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Sermon preached on Luke 22:1-23 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/04/2022 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
The action is heating up here in Luke. We are fast approaching that climactic moment where Jesus would die on the cross to save his people from his sins. As we’ve been working our way through Luke, we’ve known that’s where we’d end up. And now the plans are coming together and the final events unfolding that would come together to bring Jesus to the cross.
Let us begin then first by seeing the conspiracy that would result in Jesus’ arrest and ultimately his conviction and crucifixion. Note the background in verses 1 and 2. There we are reminded that the Jewish religious leaders are growing in their opposition to Jesus. We have seen how the religious leaders have objected to his teaching. But most recently, Jesus has boldly allowed his Messianic identity to be revealed at the Triumphal Entry. That they would not accept. In other words, the religious not only reject Jesus’ ministry, they reject his identity. They reject him as the Messiah. And so, they are now at the point where they want him dead. That’s what verse 2 says. They were seeking to put him to death. They were already beginning to make plans for how they could put him to death. But therein lies the problem. They wanted to put him to death, but they feared the people, verse 2. And all the masses were hanging on Jesus’ words, as we read recently in Luke 19:48. Yet, these religious leaders sinfully wanted to kill Jesus.
These opening verses tell us an additional complicating factor to their plans to kill Jesus. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was drawing near. It says how that was also called the Passover. To clarify, the Passover feast was technically one day before the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread and together these celebrations were all commemorating God’s exodus of his people from Egypt. So, consequently, sometimes the Feast of Unleavened Bread is referenced under the name of Passover, which is what happens in verse 1. And so, the context of the Passover celebrations presents a problem for the religious leaders trying to kill Jesus. That’s because Passover was one of the annual pilgrimage feasts where people all over Israel came to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday. So, the population would greatly swell and it would be hard to be able to arrest and execute Jesus without drawing the attention of the crowds that loved Jesus and which they feared. This fact made them come to the conclusion according to Matthew 26:5 that they would wait to kill Jesus until after all of the Passover festivities.
But then we come to verses 3-6 and a new opportunity presents itself to these religious leaders who were conspiring against Jesus. Enter Judas Iscariot. Actually, enter Satan into Judas. Satan had put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus. And so Judas proceeded to betray Jesus. He conspired against his teacher and friend, as we see in verse 4 that he takes the initiative to go to the religious leaders. He confers with them about how he might betray Jesus to them.
Notice how verse 3 brings out this betrayal aspect by noting that he was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. One of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples whom Jesus had mentored and invested in for years now has turned against Jesus. We don’t know for sure exactly why Judas would betray Jesus. Since they agree to give him a reward here, certainly money is a big candidate. In John 12, we learn that already Judas had been a thief as he had been placed in charge of the group’s moneybag but had been secretly stealing from it. But whatever the motivation, it was quite terribly sinful to see him turn against Jesus like this by conspiring against him with these evil religious leaders.
So then, we see that in verse 5 that these religious leaders were glad with the plans they made here with Judas. Verse 6 clarifies for us that Judas solved the problem about the timing in relationship to the Passover holiday. Judas would arrange an opportunity that he could hand Jesus over to them in the absence of a crowd. That would allow the religious leaders to not have to wait until after Passover to take care of Jesus. And so they are glad for this turn of events. You get the sense that they are giddy with excitement that they can soon get what they wanted without much more delay. They probably think themselves so smart and capable to have arranged such plans in conspiracy against Jesus.
Having thought about all this sinful plotting and planning against Jesus, let us turn now to see what Jesus is doing during all this. Starting in verse 7, we see that Jesus is busy planning for his Passover meal. Verse 7 begins by telling us that the start of Passover had arrived, the day in which the Passover Lamb was to be sacrificed. That would have been the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, possibly April 5, 30 AD. Jesus takes the initiative in the planning, instructing Peter and John in verses 8 to go and make preparations for the Passover. He sends them on ahead with specific instructions of what they’ll find in the city, with even specific details like finding a man carrying a water jar, with an upper room, etc. You will note that after these advanced descriptions that in verse 12 it points out that Peter and John found everything exactly as Jesus had told them they would. The point of verse 12 is to highlight that there was something supernatural going on here. By special knowledge from the Holy Spirit, Jesus knew how all these details were to be worked out. That gives confirmation to what should be obvious already, that Jesus’ planning here is of God.
