Luke 22:47-53 Jesus is the Son of Man: Judas Betrayal/ Jesus Arrest

Luke 22:47-53

Jesus is the Son of Man

Judas Betrayal/ Jesus Arrest

          All right! Please turn in your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 22. As always, if you do not have a Bible or are in need of a Bible, please come see me after the service.

So, previously in Luke Chapter 22; Judas goes behind the back of Jesus and the rest of the disciples and makes a deal with the chief priests to turn over Jesus to be arrested.

Jesus knew this and still had the Passover meal in the Upper Room with all 12, including Judas. He predicted Judas betrayal without naming names to the group. He predicted Peters upcoming denial. He instituted the New Covenant with the sacrament of communion. He prayed for the disciples and then they left the Upper Room. At some point when they were in the Upper Room, after communion, Judas left to do what he was going to do.

Jesus and the rest of the disciples left Jerusalem and went to the Mount of Olives where they were staying. We went out into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray to the Father\, knowing what was coming. He was agonizing over the wrath of God that was about to be poured out on him.

And the section we looked at last week, Jesus came back from praying and the disciples had fallen asleep, and Jesus said to them, Wake up! Pray that you do not fall into temptation.

And that’s where we pick up in this morning’s sect, Luke chapter 22, verses 45 through 53. So, I will be reading out of the English Standard Version though I encourage you to follow along in your preferred translation. The key point being to read for yourself what the Word of God says.

Luke 22:47-53, Luke writes, inspired by the Holy Spirit:

 

 

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant[h] of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

 

May God Bless the Reading of His Word

 

 

So, while Jesus was speaking to the disciples, and specifically the inner three, Peter, James and John, He would have known that Judas and the temple guards were coming right up to arrest him. Maybe he heard the clanging of the metal, the swords and the chain mail, or whatever was used as armor then. Maybe he saw the glint of the torches or lanterns through the trees as Judas lead them to the secluded spot.

And maybe that’s why Jesus left his prayer area and came back to the disciples.

But he gave those last instructions to the disciples and here comes this crowd, this group. They were isolated from the crowds and the people, outside Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane, an olive grove.

There was no one else around. It was after dark, late in the night. The people who were around Jesus during the day in the temple, whom the chief priests were afraid of, they weren’t there that night, couldn’t do anything to stop Jesus from being arrested.

 

And here comes Judas, who had agreed to betray Jesus, leading this group. They had arranged ahead of time a signal so that the guards knew, without any mistake, without any doubt, exactly which one was the guy who they were supposed to arrest. Judas was the one who would give that signal.

He knew Jesus. He knew where they would be. He knew where they were staying because he had been staying there too. He knew Jesus’ routine, where he went to pray, because he was with him each night. He knew where to lead the group to meet and Find Jesus.

This group was a mix of temple guards, under the authorization and command of the Sanhedrin and the chief priests, and some Roman soldiers from the garrisons stationed in Jerusalem.

They came up to where Jesus and the disciples were and Judas approached Jesus and greeted him with a kiss, both a common custom of respect, but also the signal that Jesus was the one they wanted.

Jesus calls him on that. “Really, Judas? That’s how we are going to play this?” I knew you were going to betray me, that you had made this deal, but to greet me with a kiss as you do so is the ultimate in disrespect.

 

 

The Disciples saw what was starting to happen. They saw where things were headed. And they remembered what Jesus had said, just a few verses ago, likely a few hours ago in real time, about going out and buying a sword, again, completely missing the point that Jesus was making.

During this confrontation, “one of them,” Luke doesn’t mention who. Luke is very polite and politically correct with the disciples. “I don’t want to mention who, get anyone in trouble… *cough* Peter *cough*”

John knows who, he was there after all, and he names Peter in his Gospel. Peter jumps into action, without waiting for Jesus’ advice or waiting to think, as is his personality, and he cuts off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants. One of the asides we see in this, is that unlike what he said back in verse 33, Peter is not actually prepared to go to prison for or with Jesus.

We see Jesus respond and as we do, I feel his response. It feels like a father. Kids, knock it off! The kids, the disciples are acting in ways they knew they weren’t supposed to. They were doing things with out the permission of Jesus. And he stops them in their tracks.

Enough!

 

And he gently, fully, quietly heals the servant’s ear.

The last miracle he performs before his crucifixion. He heals the ear of one of the men sent to arrest him and bring him towards his death.

And this is where we see that Jesus comments in v 36 & 37 about bringing swords are to be taken as symbolic instead of expressly literal.

