In this section of Luke, we will be reading about events that took place from the day before Jesus’ death. As we trace the steps Jesus took to the cross, we hope to see Jesus' mercy on sinners and our need for a Saviour.
(A)The Meal (Lk 22:1-38)
The events unfold nearing and on the day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also called the Passover (Lk 22:1,7). In Luke 22:1-23, we see that there were many people involved or were mentioned:
Chief priests and the scribes (Lk 22:2)
Judas, one of the 12 (Lk 22:3)
Satan (Lk 22:3)
Peter and John who were sent out to prepare for the meal (Lk 22:7-13)
In particular, let’s pick up on Peter and John, Jesus’ disciples. Jesus and His disciples were not based in Jerusalem and sought to also observe the Passover while they are on the move. Just like in the triumphal entry account that we read about a few chapters before in Luke 19:28-40, we read again of the great act of foreknowledge that Jesus performs in the preparation. Jesus sends them out to prepare, and gives them specific instructions.
Why did Jesus send two to do these things? So that 2 can testify to it! No testimony can be accepted in Jewish law unless there are two witnesses. We see that Jesus is able to predict and also equips them for the work! See how Jesus demonstrates His divine foreknowledge even as He prepares to die. He was fully in control of the events leading up to His death and was not caught by surprise.
Jesus uses the opportunity to teach His disciples using the elements of the Passover meal. Both the bread and the wine represent the death of Jesus — as His body and blood respectively (Lk 22:19-20).
Notice too, how Jesus does not merely follow the Passover but also does something with it. In Luke 22:14-23, Jesus takes the Passover meal as it is and makes it new. He transforms that Passover mean into what we now call the Lord’s Supper. Yes, it is His last Passover, and the first Lord’s Supper. It is the last time Jesus drinks from the fruit of the vine as the next time He drinks of it, we would have seen His face to face (Lk 22:18).
Till today, Christians observe the Lord’s Supper, remembering Jesus’ words here every time we partake of it. As the Heidelberg Catechism puts it in question 75, “How does the Lord's supper signify and seal to you that you share in Christ's one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts?”:
In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and drink of this cup in remembrance of him. With this command he gave these promises: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was his body offered for me and his blood poured out for me on the cross.
Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and the cup of the Lord as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely does he himself nourish and refresh my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood.
However, almost immediately after, we read in Luke 22:24 that a dispute also arose among the disciples as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. They forgot almost immediately, the significance of Jesus’ words! This is also a warning for us. When we go to church and take the Lord’s Supper on Good Friday and whenever your church observes it, what kinds of hands will take the bread and cup? Are these hands that betray the Son of God? Are these hands of a person that live in wilful sin? As you reach out for the elements this week, pray that your heart will be true, one that is pursuing Christ and remembering His love for you!
These disciples remind us of the brokenness of following Jesus. It also reminds us that Christianity is unlikely to be invented. The account of the disciples are so real and do not always paint them in a good light. This is not what most people will logically do to make up a religion. It makes more sense to say that the leaders of the religion heard from God and were good men. Thus, it is more logical to say that these account show them as they were. This is no man-made religion!
Today, if you are a skeptic, consider the claims of Christianity. Is this something a human would cook up? To what end and purpose? And if this is indeed the true word of God, then we should approach Him very differently.
(B) The Garden (Lk 22:39-53)
Following the last supper, Jesus spends the night praying at the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed Him (Lk 22:39). Jesus prayed, asking that if God the Father is willing, may He remove this cup from Jesus (Lk 22:42). Jesus embraced the task ahead and resolved to obey God. It is through His obedience that righteousness was won. And only then, did the Father strengthen Him with an angel (Lk 22:43).
The disciples were told twice not to enter in to temptation and to pray (Lk 22:40,46). They could have followed their master and prayed for more faith. Yet, they were complacent and thought themselves ok without Jesus and succumbed to sleep (Lk 22:45). They had their own struggle and were also tired, but failed. Yes, the Lord knows that we are tired and what we struggle with, even our unique burdens. But we have our own set of struggles to carry in prayer. This should be a warning to us and prompt us to think about our own temptation.
These verses show us how Jesus went through pain, wrestled with loneliness and felt abandoned. This is a God who knows what it feels like. His is called the Man of Sorrows, and is acquainted with grief. Surely He has borne all our sufferings.
Judas came with a crowd and drew near to Jesus to kiss him (Lk 22:47). A kiss is usually a greeting between close friends. What did Jesus mean? He is essentially saying, “Would you betray and be my enemy with this act of love and intimacy?”
Michael Card puts it poetically in his song, “Why?”:
Why did it have to be a friend
Who chose to betray the Lord?
And why did he use a kiss to show them
That's not what a kiss is for?
Only a friend can betray a friend
A stranger has nothing to gain
And only a friend comes close enough
To ever cause so much pain
Jesus has words of condemnation against the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders (Lk 22:52-53). They did not act against Him in the multiple times He went to the temple and instead sought to do such deeds in the dark.
(C) The Council (Lk 22:54-71)
Following His arrest, Jesus is first brought before the high priest (Lk 22:54).
