THE PASSION ACCORDING TO LUKE.
Luke 22:14-71; Luke 23:1-56.
The feast of Passover drew nigh, and already there was a plot afoot to destroy Jesus. Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, and the religious leaders promised him money if he would betray Jesus to them. Judas thereafter sought opportunity to do just that (Luke 22:1-6).
Over against and alongside this manipulation of Satan, there was another plan being worked out, this time by God. This was the plan of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is, after all, the fulfilment of the Passover (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7). So, when the day came when the Passover lamb must be killed, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the meal (Luke 22:7-13).
(I). FROM THE LAST SUPPER TO THE ARREST IN GETHSEMANE.
Luke 22:14-53.
“When the hour was come,” we read, “Jesus sat down with the twelve apostles.” Jesus was in complete control as He expressed His desire to share the Passover with His disciples before He suffered. “For,” He said, “I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:14-16).
Luke alone mentions Jesus lifting the first cup at the beginning of the meal, giving thanks (as was customary), and then intimating, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (Luke 22:17-18). In this, Jesus was demonstrating His total faith and assurance that His mission would succeed. He was already anticipating the Messianic banquet at the end of time (cf. Isaiah 25:6-7).
As the Passover meal proceeded, Jesus took the unleavened bread that was customarily eaten along with the lamb of the main course, broke it, and gave it to them. The words of the inauguration of the Lord’s Supper are familiar enough to believers. “This is my body which is GIVEN for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
The third cup of the Passover meal corresponds to the words ‘I will redeem’ in Exodus 6:6-7. This is the cup which Jesus took, investing it with new meaning: “This cup is the new testament (or covenant) in my blood, which is shed (poured out) for you” (Luke 22:20; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34). In short, ‘He has loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood’ (Revelation 1:5).
The plot against Jesus, and the plan of salvation met together at that table. There was an inevitability about it. The Son of man was going, as it was determined: “but woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed” (Luke 22:21-22).
It is tragic that, even at such a solemn time, the self-examination of the disciples following this remark of the Lord disintegrated into a squabble about who was the greatest. Jesus used this as a teaching moment (Luke 22:23-26; cf. Philippians 2:3). Jesus, who is, after all, THE greatest, came as one who serves (Luke 22:27; cf. Mark 10:45). That reproof having been made, Jesus encouraged His disciples, and assured them of their place in His kingdom (Luke 22:28-30).
However, He had a special warning for Simon; but reassured him of His prayers; and instructed him to “strengthen your brethren” after his “conversion.” Simon felt he was strong and loyal enough to follow Jesus, “even to death,” so Jesus warned him again: “Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before that you shall thrice deny that you know me” (Luke 22:31-34). We cannot serve Him in our own strength!
Nevertheless, we must serve Him with all available resources. This is the meaning of the apparent change in policy from the little commission, where they took nothing (cf. Luke 9:3), to the present need to take both bag and wallet, and even to purchase a sword! Jesus’ plan of salvation was yet to be “accomplished” in Him, but was coming to a head, as His quotation from Isaiah 53:12 (“He was reckoned among the transgressors”) demonstrates: “for the things concerning me have an end,” He adds (Luke 22:35-37).
“Here are two swords,” offered His disciples. Jesus dismissed the subject: “It is enough.” His mind was already moving forward to the place of prayer, known to us as Gethsemane, ‘the place of pressing.’ It is good for us to resort to prayer, especially in what we might term, ‘times of pressing’ (Luke 22:38-39).
When He reached the garden, He exhorted His disciples to “Pray that ye enter not into temptation.” Then He withdrew from them and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:40-42). It was in a garden that Adam first fell, and now it was in a garden that the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5), the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) willingly submitted to the will of His heavenly Father.
Luke alone mentions the angel in the garden, strengthening Jesus. This proves that, whilst Jesus is fully God, He is also fully man. Now, as man, He was sore pressed, and in an agony, sweating great drops of blood which fell to the ground. When He arose from prayer, He found His disciples “sleeping for sorrow,” and He aroused them, reiterating that they should “pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Luke 22:43-46).
Fortified with prayer, Jesus remained in control as a multitude, led by Judas Iscariot, came to arrest Him. “Judas,” asked Jesus as the traitor drew near, “do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:47-48).
“Shall we smite with the sword?” begged the misplaced zeal of the other disciples, and one of them smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Jesus could have escaped in the fuss, but would not. Instead, compassionate as ever, and probably unasked, Jesus healed the man’s ear. “Do you come out as against a thief with swords and staves?” Jesus asked the temple police. “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:49-53).
(II). FROM THE DENIAL BY PETER TO THE CONDEMNATION OF JESUS.
Luke 22:54-71; Luke 23:1-12.
