Luke's last look at Christ: Luke 22:1-38 — A.J. Higgins

I'm going to ask you to turn, if you will, to the gospel of Luke and chapter number 22. Luke's gospel and chapter 22. Now, we will read, we'll take time, I know it's a lengthy reading, we'll take time to read the first 38 verses together this evening.

So Luke chapter 22 and the first 38 verses. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover, and the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people.

Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, communing with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad and covenanted to give him money.

And he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go, prepare us the Passover that we may eat.

And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? He said unto them, Behold, when you're entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he entereth in.

And you say to the good men of the house, The master saith unto thee, Where is the guest chamber? Well, I shall eat the Passover with my disciples. And he will show you a large upper room furnished there, make ready.

And they went and found as he said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him. He said unto them, With desire I have desire to eat this Passover with you, before I suffer, for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

And he took the cup, gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and came unto them saying, This is my body, which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me.

Likewise, also the cup after supper saying, This cup is the New Testament or the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.

And truly the son of man goeth as it was determined, but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. They that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors, but ye shall not be so. He that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger.

He that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth. It is not he that sitteth at meat, but I am among you as he that serveth. Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.

I appoint unto you a kingdom as my father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said unto Simon, Said Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired or demanded to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.

But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. He said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, for thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse and script and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they said nothing. Then said he unto them, But now he that hath a purse, let him take it. And likewise his script.

And he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 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.

And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough. Now, we do trust that God will add his rich blessing to the reading of very precious and yet at the same time, very familiar portions of the word of God.

Luke's Last Look at Christ in Luke 22–24

Maybe just as an introduction, what I have in mind with you is to consider Luke's last look at Christ. Consider together Luke chapter 22 through Luke chapter 24. We'll divide it into five sections, but we will be considering Luke's last look at the Lord Jesus Christ.

In these chapters, we will see him as a sovereign. We will see him as a savior. We will see him as a shepherd. We'll see him in his sympathetic ministry as a high priest. We will see him in all of these different ways and other ways as well.

What we'll do is each evening maybe introduce some different themes that you can trace in the gospel of Luke as well as in what we're looking at. And then consider the sections before us. Obviously, there is not sufficient time to go verse by verse as if we were in a Bible reading, but perhaps just picking out one or two themes from each section and considering something of the person of Christ.

Well, there will be that which is practical, yet for the most part, it will be that which is devotional. Just enjoying the Lord Jesus and all that he is. Now, if you're among that hardcore few that feel that devotional ministry really kind of lacks something and we need hard hitting practical ministry all the time.

If you can look at Christ and not want to be like him. Something desperately wrong. The more you look at Christ, someone has said there's a beauty in Christ that makes us all look very ugly. And the more you look at him, the more you would long to be like him.

So I would hope that the fruit of these meetings, if nothing else, will perhaps be some person here in the audience will have a desire to be more like the Lord Jesus as a result of looking at him for the few nights that we have before us.

Luke's Gospel and the Perfect Humanity of Christ

So just in a way of a general introduction to Luke's gospel, once you think of Luke's theme, first of all, he begins in chapter one with those things most surely believed amongst us. Luke was very, very likely a Gentile, a Grecian, and the Greeks were very, very concerned, very, very occupied with the perfecting of human personality.

The perfect man, if you will, and Luke takes up his pen and Luke pens and writes about the perfect man. So Luke's theme is the perfecting of human personality as seen in the Lord Jesus. There is a sense in which the Lord Jesus is the only normal man that ever lived.

Now, you'll not be insulted if I say that all of us have some defects. We have either some psychological baggage from our past or we have insecurities. We have all the things that afflict us as human beings that we all try to compensate for in different ways.

The Lord Jesus was perfectly balanced. Absolutely perfect in every way, mentally, emotionally, psychologically. Every way spiritually, there was a balance in the Lord Jesus Christ and Luke is occupied with the perfection of humanity as seen in the Lord Jesus.

