Lucas 22
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - How encouraging is the thought of the Redeemer’s never-ceasing intercession for us. When we pray, He pleads for us, and when we are not praying, He is advocating our cause and, by His supplications, shielding us from unseen dangers. We little know what we owe to our Savior’s prayers. When we reach the hilltops of heaven and look back upon all the way whereby the Lord our God has led us, how we will praise Him who, before the eternal throne, has pleaded our cause against our unseen enemies. “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32). Herbert Lockyer - Jesus had tried to forewarn Peter of his coming test. Peter, however, was not fully aware of the power of Satan. But what can Satan do against the prayers of Christ? Peter was prayed for by name, and this prayer-habit of Christ's has never ceased. Is it not comforting to know that each of us are on His prayer-list? Does He not live to make intercession for us, every one of us, no matter how insignificant in the eyes of the world we may appear?....Robert Murray M'Cheyne said: "If I could hear Jesus praying for me in the next room, I should not fear a thousand devils." Christ is praying for us, just as He prayed for Peter, which should be a comfort when fierce temptations arise. The "next room" is not far away, for space has nothing to do with the life of the unseen world. "He ever liveth to make intercession for us." (Borrow All the prayers of the Bible : a devotional and expositional classic) Paul describes Jesus' current ministry as our Great High Priest in Romans 8 asking "who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also (continually - present tense) intercedes for us." (Ro 8:32+) Paul had just used the same verb (entugchano in the present tense) to describe the Holy Spirit Who "intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Ro 8:27) That your faith (pistis) may not fail (ekleipo) - That (hina) introduces a purpose clause. What's the purpose in this context. The purpose of Christ's prayer is a preventative for failure of Peter's faith. The implication is clear, that without Jesus praying for Peter, his faith would have failed! Your is singular in contrast to the "you" in Lk 22:31 which is plural and would have applied to all 11 disciples. Here the Lord's prayer is singularly focused on Peter and his faith. THOUGHT - As noted above, Jesus is continually praying for us! And one thing He surely must be praying is that our faith might not fail. Have you ever really thought of it that way! We owe Christ everything! What would happen to our faith if He were not continually interceding for us? The implication of this verse is that our faith would fail! We would fall. As Paul says in Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." A T Robertson on fail (ekleipo) - Our word eclipse is this word. Evidently Jesus could not keep Satan from attacking Peter. He had already captured Judas. Did he not repeatedly attack Jesus? But he could and did pray for Peter's faith and his praying won in the end, though Peter stumbled and fell. Adrian Rogers - Did the Lord Jesus ever pray a prayer that was not answered? Of course not! That's because He always prayed to do the will of the Father. He always prayed in faith. Sin never inhibited His prayer. Every prayer that He prayed was answered. So just as He prayed for the apostle Peter, whom Jesus said the devil had asked to "sift like wheat" (Luke 22:31), Jesus prays that the Father would keep you. This was the same Peter who cursed and denied Christ yet went on to become the flaming apostle of Pentecost. That's because Jesus prayed for him, just as He prays for you. (Borrow What every Christian ought to know day by day : essential truths for growing your faith) Vance Havner - Here again are the counter movements of Satan and God. Satan puts the saints in his sifter to winnow out the good and leave the bad. Christ prays for His people that their testing may winnow out the chaff and leave the wheat. The dross He would consume and the gold refine. And all in order that the saint may be a strengthener of his brethren. If you have not been through the devil's sifter, you are probably not worth sifting! J C
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - The very brook would remind him of his approaching sacrifice, for through it flowed the blood and refuse from the temple. (Luke 22 Exposition) Related Resource: See Passover which includes step wise description of the actual "Seder" - the ceremonial dinner on the 1st night (or both nights) of Passover. Song by Maccabeats based on Les Miserables Was approaching (1448)(eggizo) can speak of nearness in terms of space or time and in this context means drawing near in time and thus indicates the feast was at hand. The other two synoptic accounts are more specific, Mark for example writing "the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away." (Mk 14:1). Matthew adds Jesus specific timing in the form of a prophecy writing "When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.” (Mt 26:1-2). Eggizo is used several times in the context of the Lord's Passion - Mt 26:45-46 (Mk 14:42) Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand (eggizo) and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand (eggizo) !” Lk 22:47 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached (eggizo) Jesus to kiss Him. Lk 24:15 (AFTER THE RESURRECTION) While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached (eggizo) and began traveling with them. Related Resources: Passover & Unleavened Bread Leviticus 23 Feast of Unleavened Bread & Day of Pentecost (cp Acts 2) Leviticus 23 Commentary - deals with the Jewish feasts What are the Jewish Festivals? Passover - Wikipedia Should Christians celebrate Passover? Yeshua and the Feast of Unleavened Bread THE SEVEN GREAT FEASTS OF ISRAEL Note that each of the Seven Great Feasts has a specific eschatological (prophetic) fulfillment. The four Spring feasts have been fulfilled at the First Coming of the Messiah. The final three feasts will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of the Messiah when He returns to to establish His Kingdom (cf Lk 17:20ff+, Lk 22:18+) and fulfill God's literal promises to the literal nation of Israel, promises which are summarized by Paul when he wrote "all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” (Ro 11:26+) SPRING FEASTS FALL FEASTS 1st Month = Nisan Festival of Passover (Pesach) 3rd Month = Sivan Feast of Pentecost I N T E R L U D E 7th Month = Tishri Festival of Booths (Tabernacles) (Sukkot) Passover Pesach Unleavened Bread First Fruits Feast of Weeks Feast of Trumpets Day of Atonement Feast of Booths Lamb's blood on Door Purging Leaven (Sin) Wave Offering (Promise of Harvest to come) Wave Offering of two loaves of leavened bread (promise of harvest to come) Trumpet Blown - A Holy Convocation Atonement shall be made to cleanse you Lev 16:30+ Celebrates harvest, memorial of God's care in wilderness 1st Month, 14th Day 1st Month, 15th Day (1st & 8th are Sabbath) Day after Sabbath 50 Days after first fruits 7th Month, 1st Day Lev 23:23-25+ (A Sabbath) 7th Month, 10th Day Lev 23:26-32+ (A Sabbath) 7th Mo, 15th Day 7 Days; Convocation on 8th Day Lev 23:33-44 (1st & 8th are Sabbath) Christ our Passover has been sacrificed Clean out the old leaven… just as you are in fact unleavened Christ has been raised… the first fruits Promise of the Spirit, Mystery of Church - Jews and Gentiles in one body Regathering of Israel before final day of atonement Jer 32:37-41+ Israel repents and looks to Christ in one day Zech 3:9-10, Zech 12:10+, Zech 13:1+, Zech 14:9+ All families come to Jerusalem for Feast of Booths Zech 14:16-19+ 1Cor 5:7 1Cor 5:7-8 1Cor 15:20-23 Ezekiel 36:24+ Ezekiel 36:25-27+ Heb 9-10 Ro 11:25-29+ Ezek 36:28+ Luke 22:2 The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. KJV Luke 22:2 And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. Luke 19:47,48; 20:19; Ps 2:1-5; Mt 21:38,45,46; Mt 26:3-5; John 11:47-53,57; Acts 4:27 Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE JEWISH LEADERS "CROSS THE RUBRICON"! Parallel Passages on the Plot to Kill Jesus: Matthew 26:3-5 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas; 4 and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth (dolos - craft, deceit) and kill Him. 5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.” Compare Jesus' previous parable in Matthew 21:38; 45; 46 “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’...(21:45) When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them....(21:46) When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet. Comment: "Matthew’s account follows Mark quite closely but adds a few details of its own. It links the setting with the previous teaching of Jesus on the last judgment (Matt 25:31–46) and records Jesus uttering another Passion prediction on the very threshold of the Passover celebration. It thus heightens the tension as the decisive hour draws near, and solemnly declares the betrayal and the ensuing crucifixion (Matt 26:1–2). In addition, Matthew notes that the plot to kill Jesus was hatched “at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest” (Matt 26:3), thus highlighting the fact that Jesus came to his own people, and yet they tragically rejected him (cf. John 1:11+), even planning his execution in the house of the high priest (ED: NOTE THE TRAGIC IRONY - THE HIGH PRIEST WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE LEADER OF WORSHIP INSTEAD IS THE LEADER IN PLOTTING THE DEATH OF THE MOST HIGH GOD! "RELIGION" CAN BE A TREACHEROUS THING IN THE WRONG HANDS!)." (Trites) Mark 14:1-2+ Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were (ACTIVELY) seeking how to seize Him by stealth (dolos) and kill Him; 2 for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people. John gives the most detailed background of the conspiracy to kill Jesus, their evil desires coming to a head so to speak with Jesus' miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead: John 11:43-53, When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” 45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. 57 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him....57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death - Up to this time in the ministry of Jesus, the Pharisees were His chief opposition, but as He approaches the Cross the high priests take control of the opposition. As alluded to above, the tragic irony is that the very men who should have been leading Israel to the way, the truth and the life, were the very ones plotting to kill the only One Who is Himself "the Way, the Truth and the Life," the only One through Whom one could receive eternal access to God the Father (John 14:6, Acts 4:12+) and entrance into the Kingdom of God (cf Jn 3:3), the very Kingdom which the Jews were thinking Jesus would soon bring to fruition (cf Lk 19:11+, "the King" in Lk 19:38+). The religious leaders' plot will soon become much easier to carry out as the last piece of the puzzle falls into place when one of Jesus' inner circle decides to betray the Lord. As you contemplate outworking of these evil deeds by evil men in Jesus' Passion, remember that behind the scenes is God, controlling even the darkest aspects of the drama. And so we see the mysterious juxtaposition of God's sovereignty over these events and men's responsibility for carrying our their heinous acts in Peter's declaration in his first sermon in Jerusalem... This Man (JESUS), delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY), you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death (HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY). (Acts 2:23). J C