One thing we have seen history prove, is that Christianity cannot, should not and will not be spread by the sword. But Christianity is and will be spread by the preaching and the hearing of the Gospel, and by the lives and example of those who follow it.

Historically, Christianity works against itself when it attempts to spread the Gospel by force. J.C. Ryle wisely says:

The Sword has a lawful office of its own. It may be used righteously, in the defense of nations against oppression; it may be positively necessary to use it, to prevent confusion, plunder and rapine upon earth: but the sword is not to be used in the propagation and maintenance of the Gospel. Christianity is not to be enforced by bloodshed, and belief in it extorted by force. Happy would it have been for the church if this sentence had been more frequently remembered! There are few countries in Christendom where the mistake has not been made of attempting to change men’s religious opinions by compulsion, penalties, imprisonment and death.  And with what effect? The pages of history supply an answer. No wars have been so bloody as those which have arisen out of the collision of religious opinions: often, mournfully often, the very men who have been most forward to promote those wars have themselves been slain.

 

          Faith comes from fear.

 

No.

 

Faith comes from vigorous moral and intellectual debates.

 

No.

 

Faith comes from trying to escape death, imprisonment, punishment.

 

No.

 

Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. Faith comes from hearing the Gospel, the Holy Spirit changing hearts to accept the Gospel and respond to it. Faith comes from the grace of God as a gift from God by the preaching of the Word.

 

 

Back to the story here. Jesus stops the disciples and heals the servant because he knew that this had to happen. He knew where this was going, and he knew that it needed to be done.

And so, he was telling the disciples, Stop trying to get in the way of my purpose! This was the same thing Peter was doing way back when, when he confessed Jesus as the Christ and then said that he would not let Jesus be killed in Jerusalem. Jesus called him Satan for trying to prevent the will of God

This is where the application is difficult when we say, not our will, but Gods will be done.

Our will, in this case the will of the disciples, and, if we are honest, the will of many of us today, only a slight change in context, is Jesus to reign over our national country, national Israel then, to expel and destroy Rome, democrats and socialists today if you listen to many churches, and to sit on a physical throne and rule as King like David.

But Lord, not our will, but your will be done. Your will, going to the cross as the Passover fulfillment. Your will, to shed your blood and dying for the forgiveness of sins. Your will, to absorb the necessary wrath of God. Your will, to resurrect from the dead, defeating death and sin. Your will, reigning spiritually right now, over spiritual Israel, all believers, in all time, called the church with a future inauguration of the physical and eternal kingdom of God.

 

Not our will, but LORD, your will be done.

 

Jesus turns and speaks to the leaders of the group coming to arrest him.

He asks them, Why the swords? Why are you acting like you are expecting violence? You are treating me like a violent criminal and all I’ve done is talk.

Again, Jesus knew this, remember he said that he would need to be identified with the transgressors.  They were seeing him as a violent insurrectionist. They were placing him in those categories that categorically did not fit.

They wouldn’t touch him during the day. They wouldn’t touch him when the crowds were there. They wouldn’t do anything when they were in the temple and there were witnesses around.

 

But nothing good happens after midnight, right?

Jesus says that darkness suits them perfectly. Darkness covers up people’s ability to see sin. It allows sin to hide. It allows sin to fester. Satan loves the dark, loves shadows, loves things to be hidden. But Light drives out darkness. And Jesus has said in many places that everything that is in the dark will be brought to the light, everything that is hidden will be made seen.

Jesus tells them, this is your hour. You are at home in the dark, at night. This is appropriate for your spiritual darkness to take action in the dark. And this is your hour, where it appears you have won.

This section, starting today, and through the rest of this chapter and through chapter 23 of Luke’s Gospel, this is the darkness. This is the section here it appears that Satan has won. This is the section where the chief priests, the Sadducees, the pharisees, and whoever else, all can start relaxing and thinking to themselves, “We got him!”

It is always darkest before dawn. The darkness that is falling on Jesus and Jerusalem will not stay.

Post Tenebras Lux. Out of Darkness, Light. The motto of the reformation.

Jesus knows and is actively allowing it to happen. Not just passively. Not sitting back and letting whatever happens to happen. But actively allowing it to happen. Actively stopping the disciples from stopping what is happening. Knowing that this all has to happen in order for you and I to have our sins forgiven. For you and I to be freed from sin. For you and I have to experience life and life abundantly. For you and I to be saved from the wrath of God and to be reconciled to God.

And so, Yup, Satan, this is your hour. Chief priests, temple guards, all of you guys, this is your hour, enjoy it while it lasts, because it wont last.