Luke's technique, he tells us that he has made a thorough investigation of all the facts. He tells us he was going to set them out in order. Now, you have to understand Luke's order is not a chronological order, a timeline order.

Luke's order is what we call a moral order. He's putting things together to teach us lessons. So he takes events that did not occur necessarily in a sequence. He brings them together to teach us lessons.

He wants to create a moral truth that he wants to impress upon us. We'll see that especially when we come to the order that is given to us about the Lord's Supper and Judas being there in Luke. Whereas we know from other sections of the word of God that Judas had left before the emblems were instituted, before the symbols were given.

But Luke is teaching us a moral lesson that we'll come to in a few moments. The actual word that Luke uses is very interesting. He speaks about the eyewitnesses. Going back to chapter one, he speaks about those who were eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus.

And the word he uses really is a word that we get our word, if you'll forgive me, the word autopsy from in the original language. It's the idea of those who carefully examined and were almost like interns serving with the great physician.

They were moving with him and examining everything he did. And Luke says, I've gotten my information from them and I am writing it down. And he says, here is the trustworthiness of what I have to tell you.

All that I say, the absolute certainty of the things most surely believed among us. And of course, he was his teaching. He's writing to a man named Theophilus. And you will, of course, know from others that the word Theophilus simply means a friend of God.

And this is the gospel that tells us about the friend of sinners, the friend of sinners. And so here in the gospel of Luke, we have teaching about the Lord Jesus and individuals, the friend of sinners.

And if we had time, we could look at some of Luke's touches. And Luke is the gospel of tears. And it's the gospel of tables and the gospel of temple scenes. All of those things make up the framework of the gospel of Luke.

And we'll notice a few of the tables in the chapters that we'll be looking at here from chapter 22 to 24. We read of one tonight here in chapter 22. And we'll notice another in chapter 24. But I just want to then introduce what I have.

And if you would, if you'd like outlines, I can help you so you don't have to write. If you're the kind that like to keep notes, we can provide outlines. Just let me know and I'll get them out to you.

Christ the Sovereign in Luke 22:1–13

But I want you to think, first of all, of the sovereign, the Lord Jesus as the sovereign in verses 1 to 13. Then we'll consider the supper in verses 14 to 27. Very important, the supper verses 14 to 27.

Well, in that section, we'll consider especially the symbols, a loaf of bread and a cup. And notice some truths relative to the symbols present at the at the supper. Those verses tell us about strife at the table.

Only Luke tells us about strife at the table. Matthew and Mark don't. John, of course, doesn't handle any of this relative to the Lord's Supper. But Luke tells us of strife at the table. And we'll notice in passing, there's one thing Luke doesn't tell us about at the table that Matthew and Mark do tell us.

We'll notice the sequel to it all, the Lord's promise to them as to coming glory and honor. And then we'll notice something of the Lord Jesus as the sympathetic high priest praying for Peter and thinking about Peter's recovery.

So with that before us, and as I said, we'll be going through this very, very superficially. Time not permitting a verse by verse handling of it. I want you to consider, first of all, the sovereign that we see in verses 1 to 13.

Now, there's something that we do not have that we have to go to Matthew and Mark to fill in detail that tell us that give us an insight into what occurs at the very beginning of these verses. Notice at the beginning, we have Judas making his bargain with the leaders of the nation.

You will notice that they sought how they might kill him, but they fear the people. If we went to Matthew and Mark, we would find that the leaders had one stipulation, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

Jerusalem's population swelled at the time of the Passover. And of course, the leaders feared that with the influx of people from every portion of the nation, that there would be those who would be sympathetic to the Lord Jesus.

And if they tried to take him in under those circumstances, there would be the danger of an uprising and the danger of the Romans coming in and snatching him away. And they wouldn't have the opportunity of putting him to death.

