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Luke Chapter 22

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Luke 22 Outline:

22:01-06 The betrayal.
22:07-13 Preparations for the passover.
22:14-20 The last supper.
22:21-23 Jesus’ prophecy of the betrayal.
22:24-27 Who is the greatest.
22:28-30 Twelve thrones.
22:31-34 Jesus prophesies about Peter’s denial.
22:35-38 The two swords.
22:39-46 The agony.
22:47-54 The arrest.
22:54-62 Peter denies knowing Jesus.
22:63-65 The mockery.
22:66-71 Jesus is taken before the Sanhedrin.

Fun Facts:

— Another disciple got Peter entrance to the high priests courtyard (John 18:15).

Study Notes:
Luke 22:1 All the gospels agree that the crucifixion of Jesus took place on a Friday in the passover season, but there is no mention of a passover lamb being present at the last supper. This could have been the beginning of something new, because Jesus is the passover lamb.

The Pharisees had been the chief opponents of Jesus during His ministry but now the high priesthood take over and seek to put Him to death, but they fear the people. Jesus had many followers and the priests would not risk arresting Him in daylight.

Judas became a host for satan (John 13:27) who entered into him like he was a house. Luke nor the other Apostles make Judas a villain but simply say that satan entered into him and that he was one of the twelve.

There are two main rules on thought on why Judas betrayed Jesus:

1) Judas was a very greedy man and became upset about the expensive ointment that he felt was wasted (Matt. 26:8, 26:14). Judas betrayed Jesus immediately after the ointment incident. Also he was the keeper of the money bag and helped himself to what was put into it (John 12:6).

2) Judas wanted to push Jesus into action and make His kingdom come quicker. Perhaps He thought (like the rest of the disciples) that Jesus was going to set up an earthly kingdom and overthrow the Roman invaders, and that this would push Jesus’ hand. It is only speculation and there is no foundation for this in the text.

Judas made a deal with the chief priests to lead them to Jesus at night and when there would be no crowds to start a riot. They paid him thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15, Matt. 27:3).

Luke 22:7 Preparing for the passover. The fullest account of the last supper occurs in John (John 13:1), but Luke is longer than Matthew and Mark. The passover was a very important feast and not just another meal. It was to be eaten while reclining required eating bitter herbs. There was a large amount of preparation and it was eaten in the company of ten to twenty people.

The day of unleavened bread probably refers to the day that all yeast (leaven) was removed the homes of the Israelites in preparation for the feast. Some translations use the word “passover lamb” but the original text only says “passover.” It was often a young goat used for the feast. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead to prepare for the supper.

At the passover, it was required to drink four cups of wine. Sharing the cup was a token of fellowship. Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying “this is My body which is broken for you.” Then He took one of the cups and said “this is My blood which is poured out for you.” This was the beginning of what we know as “Communion” based on this and later in the writings of Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23. We are to do this in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.

Luke 22:22 “Woe to that man” is better said as “Alas for that man”. It is not spoken in a vindictive way, but as an expression of grief over the unpleasant future that he has brought down upon himself. Apparently Judas had disguised his thoughts well, for the other disciples began to question one another as to whom Jesus meant. No-one seems to have suspected him.

Luke 22:24 Who is the greatest? Only Luke tells us of the this dispute in the upper room. Matthew and Mark have similar passages, but not in the upper room. John tells us about Jesus washing their feet, but only Luke tells us about the quarrel. It does not say that they wanted the top spot, but they did want to know who it would be. Jesus was only hours from crucifixion and His most intimate followers were still so unlike Him. Jesus washed their feet as a servant and then told them to do likewise for the greatest in the kingdom of God, will be the humble servant.

Luke 22:28 Jesus encourages the Apostles and tells them that they will sit on thrones and eat and drink at His table in His kingdom. Though there will be suffering ahead, it will be so worth it.

Luke 22:31 Jesus tells Peter that satan has desired to have you. The Greek means “satan has obtained you by asking.” God is supreme and is unparalleled in power, but satan asked God if He could “sift Peter” and see what was really inside of him. Jesus told Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus saw what was coming and that satan would test Peter, that Peter would soon deny even knowing Him, and all that was OK. When you are done and turned to Me again, strengthen your brothers. Compare what happened to Peter with Job 1:9 when satan appeared to God and talked about His servant Job. That is when hell strikes our life, when satan gets permission from God to sift us. It is not pleasant.

God is not powerless in any situation, but this entire world and the life that we know is temporary. We do not like to take tests, but that is how we move forward. God sometimes grants satan permission to test His most faithful servants. Anyone can serve Him when their life is perfect, who will serve Him faithfully when under intense pressure?

Luke 22:25 Luke tells us that Jesus and His disciples went to the mount of olives, then He went forward to pray alone. He was troubled in spirit, knelt down and prayed, and asked that if the Father was willing, that this “cup may pass from Him”, though not His will but the Father’s be done. Jesus warned the disciples to pray, He saw what was soon coming in their life. You can better if they had known, they would have prayed much harder.