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - Dastardly fear often drives men to the greatest crimes. He who is not brave enough to be master of his own spirit, and to follow the dictates of his own conscience, may do, before long, he little knows what. Because of the fear of the people, the chief priests and scribes were driven to compass the death of Christ by craft, and to bring him to his death by the cruel betrayal of Judas, one of his own apostles. (Luke 22 Exposition) Were afraid (5399)(phobeo from phobos = fear source of our English "phobia") means to be in an apprehensive state that can range from mild uneasiness to stark terror as when one is frightened, terrified or alarmed. Luke 19:47-48-note gives us a clue as to why the leaders may have been afraid And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. Matthew and Mark explain the fear of the leaders and show us that God was in total control of every detail of His Son's death... Matthew 26:5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot (thorubus - scroll down) might occur among the people.” John
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - Was it not a sad thing that the betrayer of Christ should be one of the twelve? Yet deeply trying as it must have been to the heart of Christ, there is something useful about even that horrible transaction. It says to all the professing Church of Christ, and it says to us who claim to be Christ’s followers, “Do not think yourselves safe because you are in the visible church; do not imagine that even holding the highest office in the church can prevent you from committing the basest crime. Nay, for here is one of the twelve apostles, yet he betrays his Master. Sometimes, we have found this betrayal to be a source of comfort. I have myself desired, in receiving members into the church, to be very careful if possible only to receive good men and true; yet, though pastors and elders of the church may exercise the strictest watch, some of the worst of men will manage to get in. When that is the case, we say to ourselves, “No new thing has happened to us, for such a sinner as this marred the Church from the very beginning.” Here is Judas, when Christ himself is the Pastor, when the twelve apostles make up the main body of the Church, here is Judas, one of the twelve, ready to betray his Master for the paltry bribe of thirty pieces of silver, just the price of a slave. Yes, we might have been put out of heart in building up the Church of God if it had not been for this sad but truthful narrative concerning Judas and his betrayal of our Lord. (Luke 22 Exposition) John gives us detail on Satan's second entrance into Judas, the first being prior to the Passover Meal in Lk 22:3... During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him...27 After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” (Jn 13:2,27) Comment: The context between the love of Jesus and hatred of Judas is striking - Jesus is about to wash the disciple's feet, while Judas is about to betray Jesus. And don't miss the humble, loving action of Jesus, the Creator of the universe, stooping low to wash the feet of the very man He knew would soon betray Him! What kind of love is this! Jesus did not just teach verbally to "love your enemies" (Mt 5:44). He demonstrated that true love is unconditional and is manifest by one's actions which authenticate one's words. Do I say I love the brethren, but shy away from "washing their feet" (however that might be manifest)? Am I willing to follow the Master's example Who instructed the first disciples "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them" (John 13:14-17)? And just as amazing is the fact that Judas looked down as Jesus washed his feet (one pictures Jesus' eyes looking up, meeting Judas' eyes) and yet Judas' heart remained unmoved by so great an act of love. Steven
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - Notice how carefully our Lord respected the ordinances of that dispensation so long as it lasted. The passover was an essential rite of the Jewish faith, and our Lord therefore duly observed it. Learn hence, dear brethren, to esteem very highly the ordinances of God’s house; let baptism and the Lord’s supper keep their proper places. You do them serious injury if you lift them out of their right places, and try to make saving ordinances of them; but, in avoiding that evil, do not fall into the opposite error of neglecting them. What Christ has ordained, it is for his people to maintain with care until he comes again; and if he kept up the passover even when, in himself, it was already on the point of being fulfilled, let us keep up the ordinances which he has enjoined upon us. If any of you have neglected either of them, let me remind you of his gracious words, “Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,” and “This do ye, in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22 Exposition) Rod Mattoon - The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a picture of our relationship and walk with God. Leaven is a type or symbol of sin in the Bible. As leaven was removed from Jewish homes, we are to remove sinful habits, actions, attitudes, and associations from our lives. We are to get the leaven of sinful living out! It was Paul who told us to "put off or get some things out of our lives. (Colossians 3:8-9+). The Question in the Old Testament was...Where is the Lamb? The Answer in the New Testament is...Behold the Lamb! The Cry throughout eternity will be...Worthy is the Lamb! (Source) Luke 22:8 And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it." KJV Luke 22:8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - Observe in this passage an amazing blending of the human and the divine! No mention is made of either as a matter of doctrine, but incidentally our Lord’s divinity and humanity are most fully taught. Here is Christ so poor that he has no room in which to celebrate the most necessary feast of his religion. He has made himself of no reputation, and he has no chamber he can call his own. Yet see the Godhead in him! He sends his messengers to a certain house and tells them to say to the good man of the house, “Where is the guest room?” It all turns out just as he said it would be, and he is welcomed to this man’s best room. Jesus speaks here as did his Father when he said to Israel in ancient times, “Every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps 50:10). All the guest chambers in Jerusalem were at Christ’s disposal. He had but to ask for them, and there they were—all ready for him. Here we see the majesty of his deity, but we also see the humility of his humanity. (Luke 22 Exposition) James M
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - This was Ahithophel (cf 2 Sa 15:31) to David, and Iscariot with our Lord. Judas was an apostle, admitted to the privacy of the Great Teacher, hearing his secret thoughts, and, as it were, allowed to read His very heart. "Et tu, Brute?" said the expiring Caesar. The kiss of the traitor wounded our Lord's heart as much as the nail wounded his hand. In whom I trusted. Judas was the treasurer of the apostolic college. Where we place great confidence an unkind act is the more severely felt. Which did eat of my bread. Not only as a guest but as a dependant, a pensioner at my board. Judas dipped in the same dish with his Lord, and hence the more accursed was his treachery in his selling his Master for a slave's price. Hath lifted up his heel against me. Not merely turned his back on me, but left me with a heavy kick such as a vicious horse might give. Hard is it to be spurned in our need by those who formerly fed at our table. It is noteworthy that the Redeemer applied only the last words of this verse to Judas, perhaps because, knowing his duplicity, he had never made a familiar friend of him in the fullest sense, and had not placed implicit trust in him. Infernal malice so planned it that every circumstance in Jesus' death should add wormwood to it; and the betrayal was one of the bitterest drops of gall. We are indeed, wretched when our quondam friend becomes our relentless foe, when confidence is betrayed, when all the rites of hospitality are perverted, and ingratitude is the only return for kindness; yet in so deplorable a case we may cast ourselves upon the faithfulness of God, who, having, delivered our Covenant Head, is in verity engaged to be the very present help of all for whom that covenant was made. David's words in Psalm 55:12-14 were a foreshadowing of Messiah's betrayal: For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng. Spurgeon - The reader will do well to observe how accurately the psalmist described his own Psalm when he said, "I mourn in my complaint, "or rather "give loose to my thoughts, "for he proceeds from one point of his sorrow to another, wandering on like one in a maze, making few pauses, and giving no distinct intimations that he is changing the subject. Now from the turbulent city his mind turns to the false hearted councillor. For is was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it. It was not an open foe, but a pretended friend; he went over to the other camp and tried to prove the reality of his treachery by calumniating his old friend. None are such real enemies as false friends. Reproaches from those who have been intimate with us, and trusted by us, cut us to the quick; and they are usually so well acquainted with our peculiar weaknesses that they know how to touch us where we are most sensitive, and to speak so as to do us most damage. The slanders of an avowed antagonist are seldom so mean and dastardly as those of a traitor, and the absence of the elements of ingratitude and treachery renders them less hard to bear. We can bear from Shimei what we cannot endure from Ahithophel. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. We can find a hiding place from open foes, but who can escape from treachery? If our enemies proudly boast over us we nerve our souls for resistance, but when those who pretended to love us leer at us with contempt, whither shall we go? Our blessed Lord had to endure at its worst the deceit and faithlessness of a favoured disciple; let us not marvel when we are called to tread the road which is marked by his pierced feet. But it was thou. He sees him. The poetic fury is upon him, he sees the traitor as though he stood before him in flesh and blood. He singles him out, he points his finger at him, he challenges him to his face. But thou. Et tu, Brute. And thou, Ahithophel, art thou here? Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man? A man mine equal. Treated by me as one of my own rank, never looked upon as an inferior, but as a trusted friend. My guide, a counsellor so sage that I trusted thine advice and found it prudent to do so. And mine acquaintance, with whom I was on most intimate terms, who knew me even as I knew him by mutual disclosures of heart. No stranger occasionally conversed with, but a near and dear friend admitted to my secret fellowship. It was fiendish treason for such a one to prove false hearted. There was no excuse for such villainy. Judas stood very much in this relation to our Lord, he was treated as an equal, trusted as treasurer, and in that capacity often consulted with. He knew the place where the Master was wont to spend his solitude; in fact, he knew all the Master's movements, and yet he betrayed him to his remorseless adversaries. How justly might the Lord have pointed at him and said, But thou; but his gentler spirit warned the son of perdition in the mildest manner, and had not Iscariot been tenfold a child of hell he would have relinquished his detestable purpose. We took sweet counsel together. It was not merely the counsel which men take together in public or upon common themes, their fellowship had been tender and confidential. The traitor had been treated lovingly, and trusted much. Solace, mutual and cheering, had grown out of their intimate communings. There were secrets between them of no common kind. Soul had been in converse with soul, at least on David's part. However feigned might have been the affection of the treacherous one, the betrayed friend had not dealt with him coldly, or guarded his utterance before him. Shame on the wretch who could belie such fellowship, and betray such confidence! And walked unto the house of God in company. Religion had rendered their intercourse sacred, they had mingled their worship, and communed on heavenly themes. If ever any bonds ought to be held inviolable, religious connections should be. There is a measure of impiety, of a detestable sort, in the deceit which debases the union of men who make profession of godliness. Shall the very altar of God be defiled with hypocrisy? Shall the gatherings of the temple be polluted by the presence of treachery? All this was true of Ahithophel, and in a measure of Judas. His union with the Lord was on the score of faith, they were joined in the holiest of enterprises, he had been sent on the most gracious of errands. His cooperation with Jesus to serve his own abominable ends stamped him as the firstborn of hell. Better had it been for him had he never been born. Let all deceitful professors be warned by his doom, for like Ahithophel he went to his own place by his own hand, and retains a horrible preeminence in the calendar of notorious crime. Here was one source of heart break for the Redeemer, and it is shared in by his followers. Of the serpent's brood some vipers still remain, who will sting the hand that cherished them, and sell for silver those who raised them to the position which rendered it possible for them to be so abominably treacherous. Brian Bell (Illustration) - The Portia (Por-sha) Spider: a jumping spider that uses deception and mimicry to catch and eat other spiders. It uses camouflage or it shows a kind of behavioral mimicry: It imitates something its intended victim finds harmless or even attractive. (i.e. it crawls on a spider's web, then plucks the web to imitate a captured insect) It varies its web signals to suit its specific victim. If it encounters a new spider species, it tries different signals rather randomly. (It was once observed to perform vibratory behavior for 3 days until the victim decided to investigate) That seems to be similar to our enemy the devil who seeks to rob, destroy, or sift us like wheat! Talk about ruining a good meal! (Lk 22:21) THE BITE OF BETRAYAL! (Lk 22:21-23) (21) In the East the worst breach of Friendship is for one to eat another’s bread & secretly betray him. (Gospel Light ; George M. Lamsa; pg.300.) To eat bread is a token of loyalty, love, & devotion. His hand is on the table - is an Aramaic colloquialism, which means, “he is eating my bread & yet he is plotting against me.” CHRONOLOGY OF GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF EVENTS RELATED TO LAST PASSOVER/LAST SUPPER From the chart below we can make several observations regarding the timing of the events at the Last Passover and Last Supper as described in the Synoptic Gospels and John's Gospel. The betrayal is announced in all 4 Gospel accounts. Both Matthew and Mark place Jesus' announcement of a betrayer in their midst before His institution of the Lord's Supper. Luke places the disclosure of the betrayer after the institution of the Lord's Supper (see explanation). Luke's account has three discussions not in Matthew or Mark. John's Gospel makes no specific mention of the institution of the Lord's Supper, but includes the Upper Room Discourse not present in the synoptic Gospels. Most commentaries feel that Judas left the Passover meal before the Lord instituted the Lord's supper and before Jesus gave them the Upper Room Discourse in John 13-16. Stated another way, according to Matthew and Mark, the betrayal announcement came between the two suppers and is considered to be chronologically out of place in Luke. Thus the chronology of these events can be somewhat confusing if one relies solely on Luke's account which discusses the betrayal after the institution of the Lord's Supper. Clearly, it is almost unthinkable that Judas would have shared in the precious truth of the Lord's Supper and the institution of the New Covenant as is only for those who are genuine believers in Jesus. On the other hand, to be given the morsel by the host during the Passover meal was to be singled out for special honor and so Jesus was giving Judas an opportunity to repent when He bestowed this honor (John 13:26+) CHRONOLOGY OF GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF EVENTS RELATED TO LAST PASSOVER & LORD'S SUPPER MATTHEW'S GOSPEL Matthew 26:21-25+ Betrayal Announced Matthew 26:26-29+ Lord's Supper Instituted MARK'S GOSPEL Mark 14:18-21+ Betrayal Announced Mark 14:22-25+ Lord's Supper Instituted LUKE'S GOSPEL Luke 22:19-20+ Lord's Supper Instituted Luke 22:21-23+ Betrayal Announced Luke 22:24-30+ Disciples Argue over Who is Greatest NOT IN Matthew or Mark Luke 22:31-35+ Jesus' Prophecy of Peter's Denial NOT IN Matthew or Mark Luke 22:36-38+ Jesus Talks of Swords NOT IN Matthew or Mark JOHN'S GOSPEL John 13:1-16+ Jesus' Example Washing Feet NOT IN SYNOPTIC GOSPELS John 13:17-30+ Betrayal Announced More Detail than Synoptic Gospels John 13-16 Jesus' Upper Room Discourse NOT IN SYNOPTIC GOSPELS NO MENTION of Lord's Supper Luke 22:22 "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" KJV Luke 22:22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed! For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined Luke 24:25-27,46; Genesis 3:15; Ps 22:1-31; 69:1-36; Isaiah 53:1-12+; Daniel 9:24-26; Zechariah 13:7; Mt 26:24,53,54; Mark 14:21; Acts 2:23; 4:25-28; 13:27,28; Acts 26:22,23; 1 Cor 15:3,4; 1 Peter 1:11 but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed Ps 55:12-15; 69:22-28; 109:6-15; Mt 27:5; John 17:12; Acts 1:16-25; 2 Peter 2:3 Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Acts 2:22-24+ “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know– 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. Acts 4:27-28+ “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do (THEIR RESPONSIBILITY/ACCOUNTABILITY) whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur (GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY) ALL IS GOING ACCORDING TO GOD'S PLAN OF REDEMPTION Parallel Passage: Matthew 26:21-25+ As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24“The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.” Mark 14:17-21+ When it was evening He *came with the twelve. 18 As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me–one who is eating with Me.” 19 They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” 20 And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl. “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” For indeed, the Son of Man - Son of Man is the Messianic title Jesus and is mentioned by all three synoptic writers. The title "Son of God" is Jesus' divine name (Mt 8:29), "Son of David" His Jewish name (Mt 9:27), but "Son of Man" is the name that links Him to the earth and to His mission. Son of Man was Jesus' favorite designation of Himself and derives from Daniel's prophecy I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. (Da 7:13-14+) Son of Man - 88x in 84v - Matt. 8:20; Matt. 9:6; Matt. 10:23; Matt. 11:19; Matt. 12:8; Matt. 12:32; Matt. 12:40; Matt. 13:37; Matt. 13:41; Matt. 16:13; Matt. 16:27; Matt. 16:28; Matt. 17:9; Matt. 17:12; Matt. 17:22; Matt. 18:11; Matt. 19:28; Matt. 20:18; Matt. 20:28; Matt. 24:27; Matt. 24:30; Matt. 24:37; Matt. 24:39; Matt. 24:44; Matt. 25:31; Matt. 26:2; Matt. 26:24; Matt. 26:45; Matt. 26:64; Mk. 2:10; Mk. 2:28; Mk. 8:31; Mk. 8:38; Mk. 9:9; Mk. 9:12; Mk. 9:31; Mk. 10:33; Mk. 10:45; Mk. 13:26; Mk. 14:21; Mk. 14:41; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 5:24; Lk. 6:5; Lk. 6:22; Lk. 7:34; Lk. 9:22; Lk. 9:26; Lk. 9:44; Lk. 9:56; Lk. 9:58; Lk. 11:30; Lk. 12:8; Lk. 12:10; Lk. 12:40; Lk. 17:22; Lk. 17:24; Lk. 17:26; Lk. 17:30; Lk. 18:8; Lk. 18:31; Lk. 19:10; Lk. 21:27; Lk. 21:36; Lk. 22:22; Lk. 22:48; Lk. 22:69; Lk. 24:7; Jn. 1:51; Jn. 3:13; Jn. 3:14; Jn. 5:27; Jn. 6:27; Jn. 6:53; Jn. 6:62; Jn. 8:28; Jn. 9:35; Jn. 12:23; Jn. 12:34; Jn. 13:31; Acts 7:56; Heb. 2:6; Rev. 1:13; Rev. 14:14 Is going as it has been determined - Is going is a euphemistic way of Jesus saying He is going to die and ultimately going to eternal punishment! And as it has been determined (perfect tense indicates a state arising from a completed action in the past; divine passive) indicates that the crucifixion was not an accident. It must happen this way for it was the central piece of God's grand plan of redemption of sinful mankind. God ordained this to happen. Matthew and Mark say it this way "just as it is written of Him" (Mt 26:24, cf Mk 14:21) where "written" is in the perfect tense, indicating it was written in the past and stands written and thus is true and trustworthy. It is written in the OT in many Messianic prophecies (cf Ge 3:15+, Ps 22:1, Da 9:26+, Zech 12:10+, etc) which predict that the Son of Man would come to die so that sinful sons of men might live forever in Him. While Judas (and Satan Jn 13:27) meant his betrayal for evil, God would used it for our eternal good (cf Ge 50:20, Ro 9:17+). God's plan of redemption was not an afterthought had been planned from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8+). As John
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Spurgeon - ‘King of kings’ is a title full of majesty, but ‘servant of servants’ is the name which our Lord preferred when he was here below.” David