So they said not on the feast day. God had said on the feast day. So the counsel of God was in conflict with the counsels of men. Matthew and Mark tell us how that was all resolved. Matthew and Mark tell us that Mary came with her alabaster box of ointment and she poured it on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when she poured it on the Lord Jesus Christ, Judas was so incensed that he does what we read of here. He goes to the leaders and promises to betray him. And notice what it says. He sought opportunity to betray him in the absence of the multitude.

So the one stipulation the leaders had, not on the feast day, they now had to compromise because they had an insider who would deliver him when the multitude was not present. Now, just a just a simple but a tremendously delightful thing to grasp.

There was a woman who acted out of devotion for Christ. She had no idea that what she was going to do was going to totally frustrate the counsels of the ungodly and fulfill the word of God. All she did was act out of devotion to Christ.

And the lesson is patent. It begs to be emphasized that when you do something out of devotion to Christ. It will accomplish far more than you ever envisioned it accomplishing anything done for Christ will have far greater consequences.

Than those you intend, all Mary intended to do was honor Christ to to pour that ointment on him in light of his burial, but it had far greater implications, far greater ramifications in the end as a result of her devotion so that.

If I could just encourage us. Little deeds done for Christ. Will come and land on eternity's shores with far greater consequence and value than you could ever imagine, you remember, don't you? Back in the Old Testament, there's a.

A little Hebrew maid. And she tells name and wife, would God, my Lord, or with the prophet that is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy. So a little maid. Telling what she knows because of her love for the God of Israel.

And name it is not only cured, but name it is converted. You may say, well, that's not bad. It doesn't stop there. How many people have gotten saved reading the story of Naaman the leper? See, one act of devotion.

One act of devotion has led to far, far greater consequences than that little maid ever envisioned. So we are reminded here in the initial verses, but what I really come to is the Lord Jesus as the sovereign when it comes to the place.

He knew the place. He knew the man carrying a pitcher of water. He knew the good men of the house. He knew times, places, intersecting of individuals as the sovereign. He knew everything that was going to occur.

And he knew something else as well. Now, you would have to take my word for it on face value for now. The Lord Jesus Christ told them to ask the man, where is the guest chamber where I can keep the Passover with my disciples?

Now, if you were to get your Vines dictionary or your Bible, your Bible computer program, you would find that word for guest chamber occurs earlier in the gospel of Luke. It occurs back in chapter two.

There was no room in the inn for them. The guest chamber was really the word literally means a loosing down. It was the first floor where men on their travels came and unburdened their animals, unburdened their their their sacks.

That's not what the good men gave the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said, where is the first floor? I'm just putting it in our own vernacular. Where is the first floor that I can keep the Passover with my disciples?

The good men of the house gave him the upper room. That was the best room. He didn't just give him the least, he gave him the best. The Lord Jesus had enough confidence in this man to know. He says, you're going to ask for the guest chamber.

You're going to ask for the place where all the travelers come to kind of relax, unburden themselves, get their animals unhooked and just kind of. He's not going to give you that place when you ask him for the guest chamber, he is going to give you the best room in the house.

He's going to show you a large upper room furnished there. Make ready. The Lord Jesus knew that this man, he had enough confidence in him to know. He'll give you the best. Now, I have to ask myself. Does the Lord Jesus have enough confidence in me to know that I will give him my best?

And I will give him the best of my life, the best of my time, the best of my intellect. Or will he have to suffer? Will he have to be satisfied with just the the guest chamber? What is the measure of my commitment?

To the Lord Jesus, will he get everything from me or does he have to be satisfied with merely just getting by? Just doing what he asks, or will I always go a little beyond and try to do a little bit more?

The measure of my commitment to the Lord Jesus. Back in 1964 in Asia, a number of countries joined together to form one nation. It was the country of Malaya and it was the country of Singapore and it was the country of part of Borneo called Sarawak.

