Luke 22:1-30
1-2
The "Feast of Unleavened Bread," immediately following the Passover, lasted seven days (Ex 12:15-20).
FEASTS (Heb. moedh, an assembling, hagh, dance, or pilgrimage). The feasts, or sacred festivals, held an important place in Jewish religion. They were religious services accompanied by demonstrations of joy and gladness.
The Passover (Lev 23:4-8) was the first of all the annual feasts, and historically and religiously it was the most important of all. It was celebrated on the first month of the religious year, on the 14th of Nisan (our March April), and commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt and the establishment of Israel as a nation by God’s redemptive act.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the day after the Passover and lasted seven days (23:5-8). This feast together with Passover was one of the three times that all male Jews who were physically able and ceremonially clean were required by Mosaic Law to attend (Exod 23:17; Deut 16:16). The other two were the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. These were known as the pilgrimage festivals; on all of them special sacrifices were offered, varying according to the character of the festival (Num 28-29).
Earlier the Pharisees were prominent in opposing Jesus.
Jesus was teaching over a period of some time, and this event occurred on one of those days. It seems that Jesus’ reputation had aroused the attention of the Jewish religious authorities, who considered it important to hear what he was teaching. By doing this Luke lays stress on the crucial nature of the religious issues soon to be raised. This is his first mention of the "Pharisees and teachers of the law."
The "Pharisees" had, earlier in their history, helped the Jews maintain the purity of their religion by teaching how the Mosaic Law and the traditions that grew up alongside it ought to be applied in daily life. Many of them became rigid, imbalanced, and hypocritical. The "teachers of the law", most of whom were Pharisees, had expert knowledge of the details of the Jewish legal tradition and so would be expected to form an opinion about the correctness of Jesus’ teaching.
Now the "chief priests and teachers of the law" were taking the initiative against him. In that society the priests were not only religious leaders, but they also wielded great political power. The teachers of the law were involved undoubtedly because their legal expertise would be useful in building a case against Jesus. "The people," on the other hand, were a deterrent to the schemes of the leaders.
3-6
SATAN (Gr. Satan or Satanas, an adversary). The chief of the fallen spirits, the grand adversary of God and man. He is often called the devil (Gr. diabolos), meaning "the slanderer"
Satan is the ruler of a powerful kingdom standing in opposition to the kingdom of God (Matt 12:26; Luke 11:18). He exercises authority in two different realms. He is the head of a vast, compact organization of spirit-beings, "his angels" (Matt 25:41; Eph 2:2; 6:12). Acts 10:38 makes it clear that the outburst of demonic activities during the ministry of Jesus was Satan-inspired. Satan is not omnipresent, but through his subordinates he makes his influence practically world-wide. He also exercises domination over the world of lost humanity (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11), the evil world system that he has organized on his own principles (2 Cor 4:3-4; Col 1:13; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:19).
Animated by an unrelenting hatred against God and all goodness, Satan is engaged in a world-wide and age-long struggle against God, ever seeking to defeat the divine plans of grace toward mankind and to seduce people to evil and ruin. His primary method is that of deception--about himself, his purpose, his activities, and his coming defeat (Rev 12:9). Satan was the seducer of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-7; 2 Cor 11:3); he insinuated to God that Job served him only for what he got out of it (Job 1:9); and he stood up against Israel (1 Chron 21:1) and God’s high priest (Zech 3:1-2). Under divinely imposed limitations he may be instrumental in causing physical affliction or financial loss (Job 1:11-22; 2:4-7; Luke 13:16; 2 Cor 12:7). He snatches away the Word of God sown in the hearts of the unsaved (Matt 13:19), sows his counterfeit Christians among the children of the kingdom (13:25, 38-39), blinds the minds of people to the gospel (2 Cor 4:3-4), and induces them to accept his lie (2 Thess 2:9-10). Often he transforms himself into "an angel of light" by presenting his apostles of falsehood as messengers of truth (2 Cor 11:13-15). He clashes in fierce conflict with the saints (Eph 6:11-18), is ever alert to try to destroy them (1 Peter 5:8), and hinders the work of God’s servants (1 Thess 2:18). Certain members of the church who were expelled are said to have been delivered to Satan but with the design to produce their reformation, not their destruction (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tim 1:20).
