheless, we can look forward to something better in the life to come, when all of Christ’s people will reign with him for ever and for ever.

Verses 31 to 38

We come now to verses 31 to 38 where the Lord announced that Satan wanted to crush the disciples.

The Lord says to Peter in verse 31 that Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. The little footnote beside the word ‘you’ tells you that this is a plural ‘you’. Some of us might say ‘yous’: ‘Satan has asked to sift yous as wheat.’ He’s therefore referring to the disciples. Satan wants to sift them all.

And sifting is a farming image, isn’t it? It involves crushing stalks of wheat to separate the wheat from the rest of the stalk. We might say that Satan wanted to put them through the wringer. He wanted to crush them. That is to say, he wanted to crush their faith.

And so, Satan was mentioned at the beginning of today’s passage, where it said he entered Judas. Now we’re told that he wanted to attack them all. He wanted to beat their faith out of them. But notice, of course, that he needed God’s permission to do so. He must ask God’s permission to sift them. Think of how Satan needed God’s permission to attack Job. In a similar way, he needed God’s permission to attack the Lord’s disciples. And so, Satan cannot touch us without the permission of our Heavenly Father. And we believe that whatever afflictions our Heavenly Father sends into our life are for our good. We may not understand how our afflictions help us, but God has made clear to us in his word that they are for our good.

And notice as well that the Lord says that he has prayed for Peter, asking God to prevent his faith from giving up. And that’s what the Lord is doing for each one of us right now. Right now, he’s at his Father’s side in heaven and he’s praying for his people here on earth, asking God the Father to help us and to strengthen us and to enable us to persevere. Perhaps the Devil puts you under pressure from time to time and it seems to you on those occasions that it’s too much and you can’t go on. You feel that your faith is failing. It’s giving way like a bridge gives way when too much weight is placed on it. That’s how we feel sometimes.

And sometimes our faith does fail us and we stumble and fall, just as Peter’s faith failed him and he stumbled and fell when he denied knowing the Lord three times. But the good news is that Christ our Saviour is praying for us. As the writer to the Hebrews says, he’s able to save us to the uttermost, because he always lives to make intercession for us. And as the Lord prayed for Peter, so he prays for us. And even though Peter stumbled and fell, his faith was not destroyed, because Christ prayed for him. And even though we may stumble and fall, our Saviour is praying that our faith will not be destroyed, but that we’ll turn back to the Lord and continue to walk in his ways and to serve him.

In our church’s Confession of Faith, there’s a chapter on the perseverance of the saints. And it says that God’s people can never totally or finally fall out of the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end and be eternally saved. But this perseverance doesn’t depend on us, but on God’s unchangeable decree, flowing from God’s unchangeable love; and it depends on the indwelling of the Spirit who helps us; and it depends on the nature of the covenant of grace which is unbreakable; and the Confession says that it also depends on the powerful operation of the merit and intercession of Christ. So, while we may stumble and fall, we will not fall away for ever, because Christ is praying for us.

Peter, of course, boasted that he was ready to go with the Lord to prison and to death. But the Lord knew Peter better than Peter knew himself; and he announced that Peter will deny him three times. And the Lord also warned his disciples of the trouble and trials they would face in the future. If you have a purse, he says, take it. If you have a bag, take it. And he says, you’ll need a sword too. He’s not really telling them to arm themselves with weapons, because the kingdom of God does not advance by force, but by persuasion. And when the disciples replied that they have two swords, he replied, ‘That’s enough.’ In other words: ‘That’s enough talk about swords.’ They were not to arm themselves with swords, but they were to expect trouble and hostility for the sake of Christ. And when the Lord applies the words of Isaiah 53 to himself in verse 37, he’s saying that he’s the Lord’s Suffering Servant. And his disciples can expect to suffer too.

And it’s the same today, isn’t it? All over the world, the Lord’s people suffer for the sake of Christ in one way or another. As an unbelieving world hated the Lord, so it will hate his people. And Satan will tempt us to despair and to give up the faith for the sake of an easier life. But despite all that we suffer, and no matter what pressure we come under, we should take heart because our Saviour is praying for us and we can look to our Heavenly Father for the help and strength we need to persevere. By ourselves, we are too weak to stand up to Satan’s devices and to the hatred of the world. But we’re not by ourselves, because Christ our Saviour is praying for us always. And so, we should take heart.