And they joined together to form a new nation called Malaysia. Indonesia was very unhappy with that and declared war. Malaya, as well as Singapore, had been British protectorate, so the British became involved in the conflict.

You may or may not remember that in the British military, there is an elite group of men who are Indian called the Gurkhas. They are known for their heroism and their courage. They were soldiers that were handpicked when Britain had India as part of its commonwealth.

And they still maintain that link with Great Britain. They were the Gurkhas, known for their heroism. The British asked the Gurkha commander, would your men be willing to to jump from planes behind the enemy line if we need to?

And to be able to help us in the attack on the Indonesians. The Gurkha commander said, let me talk to my men. And he came back with two qualifications. He said, number one, he said, we want to be dropped in a place where there's not a lot of rocks, where there's not a lot of trees, a place where it's fairly safe to be dropped.

And he said, please, we'd like also the planes to go as slow as possible and no higher than 100 feet. Just 100 feet off the ground, the commander said, we can take care of the ground. We can make sure it's a place that's fairly safe for dropping.

But 100 feet, he said, he said, there won't even be time for your parachutes to open. He says, oh, you're going to give us parachutes. Well, then it won't matter. If you give us parachutes, then that's fine.

Whatever height you want. That's commitment. That's commitment. Just being willing to lay everything on the line for another. This man who the good men of the house, he was a man marked by commitment.

What is my commitment to the Lord Jesus? Does he just get the bare necessity of my life? Just making me feel like I'm I'm getting by, I'm doing, you know, I'm at the meeting once or twice a week and I'm I'm doing what I'm you know, and or am I really totally committed and willing to give him the very, very best of my life?

I mean, we could talk certainly about the upper room furnished and prepared and all the lovely thoughts linked with that above street level, above the common, above the ordinary. But I just want to leave this with you.

Here was one who knew everything. He knew the time, the place, the man. He knew what the man would give. He knew he would give him the best. He is the sovereign who knows all. And we can leave our lives in his care.

He knows we'll be coming into our lives. He knows what will occur in our lives. He is in absolute control of all, and we see him here as the sovereign. Let me talk here for a few minutes about the supper.

The Lord's Supper, Its Symbols, and Its Moral Order

You notice, number one, that it's it focuses us on Christ. Remembrance of me, remembrance of me, the focus is on Christ. But, of course, here it finds out as well hypocrisy in the heart of a of a Judas.

And it it forbids rivalry, as we see, and it's going to fortify them for trial. All those things are in view here. But I want you to think with me of the of the symbols together as we maybe I should just stop there and mention the reason that we are seeing a moral order here, as though Judas is there still.

We're being reminded that the supper is going to reveal reality. It's it is going to reveal the hypocrisy in the heart of a Judas. So Luke is giving us a moral order, teaching us that hypocrisy cannot really be present at at the supper as well as strife and all the other things that occur.

But I want you to think of the symbols together because I think they're valuable lessons to be learned. Have you ever asked yourself, why two symbols? Wouldn't it have been enough if it's just to remind us of his death?

Wouldn't the cup have been enough or the bread? This is my body, which is given that that would be enough or the cup. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Wouldn't that have been enough? Why bread and a cup?

Why two things? Well, just on the surface, when bread, when body and blood are separated, of course, that's death. You separate blood from a body, that's death. But there's far more involved than that.

When you think of the bread, you think of a substitute, his body, an actual substitute for me. When you think about the cup, it's his blood shed for me. When you think about a body, in a body you suffer, blood you die.

So the Lord Jesus Christ both suffered for sins and died for sins. But not only that, the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins. That's the cup. But he also died for what I am as a sinner. That's the bread.

He took my place. All that I am. God is done with it, Calvary. So my sin and my sins, my sinnership, my my place as a sinner. The bread speaks of him dying for that. And the cup speaks of him dying for my sins.