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Spurgeon - “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Satan has a deadly hatred toward all good people, and they may rest assured that somewhere or other, he will meet them on their way to the Celestial City. John Bunyan, in his immortal allegory, placed him in one particular spot and described him as Apollyon (Hebrew - Abaddon) straddling the road and swearing that the pilgrim should go no further (SEE BUNYAN'S DESCRIPTION WITH COMMENTARY NOTES). But the encounter with Apollyon does not happen in the same place to all pilgrims. God grants to Satan permission to try his people in this way because he knows how he will overrule it to his own glory and their good (See Job 1:8-11,12 compared with Job 42:5-6). Certain graces are never produced in Christians to a high degree except by severe temptation. But what is the great protection of our faith? Our Savior’s intercession! Prayer is always good—it is always a blessed thing—but notice that great one-letter word in the text, “I have prayed for you.” The intercession of Christ preserves our faith. Vance Havner - Here we have the Triangle of Spiritual Conflict: "Satan—you—I." Satan would sift us, but we have an Advocate. The devil asked God for permission to try Job. Here it is Simon Peter he puts through the sifter. And never have more saints been in his hands than today. But he can go only so far. There is one praying for us who defeated Satan, who came to destroy the works of the devil. The Adversary is not in the first two chapters of the Bible, nor is he in the last two. Thank God for a Book that ends with the devil out of business! But he is very much in business now in the mighty tug-of-war for the souls of men. It is Christ or Antichrist and we are the prize. Peter's faith was eclipsed but not extinct. And when he was converted, he certainly strengthened the brethren and fed the sheep—and does so to this day. Sometimes we must go through the Sifter before we are of much use for Strengthening. It is only when we have been recentered that we can strengthen the brethren Vance Havner - When Thou Art Converted..." "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Luke 22:32 Peter needed to be converted, turned from his selflife to Christlife. There are two very significant "Follow me's" in his life. The first time he forsook his nets (Matt. 4:19); the second time he forsook himself (John 21:19). At Galilee he was self-confident, he followed in much self-sufficiency. At Tiberias he was broken: Jesus did not call him Peter or Cephas—there was nothing of the rock about him that day!—just "son of Jonas"! The Lord has to reduce us to our right size, until we are just "sons of Jonas" before we can move in experience from the "follow me" of Galilee to the "follow me" of Tiberias. It was the same sea but what a distance between for Peter! You cannot "strengthen the brethren" until you have been converted as Peter was. That accounts for so many dry sermons and flat Sunday-school lessons. As soon as he was converted, our Lord said, "Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep." Now he could strengthen the brethren! David realized this: "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee" (Ps. 51:12-13). Before we can strengthen believers or win the lost, we must be converted from the selflife to the Christlife... "Not I, but Christ." Rod Mattoon - Did Peter fail? Yes, as we will see down the road, he will lose his courage and deny the Lord, but his faith did not fail. He was not a permanent casualty like Judas was. He did not quit serving the Lord, and his faith in Christ did not end. He was knocked down, but not knocked out. He was spiritually bloodied, beaten, bruised, and battered but not permanently beaten. He got back into the battle. Have you drifted far away from Christ? Have you damaged your life by indulging in destructive sins? Repent and get your life right with the Lord. No one is going to turn your life around except you. If you are unwilling to change your course, you are destined for spiritual failure. The records of wars sometimes tell of officers who lost their rank and were dropped from the rolls of the regiment in disgrace, but afterward, by heroic conduct won back their lost rank. There is always in the soul that possibility of reclaiming and regaining the honors and the righteousness it has lost. No matter how deep into the far country the son has wandered, there is always a path that leads back to the Father's house. There is a robe kept in readiness for you. "I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail" (Luke 22:32). While very ill, John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, called to his wife and said, "Read me that Scripture where I first cast my anchor." After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray, interceding earnestly for his fellowmen. He prayed for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel. He pleaded in behalf of people who had been recently converted. And he requested protection for the Lord's servants facing persecution. As Knox prayed, his spirit went Home to be with the Lord. The man of whom Queen Mary had said, "I fear his prayers more than I do the armies of my enemies," ministered through prayer until the moment of his death. Prayer is the working force of the Christian's life. Although we normally think of it as an element of worship, it is also vital in our service for God. By word and through example the Lord Jesus taught us that prayer is just as much a ministry as preaching, teaching, witnessing, and doing kind deeds in His name. The Savior did just as much on Peter's behalf by praying for him as He did by exhorting him. We may be assured that we are never useless as long as we can pray. God's soldiers fight best on their knees. J H Jowett - FOILING THE ENEMY’S PLOTS Luke 22:24-34. I DO not meet my tempter alone. The engagement has been foreseen by my Lord. “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you!” The tempter’s plots, and wiles, and ambuscades are all clearly perceived. My Lord has got the enemy’s maps, and his plan of campaign, for all things are open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. I do not fight a lonely warfare on a dark and unknown field. My Lord Himself both scouts and fights for those who are His own. And one great means of His co-operation is the mighty ministry of intercession. “But I have prayed for thee.” That “but” is the massing of the forces of heaven against the black and subtle hordes of hell. Let me ever remember that the Lord’s prayers are always the conveyers of holy power to those for whom He prays. It is as when Christian met Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation: there comes a sudden accession of strength to the bleeding warrior, and Apollyon retires wounded and beaten from the field. And the only way to preserve the fruits of a triumph is by helping other warriors to gain a similar conquest. “When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren.” I shall retain the hard, muscular limbs of a soldier if I am willing to share my blood with the entire army. C H Spurgeon - Peter has gone astray, and he has been brought back. He must have staggered the faith of the weaker disciples—Peter, who had been such a leader among them, was among the first to deny his Lord. Therefore, Peter, you must build what you have thrown down and bind up what you have torn! Go and tell these people how foolish and weak you were. Warn them not to imitate your example. Be more bold than anybody else, that you may in some measure undo the mischief that you have done. Any of you who have been cold toward the Lord, you have wasted months, even years, in backsliding. Try to recover lost ground. If people have been staggered by your backsliding, look after them, try to bring them back and strengthen them. Ask their pardon and beg them to recover the strength of which you helped to rob them. This is the least that you can do. If almighty love has drawn you back, lay yourself out to do good to those who may have been harmed by your turning aside. Am I asking more of you than simple justice demands? How can you better express your gratitude to God than by strengthening your weak brothers and sisters when you have been strengthened yourself? If God has restored our souls and made us strong again, then we ought to renew our zeal for the salvation of others. We ought to have a special eye to backsliders like us. This becomes our duty because it is a part of the divine design. Let us never imagine that God’s grace is given to us simply with an eye to ourselves. Grace neither begins nor ends with us. When God saved you, he did not save you for your own sake but for his own name’s sake, that he might through you show his mercy to others. We are windows through which the light of heavenly knowledge is to shine on multitudes of eyes. The light is not for the windows themselves but for those to whom it comes through the windows. If we have been restored let us look after our weak brothers and sisters, showing zeal for the honor and glory of our Lord. When we went astray we dishonored Christ. If others go astray they will do the same. Let us be watchful that we may prevent their being as foolish as we have been. Let us learn tenderness from our own experience and feel a deep concern for other believers. C H Spurgeon - Peter after his restoration The restored believer should strengthen his brethren, because it will be such a benefit to himself. He will derive great personal benefit from endeavouring to cherish and assist the weak ones in the family of God. Brother, do this continually and heartily, for thus you will be made to see your own weakness. You will see it in those whom you succour. As you see how they doubt, or grow cold, or become lukewarm, you will say to yourself, ‘These are men of like passions with myself. I see which way I shall drift unless the grace of God sustains me.’ It will lead you to throw out another anchor and get a fresh hold, as you see how they yield to the tide. One man is wonderfully like another man, only that other men are better than we are, and when we are trying to strengthen them, we are not to look upon ourselves as superior beings, but rather as inferior beings and say, ‘He fell yesterday; I may fall today, and if I do not fall today, I may tomorrow.’ All the weaknesses and follies you see in others, believe that they are in yourself and that will tend to humble you. I think that a true minister is often excited to better work by what he sees of weakness in his people, because he says to himself, ‘Am I feeding this flock well?’ Perhaps he thinks to himself, ‘If I had properly tended them, they would not have shown all these weaknesses’, and then he will begin to blame his own ministry and look to his own heart; that is a good thing for us all. We very seldom, I think, blame ourselves too much and it is a benefit to us to see our own failings in others. C H Spurgeon - I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU - If you are deeply depressed and your heart is aching, this verse should bless you. “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Ps. 91:11–12). There are times when your faith walks on a slender thread, high above the ways of the world, poising the balancing pole of experience. Faith tries to keep on her feet, but if she slips there is this gracious safety net of Jesus. “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Luke 22:32). God’s people will be safe. Satan may try to knock you down, but God will hold you up. Watch your walk as if your perseverance depended entirely on you. Look to Jesus, however, knowing that He alone keeps the feet of His saints. Holiness, strength of faith, and ultimate perfection are our goals. Yet it is a blessed consolation that if we fail we are not thrown away. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand” (Ps. 37:23–24). One Year At His Feet Devotional - “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.” Luke 22:32 IN WORD We know that the prayers of the Son of God do not go unanswered. There is no conflict, no separation between the persons of the Trinity. When the incarnate God asks, the enthroned God hears. If Jesus prayed for Simon Peter, Simon Peter is secure. His faith will not fail. What do we make, then, of Peter’s famous denial? Three times he swore that he did not know Jesus. Three times he lied about the One to whom he had sworn undying allegiance. Wasn’t this a disaster, by any standard of religious affiliation? Didn’t he prove that he was not really devoted to Jesus? Didn’t his faith fail? No. When Jesus sees our faith, He sees the lifelong process. He sees whether our faith will be proven false by our testing or refined by it. His covenant to strengthen us does not waver with the ups and downs of our circumstances or our moods. When we fall, He knows whether we will get up. He sees the big picture, and in the big picture our momentary faltering does not determine the final outcome. He doesn’t dwell on the toddler who stumbles; He knows us as the mature adult who walks. IN DEED We tend to dwell on our faltering efforts at faith, remembering well the stumbles and falls we’ve taken along the way to maturity. We should not take them lightly; Jesus did not expect Peter to casually dismiss his denial. But we should not see them as the condition that defines us. Jesus saw Peter’s failure in advance, yet He prayed with confidence and assurance that his faith would not fail. In the final analysis, it did not. And that’s what counts with Jesus. Do not let your failures define you. They are not how God measures you. In fact, they are how the enemy wants to measure you; that’s why he asks to sift you. Don’t trust his measurement. Trust Jesus. He has prayed for you. Strengthened - “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”Luke 22:32 “We forget that God is a specialist; He is well able to work our failures into His plans.”—Erwin Lutzer IN WORD Jesus assumes failure on Peter’s part. He does not say, “If you need to turn back . . .” He says “when.” It’s a given. Peter will fall. But also notice that Jesus assumes Peter’s repentance. It, too, is a given. There is no question here of whether Peter will turn back. It will happen. And there is an instruction for after his return that probably could not have been given before his fall: “Strengthen your brothers.” In denying Jesus, grieving over his own treachery and fickleness, and coming back to Jesus with repentance, there is something different about him. Peter, literally “the rock,” is in no position to strengthen his brothers before his failure; he is the epitome of instability. But afterward? These are his orders from Jesus. Peter has grown into his name. Why? What is different between the pre-denial Peter and the post-repentance Peter? Perhaps it is that the one who is honest about his failures is the one who can be strongest in his faith. It was Peter who ran to the tomb three days later when the other disciples did not believe the report of the women who had just been there (Luke 24:11-12). It was Peter whom Jesus told to feed His sheep (John 21:15-19). It was Peter whose Holy Spirit anointing made him the preacher of Pentecost (Acts 2:14). And it was Peter who, so we’re told, hung on his own cross—upside down. Knowing his weakness, God gave him the strength to strengthen others. IN DEED We are apt to think that failure disqualifies us from serving God well. To the contrary, sometimes it is the only thing that does qualify us. It removes any pretense of self-reliance. Like a phoenix rising, we ascend from the ashes of our own undoing, testifying to the resurrecting power of God. From failure to forgiveness, weakness to strength, death to life—it’s God’s way. Remember that the next time you despair over your failures. FAITH THAT DOES NOT FAIL - Spurgeon Luke 22:32 Believe in a universal providence. The Lord cares for ants and angels, for worms and for worlds, for cherubim and for sparrows, for seraphim and for insects. Throw your cares on Him. “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name” (Ps. 147:4). Let His universal providence cheer you. Think of His special providence over all the saints. “He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; and precious shall be their blood in His sight” (Ps. 72:14). “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints” (Ps. 116:15). “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). While He is the Savior of all men, He is especially the Savior of those that believe. Let this cheer and comfort you; special providence watches over the chosen. “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Ps. 34:7). Let the thought of His special love to you be the essence of your comfort. “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). God says that as much to you as He said it to any saint of old. Do not be afraid, for I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward (Gen. 15:1). Oh that the Holy Spirit would make you feel the promise as being spoken to you! For the promises are to you and meant for you. Grasp them! Hear the Master say, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). Think that you heard Him say, “I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail” (Luke 22:32). Think that you see Him walking on the waters of your trouble, for He is there, and He is saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27). Oh those sweet words of Christ! Lord, speak them to me. Speak them to Your poor, sorrowing child, and speak them to each one of us. May we hear Your voice and say, “Jesus whispers consolation, I cannot refuse it. I will sit under His shadow with great delight.” THE UNFINISHED WORK OF CHRIST Wherefore, he [Christ] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 In the hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me, Lest, by base denial, I depart from Thee; When Thou seest me waver, with a look recall; Nor for fear or favor suffer me to fall. —J. Montgomery J C Philpot - He fell through the sieve! "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not." Luke 22:31, 32 The Lord did not pray for Judas—he was the son of perdition—and therefore he fell through the sieve, and fell into hell—where he now is—and where he will be to all eternity! And you and I would surely fall through too, unless we have a saving interest in the love and blood of the Lamb. You may escape for a time—but if you have no part in His atoning blood and grace—if He is not pleading for you—sooner or later you will fall through the sieve and will drop into hell—and that perhaps speedily! Andrew
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Spurgeon - God says to you, “Fear not...I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1). Believer, grasp the divine word with a personal, appropriating faith. Think that you hear Jesus say, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32). Think you see Him walking on the waters of your trouble, for He is there, and He is saying, “Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid” (Matt. 14:27). Oh, those sweet words of Christ! May the Holy Spirit make you feel them as spoken to you. Forget the others for awhile—accept the voice of Jesus as addressed to you and say, “Jesus whispers consolation; I cannot refuse it; I will sit under His shadow with great delight. When Satan Sifts . . . Read: Luke 22:31-34 Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you. —Luke 22:31-32 In Jesus’ day, women sifted wheat by grasping a sieve in both hands and shaking it forcefully from side to side. Then they would move the sieve in a seesaw motion while blowing over the wheat to remove the chaff. It was a vigorous process. This is the picture the Lord used to warn His disciples of the great testing they would face when He went to the cross. They would be like the wheat, and the sifter would be their powerful enemy Satan. Then Jesus singled out Peter. He told him, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Lk. 22:32). But wasn’t Peter’s denial (vv.54-62) a failure of his faith? Noted theologian G. Campbell
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Spurgeon says "I am never afraid of exaggeration, when I speak of what my Lord endured. All hell was distilled into that cup, of which our God and Savior Jesus Christ was made to drink.” (Luke 22 Exposition) J C Ryle on cup (poterion) - Doddridge says, of this expression, “It was customary among the ancients to assign to each guest at a feast a particular cup, as well as a dish, and by the kind and quantity of the liquor contained in it, the respect of the entertained was expressed. Hence the word ‘cup’ came in general to signify a portion assigned, whether of pleasure or sorrow.”
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Spurgeon - The old physician Galen gives an instance in which, through extremity of horror, an individual poured forth a discoloured sweat, so nearly crimson as at any rate to appear to have been blood. Other cases are given by medical authorities. (Luke 22 Exposition) Wikipedia on the cause - Hematidrosis is a condition in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood, occurring under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress.[4] Severe mental anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system to invoke the stress-fight or flight reaction to such a degree as to cause hemorrhage of the vessels supplying the sweat glands into the ducts of the sweat glands.[5] Norman Crawford – Surely this is most holy ground. How can we, whose senses have been numbed by sin, ever enter into the holy anguish of the soul of the Man of sorrows? The physical evidence of His agony is given that we might have some understanding of it. Human eyes were not allowed to look on that sight. The Holy Spirit has recorded it for our learning. We are well aware of the simile word "as", but the AV "drops" (thrombos), is a medical term, which means "thick clots" of coagulated blood. Vine interprets thrombos as "large, thick drops of clotted blood". The appearance of the Saviour as One whose "visage was so marred more than any man" must be understood in the light of this suffering as much as the result of what men did to Him. (What the Bible Teaches: Luke )
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Spurgeon - Morning, March 23 “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” —Luke 22:44 The mental pressure arising from our Lord’s struggle with temptation, so forced his frame to an unnatural excitement, that his pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground. This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Saviour so that he distilled great drops of blood! This demonstrates the mighty power of his love. It is a very pretty observation of old Isaac Ambrose that the gum which exudes from the tree without cutting is always the best. This precious camphire-tree yielded most sweet spices when it was wounded under the knotty whips, and when it was pierced by the nails on the cross; but see, it giveth forth its best spice when there is no whip, no nail, no wound. This sets forth the voluntariness of Christ’s sufferings, since without a lance the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech, or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, “Spring up, O well;” of itself it flows in crimson torrents. If men suffer great pain of mind apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale; a fainting fit comes on; the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Saviour in his agony; he is so utterly oblivious of self, that instead of his agony driving his blood to the heart to nourish himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours him out upon the ground, pictures the fulness of the offering which he made for men. Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which he passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, and sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of your souls. QUESTION - Why did Jesus sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane? ANSWER - The night before Jesus Christ was crucified, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke, a physician, recorded that Jesus’ sweat was like drops of blood: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Some consider Luke’s description as mere simile—Jesus’ sweat fell to the ground in large, heavy drops, the way that blood drips from an open wound. However, there exists a medical condition that produces the symptoms described and explains Luke’s mention of blood. Hematidrosis is a rare, but very real, medical condition that causes one’s sweat to contain blood. The sweat glands are surrounded by tiny blood vessels that can constrict and then dilate to the point of rupture, causing blood to effuse into the sweat glands. The cause of hematidrosis is extreme anguish. In the other gospel accounts, we see the level of Jesus’ anguish: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38; cf. Mark 14:34). The intense anguish and sorrow Jesus felt was certainly understandable. Being God, Christ knew “all that was going to happen to Him” (John 18:4). He knew in painstaking detail the events that were to follow soon after He was betrayed by one of His very own disciples. He knew He was about to undergo several trials where all of the witnesses against Him would lie. He knew that many who had hailed Him as the Messiah only days earlier would now be screaming for His crucifixion (Luke 23:23). He knew He would be flogged nearly to the point of death before they pounded the metal spikes into His flesh. He knew the prophetic words of Isaiah spoken seven centuries earlier that He would be beaten so badly that He would be “disfigured beyond that of any man” and “beyond human likeness” (Isaiah 52:14). Certainly, these things factored into His great anguish and sorrow, causing Him to sweat drops of blood. Yet there was more. Crucifixion was considered to be the most painful and torturous method of execution ever devised and was used on the most despised and wicked people. In fact, so horrific was the pain that a word was designed to help explain it—excruciating, which literally means “from the cross.” From His arrest in the garden until the time our Lord stated, “It is finished” (John 19:30), Scripture records only one instance where Jesus “cried out in a loud voice” (Matthew 27:46). As our sinless Savior bore the weight of the world’s sins on His shoulders, His Father must have looked away, as His “eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Habakkuk1:13), causing the suffering Servant to cry out “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46). The spiritual pain of this feeling of abandonment no doubt greatly exceeded the intense physical pain the Lord endured on our behalf. At the beginning of creation, human history began in a garden (Genesis 2:8), and when the first Adam sinned against God in this garden, death entered the world (Genesis 3:6). Thousands of years later, Jesus Christ, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), entered into another garden to accept the cup from His Father’s hand (Matthew 26:42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42), and death was about to be swallowed up in victory. Although God’s plan was designed before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4–5), we must never forget that its execution came at a great cost. Ultimately, then, we are the ones responsible for the blood that dripped from our Savior as He prayed in the garden. And we are the reason Jesus’ soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Indeed, these bloodied sweat drops came at a great cost; let us never forget that. GotQuestions.org Luke 22:45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, KJV Luke 22:45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, found them sleeping from sorrow, Mt 26:40,43; Mark 14:37,40,41 Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Andrea Mantegna's Agony in the Garden, SLEEPING FROM SORROW When He rose from prayer (proseuche) - As discussed above Matthew (Mt 26:39, 42, 44) and Mark (Mk 14:35-36, 39, 41) record Jesus arising from prayer three times (see previous note). He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow (lupe) - This explanation of their somnolence is found only in Luke's Gospel. Matthew 26:42 says they were sleeping because "their eyes were heavy." One could say that these three men were overcome by sleep because of heavy eyelids and heavy hearts! As noted above it must have been around midnight so the disciples would have been sleepy but that is not why they were sleeping. Luke says they were sleeping because they were downcast at Jesus' repeated predictions that He would soon die. Imagine your best friend, you spouse, etc telling you that they were going to die in the next few hours even though at that moment they perfectly healthy physically! The disciples were in deep despair and were depressed. As an aside, one of the clinical signs of depression is excessive sleeping. And not only that Jesus had predicted they would desert Him and they knew His "batting average" for predictions was 100%! MacArthur may be correct when he writes that "Fatalism crept in, and there seemed to be nothing left to pray for." (Fatalism = a submissive mental attitude resulting from acceptance of the doctrine that everything that happens is predetermined and inevitable) The New English Bible has "worn out by grief" which gives us an accurate picture of the mental/emotional state of the disciples. J C
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Spurgeon - Evening, October 23 “Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” —Luke 22:46 When is the Christian most liable to sleep? Is it not when his temporal circumstances are prosperous? Have you not found it so? When you had daily troubles to take to the throne of grace, were you not more wakeful than you are now? Easy roads make sleepy travellers. Another dangerous time is when all goes pleasantly in spiritual matters. Christian went not to sleep when lions were in the way, or when he was wading through the river, or when fighting with Apollyon, but when he had climbed half way up the Hill Difficulty, and came to a delightful arbour, he sat down, and forthwith fell asleep, to his great sorrow and loss. The enchanted ground is a place of balmy breezes, laden with fragrant odours and soft influences, all tending to lull pilgrims to sleep. Remember Bunyan’s description: “Then they came to an arbour, warm, and promising much refreshing to the weary pilgrims; for it was finely wrought above head, beautified with greens, and furnished with benches and settles. It had also in it a soft couch, where the weary might lean.” “The arbour was called the Slothful’s Friend, and was made on purpose to allure, if it might be, some of the pilgrims to take up their rest there when weary.” Depend upon it, it is in easy places that men shut their eyes and wander into the dreamy land of forgetfulness. Old Erskine wisely remarked, “I like a roaring devil better than a sleeping devil.” There is no temptation half so dangerous as not being tempted. The distressed soul does not sleep; it is after we enter into peaceful confidence and full assurance that we are in danger of slumbering. The disciples fell asleep after they had seen Jesus transfigured on the mountain top. Take heed, joyous Christian, good frames are near neighbours to temptations: be as happy as you will, only be watchful. Related Resources: What does it mean to watch and pray? | GotQuestions.org What does it mean that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak? | GotQuestions.org Luke 22:47 While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. KJV Luke 22:47 And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. While He was still speaking Mt 26:45-47; Mark 14:41-43; John 18:2-9 a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve Luke 22:3-6; Mt 26:14-16,47; Mark 14:10,43; Acts 1:16-18 Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Judas Iscariot - James Stalker from his book THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST: A DEVOTIONAL HISTORY OF OUR LORD'S PASSION Excellent Diagram/Map of Jesus' Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion JUDAS' BETRAYAL OF JESUS The pericope in Luke 22:47-54 parallels Mt. 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Jn 18:2-12 Parallel passage: Bold font identifies details not recorded by Luke. Note that in Matthew and Mark the description of Peter cutting off the ear (Mt 26:51, Mk 14:47,48) follows the mention of Jesus' arrest (Mt 26:50, Mk 14:46) whereas in Luke and John the same event (Lk 22:50, 51, Jn 18:10, 11) precedes the mention of His arrest (Lk 22:54, Jn 18:12 - both use "arrested"). Matthew's version Matthew 26:47 While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.” Mark's version Mark 14:43-44+ Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.” John 18:2 explains that "Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples." And remember that Judas was indwelt by Satan, so when Judas approached Jesus to kiss Him, Satan approached as well. This is frankly "mind blowing!" While He was still speaking - Speaking what? Lk 22:46 spoke to Peter, James and John "“Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” It is as if He just finishes His command to them to pray for He knew the temptation (test) was about to enter the garden. It is not too much to speculate that these sleepy saints were now awake and overcome not with sleep but with fear! Oh to pray when the Spirit of Jesus urges us to pray that we might not enter into temptation, for He knows what we are about to experience in the form of a test. Jesus had forewarned that His men might be forearmed, but they failed the test. God grant us grace to pray when we are "forewarned" by the Spirit of Christ to pray so that we are forearmed for the test! In Jesus' Name. Amen. Behold, a crowd came - So the arrival of the crowd was temporally connected with Jesus praying. Note the crowd did not interrupt His prayer, so He prayed what He needed to pray and was prepared for the test ("temptation"). This show God's providential control of the timing. The disciples were not prepared! What a frightening sight this must have been to the disciples for the large crowd included Romans soldiers (Jn 18:3) as well as "the chief priests and officers of the Temple and elders who had come against Him." (Lk 22:52) Wiersbe on a crowd - The presence of such a large group of armed soldiers shows how little Judas really knew about the Lord Jesus. Did he think that Jesus would try to run away or perhaps hide somewhere in the Garden? Judas must have expected Jesus and the disciples to resist arrest; otherwise he would not have enlisted so much help. Perhaps he feared that Jesus might perform a miracle. Judas was deceitful; he was a liar just like Satan who entered into him (John 8:44; 13:27). He defiled almost everything that he touched: his name (Judah = "praise"), the disciple band (Luke 6:13-16), gifts given to Christ (John 12:1-8), and the kiss. He even invaded a private prayer meeting, defiled it with his presence, and betrayed the Saviour with a kiss. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Pr 27:6). (Borrow Be courageous Luke 14-24) And the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them - Luke definitively identifies Jesus' betrayer as a disciple by using the phrase one of the twelve. John does not describe the betrayal by a kiss but gives us more detail regarding the makeup of the crowd writing "Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. (John 18:3). A Roman cohort (battalion) (Gk - speira) normally consisted of 600 men (1/10th of a legion), this number being so large because they were probably commanded to pick up this insurrectionist who claimed to be some kind of king.