So then if you look then at verse 14, we see Jesus tell his disciples how much he has earnestly desired to eat this Passover with them before he suffers. What we can again glean from such a statement that all of this is according to Jesus’ plan. We see that Jesus’ recent planning for the Passover meal was something that has been on his heart, that he was eager, fervent, to have that time together. Of course, most people look forward to special holiday meals, but this is more than that. Jesus has known that God’s plan for him at this point was to suffer and die on the cross. He says that explicitly, that this meal is his meal before he suffers. He goes on to say that this basically is his last meal, that is, until his work is fulfilled with the coming of the kingdom. And so, Jesus knows that this time is at hand. But before that time would come, he would have this final special meal with his disciples. And not just any meal, but a holiday meal, the Passover meal! This is his Last Supper and he has been planning ahead for it.
This of course is not just about the Passover meal. It also becomes the moment where he institutes what we now celebrate as the Lord’s Supper. Here we see the bread and the wine related to his impending sacrifice. In other words, he takes portions of the Passover meal, which in itself was a much more elaborate observance, and calls attention to the bread and the wine. The bread he says represents his body that would be given in sacrifice for them. The cup he says represents his blood that would be shed for them to inaugurate the new covenant. As a side note, the false teaching that in the Supper the bread and wine literally become Jesus body and blood is clearly not what Jesus meant here. Jesus body was right there holding the bread. And his blood was still in his body when he held the cup. It defies common sense and how language works to think he was describing some mystical transformation of the elements. No, he speaks in a form of metaphor to say how these elements represent his body and blood. But I digress. The particular point I want us to recognize today is that Jesus here is showing that he is well aware of his impending death on the cross – indeed he had even planned to teach them about this and memorialize it in advance by giving to his disciples this special sacrament in the Lord’s Supper.
While we are on this, let us also note that for Jesus to speak of a new covenant being made by his blood is to claim fulfillment of prophecy. While Jesus was at times mistaken for the prophet Jeremiah returned from the dead, it was that prophet who prophesied that one day God would make a new covenant with his people, Jeremiah 31:31. The point is that what Jesus is doing here and is about to do in sacrificing his life on the cross, is not only according to Jesus’ plan, it is a long standing plan that God had even prophesied through Jeremiah centuries before.
Such prophecy has been repeatedly seen in Luke’s gospel leading up this point. I mean it was not just given centuries before by the prophets of old, but more recently as recorded in Luke’s gospel. Simeon prophesied of it when Jesus was presented at his birth at the temple. Then Luke records several times where Jesus himself had predicted it. Luke 9:21 spoke of how he would have to suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and then be put to death. Luke 9:43 recorded Jesus predicting how he would be betrayed to death. Luke 17 describes how Jesus would suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Luke 18 recorded Jesus predicting how he would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles and mocked and whipped and ultimately put to death. The point is that Jesus’ impending death on the cross was not a surprise to Jesus but according to God’s plan for him.
So then, after instituting the Supper at this Passover meal, Jesus then turns in verse 21 to call out the betrayal by Judas. He doesn’t mention Judas by name but he does reveal his knowledge of it. Verse 21, “But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.” So, then, Jesus even knew that he would be betrayed. That did not upset his plans, rather, Jesus says in verse 22 that this betrayal was exactly as it was determined. In case it’s not clear, Jesus is saying that Judas’ betrayal that would bring Jesus to the cross was foreordained by God.
I hope you see what I’ve been trying to paint for you today from this passage. In my first point, I showed all the plans of Judas, and the religious leaders, and even Satan, to conspire together and work together to put Jesus to death. But then in my second point for today, I pointed out all Jesus’ plans here for this meal and ultimately for his upcoming death, and how all of this was actually Jesus purposefully living out the eternal plan of God. So then, in light of these first two points, whose plans brought Jesus to the cross? Was it the plans of Judas, and the religious leaders and Satan? Or was it Jesus’s plans which were living out God’s eternal plans? The answer is yes. This leads us then to our third point to consider how both God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility is seen here.