All that I am. All that I have done. He didn't just die for what we have done. He died for all that we are. My link with Adam was severed at Calvary. God is done with me as a person in Adam. I am now in Christ and we have that tremendous truth.

But there is even more there. Now, I've got to dip into 1 Corinthians chapter 10, but you know the section so well, it'll be very easy to mention it. There are two truths that I express when I take from the bread.

There are two truths I express when I drink from the cup, when I take from the bread. 1 Corinthians 10 says, is it not our fellowship with the body of Christ? I am owning the value of that body given at Calvary to the Jew of the day, to the Roman of the day.

It was an absolute waste for a man to die upon a cross. It was a disgrace. It was absolutely the epitome of worthlessness. When I take from that bread, I am saying that body given has infinite worth for me.

But 1 Corinthians 10 tells us something else. It tells us that we being one body, as we partake of that loaf of bread, we are expressing fellowship with everyone else who is partaking of that loaf of bread.

So that as the bread is passed around the circle, as each one takes from it, 1 Corinthians 10 says that we are expressing our fellowship together, that we are all united as we partake of that bread. The cup speaks of two things.

Matthew and Mark tell us, I think it's especially Matthew tells us that as we take the cup, the Lord Jesus Christ said, this cup is the new covenant of my blood. Which is shed for the remission of sins.

So that as I take from the cup, I'm thinking about what God has taken away, taken away my sins. But it's also the cup of the new covenant. I'm thinking about what God has brought in. So something taken away, something brought in.

As I take the cup, 1 Corinthians 10 speaks of it as a cup of blessings. I am confessing, or I am owning, or I am admitting that every blessing I could ever have as a Christian is because of what this cup signifies, what it is symbolic of, that it is symbolic of the blood of Christ.

So it tells me what God has taken away and what God has brought in. New blessings, a new covenant, a new testament. And always remember that whatever God brings in is always greater than what he takes away.

He has brought in something far greater, even than what he has. We would think that taking away of sins, what could be? But all the blessings that we have as believers, everything that we will enjoy. Sadly, we sometimes work on the merit system.

We think that if we do certain things, if we give out so many tracts, if we attend so many meetings, if we read so many chapters, if we pray so many minutes a day, that we're going to get certain blessings.

Now, I know that there is a sense in which God blesses faithfulness, but as far as our spiritual blessings. God could give us nothing more than he gave us the night you got saved. You got a package deal that is going to take all eternity to unpack.

God gave us everything when he gave us Christ. And as we take that cup on a Lord's Day morning, we are confessing every blessing I have is not on the basis of merit. It's on the basis of mercy. What Christ has done.

So the symbols then are very significant. Luke's gospel as well. Makes it very personal. Matthew and Mark do not say for you. For many for the remission of sins, but Luke says it's for you. So Luke makes it very, very personal.

Luke also makes it purposeful. It's Luke who tells us this do in remembrance of me. Here's the purpose of it. I want you to remember me by these particular symbols that I am giving you to commemorate.

It reveals to us the price. His body and his blood. And as we meet on a Lord's Day morning and we gather to remember him and partake of the symbols, we are expressing our fellowship with his work at Calvary.

Our fellowship with one another as we partake of it. And owning afresh the basis for all the mercy that we have received as a result of precious blood shed upon the cross for us, the supper and the symbols.

Strife at the Table and the Call to Serve

But we read as well about strife. The strife at the table. Now, we don't have time to go back through the gospel. But if you compare the gospel records. Every time the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples about his coming suffering, they were either arguing about who would be the greatest or thinking about coming glory.

We ever thought about how lonely a path the Lord Jesus Christ trod here upon Earth. Every time he unburdened his heart to disciples. The Son of Man is going up to Jerusalem to be delivered into the hands of Gentiles.

They'll mock him. They'll spit upon him. They'll scourge him. They'll deliver him to the Gentiles and he'll be crucified. The third day, Peter and John or rather James and John come. We'd like to be one on your right hand, one on your left hand.