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Spurgeon - This sign of Judas was typical of the way in which Jesus is generally betrayed. When men intend to undermine the inspiration of the Scriptures, how do they begin their books? Why, always with a declaration that they wish to promote the truth of Christ! Christ’s name is often slandered by those who make a loud profession of attachment to him, and then sin foully as the chief of transgressors. But Jesus said to him - The contrasting "but" suggests that Judas was drawing near and preparing to give Jesus a kiss, but Jesus was in essence saying first let me ask a question. Jesus in His great compassion is giving Judas ONE MORE CHANCE to repent, but it would be to no avail so that the "Son of Perdition" (indicating both his character and his destiny! John 17:12) would have only himself to blame for his suffering the deepest degree of punishment (cf Mt 11:21-24; see note on degrees of punishment) forever and ever. A T
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Spurgeon writes that Jesus "must be betrayed by His friend, that He may bear the utmost depths of suffering, and that in every separate circumstance there may be a well of grief.” (Luke 22 Exposition) Son of Man - It is interesting that when Caiaphas asked Jesus to tell them whether He was the Son of God (Mt 26:63), Jesus said in essence He was the Son of God but persisted in referring to Himself as the Son of Man declaring "you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” (Mt 26:64) Son of Man emphasizes His humanity. "Son of Man" was the designation prophesied in Daniel 7:13-14 and well-known by the entire nation of Israel as a title for Messiah. The Son of God became the Son of Man that He might change the sons of men into sons of God (1 Jn 3:1KJV+). Luke frequently uses the title "Son of Man" - Luke 6:5, 22; 7:34; 9:22, 26, 44, 58; 11:30; 12:8, 10, 40; 17:22, 24, 26, 30; 18:8, 31; 19:10; 21:27, 36; 22:22, 48, 69; 24:7. Warren
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Spurgeon - Morning, March 25 “Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” —Luke 22:48 “The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Let me be on my guard when the world puts on a loving face, for it will, if possible, betray me as it did my Master, with a kiss. Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he usually professes very great reverence for it. Let me beware of the sleek-faced hypocrisy which is armour-bearer to heresy and infidelity. Knowing the deceivableness of unrighteousness, let me be wise as a serpent to detect and avoid the designs of the enemy. The young man, void of understanding, was led astray by the kiss of the strange woman: may my soul be so graciously instructed all this day, that “the much fair speech” of the world may have no effect upon me. Holy Spirit, let me not, a poor frail son of man, be betrayed with a kiss! But what if I should be guilty of the same accursed sin as Judas, that son of perdition? I have been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; I am a member of his visible Church; I sit at the communion table: all these are so many kisses of my lips. Am I sincere in them? If not, I am a base traitor. Do I live in the world as carelessly as others do, and yet make a profession of being a follower of Jesus? Then I must expose religion to ridicule, and lead men to speak evil of the holy name by which I am called. Surely if I act thus inconsistently I am a Judas, and it were better for me that I had never been born. Dare I hope that I am clear in this matter? Then, O Lord, keep me so. O Lord, make me sincere and true. Preserve me from every false way. Never let me betray my Saviour. I do love thee, Jesus, and though I often grieve thee, yet I would desire to abide faithful even unto death. O God, forbid that I should be a high-soaring professor, and then fall at last into the lake of fire, because I betrayed my Master with a kiss. Killed With Kisses Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" — Luke 22:48 Today's Scripture : Matthew 27:3-10 If Judas the betrayer had truly repented, would Jesus have accepted him? I believe so. No one can out-sin the grace of God. Judas may have saddened our Lord more by hanging himself than by betraying Him. I think his act of despair meant that he didn’t believe our Lord would forgive Him. In the novel The Flight Of The Shadow, author George MacDonald tells a story of a young girl, Belorba Whichcote, who lived with her uncle. One morning she watched him take a piece of jewelry out of a cabinet drawer, hold it up briefly to the light, and then quickly put it back. After her uncle left the house for the day, Belorba looked in the drawer without his permission. Guilt immediately flooded her sensitive heart. She sat and nervously waited for his return. When he came back late that evening, she fell at his feet, confessed what she had done and how awful she felt. Then she sobbed, “Please, Uncle, will you kill me?” “Yes, yes,” her uncle replied. “I will kill you, my darling! This way! This way!” Then, stretching out his arms, he drew her in and covered her face with kisses. The pain of facing up to truth And saying "I am wrong" Is soothed by Christ's redeeming love, Which fills the heart with song. —D. De Haan Sin brings fear; confession brings freedom. ED COMMENT - While this saying is certainly true for believers as John writes in 1Jn 1:9+, Judas demonstrates that confession without repentance does not bring freedom! (Mt 27:4-5+) I suppose this begs the question - Can a genuine believe confess and yet not repent? What has your personal experience been beloved? QUESTION - What is the significance of Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss? ANSWER - Judas Iscariot was one of the original twelve disciples who followed and were taught by Jesus. Being in Jesus’ “inner circle,” Judas had a closer relationship to Jesus than most people during His ministry. Judas betrayed the Lord to the Jewish authorities. The pre-arranged signal was that the person Judas kissed was to be arrested and taken away (Mark 14:44). In this way the Son of Man was betrayed with a kiss (Luke 22:48). In the culture of first-century Israel, a kiss was not always a romantic expression of love; rather, a kiss on the cheek was a common greeting, a sign of deep respect, honor, and brotherly love (see Luke 7:45; Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). For a student who had great respect for his teacher, a kiss fell well within the healthy expression of honor. What really stands out in the mode of Judas’s betrayal is that Judas used such an intimate expression of love and respect to betray Jesus. Judas’s actions were hypocritical in the extreme—his actions said, “I respect and honor you,” at the exact time he was betraying Jesus to be murdered. Judas’s actions illustrate Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Often, foes disguise themselves as friends. Evil often wears a mask to conceal its true purpose. In Luke 22:3, we see that Satan entered into Judas before Judas went to see the chief priests and set things up to betray Jesus. Satan possessed Judas in hopes of using him to destroy Jesus’ ministry and get Him out of the way, and Satan used a kiss—a sign of affection—to unleash a surge of hatred. However, there is nothing the Evil One does that God doesn’t know about or have complete control over. God allowed Satan to possess Judas and use him to betray Jesus in such a deceptive and hypocritical way in order to bring about our redemption. The betrayal itself was prophesied hundreds of years before its fulfillment (Psalm 41:9). When Jesus was betrayed by a kiss, He identified with the troubles of David, who wrote, “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers” (Psalm 55:12–14). Job’s emotional pain also foreshadowed Jesus’ sorrow: “Those I love have turned against me” (Job 19:19). Once Judas gave the kiss, the deed was done. Jesus was betrayed into the government’s hands to be crucified. Judas was “seized with remorse” (Matthew 27:3) over what he’d done. He gave the money back to the temple authorities and hanged himself out of guilt (verse 5). GotQuestions.org QUESTION - Why did Judas betray Jesus? See video ANSWER - While we cannot be absolutely certain why Judas betrayed Jesus, some things are certain. First, although Judas was chosen to be one of the Twelve (John 6:64), all scriptural evidence points to the fact that he never believed Jesus to be God. He even may not have been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah (as Judas understood it). Unlike the other disciples that called Jesus “Lord,” Judas never used this title for Jesus and instead called him “Rabbi,” which acknowledged Jesus as nothing more than a teacher. While other disciples at times made great professions of faith and loyalty (John 6:68; 11:16), Judas never did so and appears to have remained silent. This lack of faith in Jesus is the foundation for all other considerations listed below. The same holds true for us. If we fail to recognize Jesus as God incarnate, and therefore the only One who can provide forgiveness for our sins—and the eternal salvation that comes with it—we will be subject to numerous other problems that stem from a wrong view of God. Second, Judas not only lacked faith in Christ, but he also had little or no personal relationship with Jesus. When the synoptic gospels list the Twelve, they are always listed in the same general order with slight variations (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16). The general order is believed to indicate the relative closeness of their personal relationship with Jesus. Despite the variations, Peter and the brothers James and John are always listed first, which is consistent with their relationships with Jesus. Judas is always listed last, which may indicate his relative lack of a personal relationship with Christ. Additionally, the only documented dialogue between Jesus and Judas involves Judas being rebuked by Jesus after his greed-motivated remark to Mary (John 12:1-8), Judas’ denial of his betrayal (Matthew 26:25), and the betrayal itself (Luke 22:48). Third, Judas was consumed with greed to the point of betraying the trust of not only Jesus, but also his fellow disciples, as we see in John 12:5-6. Judas may have desired to follow Jesus simply because he saw the great following and believed he could profit from collections taken for the group. The fact that Judas was in charge of the moneybag for the group would indicate his interest in money (John 13:29). Additionally, Judas, like most people at the time, believed the Messiah was going to overthrow Roman occupation and take a position of power ruling over the nation of Israel. Judas may have followed Jesus hoping to benefit from association with Him as the new reigning political power. No doubt he expected to be among the ruling elite after the revolution. By the time of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus had made it clear that He planned to die, not start a rebellion against Rome. So Judas may have assumed—just as the Pharisees did—that since He would not overthrow the Romans, He must not be the Messiah they were expecting. There are a few Old Testament verses that point to the betrayal, some more specifically than others. Here are two: “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9, see fulfillment in Matthew 26:14, 48-49). “I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the handsome price at which they priced me!' So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter” (Zechariah 11:12-13; see Matthew 27:3-5 for the fulfillment of the Zechariah prophecy). These Old Testament prophecies indicate that Judas’ betrayal was known to God and that it was sovereignly planned beforehand as the means by which Jesus would be killed. But if Judas’ betrayal was known to God, did Judas have a choice, and is he held responsible for his part in the betrayal? It