LUKE 22:54-62. After Jesus’ arrest, the temple police took our Lord to the high priest’s house, “and Peter followed afar off” (Luke 22:54). It was here that Peter denied Jesus, three times, as Jesus had warned him would happen (cf. Luke 22:34).
There were several factors which caught Peter off guard. First, there was SELF-CONFIDENCE (cf. Luke 22:33). Second, SLEEPING IN A TIME OF PRAYER (cf. Luke 22:45). Third, KEEPING AT A DISTANCE FROM JESUS (Luke 22:54). Fourth, UNSYMPATHETIC COMPANY (Luke 22:55).
This all culminated in the cowardly sin of denying Jesus, not just once, but three times. The third time, while Peter was yet speaking, the cock crowed - and “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter” and “Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61-62). These things are written, no doubt, to remind us to remain steadfast in the faith.
Now I do not imagine for one minute that Jesus’ look was one of condemnation, and certainly not some kind of sanctimonious ‘I told you so’ attitude. We can be sure that, despite all that our Lord was going through Himself, He was still in complete control of the situation, even yet pouring out His love and compassion to bring salvation to a lost world. Jesus had PRAYED for His servant, that his faith would not ultimately fail, and had also indicated that he would yet be ‘converted’ (cf. Luke 22:32).
LUKE 22:63-71. What occurred at the high priest’s house that night and early morning was a travesty of justice. Jesus was mocked, smitten, blindfolded, and struck in the face. “Prophesy,” they said, “Who smote thee?” (Luke 22:64).
‘Christ also suffered for us,’ remembers Peter. ‘Who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judges righteously’ (1 Peter 2:21-23). ‘By whose stripes ye were healed,’ he reminds us (1 Peter 2:24; cf. Isaiah 53:5).
As soon as it was day, the council convened and demanded, “Are you the Christ?” Jesus would not dignify that question with an answer, but rather prophesied: “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the mighty God” (Luke 22:66-69; cf. Daniel 7:13-14).
Then they asked, “Art thou then the Son of God?” His answer was unmistakable: “I AM” (Luke 22:70).
After all THEIR blasphemies against Him (cf. Luke 22:65), THEY decided: “What need we any further witness? For we ourselves have heard it out of His own mouth” (Luke 22:71). This is the travesty of a religion which imagines it is serving God by opposing Christ.
LUKE 23:1-12. The Jewish authorities had no power to put Jesus to death. The sceptre had at last departed from Judah (Genesis 49:10) and, far from raising a mob to seize it back as they accused Him (Luke 23:5), Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be handed over into the hands of the Gentiles (cf. Luke 18:32-33). The accusations made against Jesus were ludicrous, and to say that He was “forbidding to give tribute to Caesar” (Luke 23:2) was the very opposite of the truth (see Luke 20:25)!
Pilate asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” To which Jesus answered, in effect, “It is as you say.” Then Pilate declared, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:3-4). At this point you would expect a just judge would have released Jesus, but Pilate noticed that Jesus was a Galilean, and sent Him to King Herod Antipas, the murderer of John the Baptist.
Now Herod had for a long time desired to see Jesus (cf. Luke 9:7-9), and hoped to see Him perform a miracle (Luke 23:8). Jesus had been warned that Herod wanted to kill Him (cf. Luke 13:31), but just like Pilate, Herod found “nothing worthy of death” in Jesus (cf. Luke 23:15). After mocking Jesus, and arraying Him in a gorgeous robe, Herod and his men sent Jesus back to Pilate.
Having formerly been at enmity with each other, Pilate and Herod now made common cause against Jesus, and became friends (Luke 23:12). Both declared Jesus innocent - in Pilate’s case, repeatedly - and both condemned an innocent man to die! Thus we see that our Passover lamb is ‘without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19); and, in doing so, they were unwittingly fulfilling God’s plan of redemption (cf. Acts 2:23).
So who was responsible for the death of Jesus? First, there was the love of God. Then, the malice of Satan. Then there was the avarice of Judas Iscariot; the blindness of the religious leaders; the mocking of His captors; the denial of Peter; the injustice of Pilate; the ridicule of Herod. It was Adam’s sin, and the sins of us all; it was my sin, and your sin that nailed Jesus to that Cross and kept Him there. This was the only possible way of our salvation (cf. Luke 22:42).
(III). FROM THE DECLARATION OF HIS INNOCENCE TO THE DEATH OF JESUS.
Luke 23:13-49.
LUKE 23:13-25. “I have found no fault in this man,” Pilate told Jesus’ accusers. “No, nor yet Herod.” “Nothing worthy of death” (Luke 23:14-15). “I have found no cause of death in Him” (Luke 23:22b). Thus we see that our Passover lamb is ‘without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19).