At time and again, they're occupied with themselves. And never, never a word of comfort or sympathy or understanding. Here again, he's he's giving symbols of his of his death and their strife. Who's going to be the greatest?

The Lord Jesus points out there. Well, Luke points out what was normal for these disciples to be thinking of themselves. The Lord Jesus points out what was natural in the society in which they lived. That those who were were great wanted to be served and be on top and keep others down.

And then he points to what is going to be totally new. Behavior modeled by Christ. Now, I mentioned that Matthew and Mark mentioned something that Luke doesn't mention and that Luke mentioned something that Matthew and Mark don't mention.

In Matthew and Mark in the upper room, it tells us when they had sung a psalm, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So Matthew and Mark, there's a song that is sung, but no strife in Luke. There's no song being sung, but their strife.

So I learn a very profound and vital lesson. That when strife comes into an assembly. The song goes out when there's strife. It's hard to sing with your heart. Strife is deadly to an assembly. Not only do we lose our song.

But maybe even more tragically, we lose the scriptures. Because when strife comes in, what happens? Whenever anyone gets up to minister, instead of enjoying the truth that is being exposited or profiting from the practical ministry that is being given, everyone gets tuned in.

Whose side is he on? Who's he getting at? Who's he hitting at? And instead of the scriptures speaking to us, we begin to view the scriptures as being a contest. Who can make the most points with the scriptures they're reading?

And it loses all of its value to us. So the scriptures become. Neutralized, we lose our song all because we allow strife and the source of strife. Is usually what we see here, who's going to be greatest?

Now, I don't know anything about the assemblies represented here. We can dress up. We can dress up our personal agendas. With spiritual veneer, we can give it a nice spiritual turn and give it some spiritual reason.

But tragically, many times behind it all, maybe even sometimes not even consciously, there is a desire, as these disciples expressed for for prominence to be to be recognized. Who will be the greatest?

You recall, again, we have to jump over to the gospel of of John here that subsequent to this, likely right after this, the Lord Jesus Christ rose and washed their feet. Now, there are four things that are said at the beginning at the beginning of John chapter 13.

It says, first of all, the Lord Jesus Christ was conscious of coming glory. He knew the father had given all things into his hand, that he went from God, that he came from God and went to God. He was conscious of of coming glory and greatness.

He was also conscious of the callousness of the disciples. Supper being ended. No one else rose. None of the other disciples moved to minister and to wash each other's feet. They all sat back wondering who's going to who's going to take the servant's place.

Finally, the Lord Jesus Christ rose, laid aside his garments, took a towel, girded himself, took a basin. So he was conscious of coming glory. There was the callousness of the disciples. There was this coming sorrow, knowing that his hour was come, the cross before him, the burden of all that weighing him down.

And then, of course, there was the cruelty of a Judas. So I learned from that. I cannot take refuge in the idea I've got lots of burdens, so I can't can't minister to others, can't serve other believers.

I've got lots of burdens that are overwhelming me and I can't be bothered with others. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the cross lay before him within only a few hours, he served others. We'll see that in a moment.

The callousness of others. I mean, how how proud could they be? They wouldn't stoop to wash his feet. I know we criticize Peter. Peter says, Lord, you can't wash my feet. At least Peter realized that.

I mean, there are other disciples that sat there and allowed the Lord to wash their feet. At least Peter says this is not right. At least give Peter high marks that he realized there's something something tragically wrong here that you're washing my feet.

The rest just allowed him to wash their feet. So I cannot say other believers don't deserve it. I mean, look at look at how proud they are. Look at. No. All of those and all that we've looked at in John 13 totally excludes any excuse I can have for not taking the place the Lord Jesus Christ mentions here of serving one another.

There is a fine line between manipulating others and ministering to others. A lot of what we do is manipulating other people. We do something and then we expect something back. We serve. And if we're not served in return, we feel somehow that we have been offended.