WWUTT 2491 God's Sovereignty Over Judas (Luke 22:1-13)

The Pharisees were looking for a way to capture Jesus. Judas said, I'll help you out, but you've got to pay me money. The disciples prepare to eat the Passover with Jesus. Even in this simple narrative, we see the sovereign power of God when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Find all our videos online at www .utt .com, as well as links to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

The Plot to Kill Jesus at Passover

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel of Luke, we are on to chapter 22, closing in on those last moments before Jesus goes to the cross to die for our sins. In the section that we're looking at today, we're reading of the plot to kill Jesus, Judas to betray Jesus, and the disciples eat the Passover with Jesus.

I'm going to start in verse one and read through verse 13. Hear the word of the Lord. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Jesus to death, for they feared the people.

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them, and they were glad and agreed to give him money, so he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.

It.

They said to him, Where will you have us prepare it? He said to them, Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters, and tell the master of the house, The teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

And he will show you a large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. And they went and found it, just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. Now all of this that we're looking at today is set up.

Verses one and two set up pretty much the rest of the chapter, and then you have Judas to betray Jesus into the hands of the chief priests and the Pharisees. The section on the Passover with the disciples, so verses seven to 13, that's set up to the institution of the Lord's Supper.

And that's what we'll read about tomorrow when we look at verses 14 to 23, Jesus instituting the Lord's table there with his disciples. So again, the three sections that we have today, verses one and two, the plot to kill Jesus versus three through six, Judas to betray Jesus, and then seven through 13, the Passover with Jesus.

The Meaning of Passover and the Lord's Table

So starting here again at verse one, now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover. Briefly, just to share with you once again, the significance of this meal. This remembered God delivering the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

This was that memorial meal. So when we refer to the Lord's table, when we refer to communion as a memorial, do this in remembrance of me, it's literally do this in my memory, as a memorial to me. When we partake in the Lord's table in that way, it's Jesus taking the Passover meal and he's instituting it or giving it as an ordinance for something else.

It's still a memorial, but now with a new meaning, a new application to it for his church, not just for the Israelite people. So the Passover was a memorial meal. The people are remembering how God provided for us.

He delivered us 1500 years earlier at this particular time. They're remembering what God had done to call this people to himself. And even through the Lord's table today, we still remember that God called us to himself through the hearing of the gospel.

We turn from our sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and by faith in him who died on the cross for us, who rose again from the dead, our sins are forgiven by faith in Jesus. And we remember him calling us to himself by the message of his cross.

When we eat of that bread and we drink of that cup, it is a remembrance for us as well. Just like Passover was a remembrance for the Israelites. Now if you'll recall regarding Passover, when they made their bread, they were not supposed to make it with leaven because the bread had to be able to rise quickly and they needed to be able to gather it up and take it with them for the long journey that was ahead.

So no leaven in the bread, therefore it is also referred to as the feast of unleavened.

Bread.

At the beginning of this feast, the Passover lamb would be sacrificed. And so that's what we have mentioned here in this introduction to the drama, to the saga that's being laid out here for us in chapter 22.

Judas, Greed, and God's Predestined Plan

So in verse two, the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Jesus to death for they feared the people. So they're still scheming among themselves. What can we do? We can't arrest him when he's in the temple.

Remember we just got done with Jesus teaching in the temple. We can't arrest him there because all the people are there and they love him and then they're going to hate us. There's this massive jealousy that exists among the chief priests and scribes because they see how popular Jesus is.

People are listening to his words, they're listening to his teaching, and we're losing all of our authority and influence. So the best thing we can do here is we can arrest him. We got to, we got to put him on trial.

We've got to turn him over to somebody. We'll turn him over to the Romans. We'll find something to accuse him of even if we have to lie about it. You know that that's what they end up doing with the kangaroo court proceedings that they have trying to find some accusation to bring against Jesus.

So here at this juncture, they're just looking for some opportunity to seize him where the people won't be able to retaliate or the people won't even know about it, at least not yet. So then in verses three through six, Judas to betray Jesus, this is where Judas steps in to help them out.

And it says in verse three, then Satan entered into Judas called Ascariot. Now we often read that, and I even often hear it preached this way, that Satan possessed Judas Ascariot to do this thing. So if he's entering into Judas, then now Judas is under the power of Satan and whatever he says, it's actually Satan doing it, not Judas himself.

But that's not necessarily how we're supposed to understand this. It's not that Satan possessed Judas though, as though he would enter into his body and possess his soul. And he has become his master in this sense, but only that Satan brought Judas under his influence.