Verses 39 to 65

And now we come to the final part of today’s passage from verses 39 to 65. The Lord and his disciples went out to the Mount of Olives. And he asked his disciples to pray that they will not fall into temptation. But according to verse 45, they fell asleep. It’s just as well the Saviour is praying for us, because often we’re just like the disciples and we’re too tired or too distracted to pray for ourselves.

While they slept, the Lord went off by himself and he knelt down to pray. And in his prayer, he asked his Heavenly Father to take the cup from him. When he refers to the cup, he’s using an Old Testament image for suffering. Suffering is likened to a drink which we must swallow. And the Lord is asking his Father if it’s possible for the cup to be taken from him. And this is a perfectly normal request, isn’t it? It’s perfectly normal for someone to pray to God to avoid suffering and death. Only someone who hated life would want it to end, and we mustn’t hate the life which God has given us. And so, the Lord asked his Father if it was possible for him to avoid suffering and death. But then he added: ‘yet not my will, but yours be done.’ Though he wanted to avoid suffering and death if possible, nevertheless he was prepared to submit himself to his Father’s will for him. And his Father’s will for him was for him to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of his people.

And Luke tells us of the great anguish he suffered in the Garden; and how his sweat was like drops of blood, falling to the ground. No doubt he was in anguish because he was thinking about the suffering he was soon to endure, when the full force of God’s wrath fell on him. Though he was the sinless one, the only one who never ever did anything to deserve God’s wrath and curse, he was about to suffer God’s wrath and curse for us and for our salvation.

And in the midst of his anguish, an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. Although it’s interesting, isn’t it? We read about the angel before we read about his anguish. The angel strengthened him; and then, having been strengthened by the angel, he suffered more anguish. After the angel strengthened him, the pressure on him increased. But the more the pressure increased, the more he prayed. And he was prepared to endure the pressure and to keep going and to persevere and to suffer the full force of God’s wrath and curse because of his love for you. For you, he was in anguish. For you, he prayed. For you, he sweated. For you, he rose from his knees and went out to face his enemies who had come to arrest him. For you, he was tried and convicted and sentenced and killed. He did it all for you.

And look who was leading the crowd! It was Judas, who greeted the Lord with a kiss. And no doubt his kiss was a sign to the crowd that this is the one they should arrest.

The first thought of the other disciples was to defend the Lord with force. And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. But the Lord told them to stop; and he healed the servant’s ear; and he gave himself up to his enemies. And the darkness descended and surrounded him. It was time for the devil to do his worst and for wicked men to kill the only Saviour of the world.

When they took him to the high priest’s house, Peter followed at a distance. And when he was recognised, he denied knowing the Lord three times, just as the Lord foretold. And realising what he had done, and how he had denied his Saviour, Peter went out and wept bitterly. And meanwhile, the men who were guarding the Lord mocked him and beat him and they said many insulting things to him.

He did not deserve any of this. But he suffered it for you. And he suffered it for me. And because he suffered it all, because he suffered God’s wrath and curse in our place, we receive forgiveness from God for all the ways we have disobeyed him and fallen short of doing his will. Though we deserve God’s wrath and curse, we instead receive his blessing: the forgiveness of our sins; and peace with God for ever; and the free gift of eternal life. And while we go on living in the world, the Lord Jesus is praying for us that our faith may not fail. And so, he keeps us in his kingdom and he helps us to persevere and he will continue to do so until we come into his eternal kingdom in the new heavens and earth and sit down at his table and eat and drink with him and celebrate his victory for us over sin and Satan and death.

What we deserve is to be sent out of his presence to go to that place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. That’s what we deserve. That’s what we all deserve for a lifetime of disobedience. But instead he promises to wipe away our tears and to give us what we don’t deserve which is eternal happiness in his presence where we will see the glory of God in the face of Christ our Saviour who suffered the wrath and curse of God in our place.

And so, thanks be to God for his indescribable kindness to us in Christ Jesus. And let us resolve to live our lives, not for ourselves, but for Christ our Saviour–King.