Enjoy it while it lasts because the light is coming to drive out the darkness.

 

Enjoy it while it lasts because Sundays coming.

 

Let’s Pray.

Luke 22:14-23 Jesus is the Son of Man: Last Supper, First Communion

Luke 22:14-23

Jesus is the Son of Man

Last Supper, First Communion

Grab your Bibles if you will and open with me to Luke chapter 22.

So, as we continue through Luke 22, we see that all the pieces have been put in place. These are the last days, even the last day in the life of Jesus. The divine, eternal plan was coming to fulfillment and everything was taking shape.

Jesus and the twelve were in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Jesus had been teaching and rebuking and correcting the scribes and the chief priests and all the other religious leaders and the they were fed up, after three years of this. They were ready to kill him. So Judas went to them and made plans to betray Jesus. Jesus sent Peter and John to secretly prepare the Passover meal. Now, the Passover meal was ready for Jesus and the twelve. Nobody knew where they were meeting so Jesus would not be interrupted before or during the meal.

And that brings us current so far in Lukes Gospel. So now, lets go ahead and look at this mornings passage, :uke chapter 22, verses 14 through 23. I will, as always, be reading out of the English Standard Version. I encourage you to grab your preferred translation and follow along so that you are reading the Word of God for yourself.

Luke 22:14-23, Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit records:

 

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it[b] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.[c] 21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

 

May God Bless the Reading of His holy and inspired Word.

 

 

So we pick up with Jesus and his disciples at the Passover dinner and ready to enjoy the company and food. Jesus reclined with his disciples. How they would do this in those days is that they would lean forward on their left elbows, with their feet behind them and their heads facing the table and they would eat with their right hands.

Jesus tells them that he “earnestly desired” to have this meal with them. He strongly wished. He needed this to happen. And the disciples wouldn’t have quite understood this because they would have shared Passover meals before. They didn’t realize what this meal would become, what it represented or that this was the last meal they would share together.

This was the last chance that Jesus would have to share a meal with his closest friends. This would be the last chance that Jesus would have to fellowship with them as a family, as a group of close friends. This would be his last chance to teach them, warn them, train them. And this is why he took such great pains to make sure this dinner would take place and that there would be no interruptions.

This was the was the last Passover meal before Jesus death and resurrection that would be the fulfillment of the Passover. Jesus was what the Passover was looking forward towards.

Jesus is the unblemished and spotless lamb that would be sacrificed once and for all for the forgiveness of sins.

It is Jesus blood that covers us so that the wrath of God passes over us.

It is His fulfillment of the Passover that frees us from the bondage of and slavery to sin, and allows us to enter the promised land that is the kingdom of God.

This is what much of the Old Testament is pointing towards. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Messiah. The Son of God.

This is what they had all been waiting for. This night is when, in my opinion, we see the birth of the church of Jesus Christ. Many will say that happened at Pentecost, but tonight is the night that Jesus institutes the New Covenant.

The rest of what the Old Testament was pointing to is Christ’s glorious Second Coming. This is one of the key differences between Passover and Communion. The Passover is looking forward to the first coming of the Messiah, the promised savior. Communion remembers the first, commerates it and look towards his second coming. Jesus here is looking forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb, as its put in Revelation 19:9.

So, after the Passover meal, Jesus explicitly sets up what we call communion. This is a fully communal thing. This is not an individual thing, but is intended and instituted to take place among the church family, among fellow believers, fellow Christians, not alone and not amongst or including the general public. This is also not for the “worthy,” the put together, or the perfect Christians. This is for all believers, warts and all.

 

Jesus and these disciples have spent three years together. Traveling, sharing meals, sharing lodging, sharing ups and downs. Jesus specifically has been sharing His power, his knowledge, the Kingdom of God. Now, this night, he is sharing his blood and his body. Nothing is being held back, not even Jesus’ life.

And Jesus here uses symbolism and figurative language.   And he does so in order to help us understand what communion is and what it represents.

He tells the disciples, the bread is my body. Like this bred will be broken apart, Jesus body will be broken on the cross. Like this bread will be shared with the disciples, his body and sacrifice will be shared with all believers. This bread is given to the disciples by Jesus, just as his life and his broken body on the cross are given over by Jesus.

The bread does not become his body. Jesus is not physically present in the elements, like some claim he is. But the bread represents what he did, what he gave and what happened to him.

Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me. Remember, not just his life, not just his resurrection, not just his ascension. Remember what happened on the cross. As one commentator points out, this shows “the centrality of the cross to the Christian faith.”

