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| Chapter 22 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people. 3 Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being one of the twelve. 4 And he went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray Him unto them. 5 And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. 6 And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray Him unto them in the absence of the multitude. 7 ¶ Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat." 9 And they said unto Him, "Where wilt Thou have us prepare?" 10 And He said unto them, "Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11 And ye shall say unto the master of the house, ‘The Master saith unto thee, "Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples?"’ 12 And he shall show you a large upper room furnished. There make ready." 13 And they went and found as He had said unto them. And they made ready the Passover. 14 And when the hour had come, He sat down and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 And He said unto them, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." 17 And He took the cup, and gave thanks and said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come." 19 And He took bread, and gave thanks and broke it and gave it unto them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me." 20 Likewise also He took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 ¶ But behold, the hand of him that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goeth as it was determined; but woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed!" 23 And they began to inquire among themselves which of them it was that should do this thing. 24 And there was also a contention among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. 25 And He said unto them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them, and they that exercise authority over them are called ’benefactors.’ 26 But ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For who is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth? Is it not he that sitteth at meat? But I am among you as He that serveth. 28 "Ye are they that have continued with Me in My temptations. 29 And I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me, 30 that ye may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 31 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." 33 And Peter said unto Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison and to death." 34 And He said, "I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me." 35 And He said unto them, "When I sent you without purse and pack and shoes, lacked ye anything?" And they said, "Nothing." 36 Then said He unto them, "But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it and likewise his pack; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 For I say unto you that this that is written must yet be accomplished in Me: ’And He was reckoned among the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end." 38 And they said, "Lord, behold, here are two swords." And He said unto them, "It is enough." 39 ¶ And He came out and went, as He was wont, to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him. 40 And when He was at the place, He said unto them, "Pray that ye enter not into temptation." 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done." 43 And there appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when He rose up from prayer and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow. 46 And He said unto them, "Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." 47 ¶ And while He yet spoke, behold, a multitude; and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said unto him, "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" 49 When those who were about Him saw what would follow, they said unto Him, "Lord, shall we smite with the sword?" 50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 And Jesus answered and said, "Suffer ye thus far." And He touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders, who had come to Him, "Have ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves? 53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against Me; but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." 54 ¶ Then they took Him and led Him, and brought Him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and had sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him and said, "This man was also with him." 57 And he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I know Him not." 58 And after a little while another saw him and said, "Thou art also of them." And Peter said, "Man, I am not!" 59 And after the space of about an hour, another confidently affirmed, saying, "In truth this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean." 60 And Peter said, "Man, I know not what thou sayest!" And immediately, while he yet spoke, the cock crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, "Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice." 62 And Peter went out and wept bitterly. 63 ¶ And the men who held Jesus mocked Him and smote Him. 64 And when they had blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy! Who is it that smote thee?" 65 And many other things they spoke blasphemously against Him. 66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led Him into their council, saying, 67 "Art thou the Christ? Tell us." And He said unto them, "If I tell you, ye will not believe. 68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer Me nor let Me go. 69 Hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God." 70 Then said they all, "Art thou then the Son of God?" And He said unto them, "Ye say that I am." 71 And they said, "What need we any further witness? For we ourselves have heard it from his own mouth." |
Judas makes arrangements to betray Jesus. Matt 26:2,14,15; Mark 14:1,2,10,11 v1 To the Jewish people the Passover was the most important feast of the year, it was the remembrance and celebration of the release of the Jews from their slavery under the Egyptians. During that event the specially selected Passover Lambs were killed, one to each household, and the blood painted onto the door posts of the house, without this blood application the first born of each family would die as judgement that night. See Exodus 12:1ff for full story. v2 It must seem strange that at what was the most sacred time of the year the religious leaders had so much hate in their hearts. v3-6 Judas Iscariot had only become a follower of Jesus for his own benefit, he had turned against the Lord when Jesus made it clear that He was not out to claim the kingship of Israel and lead the people at that time. This attitude by Judas allowed Satan to access and control his actions, John 13:2,26,27. Judas approaches the religious leaders to arrange a place and time when they could secretly ‘arrest’ Jesus for a reward. Jesus give instruction to prepare for passover. Matt 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16. v7 During the Passover period all leaven was rigidly removed from the Jewish households, hence the alterative name. "Leaven"- a lump of old dough under fermentation. In the New Testament the word "leaven" is usually referring to something bad. Compare 1 Cor 5:8. The Feast of the Passover is eaten on the evening of the day, each day starts at sundown in the Jewish system. The house was prepared for the Passover Feast by making sure there was no leaven(yeast) in the house. v8-11 The passage seems to suggest that Jesus had made previous arrangements for the coming meal of the Passover, a secret place where He would not be betrayed. We must remember that Jesus, because He was divine, knew what was to happen and what Judas had planned. It would be unusual for a man to carry water, that was