Let's continue...
Luke 22 (read it here)
We are approaching the final days of Jesus' earthly ministry. The religious leaders knew Jesus would be around during the Passover, but so would everyone else. Arresting him in secret would not be easy. Passover created a homecoming of sorts for the Jewish people. Thousands would travel for miles by foot to come celebrate the Passover with their families.
FYI, the Passover was instituted right before the Israelites were freed from slavery under the Egyptians in the book of Exodus. Passover was the final act that forced pharaoh to free the Israelites. God killed every first born in Egypt in response to pharaoh's defiance towards God's demand. The Israelites could protect themselves from this onslaught if they would: 1.) Sacrifice a lamb, 2.) make unleavened bread (bread without yeast, much like pita bread) and 3.) take the lamb's blood and use it to paint the doorposts of their house. When God went by their house, if he saw blood on the doorposts he would "passover" their house and spare them from the wrath to come. (Read all about it in Exodus 11-12:28)
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In verse 3, Luke states that Satan enters Judas Iscariot (scary thought). He and the religious leaders make an arrangement to betray Jesus.
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Jesus and his disciples came to the guest room (or as it has traditionally been called, the "upper" room) to partake in the Passover meal. You now know the basic contents of this meal.
Before eating the meal, Jesus reminds the disciples again that he will suffer soon. He even says that he won't eat the Passover meal nor drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come. In other words, until he is with them again.
Jesus gives a whole new meaning to the bread, however. He prayed, broke the bread and dispersed it. He told them that the Passover bread now represents his body which is given and broken for them (and us). When they eat the Passover meal, they are asked to remember Jesus, the source of eternal life and the one who rescues us from the power of death.
The wine would have its own significance, too. The wine that is drank at the Passover meal should now signify Jesus' blood that is poured out. Unlike the old sacrificial system of repeatedly killing lambs, goats, bulls, etc, Jesus' sacrifice is the one-and-done, once-for-all sacrifice offered up to God for the sake of humanity that will never have to be repeated. His sacrifice, confirmed with his blood, is all humanity will ever need to be right with God.
As if that wasn't earth-shattering enough to the disciples, Jesus adds more tension in the room by saying that the one who will instigate this suffering is at the table! The disciples began to interrogate one another to find out who was the culprit (v. 23).
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I really, really don't understand these disciples sometimes. How can they go from hearing about Jesus' death and trying to find out who is going to betray him to who is the greatest disciple?! (The GOAT debate.)
Have they forgotten Jesus' parables and his examples of having child-like faith and humility?
Jesus doesn't give another parable or corral another kid into the room to give the same point. He uses himself as an example this time. To the disciples, Jesus was the head honcho, he's the leader, he's the teacher, he's the Messiah. So when he says that the leader should be like a servant (v. 26), he means that even his mission was to come and serve (v.27).
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Did you catch what Jesus says in verse 31? Satan actually requests permission to find fault within Simon Peter and the rest of the disciples! (There is a great example of this in Job 1:6-2:10) Jesus prays that Simon Peter won't fall victim to any deception provided by Satan. Peter doesn't think for a second that he would ever deny Jesus. Jesus begs to differ and even predicts when Peter will do it (v. 34).
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They left the "upstairs" room and went to the Mount of Olives to pray. Jesus asks them to stay awake and pray with him. Jesus walked a little distance away from them and started to pray on his own. At this point, Jesus knows that his suffering and death are coming soon. He's scared. You have to remember that Jesus is still human, even though he has the perfect spirit of God as his lifeblood. Yet Jesus is so stressed that he begins to sweat blood (v. 44). (This is actually a known, but rare, medical condition called hematidrosis (read about it here)
When Jesus returns to his disciples they are asleep, exhausted. But just as he said this Judas was leading a crowd of soldiers to them. The disciples wanted to fight! And one of them actually cut off the ear of the high priest's slave that was present (v. 50). Jesus rebuked the fighting and even healed the ear of the slave. That blows my mind that Jesus would heal at a time like this!
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Jesus is led directly to the high priest's house. Peter followed from a distance (v. 54). When they all get to their destination, people start recognizing Peter and wondering why he hasn't been arrested with Jesus. Peter denies two people flatly (vs. 57-58). The third person asks him a little time later (you would think that he would remember Jesus' prediction, right?) and he denies Jesus again. While he was still speaking, he heard a rooster crow. Jesus immediately turned and looked at him and then Peter finally remembered their conversation. Peter fled the scene crying.
The guards commenced in beating and mocking Jesus (v. 63). This continued all through the night. When the morning came, all the priests and religious leaders came in to question Jesus. They asked him simply, "are you the Messiah?" (v. 67) Jesus says that he will be "seated in the place of power at God's right hand," (v. 68) which is a clear statement to indicate that Jesus' answer is YES!
That does it for the religious leaders. Jesus will be charged with blasphemy and he will be executed for it. However, his pre-execution suffering is not complete.
Questions
1.) Do you believe that Satan can enter and influence people? Even Christ-followers? Why or why not? If Satan can, what do Christ-followers need to do to protect themselves?
2.) Even in the midst of being arrested, Jesus heals the high priest's servant. When you are back-stabbed or angry beyond measure, are you able to look past your anger and see others who are in a worse situation than you?
3.) Have you been in Peter's shoes before? Have you denied that you knew or followed Jesus just because of the crowd you were hanging out with? (Not speaking up for someone and giving reasons why you do so is the same, in my book.) If so, how did you feel after leaving that situation, were you bitter towards yourself?
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