In summary, God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility happens simultaneously, though not in the same ultimacy. God in his sovereign rule of all things has foreordained all things that come to pass. Everything is according to his plan and nothing thwarts his eternal decree. Yet, the mode of how he works out his eternal decree is not the same in all circumstances. Sometimes God enacts his plans by directly acting upon his creation; we would call that a first cause. God is the ultimate first cause in all things. But often he works through what we call second causes. For example, he has made humans and so ordered their lives and has even endowed them with wills that enables them to act either for good or for bad. Those humans exist as to a first cause because of God. But in their wills as creatures they may do various things. What they do is an area of man’s responsibility that they are accountable for. But God is still sovereign working out his ultimate purposes in and through their actions. What humans might even do and mean for evil, God purposes for his good.
This is seen here with Judas’s betrayal. This happened as it was determined by God’s eternal decree. God foreordained that Judas in his sinful will would sinfully betray Jesus. This betrayal would result in Jesus’ death that would in turn be his offering up of himself as a sacrifice for the sin of God’s elect. Judas meant his action for evil. God used his sinful action and gloriously turned it around and used it for good. This is a textbook example of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility at work.
But that does not excuse Judas’ actions. Some in a hyper-Calvinism have wanted to blame God for our sin, but the Bible never allows for that. The blame for our sin falls upon us. For Judas, Jesus explicitly says this in verse 22; look again there. “For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.” Judas chose to sin by betraying Jesus. He is responsible and thus guilty for that action done out of the freedom of his sinful will. God in his sovereignty foreordained that he would accomplish his redemptive plans through Judas’ sin. Yet, isn’t that the beauty throughout God’s story of redemption – that God is always doing things like this – taking man’s sin and turning it around for some good redemptive purposes. “Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways (Romans 11:33)!”
Not only can Judas not blame God for his sin, he also can’t blame Satan either. This is true, even though Satan obviously prompted him to betray Jesus in some significant way. Nonetheless, Jesus declared “woe” upon Judas here for his act of betrayal. Satan may tempt us and try to control us or manipulate us. But the excuse that, “The devil made me do it,” has never worked. It didn’t work for Eve in the garden. It wouldn’t work for Judas. And it won’t work for us.
So Judas can’t blame God, nor can he blame Satan, and he certainly also couldn’t blame the religious leaders. To be fair, he conspired with them, and we know that they were already looking for a way to stop Jesus. If the religious leaders weren’t around looking to do this, probably Judas wouldn’t have commit such a horrible sin as betraying the Messiah unto death. But whatever influence or temptation or opportunity these religious leaders brought to Judas, nonetheless Judas was accountable for his own actions. Now, yes, on a side note, the same would be true for these religious leaders. It was woe upon them as well for their persecution of Jesus. But as we are honing in on Judas here, we realize that just because others are sinning and are instrumental in your own sinning, doesn’t make you not accountable for your own sin. Indeed, Judas was accountable here.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, we’ve had the opportunity today to consider both God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. After Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him, verse 23 records them all discussing among themselves who it could be. I’ll use that as my springboard for application. It was not abundantly clear to them who was the false Christian in their midst. So too, we may in our midst have both true disciples of Christ and false ones. Sometimes the fakes can be easy to see. But sometimes they are not. I’ve seen people’s faith stumbled when someone in the church that they looked up to ended up falling away. But this is a reminder that our faith must be in Jesus, and not in other professing Christians. And may we each be careful to be on the watch for our soul. And likewise, if a pastor, elder, or another brother in Christ shares a concern for your soul, it would be good to consider what they say.
For Jesus reminds us that there is a way of both woe or blessing before us. Judas chose the path to woe and eternal damnation in rejecting Jesus as his Lord and Savior. But Jesus holds out here in the new covenant his body and blood for our salvation. Let us continue in faith to trust in him. Indeed, if we are united to Christ by faith, we can be assured of eternal life and the blessedness of the age to come. Jesus here was eager to share this special meal together with his disciples before his death. And he is eager to eat and drink with us his redeemed people when the kingdom of God comes in the full. That is in fact why he gave up his life on the cross. And because he rose from the dead, we know that we have the hope to sup with him in glory. Let us all in faith look forward to such times ahead for us!
Amen.
Copyright © 2022 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