Although Satan was judged in the Cross (John 13:31-33), he is still permitted to carry on the conflict, often with startling success. But his revealed doom is sure. He now has a sphere of activities in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12); he will be cast down to the earth and will cause great woe because of his wrath, which he will exercise through "the dragon" (2 Thess 2:9; Rev 12:7-12; 13:2-8). With Christ’s return to earth he will be incarcerated in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years; when released for a season, he will again attempt to deceive the nations but will be cast into "the eternal fire" prepared for him and his angels (Matt 25:41), to suffer eternal doom with those he deceived (Rev 20:1-3, 7-10).
Luke mentions the presence of the "officers of the temple guard," whose soldiers probably captured Jesus (Jn 18:3). Luke also mentions that, in betraying Jesus, Judas sought to avoid the crowds.
7-13
Jesus initiated plans for the Passover arrangements. His instructions guaranteed privacy, indeed, secrecy, perhaps to avoid his premature arrest. Verses 10-12 show his supernatural knowledge. The disciples were to follow a man carrying a water jar. Ordinarily only women carried jars; men used leather skins for water.
The "large upper room" was on the second story under a flat roof, accessible by an outside stairway. It was "furnished" with the couches for reclining at a Passover meal and with necessary utensils. The disciples found things "just as Jesus told them."
14-18
Jesus’ words in vv. 14-18 are significant. The meal is a turning point. Jesus anticipated it; and he likewise anticipates the next genuine meal of its kind that he will eat sometime in the future when the longed-for kingdom finally comes, or, in Luke’s characteristic vocabulary, "finds fulfillment." The believer in the present age observes the Lord’s Supper "until he comes" (1Co 11:26).
Luke 14:1-24 Rev. 19:6-10
19-20
The words of institution in these verses bear remarkable similarity to the rendition of Paul in 1Co 11:24-25. This supports the reliability of Luke’s research (1:1-4). The suffering motif is consistent with Jesus’ understanding of his mission as the Suffering Servant.
The "bread" was the thick unleavened bread used in the Passover.
"In remembrance of me" directs our attention primarily to the person of Christ and not merely to the benefits we receive from taking the bread and cup. The final cup taken during the Passover signifies the "new Covenant" in Jesus’ blood. The disciples would have been reminded in the Passover of the "blood of the covenant" (Ex 24:8), i.e., the blood used ceremonially to confirm the covenant. The new covenant carried with it assurance of forgiveness through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross and the inner work of the Holy Spirit in motivating us and enabling us to fulfill our covenantal responsibility.
New Covenant Hebrews 8:6 Hebrews 9:11-15
21-23
By mentioning the "hand" of Judas (v. 21), Luke draws attention to his participation in this special event, thus heightening the tragedy that one of Jesus’ own disciples will betray him.
Decreed Acts 2:23 Acts 4:28
24-27
The word "considered" in v. 24 is well chosen since status has to do with self-perception and with how one desires to be perceived by others. Jesus replies by reminding the disciples of two objectionable characteristics of secular rulers. First, they "lord it over" others, an attitude Peter later warns elders of (1Pe 5:3). Second, they are given the title "Benefactor." In Mt 23:7, Jesus disapproved of a similar kind of status seeking. Actually he himself is the true "Benefactor" (a similar word is used of Jesus in Ac 10:38).
Jesus makes two points about true greatness. First, one should not seek the veneration given aged people in ancient Near Eastern society but be content with the lower place younger people had. Second, one should not seek the position of the person sitting at a dinner table who had a higher social position than the waiter, who was often a slave. This illustration recalls the example of the Lord Jesus, who washed his disciples’ feet as they reclined at the table of the Last Supper (Jn 13:12-17).
28-30
Verse 28 shows that Jesus’ trials continued between his temptation by Satan (ch. 4) and the passion events. It also recognizes the faithfulness of the disciples during this time, though fidelity of one of them is about to be tested severely (v. 31). This theme of testing and faithfulness is prominent in Luke, as we have seen. Jesus goes on to confer on his disciples a kingdom, just as he himself had received a kingdom (Jn 20:21). The picture here is not just that of a commission but of a conferral similar to a testament. The idea of a messianic banquet is reflected in v. 30 (cf. 13:28-30 and comments). On the role of the Son of Man and the saints in judgment, see Dan 7:9-18.