It was not the coming death that upset Jesus, but the type of death. Jesus would take the sin of the world onto His shoulders and the Father would turn away. He would bear our sin and shame: “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus would be forsaken by God (Mark 15:34) because of our sin. I believe that the Tyndale commentary explains it better than I can:

“There was a far deeper spiritual agony which Jesus endured alone in the darkness, an agony which we can never plumb and which, thanks to his endurance of it on the cross, no created being need ever now experience. No explanation is adequate other than the traditional view that, in that dark hour, God’s wrath fell upon him. Because wrath is no abstract principle, but a personal manifestation, this means that his unclouded communion with the Father, enjoyed from all eternity, was temporarily broken. Some commentators have held that Christ suffered all the pangs of hell in that time; and if hell is at root a separation from God, then he certainly did. But on such mysteries Scripture is silent, and Mark tells us nothing here. If there was a barrier between the Father and the Son at that moment, it could only be because of sin; and the Son knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), so it could only be our sin that cost him such agony. Here is the heart of the cross; here is the mystery which no painting or sculpture, with distorted face, can ever begin to show, because we fail to realize the true nature of the punishment for sin, as separation from God, and therefore the true nature and depth of the agony borne by him.”

Luke 22:43 An angel soon appeared to strengthen Jesus and He prayed even more earnestly. While Jesus spoke to the disciples, Judas came leading a crowd and went to kiss Jesus. A kiss on the cheek was not uncommon in the day when men met, but it usually referred friendship, esteem, love. Judas choosing this method to signal out Jesus to the soldiers was particularly bad.

The disciples asked Jesus if they should fight, and Peter did not wait for an answer, but grabbed a sword (John 18:10) and hit one of the men beside the head, cutting off his ear. Jesus said “No more of this!” and stopped the fight. Then He touched the mans ear and healed it. Jesus wanted peace, not violence.

Luke 22:52 The chief priests, officers of the temple, and the elders had came out against Him and under the dark of night, led by one of His own Apostles, Judas Iscariot. They arrested Jesus and took Him to the house of the high priest. It was him that Had Jesus arrested, not the Romans, and he has Jesus brought to his house.

Luke 22:54 Peter denied even knowing Jesus and it is recorded in all four gospels, though various things happen during the intervals. Luke does not explain how Peter got inside the courtyard but John tells us that another disciple who knew the high priest Annas, brought Peter inside (John 18:15).

All four gospels tell us that the first challenge came from a slave girl, and John adds that she was the door keeper. She stared at Peter and said “This man was also with Him!” There were no charges against the disciples of Jesus and Peter could have just admitted it, but he was among enemies and he took the easy way out by answering “I do not know Him.”

A little while later a man recognized that Peter had been with Jesus, we can tell by Peter’s response, “Man, I am not” and Peter denied Jesus a second time.

Later a relative of him whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” (John 18:26 WEB) and Peter denied knowing Jesus a third time, followed by a string of swearing Matthew 26:74). Immediately a rooster crowed again and Jesus turned and looked at Peter. The words that Jesus had spoken to Peter came back to his mind, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me thrice.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:63 The men that were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him. They blindfolded Him and told Him to prophesy who was hitting Him. Now, prophet, guess who hit you that time!

The details of the trial of Jesus is not easy to piece together. None of the gospels cover the entire account, so all four have to be consulted. There were two main stages. First there was a Jewish trial where the chief priests condemned Jesus for breaking their law, then there was a Roman trial where the Jews tried to convince Pilate to crucify Jesus.

They rushed Jesus through a hasty trial. The Jewish trial itself had two or three stages and Jesus appeared before Annas, then Caiphas and others. Then after daybreak came a formal meeting of the Sanhedrin, which was probably an attempt to make the trials by night look legitimate (Matt. 27:1; Mark 15:1).

Jewish law prohibited a capital trial to be done at night, or even a verdict to be given at night, but they were in a hurry and brushed all their laws aside so they could quietly sentence Jesus while the people slept.

Instead of calling witnesses, they asked Jesus to incriminate Himself by claiming to be the Son of God. Jesus had asked them many questions and they could not reply (Luke 20:3, 41) so He told them “If I tell you, you will not believe,and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” The religious leaders had gathered enough words to shore up their false charges and they carried Jesus to the Roman overseer, Pilate.

Study Questions: (if your answers are very long, you may want to type them first in something like Notepad, which doesn't require an Internet connection, then copy and paste (Ctrl-A to select, Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-V to paste), to prevent mishaps. Also, there is a 3K character limit, so if they are super long, feel free to post more than once, and just answer a couple of questions at a time. You are welcome to post any questions you may have, as well. We look forward to your thoughts!)

1) It was said in Luke 22:3 that “Satan entered into Judas”, indicating that was the reason Judas betrayed Jesus. How do you think this happened?

2) During the Last Supper, Jesus said that He knew the betrayer was at the table. Why do you think He did not call him out by name and send him away?

3) In Luke 22:24-27, Jesus explained that the greatest amongst them would be the servant. Since our culture does not usually glorify the heart of the servant, how can we encourage this characteristic in ourselves and in others?

4) Peter, though he walked in the very presence of Jesus, and was even told ahead of time, still managed to deny the Lord when placed under pressure. What can we learn from this incident as we go through our own walk and face our own pressures?

5) When being questioned by the priests and scribes, why do you think Jesus was not willing to tell them who He was, instead answering, “You say I am”?