Jul 25
6
Old Testament Reading: Numbers 28:16–25
“On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover, and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work.” (Numbers 28:16–25, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Luke 22:1-23
“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. And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ 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.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!’ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.” (Luke 22:1–23, ESV)
*****
Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
The text we are considering today consists of five parts.
First, Luke tells us about the wicked preparations that Judas made to betray Jesus and deliver him into the hands of his enemies. Secondly, we learn of the holy preparations that Jesus made to celebrate the last Passover with his disciples. Thirdly, Luke tells us about Jesus’ faithful observance of the last Passover with his disciples. Fourthly, Luke tells us about the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Fifthly and finally, we learn of the prediction Jesus made, that one of his own would betray him.
We will briefly consider each of these five parts today, and I will make some observations and applications along the way.
Judas Made Preparations To Betray Jesus (vs. 1-6)
First, let us consider verses 1-6 and the wicked preparations that Judas made to betray Jesus and to deliver him over to his enemies.
In verse 1 we read, “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.” (Luke 22:1, ESV).
The Feast of Unleavened bread was the first of three festivals that the Jews were to observe under the Old Covenant. Exodus 23:13-17 says, “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD” (Exodus 23:14–17, ESV).
The Passover meal was to be eaten on the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. Leviticus 23:4-8 says, “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Leviticus 23:4–6, ESV). So closely related was the Passover to the Feast of Unleavened Bread that the whole Festival was sometimes called Passover.
By the way, this observation, that the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread was also called Passover, helps to clear up some confusion regarding what is said in the Gospel of John 18:28. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we are told that Jesus celebrated the Passover the night before he was falsely tried and crucified, but in John 18:28 we read, “Then [the Jews] led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning [the moring of Jesus’s crucifixion]. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover” (John 18:28, ESV). According to this verse, eating the Passover was still in the future for these Jews, but Jesus had eaten the Passover the night before. Many interesting theories have been proposed throughout the history of the church in an attempt to explain this apparent contradiction. The simplest explanation seems to be this: John 18:28 is not referring to the Passover that was eaten the night before on the 14th day of the month of Abib, in accordance with the Scriptures, but to the remaining meals of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is also called the Passover. To learn more, see the commentaries of John Gill and Matthew Poole on John 18:28.
What were the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread about? They were a commemoration of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord. How did God deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage? Through Moses and the outpouring of the ten plagues. What was the tenth of the ten plagues? It was the death of the firstborns in Egypt. And how were the firstborns of the Hebrews protected? The blood of a lamb was to be spread on the doorposts and lintel of the Hebrews’ homes, and the angel of death passed over. This redemption happened, and so the Lord instituted the Passover feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a remembrance of what God had done for them. If you wish to read all about Israel’s deliverance and the institution of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, take up and read Exodus 12 and 13.
Luke tells us that “the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover” (Luke 22:1, ESV). And he goes on to say that “the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put [Jesus] to death, for they feared the people” (Luke 22:2, ESV). Isn’t it ironic? Hundreds of thousands of people were flocking to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. All of them would have been concerned to find a Passover lamb to sacrifice at the temple so that they might eat it in obedience to the Scriptures. But what was occupying the minds of the chief priests and the scribes? They were trying to find a way to put Jesus to death. And we know that he is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the one whose blood shields us from the wrath of God, if we have faith in him. Luke tells us that “the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put [Jesus] to death…” because how they would do it was not yet clear to them, “for they feared the people.” At this point, Jesus had many followers, and so the chief priests and the scribes could not come against Jesus in a direct way. All of that changed when Judas agreed to deliver him into their hands.
In verse 3 we read, “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” (Luke 22:3–6, ESV).
I have a few observations to present to you from this text.
One, Luke tells us that Satan entered into Judas Iscariot. This reminds us that behind the conflict Jesus had with the religious elite of his day was a spiritual conflict. Everyone could see the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were opposed to Jesus and wished to do him harm. But behind this earthly and physical conflict stood a heavenly and spiritual conflict. This conflict between God and his Messiah and Satan and his minions can be traced back to the Garden of Eden. This war, which rages continuously in the spiritual realm, is invisible to us, but it is always active and present. And the spiritual battle was especially pronounced in the life and ministry of Jesus the Messiah. Satan tempted the first Adam to rebel against God, and succeeded. When the promised Messiah was born into the world in the fullness of time, Satan opposed him personally and vehemently in an attempt to destroy him or distract him from his mission. This is seen most clearly in two events in the life of Christ: the temptation he endured in the wilderness after his baptism and at the start of his earthly ministry, and here in the days leading up to his crucifixion. It was Judas who betrayed Jesus to the chief priests and officers, and they would have Jesus put to death by the Romans, but behind this earthly, physical, and visible conflict raged a conflict heavenly, spiritual, and invisible – a conflict that originated with the temptaion of Adam and Eve, Adam’s fall into sin, and God’s promise to deliver his elect from their sin and misery through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).