And you may ask, Why do we have to continue to be reminded time and time again? Of course, as a Christian, of course I wont forget what Jesus did for me!

But we do. We do forget. If not completely, then practically and we take it for granted, at times. And so Jesus tells us to do this often, is remembrance of him. To intentionally focus and refocus to ground ourselves and remind ourselves exactly what it means that Jesus died on the cross. What it means that he did it for us. What it means that he gave himself up for us and what the results of that are.

And then Jesus takes the cup of wine, remember the cup is often associated with Gods wrath. Jesus takes the cup and says that the wine symbolizes His blood. Jesus blood absorbs Gods wrath. Jesus blood is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Scripture make it clear, New Testament and Old that the wages of sin is death. Blood needs to be shed for the forgiveness of sins.

The most important day in Old Testament Israel, and maybe today as well, arguably even more than Passover, was the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16 gets into the details, but the gist of it is that one day a year, the people would have the wrath of their sins put upon one goat, whose blood would be sprinkled throughout the temple and the Most High places, and the alter and so on. And then another goat would be brought in, still alive, and the priest would symbolically place the sins of Israel upon this goat and release him into the wilderness.

Again, the point being that it takes blood to cover up and atone for sins. And that’s what Jesus did for us. He shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This si the cup of the New Covenant.

 

So, what is the difference between  the Old and the New Covenant?

Exodis 24:3-8 tells us the Mosaic Covenant, the convenant that God made through Moses to the people of Israel. IT reads:

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules.[a] And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

 

          This was dependent on the people following the rules that God laid out. And the people could not keep those rules for even one day, just like we cant either.  The New Covenant was completely and totally dependent on the work of Christ.

The Old had the laws, the rules of God written in stone, physically written done for people to read. THe New has the law written in our hearts, as the Holy Spirit changes our heart.

The Old was a type, was a shadow, it pointed towards the new. The blood, the sacrifices, all of it, pointed directly at what would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The Old was not salvific. The sacrifices were made time and time again, over and over.  The sacrifices were animal blood and so therefore were not able to atone for human sin.

The Covenant is salvific. Jesus was sacrificed once and for all. He shed his blood; human blood, and he had lived a perfect and sinless life so that he could indeed atone for human sin, the sin of all humanity, or at least the sin of all who would believe.

Jesus fulfills all of the promises, foreshadowing, prophecies and so much more that appears in the Old Testament and the old Covenant.

GotQuestions sums up the differences this way:

the Old Covenant was governed by a law that prescribed correct behavior and that the people continually broke. It contained a sacrificial system that only temporarily removed sins. The sacrifices were administered by priests who represented the people of Israel to God, but the people could not enter God’s presence themselves.

The New Covenant is governed by a law that is internalized by the people of God and energized by His Spirit. The sins of the people are forgiven and removed once and for all by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the people of God have direct, intimate access to Him. Finally, Gentiles who believe are included in the New Covenant.

 

 

          After Jesus set this up, he tells the twelve, one of you, one of you 12 right here, one of you is going to betray me. Thing about this. You are a group who are closer than family. One of these guys, one of this family, who have been thorough thick and thin together, who have been through good times and bad, who have thorough easy times and hard. One of them will betray that trust and that bond that has been forged.

Jesus makes it clear, I already know all this. I Know its going to happen. I am not surprised by this. Its factored into the plan and I am allowing this to happen.

However, that does not excuse the guilt or responsibility of the one who will be doing the betraying. This does not alleviate the sin that will be and is being committed.

This statement, that one of them would betray him, shook the disciples. They started questioning amongst themselves who it might be. I imagine it was probably equal parts self reflection, thinking, Could I be capable of doing what He is saying? And blame passing, I bet it will be Peter, Jesus did just call him Satan not too long ago…

The truth is that each and every one of us is guilty of betraying God. Everytime we sin we betray his love. RC Sproul says :

Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself.

 

All of us are guilty of committing treason against the King, of betraying him. Jesus gave his life for those who betrayed him. We showed us the epitome of loving your enemies. We, the church, the universal church, all believers, we are a church of forgiven betrayers.

And that’s one of the things that we are to remember. Jesus gave himself, shed his blood, purchased forgiveness, for us and for you, if you believe, as much as he did for the disciples he was talking to that very night. He loves you enough to allow the wrath, the justly deserved wrath of God Passover you and I and all who believe. That is what we celebrate and remember at the Lords Supper, the sacrament that he instituted that very night as communion.