normally the woman’s or the slaves job. v12-14 The room seems to have already been prepared. v15,16 Jesus expresses that He has great desire to eat this meal, it is to be associated with His coming death on the cross. The meal is also part of the plan of God, in His purpose of redemption through Jesus. v17-20 The Last Supper was not the Passover Meal, See 1 Cor 5:7. The following seems to have taken place after the Passover feast. The passage "I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." suggests they never had the passover feast. Jesus wanted the disciples to eat a meal together and at the same time He wanted to introduce the Feast of Remembrance, now kept by Believers today. Jesus identifies Himself with the Passover emblems, the body and blood of the passover lamb. Both were part of the sacrifice on the redemption day in Egypt, both were to be part of the new covenant. "He took bread," saying "This is My body which is given for you." Likewise also He took the cup after supper, "This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you. " v21-24 This remark by Jesus was to produce considerable questioning by the disciples, see Matt 26:21ff, but it seems to have turned into a discussion, argument on who was the greatest, their pride turned away the problem of betrayal. See v25-30 and John 13:1-13, the washing of the disciples feet is the result of this. v22 "The Son of Man goes as it was determined;" The death of Jesus was all part of the divine plan for man’s redemption. v25-30 The title ’benefactors,’ was used by the Greek kings of Egypt and Syria, but Jesus told the disciples that they should be prepared to humble themselves. "Look at me I consider myself a servant." However, in the future Kingdom, as given by my Father you will sit with me at My table and be judges of Israel, Matt 19:28 - important people, but today you must be prepared to be humble to serve. v31-34 Jesus tells Peter he will fail Him. Matt 26:33-35; Mark 14:29-31. Peter has just said that he will never fail Jesus, "Though all men shall be offended because of You, yet I will never be offended." Matt 26:33, Jesus now prophecies that Peter will fail before the morning. v31 The "you" is plural in the original text showing that Satan had tried to attack all the disciples, not just Peter. "Sift you as wheat." Wheat was examined to separate the dirt and rubbish from the good seed, Satan was trying to break down the good with the bad in the disciples lives. v32-34 "I have prayed for you," a personal, special action for Peter, the Lord had special concern for him. Jesus knew that Peter, over confident, would need extra care, Jesus had future plans for him. v35-38 Warnings of coming problems. Luke is the only gospel to record this event. Jesus reminds them that when they went out with the message that the Messiah was here that they had all their needs supplied. However, He said that from now on they will need a purse, a bag and even a sword. The disciples did not seem to understand because they then produced two swords, these would have been of little use against the temple guard later. v39-50 The Betrayal. v39-46 Jesus on the Mount of Olives. Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; John 18:1. Jesus takes the disciples to a quite place amongst the olive trees, Matt 26:33 tells us that the disciples were split into two groups, Jesus takes Peter and the two sons of Zebedee away a short distance from the main group, then kneels in prayer. v42 "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me." What was the cup? In Rev 14:10 and Rev 16:19 the "cup" contains the wrath of God. Jesus was also part human as well as divine so this cup must also contain the human fear of death. The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, was sinless but was about to take on the sins of the world must have been terrible to Him, but this was what Jesus came for, to complete the work of redemption and salvation, Jesus had to take the "cup." "Not My will, but Thine be done" shows a ready acceptance of the will of God the Father, to fulfil His desires for Mankind. v43 The answer to the prayer was not the removal of the cup but the strength to carry out the task. v44 "As it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground." There have been a few recorded cases where a person under very intense mental suffering has had blood oozing from the skin due to the breakdown of the small blood vessels just below the skin. v45 The disciples could not appreciate what was about to happen but they were still sensitive to the agony Jesus was going through, however physical and the emotional pressure were wearing them out, sleep was the only answer. v47,48 As Jesus was trying to encourage the disciples to pray, the Temple guard, led by Judas appear. Judas comes and kisses Jesus to identify Him to the soldiers, an Eastern greeting of fellowship, a sad way to betray a friend. v49,50 The disciples were prepared to fight, one pulls out a sword and cuts off the right ear of the high priests servant. Only Luke records which ear was cut off, must have got the information from a witness. v51 Jesus did not want to be charged with resisting arrest so He stops the disciples, who run away, and then heals the man. v52 The group who had come to arrest Jesus were probably temple guards though John 18:3,12 suggests that Roman soldiers may have also been present, probably necessary as the Roman Governor would not be too pleased to have a band of Temple guards wandering around without his permission. v53 Jesus acknowledges that Satan and his followers have achieved a temporary victory. Consider Eph 6:12. The arrest and trial Luke 22:54 to Luke 23:25. Matt 26:57ff; Mark 14:53ff; John 18:12ff For order of events during arrest and trial see Crucifixion. v54 Caiaphas was the official high priest, but his father in law, Annas, the previous high priest, still had considerable power. John records that Jesus was first taken to the home of Annas, John 18:13. Luke does not record the events under Annas, he concentrates on the actions of Peter. "Peter followed afar off." v55 Jerusalem would be cold at night in spring it is 2,600 feet above sea level, so the people would be around a fire. v56-60 The maid may have seen Peter with Jesus in the temple and when he spoke his Galilean accent would have revealed his place of birth. At each challenge Peter denies knowing Jesus, after the third challenge and denial, the cock crows, probably just as dawn was showing. v61,62 Jesus turns to look at Peter. Sufficient to make Peter realize his failure. v63 The behaviour of the people who were present during the trial was completely illegal, any prisoner was supposed to be protected until final conviction, condemned officially. Jesus, however, was exposed to the evil behaviour and actions of the temple guard. v66 According to the Jewish law, the Sanhedrin council could not meet at night. Matt 26:57,58; Mark 14:53,55 say that there was an unofficial hearing in the high priests house. The formal sentence was passed as soon as legally allowed. The Sanhedrin were only allowed to pass judgement on religious and civil crimes, nothing which involved a punishment by death, only the Roman governor could pass that judgement. v67-69 Luke only records two of the questions asked by the Sanhedrin. If Jesus had answered "Yes" it would be considered treason as under Rome any one claiming to be the Messiah was against the Roman government. However, Jesus points out His future position, basically saying he was the Messiah. v70,71 This second question was meant to cause rejection by the people, if He claimed to be the "Son of God" it would be blasphemy. His response is the same as saying "Yes." Jesus had supplied the evidence that they needed, note it was a blasphemy charge. |
Easy English Translation
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