He fills his mind with evil passion. Doesn't Satan do that to us? Or at least he certainly tries to, right? Fills our mind with selfish thoughts, with evil things, with desires that are contrary to what God has commanded, what God wants for us.

And Satan, if he could pull it off, would lead us to betray our master. And that's what Satan does with Judas. What was the particular sin that Satan used to influence the mind of Judas? Like what sin was Judas committing here?

He wasn't just betraying Jesus because I just don't like the guy. I'm going to go and I'm going to report him to the chief priests and scribes because I'm just done with this. I'm not a disciple anymore.

Or just for the sake of doing something evil, just for the sake of betraying the son of man, Judas surely did not think that's what he was doing in those moments. So what is he seeking after? It could be, I think we can only really speculate here.

And I've heard several different explanations, but most likely it's greed. Because remember, according to John's gospel, that Judas was the one who was in charge of the money bag. And he used to take out of the money bag for himself.

Judas is getting paid to betray Jesus into the hands of his enemies that stated here, they agreed to give him money. So he's apparently not just doing this out of the goodness of his heart, goodness in the sense that he sympathizes with the chief priests and the scribes.

Hey, I'm going to help you guys out. I really like you guys. I just want to do this pro bono just for your sake. No, he's doing it to be paid. So his wicked intentions driven by the avarice that plagues his heart, the greed that possesses.

Him.

Remember what we read in James 1 15 desire when it has conceived, gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death. So you have that desire in Judas's heart that is conceived and is giving birth to sin as he in his actions are now going to the chief priests and the scribes to help them with receiving Jesus with having this opportunity to seize him like they want.

Now, again, it's not that Satan has entered into him in the sense that Satan is driving all of his actions. He's under the power and influence of Satan and all of his mouth movements and everything that he does here, his feet to take him to this place to betray Jesus.

It's all Satan that's doing it. That's not the case at all. Satan is the driving influential force. But all of this is happening in subject to what God had for ordained from before the foundation of the world.

I've brought this up many times before. I've said it on social media. I've preached about it in sermons and things like that. Judas could not have made any other decision. Like whenever we get into these arguments regarding free will, we all have a choice.

Judas certainly had a choice. And I'm not taking that away from this account here. Judas is still doing this by his own decision. He's doing this because it's what his heart wants. It's what his wicked soul desires money, even to the point of betraying the son of.

Man.

But could Judas have made any other choice? No, because it was foreordained that this was going to happen. It was prophesied. And the reason it was prophesied was not because God looked down the tunnel of time and saw this guy down there named Judas, and he's going to end up betraying Jesus.

So let me reveal it to a prophet that they could write it down here what Judas is going.

To do.

The reason why God knew that's what Judas was going to do because he had predestined for it to happen. Consider the prayer of the apostles in Acts chapter four, verse 27, for truly in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Now, you have individual names that are mentioned there, Herod and Pontius Pilate. You have groups of people that are mentioned there, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do what? Whatever God's hand and his plan had predestined to occur, though Judas is not explicitly mentioned there.

Same thing. Judas is mentioned in the Old Testament in the book of Zechariah. It's even said that he would betray Jesus for 30 silver coins and that he would throw those coins back onto the floor of the temple.

It's even prophesied there that that was going to happen. Could Judas have chosen to do anything otherwise? Only if the scripture is wrong. And if the scripture is wrong, then God has erred and God would be wrong.

So Judas can't make another decision here. This is all by God's predestined plan. But wait, Pastor Gabe, didn't you just say that Judas still was making this decision? It was still upon him. He decided.

Of course he did. It's both. And it's not a contradiction to say that God is predestined and we decide. It's only our folly that we would look at this and think that there is some sort of a contradiction.

It could certainly be a paradox. A paradox is not a contradiction, though. A paradox is something that may appear to be contradictory. The Lord has predestined and we still make decisions. We still have a responsibility to make the right decision.

And when we stand before God on the day of judgment, no one will be able to point the finger at him and say, well, it was you. You did this to me. Romans 9 responds to all of that. You have all the answers to that in Romans 9.

So here is Judas doing what God had predestined to take place. And one of the things that I mean to bring out by that is because Judas is not the only one under God's control here in the sense that he's been predestined for this task.

But Satan is doing what God would predestine Satan to do. I believe it was Martin Luther who said Satan is God's devil, but he is a devil still. So the devil can only do what God would allow him to do, even direct him to do to fulfill the purpose that God means to happen.