is difficult for many to reconcile the concept of “free will” (as most people understand it) with God’s foreknowledge of future events, and this is largely due to our limited experience of going through time in a linear fashion. If we see God as existing outside of time, since He created everything before “time” began, then we can understand that God sees every moment in time as the present. We experience time in a linear way—we see time as a straight line, and we pass from one point gradually to another, remembering the past we have already traveled through, but unable to see the future we are approaching. However, God, being the eternal Creator of the construct of time, is not “in time” or on the timeline, but outside of it. It might help to think of time (in relation to God) as a circle with God being the center and therefore equally close to all points. In any case, Judas had the full capacity of making his choice—at least up to the point where “Satan entered into him” (John 13:27)—and God’s foreknowledge (John 13:10, 18, 21) in no way supersedes Judas’ ability to make any given choice. Rather, what Judas would choose eventually, God saw as if it was a present observation, and Jesus made it clear that Judas was responsible for his choice and would be held accountable for it. “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me” (Mark 14:18). Notice that Jesus characterizes Judas’ participation as a betrayal. And regarding accountability for this betrayal Jesus said, “Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born” (Mark 14:21). Satan, too, had a part in this, as we see in John 13:26-27, and he, too, will be held accountable for his deeds. God in His wisdom was able, as always, to manipulate even Satan’s rebellion for the benefit of mankind. Satan helped send Jesus to the cross, and on the cross sin and death were defeated, and now God’s provision of salvation is freely available to all who receive Jesus Christ as Savior.GotQuestions.org THOUGHT- I would suggest there is one additional and very important reason Judas betrayed Jesus and that is that he was under the control of Satan who had entered him in Luke 22:3+. Judas was clearly disposed to betraying Jesus, but Satan was very likely the evil catalyst that pushed him over the edge. Related Resources: Who was Judas Iscariot? | GotQuestions.org How did Judas die? | GotQuestions.org Why did Jesus choose Judas? | GotQuestions.org Was Judas Iscariot forgiven / saved? | GotQuestions.org What is the Gospel of Judas? | GotQuestions.org Are there different levels of punishment in hell? | GotQuestions.org Luke 22:49 When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" KJV Luke 22:49 When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Excellent Diagram/Map of Jesus' Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion THE DISCIPLES FINALLY SEE THE SUFFERING COMING When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen - By this time the other eight disciples had probably also joined Jesus. This would have been after the disciples witnessed Judas kissing Jesus and the Roman soldiers coming toward Jesus to grasp Him and arrest Him. The disciples finally and fully recognized Jesus' enemies had come to take their Master. Recall that earlier Jesus had told them "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered (also translated betrayed) into the hands of men." (Lk 9:44+). Lord (2962)(kurios) primarily means the possessor, owner, master, the supreme one, one who is sovereign (used this way of Roman emperors - Acts 25:26) and possesses absolute authority, absolute ownership and uncontested power. (Mt 20:31; Mk 11:3; Lk 7:13; 10:1, 39, 41; Jn 20:18, 20, 28; Ac ts2:36; 9:10f, 42; 10:36; Ro 1:4; 10:9; 12:11; 16:12; 1 Cor 4:17; 6:13f, 17; 11:23; Eph 6:8; Col 1:10; Philemon 1:25; Heb 2:3; 7:14; 1 Pt 1:3; 2 Pt 1:2; Rev 22:20.) Only Luke records the disciples' question "shall we strike with the sword?" Recall (1) that Jesus had said "whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one" (Lk 22:36+) and (2) they did have two swords among the 11 men. (Lk 22:38+). Their question indicates that, as so often previously, they had failed to grasp the meaning of the words of Jesus! Mattoon agrees writing "The disciples remembered Jesus' words about the sword (Luke 22:35-38), so they asked Him if now was the time to make use of their two swords. They totally misunderstood what Jesus said." Why did Peter resort to the sword? The answer is he was unprepared for what was happening in Gethsemane. He was unprepared because he slept when the Lord wanted him to pray. He was unprepared because earlier, when Jesus was trying to get through to him and the other disciples, Peter was talking when he should have been paying attention to Christ. He now fights, when he should have yielded. He did not discern the events of his situation with what Jesus had been saying up to this point. He was fighting the wrong enemy with the wrong weapons. Peter's real enemy was Satan, and His real weapon was the Word of God. The same truth holds true for us, too. Beloved, our real enemy is Satan. The Scriptures are the most effective way in dealing with him and our own sinfulness. APPLICATION - In Gethsemane, the cut ear is an emblem of the LACK of preparedness, prayerfulness, peacefulness, pleasantness, patience, and the lack of perception. How many times do you "cut ears" or lash out at others with cutting words or harsh actions because you are not prepared for the unexpected, you haven't prayed, you lack patience, and you are weak on perception or wisdom to properly handle the difficulties of your situation? We have all been in that boat many times. (Mattoon's Treasures from Luke) So not surprisingly, ever impulsive Simon Peter did not wait for Jesus to reply to their question, but as usual took things into his own hands (or literally took a sword in one hand!) Alexander
Lucas 22
Spurgeon - After his final denial Peter not only went out, but he wept. As he kept on turning over his sin, it appeared to him in all its blackest hue. We are told he wept bitterly. Convulsive weeping came on him. He could not stand himself. His heart seemed as if it would flow away in rivers of repentant tears. It is a blessed sign of the work of grace in the soul when the man who has sinned quits his evil companions and mourns over his sin as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn. If any of us have sinned like Peter, we should go and weep like Peter. If we have fallen like Peter, then let our soul bitterly bewail our transgressions. Many talk about the greatness of David’s sin, but if they knew the depths of David’s repentance and the heartbreak that came with it, they would not so glibly speak of it. There is a tradition that Peter never heard a rooster crow or thought of this incident as long as he lived without weeping. And although that is only a tradition, I can well believe it was the case, for that is just what would be likely to happen to a true penitent. Wept (2799)(klaio) means to mourn, to weep, to lament or to wail with emphasis external expression of grief such as noise accompanying weeping. It expresses one’s immediate and outward reaction to suffering. The picture is of one lamenting with sobs or wailing aloud and was used to describe the wailing that took place when someone died. Weeping thus was a sign of the pain and grief. It was a term frequently used to describe the actions of professional mourners. Peter wasn't faking it like professional mourners! KLAIO - 33V - Matt. 26:75; Mk. 5:38; Mk. 5:39; Mk. 14:72; Mk. 16:10; Lk. 6:21; Lk. 6:25; Lk. 7:13; Lk. 7:32; Lk. 7:38; Lk. 8:52; Lk. 19:41; Lk. 22:62; Lk. 23:28; Jn. 11:31; Jn. 11:33; Jn. 16:20; Jn. 20:11; Jn. 20:13; Jn. 20:15; Acts 9:39; Acts 21:13; Rom. 12:15; 1 Co. 7:30; Phil. 3:18; Jas. 4:9; Jas. 5:1; Rev. 5:4; Rev. 5:5; Rev. 18:9; Rev. 18:11; Rev. 18:15; Rev. 18:19 Bitterly (4090)(pikros) is found only here and Mt 26:75 and literally means sharp or piercing and so what sharply penetrates ones senses. In the two NT uses it describes piercing, poignant grief manifest by violent and uncontrollable weeping which expresses deep despair. Peter's heart was pierced. Peter was down but not out. Jesus was praying for him and He is praying for you when you have committed some similar sin that breaks your heart when you think about what it does to God's heart! (cf Ro 8:32, Heb 7:25). Picric acid is a bitter, highly explosive compound. TDNT - pikros originally means “pointed,” “sharp” (e.g., arrows), then “penetrating” (e.g., a smell), then “painful” (to the feelings), and “bitter” (to the taste). The sense of bitterness yields such transferred senses as “unpleasant,” “unexpected,” “painful,” “severe,” “cruel,” “stern,” “embittered.” pikriÃa has the meaning “severity” or “bitterness,” pikraiÃnoÒ means “to provoke,” and the deponent pikraiÃnomai means “to become angry, bitter.” What's Next? Read: Luke 22:54-62 Peter went out and wept bitterly. —Luke 22:62 The night before Jesus was crucified, two of His disciples turned against Him. Judas betrayed Christ, leading His enemies to Him in the Garden (Lk. 22:47-48). And Peter denied three times that he even knew the Lord (vv.57-60). But the difference in what they did next was enormous. Peter wept bitter tears of repentance and later was gently restored (v.62; Jn. 21:15-17); Judas hanged himself (Mt. 27:5). When we commit a sin, the most important thing is what we do next. If we lose our temper and say something cruel to a family member, what do we do next? If we mistreat a co-worker, what do we do next? If we find we are dwelling on evil thoughts, what do we do next? To make excuses, to justify our bad behavior, to blame the other person, or to ignore God is only to add more sin to the first. Perhaps as you’ve been reading this, the Holy Spirit has brought your attention to some sin in your life. If so, you’re faced with a choice—to repent and confess it to God (1 Jn. 1:9), or to continue denying that you have a sin problem. For Further Study In 1 John 1:8-10, what do we learn about ourselves? How are we to react to sin in our lives? (1 Jn. 1:9). What is the basis of our forgiveness? (1 Jn. 2:1-2). Denial compounds our sin; confession cancels it. By David C. Egner Luke 22:63 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, KJV Luke 22:63 And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody Mt 26:59-68; Mark 14:55-65; John 18:22 were mocking Him and beating Him Job 16:9,10; 30:9-14; Ps 22:6,7,13; 35:15,16,25; 69:7-12; Isaiah 49:7; Isaiah 50:6,7; 52:14; 53:3; Micah 5:1; Mt 27:28-31,39-44; Mark 15:16-20; Mark 15:27-32; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 2:23 Luke 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Excellent Diagram/Map of Jesus' Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SECOND MOCK RELIGIOUS TRIAL Parallel Passages: Matthew 20:19 (FULFILLING PROPHECY) and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” Matthew 26:67; 68 Then they spat in His face (FULFILLING PROPHECY - Isa 50:6) and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him,and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?” Mark 14:65+ Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face. Keep the context in mind as you read the descriptions of Jesus' trials - Luke does not record the actual interrogation of Jesus by Caiaphas but only His horrible mistreatment (see preceding discussion of Jesus' interrogation by Caiaphas). Now the men who were holding (sunecho/synecho) Jesus in custody were mocking (empaizo) Him and beating (dero) Him - Can you imagine for even a moment a created being striking their Creator! That's what was happening! And Luke does not even record their most heinous insult of actually spitting in Jesus' face (Mt 26:67, Mk 14:65)! Unbelievable! Their wicked contempt knew no limits! But woe to them for neither will their agony in eternal hell know no limits! Mocking is in the imperfect tense signifying that this was occuring again and again!