Two, we must not forget that Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, and that no one, except Jesus, suspected that he was wavering in his devotion, lacking in loyalty, or faltering in his faith. This, dear friends, is a warning to all who profess faith in Christ who have joined themselves to the band of Jesus’ disciples as members of a visible church. The Scriptures warn us to persevere in the faith to the end (Mark 4:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 3:10) and not to fall away (Luke 8:13; Hebrews 3:12). When we consider that Judas, who was one of the twelve, betrayed Jesus, it should cause us to remember that there will always be false believers or false professors intermingled with the faithful within Christ’s church.
Three, we should not forget the exhortation that Christ delivered to all of his disciples, including Judas, while in the temple not long before this: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34, ESV). Judas heard this warning from Christ, but he failed to heed the warning. When Luke tells us that Satan entered Judas’ heart, I do not think we should imagine anything like demonic or Satanic possession, but rather strong temptation. Statan did with Judas something very similar to what he had done with Adam eons earlier. He tempted him to rebel against his God and Savior by enticing him with the riches and pleasures of this life. Judas Iscariot, being tempted by the Evil One, determined to betray Jesus for a sum of money. He failed to watch himself. Satan entered the garden of his heart to tempt him, and his heart was quickly consumed by the thorny weeds of “the cares and riches and pleasures of life…” (Luke 8:14, ESV). Sadly, Judas’ fruit would never come to maturity.
Dear friends, learn from Judas. Guard the garden of your heart and mind. Do not permit Satan to tempt to you there. When he approaches to bring temptation through the seductiveness of the world, the remaining corruptions of your own flesh, or more directly, do not listen to him. Quickly cast him out of the garden of your soul, lest he cause you to stumble or fall. Though it is true that a genuine follower of Jesus Christ will never fall away completely but will be preserved by God’s grace to the end, it is equally true that a genuine follower of Christ must keep their hearts pure (Luke 21:34, resist temptation (Hebrews 12:4; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9), and persevere in the faith till the end.
Jesus Made Preparations To Observe The Passover With His Disciples (vs. 7-13)
While Judas was making preparations to betray Jesus, Jesus was making preparations to celebrate the last Passover with his disciples.
In Luke 22:7-13, we read, “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” (Luke 22:7–13, ESV).
I have two comments to make about this passage.
One, when Jesus predicted that Peter and John would enter Jerusalem and find a man carrying a jar of water, and that by following that man they would come to the house where Jesus wished to celebrate the Passover, etc., and it all came to pass just as he said, it was a sign of his divinity. Peter and John must have marveled over this, and we should marvel over it as well. What a marvelous Savior we have! He is a man. He has a true human body and a true human soul. But he is no mere man. He is the eternal Son of God incarnate. What the Nicene Creed says is true. We believe “in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.”
Two, when Peter and John prepared to celebrate the Passover by securing this room and a Passover lamb to be slain and eaten, they were also making preparations for a Passover of a different kind, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
To be clear, the Passover lambs were slain and eaten by the Jews on Thursday night. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of all who believe in him from every tongue, tribe, and nation, was slain on Friday. I hope this doesn’t sound impious, but in the past, I thought, why wasn’t the timing different? Wouldn’t it have been more fitting forJesus to be crucified at the same time that the Passover lambs of the Jews were being slain? Wouldn’t that have communicated more clearly that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Passover, and that the Passover lambs of the Old Covenant were a type or foreshadowing of the greater Lamb to come, Christ Jesus the Lord? And then it dawned on me that this timeline was actually more fitting, for it communicated both the connection between the Passover lambs and Christ and also the progression or advancement. In other words, Jesus is not just another Passover lamb; he is greater. The redemption he accomplished is greater than the one accomplished in Moses’ day. And the reward he has earned is greater, too. The point is this: when Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again, there was a great advancement in God’s plan of redemption. The old Passover festival was fulfilled. A new feast would be introduced to commemorate the accomplishment of our redemption from sin, Satan, and death. And this new feast, namely, the Lord’s Supper, would be celebrated by God’s people on a new Sabbath day, the Sabbath of the new creation and New Covenant, Sunday, the first day of the week, and not Saturday, and in the days from Adam to the resurrection of the Christ from the dead.
When Peter and John prepared to celebrate the Passover by securing this room and a Passover lamb to be slain and eaten, they were also making preparations for a much greater Passover, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Jesus Observed The Last Passover With His Disciples (vs. 14-18)
In the third portion of this passage, we are told about Jesus observing the last Passover with his disciples. This text will help us to think clearly about what transpired in the Upper Room, especially as it pertains to the relationship between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper. In brief, first, Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples. After that, he instituted the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper and the Passover are clearly related things, but they are also separate things. The Lord’s Supper was instituted after the faithful observance of the last Passover.
In verse 14 we read, “And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.” (Luke 22:14, ESV). What is the hour that Luke speaks of? It is the hour or appropriate time to celebrate the last Passover.
Verse 15: “And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’” (Luke 22:15, ESV). Jesus had eaten many Passover meals before this one. He had been observing the Passover all the days of his life in obedience to the law of God. And he had observed Passover with his disciples before as well. But this Passover was most special and significant, for it was the final one, for the Passover feast would be fulfilled (in a partial, inaugurated sense) on the very next day, when Jesus was crucified, and on the third day, when he would rise from the dead and set the captives free. When we say that Jesus fulfilled the Passover, we mean that he also abolished it, for it belonged to the Old Covenant order, but when Christ died, rose, ascended, and sent forth the Holy Spirit, the New Covenant order had fully come (see Colossians 2:16). The New Covenant has a festival of its, but it is not the Passover, as we will soon see.
In verse 16, Christ says, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16, ESV). To what is Christ here referring? He must be referring to the feats he will enjoy with his redeemed people in his consummated kingdom, that is to say, in the New Heavens and Earth. In Revelation 19:9 we read, “And the angel said to [John], ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, “These are the true words of God” (Revelation 19:9, ESV). Will the marriage supper of the Lamb be a Passover feast? No, it will be something different and far greater. But the Passover did point forward to that feast, as does the Lord’s Supper, and this is why Christ said, “For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16, ESV).
In verse 17, we learn of the observance of the Passover feast itself. “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’” (Luke 22:17–18, ESV). Notice, this is not the cup of the Lord’s Supper. That cup is mentioned in verse 20. The cup of verse 17 was likely the first of the four cups that were to be drunk during the Passover celebration. Over each cup, a blessing would be pronounced, and this was likely the first of them. When we envision Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples, we should envision him doing so perfectly in obedience to the law of Moses. In other words, we should not think that he altered the Passover to transform it into something new. No, kept the Passover strictly.
Jesus Instituted the Lord’s Supper (vs. 19-20)
It was after the Passover meal that Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper.
This is seen in verses 19-20: “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.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:19–20, ESV).
I will keep my comments about the institution of the Lord’s Supper very brief, for I intend to return to this passage next Sunday to give special attention to this holy ordinance. Today, I wish to stress that the Lord’s Supper, though it is clearly related to the Passover, is distinct. In other words, though it is true that Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper while eating the Passover with his disciples, it is important to see the Lord’s Supper, not as an alteration of the Passover meal, but as something that Christ instituted at the end of it.
As the Passover meal was being concluded, and as the disciples were eating the roast lamb and the unleavened bread, Jesus took some of that 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’” (Luke 22:19, ESV). As has been said, the Passover was soon to be fulfilled by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and taken away, but our Lord and Savior instituted another meal to stand in its place. Verse 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’” (Luke 22:20, ESV).
This, dear friends, this is the festival of the New Covenant. It is called by many names, including Holy Communion and the Lord’s Supper. And this is the festival that God’s people will celebrate until Christ returns to judge his enemies, to rescue his people, and to bring them into his eternal kingdom, wherein we will celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb, a feast anticipated by the Passover and the Lord’s Supper, both. Until then, we observe the sacrament that Christ instituted for the first time on the night he was betrayed, the night before his crucifixion.
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul commands the church in Corinth to excommunicate and hand over to Satan a professing Christian who had committed a scandalous sin and remained unrepentant. Listen to what he says in verse 7: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8, ESV). The festival that Paul here refers to is not the Old Covenant Passover, but the New Covenant ordinance that stands in its place, namely, the Lord’s Supper. The bread represents the broken body of our Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, and the wine represents his shed blood. Brothers and sisters, we must celebrate this festival in sincerity and truth. This has application for all of us individually, and it also has application for us corporately. When Paul says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened”, he means be cleansed from sin. Turn from your sins individually before you come to the Lord’s Supper. And is there are any who are living in unrepentant sin in the congregation, they are to be put out of the church and barred from the Lord’s Table.
Jesus Predicted That One Of His Own Would Betray Him
The last portion of our passage is found in verses 21-23. Here we see that Jesus predicted that one of his own disciples would betray him, and that he knew which one.
In verse 21, Christ says, “‘But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this’” (Luke 22:21–23, ESV).
There are many things to learn from this text.
One, Jesus was not surprised that Judas would betray him. He knew he would, and yet he did not fight against it.
Two, Christ permitted Judas to remain amongst the twelve even though he knew his heart was evil. He even celebrated the Passover with him and gave him the Supper! Dear brothers and sisters, there will always be goats amongst the sheep in Christ’s church. It is only those who make a credible profession of faith who are to be given baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And those who destroy the credibility of their profession by holding to doctrines that undermine the foundation of the faith or by unholy living must be removed from the membership of the church and barred from the Table. But we cannot judge the hearts of men. Christ knows the hearts of men, and he will judge. As Paul warns, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:28–29, ESV)
Three, though Christ and Judas knew who the betrayer was, the other disciples did not. “And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this” (Luke 22:23, ESV). Dear brothers and sisters, in Christ’s church, we should not presume to know with utter certainty who the true believers are, nor should we suspect some to be false professors. The question we must ask is this: has this person made a credible (believable) profession of faith? These must be given baptism, received into the communion of the church, and invited to the table. It is only those who have destroyed the credibility of the profession (Matthew 18, 1 Corinthians 5), or who are walking in a disorderly way (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15) who should be barred from the communion Table.
Conclussion
What, then, should the members of Christ’s church be occupied with as it pertains to their relationships with one another?
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10, ESV)
“[W]alk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1–3, ESV)
“[E]xhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none… may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV)