Twice Pilate told the accusers of Jesus, “I will chastise Him and release Him / let Him go” (Luke 23:16; Luke 23:22c). “Away with this - Release unto us Barabbas,” cried the crowd (Luke 23:18). “Crucify, crucify Him” (Luke 23:21). “Why, what evil has He done?” pleaded Pilate (Luke 23:22a).
But the voices of the crowd, and of the chief priests, prevailed. Somewhat ironically, given the nature of the accusations against Jesus, Pilate released one who was guilty of sedition, and delivered Jesus over to their will.
LUKE 23:26-34. The compelling of Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross behind Jesus (Luke 23:26) is a picture of our own duty: to deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus (cf. Luke 9:23).
Certainly, there were plenty of people following Jesus that day, each with their own reasons for doing so. Among them were some women who bewailed and lamented Him. Jesus turned to these and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (Luke 23:28).
Jesus then repeated His prophecy concerning the fall of Jerusalem (Luke 23:29-30; cf. Luke 21:20-24). The punchline is: “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:31). In other words, if the Roman justice system is condemning an innocent man to death, what will they do to a rebellious city like Jerusalem? (cf. Romans 13:3-4).
Two other men were led to be put to death with Jesus, both of them guilty. When they came to the place called Calvary, there Jesus was crucified, and the criminals also, one on the right hand, and one on the left. The soldiers parted Jesus’ raiment, and cast lots.
Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This prayer remains efficacious for ALL who will recognise that it is OUR sins that nailed Jesus to the Cross (cf. 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
LUKE 23:35-43. The people looked on. The leaders derided Jesus. The soldiers taunted: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself” (Luke 23:37). Pilate’s judgment on this issue was published for all to see, written in three languages upon the Cross: “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38).
One of the evil-workers “blasphemed Him” (Luke 23:39). Yet the testimony that stands out above all is that of the other condemned criminal. Even before conversion, this man was already beginning to be an evangelist, showing concern for his similarly condemned fellow-conspirator. This was, perhaps, an early indication of God’s work in his heart.
Whatever else this second evil-worker saw, he at least recognised the justice of his condemnation - unlike that of Jesus. The prayer of this man was necessarily short, but to the point: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). It is as if he had said: ‘My sins and faults of youth do thou, O Lord forget: After thy mercy think on me, and for thy goodness great’ (Psalm 25:7, Scottish metrical version).
Furthermore, he had faith to believe that Jesus still had a kingdom to inherit. The man believed in the power of a crucified Christ to save him, and to usher him into that kingdom. Something in that moment had enlightened this man to the reality of Jesus’ claims, and laid open to him the way of salvation even in the midst of that very darkest of all hours. And in that moment, he was saved.
LUKE 23:44-49. Passover is always held on a full moon day. A solar eclipse happens only at new moon. So the darkening of the sun at midday on Good Friday was nothing less than miraculous (Luke 23:44-45). The rending of the curtain in the Temple (which was incidentally ‘from the top to the bottom’ so could not have been caused by the earthquake of Matthew 27:51) signified the opening of the way into the Holy Place for all true believers (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Jesus cried out in a loud voice. This was not a cry of defeat, but of victory. Then He said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46; cf. Psalm 31:5). Jesus trusted His Father to His very last breath (cf. Acts 7:59; 2 Timothy 1:12).
When the centurion saw the dignity with which Jesus died, he praised God, and pronounced his judgment: “Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47). The other people around the cross dispersed, their consciences somewhat disturbed by what had just happened. Meanwhile, all Jesus’ acquaintance, and the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things. We shall hear more about them later.
(IV). THE BURIAL OF JESUS.
Luke 23:50-56.
LUKE 23:50-53. It is at this point that we meet Joseph of Arimathea, “a good man and a just” (Luke 23:50); no doubt like Zacharias and Elizabeth who ‘were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless’ (cf. Luke 1:6). We read of this Joseph that he was a counsellor who had not consented to the counsel and deed of them, “who also himself waited for the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:51); one like Simeon, who was ‘just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel’ (Cf. Luke 2:25), and Anna who ‘gave thanks to the Lord’ and spoke of Jesus ‘to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem’ (cf. Luke 2:38).
This man having gone to Pilate begged the body of Jesus. And having taken it down he wrapped it in a linen cloth and placed it in “a tomb hewn in a rock in which no one was ever yet laid” (Luke 23:53).
LUKE 23:54-56. That day was the day of preparation, and “the sabbath drew on” (Luke 23:54). The Jewish Sabbath begins in the evening. “Sabbath” speaks of rest, and now that Jesus had died for the sins of His people (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21), ‘there remains a rest for the people of God’ (Hebrews 4:9).
The women who had ‘followed’ Jesus from Galilee (the word is the same as in Luke 5:11, where the disciples ‘forsook all, and followed Him’) now followed Joseph as he took the body of Jesus to the tomb, noted where the tomb was, and went away to prepare spices and ointments; “and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56).