Peter was also following Jesus at a distance. In Luke 22:44-62, we read of Peter’s denial of Jesus, not just once, but three times. We are also given this detail in Luke 22:61-62, where this was also a fulfilment of what Jesus said, that he would deny Him three times “before the rooster crows today”. Notice that Jesus was in view of Peter and also heard the blaspheming and mocking coming out of Peter’s mouth (Lk 22:61). Contrast this what what Peter himself said in Luke 22:33, where he promised to follow Jesus to both prison and to death.
When we read the New Testament, we are not reading a literary reconstruction but eyewitness accounts of people who were there, saw the things happen and also don’t mind the embarrassing things that are recorded for them. This was an important moment for Peter. Earlier, Jesus told him that Satan demanded to have his way with him but Jesus did not say no (Lk 22:31). Instead, Jesus prayed that his faith may not fail and “when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22:32). Years later, this is the same man who wrote these words in 1 Peter 5:6-11.
Jesus also came before the chief priests and scribes (Lk 22:66). They were not seekers looking for a Messiah but they were trying to find another way to catch Him (Lk 22:67). Jesus finally gives them what they want (Lk 22:70).
Note the many times Luke mentioned the coming together of the chief priests and scribes in Luke 23 — Luke 23:1, 10, 13 and 18. Jesus’ death was the result of the unified rejection of the religious system. Jesus Christ, the true Messiah and King of the Jews was rejected by every part of the religious establishment. It was a fully, committed call for Him to die.
Why did Jesus Christ die? It can be answered in many different ways but one of it must be that the Jewish establishment killed Him. And another answer is that the Romans killed Him.
(D) The Sentence (Lk 23:1-25)
Despite what the religious leaders wanted, Pilate had a dilemma. Pilate had no good reason to crucify Jesus. Crucifixion was reserved for the worst kind of crime and he did not know how to kill an innocent man. Thus, the charges had to be trumped up. The death of Jesus was unjustified, disproportionate and illegal. This is why Jesus kept going between Herod and Pilate (Lk 23:6-16). In Matthew 27:19, we also see how Pilate knew that this was a massively unjust death and even his wife had a dream about it.
Pilate even counterproposal that Jesus be punished and released (Lk 23:15-16) but the Jews were resolved to crucify Jesus, again and again (Lk 23:20-24). Jesus took the place of Barabbas (whose name meant “the father’s son”). Indeed, the Father’s Son took the place of “the father’s son”.
Jesus, the righteous one was seized and tried by night, and had the most unjust trial ever, ended up on the road to the cross. Originally, the cross was a symbol of shame, and yet for Christians, it is celebrated and some of us even wear it on our necks. This is because God made something wonderful come out of something so horrible.
(E) The Skull (Lk 23:26-49)
Luke 23:26-31 records for us the steps Jesus took to the cross. Jesus was led to the cross and on the way, they seized Simon of Cyrene and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus (Lk 23:26).
There were many who watched Jesus on the way to the cross and they mourned and lamented for Him (Lk 23:27). Instead, Jesus turns their perspective and shows us what He sees. On the cross, He sees them and their need. He knows full well that there is judgment coming for them, and that’s why He told them to weep for themselves. They have not found salvation yet. In that day, those without children are preferred because they can run to safety quickly (Lk 23:29-30). In the analogy given in Luke 23:31, He is the green wood that is hard to burn. They are the dry wood and it is easy to burn when the fire falls (Lk 23:31).
The heart of Christ going to the cross is one of mercy. He looks to the cross and doesn’t see His suffering along but sees our need. This Friday as we go to church, what are we looking at? Do we see the great act of mercy or do we see our own sin? Do you recognise that you are a sinner in need of God’s mercy? Praise God that He took every single step to the cross.
The sun’s light fail as the Son hangs in the cross (Lk 23:44-45). Everyone knew that this death is a great act of injustice. The centurion’s comment in Luke 23:47 marks his conversion, but also indicates that people observing could see that Jesus on the cross was not dying for sins of His own, but for another.
This was also echoed by the other thief on the cross, despite all the others who persisted in mocking Him (Lk 23:32-43). He was like a lamb led to the slaughter, and so too, is the pattern that we have to suffer for Christ’s sake without complaint (c.f. 1 Pet 4:12-19?).
The thief on the cross made a final confession and was also given a great assurance (Lk 23:42-43). It is worth noting that only once are we given a deathbed conversion, that we might hope; once, that we might not presume that this is how we should live our lives.
(F) The Tomb (Lk 23:50-56)
Following Jesus death, we see that Joseph of Arimathea steps up. He is a part of the Jewish council and was looking for the kingdom of God (Lk 23:50-51). He must have been feeling discouraged and depressed. May this good and righteous man be an encouragement to all who are wrestling with disillusionment!
Notice what he did. He requests for the body of Jesus (and taking a huge risk) and puts Jesus in his own tomb (Lk 23:53). In his sorrow, disillusionment and disappointment with God, he did the right thing and sought to obey. In doing so, Joseph also fulfilled Isaiah 53:9. Jesus, though dead, was still in control for even where He was buried fulfilled Scripture. All of His life, death and even burial, fulfilled Scripture (Lk 22:37). In death, He is still righteous.
This Good Friday, remember His death. He died to fulfil God’s plans for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.