God is not the person who is tempting Judas. God is not the one motivating Judas to go into the scribes and the Pharisees and and accomplish this wicked task of betraying the son of God. Even what Satan is doing to influence Judas is because God had predestined Satan would be the agent to do this.

It's not by God's direct influence upon Judas that this is taking place, but Satan's direct influence on Judas. And as Judas conferred with the chief priests and the officers about how he might betray him to them, they were glad they agreed to give him money.

So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a.

Crowd.

So that connects this exchange with the introduction that we had in verses one and two. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking out to put him to death, but they feared the.

People.

We couldn't find an opportunity to seize him because we're afraid of what the people will think about us. So Judas says, I can help you do that in the absence of a crowd, but you got to pay up. And so he makes a little money for doing this evil thing that he is about to do.

Jesus Prepares the Passover with His Disciples

Then we read of the Passover with the disciples. And this is in verses seven and 13. And again, this is set up as well. This is setting up for the Lord's Supper that we're going to read tomorrow. So in verse seven, then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat.

It.

Jesus going to have this meal with his disciples. Now, all of this again, even this is by the sovereign hand of God, that all of this is taking place in exactly this way. Remember that previously there were things that Jesus was hesitant to do because he knew that his time had not yet come.

So he would not reveal to everybody that he was the Messiah, only a select few. And he would heal somebody and say, don't tell anybody else, but go show yourself to the priest. But then that person goes and he blabs it everywhere.

And so Jesus is cautious about not giving up the plan too quickly, because everything has to happen at an exact specific time as God had ordained. He had ordained it that Jesus would be sacrificed at Passover.

Why?

Because as the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5, Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover. And here he is even going to take the Lord's table and institute it with his disciples in a new way in remembrance of what Christ does in fulfillment of all those types and shadows in the Old Testament, even represented in the Passover here.

So the disciples asked Jesus, where will you have us prepare this meal? And he said to them, behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house.

The teacher says to you, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. By the way, that reference to guest room there in verse 11, that is the exact same Greek word that is used in Luke 2 7 for the end.

Where Joseph and Mary were not able to to stay and have Jesus, right? Luke 2 7. She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end.

We talked about this back when we were in Luke 2, but I know that was some time ago. Remember that that Joseph and Mary were not sitting in a stable surrounded by animals. They weren't out in the barn.

And Jesus was born that night, like like Mary's in the throes of labor pains when they come into Bethlehem. And sorry, there's no room at the end because of the census. So they have to go to the barn and Jesus is born in a barn.

That's not the way that scenario played out. The end is the upper room. It's the guest room. And that's not where Mary was and had her baby. She would have been down below. But to say that there was no place for them in the end is also Luke's way of saying that there were many other witnesses to the birth of Christ.

It's not Luke's way of saying Jesus was born in a barn, but that it was in a house full of people, that there were others who witnessed the birth of the Savior. And anyway, I bring that up because this is where those two words connect.

This is where we understand what an inn is. And it's not that modern American notion of an inn or a motel or a hotel. So it's the guest room. It's the upper room. It's a place where not only did people sleep, but they dined and fellowshiped.

Where is the guest room that I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And so verse 13, they went and found it just as he had told them. And there they prepared the Passover. Jesus prophesying right there in their midst that this is the place that you will find.

And that's where they found it. Once again, God even ordaining that this spot when that house was built and that upper room was constructed and furnished. This was the place where this historical monumental conversation would happen in that house, in that room, at that time.

And what gets instituted there is something that we continue to practice to this day. We just practiced it in church yesterday. We're a church congregation that does the Lord's table every Sunday. And so we continue to practice what is going to be demonstrated for us here in this passage when we come back to it again tomorrow.

But we see even in these first 13 verses here, what we've looked at, the way that God sovereignly works to accomplish those things that he has set forth according to his plan, according to what he had predestined before time began, that these things would take place in exactly this way involving these people and all of it for the son to be sacrificed on our behalf.

So that we may put our faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. He has even predestined you brother or sister for salvation. Do you have a choice? Yeah, you've got a choice. Turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and live.

But know you are only able to make that choice by the grace of God. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read. Even this simple narrative about Judas to betray Jesus, Jesus eating the Passover with his disciples.

We can see even in these few words that we have read how God is sovereignly working to accomplish his perfect plan. You sovereignly worked in our lives that we would come to faith in you and so be saved.

And so Lord work in our lives even now that we would turn from our sin and live righteously unto Christ who gave himself for us. It's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen.