The Gospel of Luke 22:24-38 Humility, honor and warnings

Good morning. We're going to be working our way through the passage here that Randy just read for us, Luke 22, 24 through 38. And as we begin this, I think one of the things that just came across to me as I'm looking at the passage and I'm looking at what was said before and afterwards, these guys really don't understand. Jesus had held the Passover with his disciples in this upper room on Thursday, April 2nd, 33 AD. We'll be talking more about the exact dates. But it's getting late.

He's conveying a lot of things to them, and as they go through it, there's a certain part that they understood, the rest of it they were just clueless on. The disciples certainly understood the things about what Jesus said about the Passover, because that they'd been through previously. They understood things he said about the kingdom. He had sent them out much earlier, and we'll make reference to it, two by two, remember? And he sent them out with a gospel of the kingdom, only into the lost sheep of the house of Israel. beyond Passover in the kingdom, they didn't understand much of what Jesus said that night. They hadn't a clue what he'd said about everything else besides the Passover in the kingdom.

It was in fact something that they would take years to come to understand. He'd actually said quite a bit to them and that you'll find in John chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16. that night and they understood just about none of it. Now the other thing to tell you is that in the Sundays ahead of us here, several Sundays, there are some absolutely shocking events and there are different groups and I'm going to give you kind of the short list. They're going to have shocking and worse days, terrible times, And first of all, the disciples, they are going to be immensely distressed for days on end. They're not, even in spite of warnings, they are not understanding the things that Jesus has been telling them for several years actually. So every single one of the disciples is going to be extremely distressed.

We'll find that John and Peter keep some track of Jesus as he gets arrested and goes to be crucified. The rest of them completely head for the weeds. We have no record that they even stuck around. The ones who arrested Jesus and especially the Jewish ruling council are also going to have disturbing things happen to them and we'll be covering those things in the weeks ahead.

It's going to be extremely distressing for them, especially the Sadducees. They're going to have an awful time. On Friday morning, they're going to think that they had taken care of the problem with Jesus. In the middle of the day, we're going to discover it will be the worst day of their life. It will get worse and worse for them. And they don't know what's coming. Then Pilate is going to have a really, really bad day. He is not going to want to go home.

And we're going to find out more about that in a little bit. The Roman soldiers will also be stunned and amazed. We know, in fact, that the centurion in charge of Jesus' crucifixion was greatly impacted by the events of that day. So, and then about the exact dates that I've been giving here, you know, April 2nd, 33 AD and the date of the crucifixion, April 3rd, 33 AD. I'll show you why the exact dates using our calendar. The Bible does not give those dates, but enough clues are converging that it's pretty evident that that is in fact April 3rd, 33 AD is in fact the date of Christ's crucifixion.

And that has come together more recently in the last, say, four years. One of the reasons why this is valuable here, in coming up with exact dates, is a lot of people have the idea that the Bible is just a bunch of myth and legend, and just a collection of myth and legend. And in fact, when we can specify specific events on specific days, that gets credence to the idea that, no, these are real historical events, right? And so that's one of the reasons why it's helpful. So here's Luke 22, 24, and there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be the greatest. So, believe it or not, this is not the first time that the disciples have argued over and squabbled over which one of them was the greatest. In fact, it has happened previously.

We give a couple references there. in Matthew 18.1 Mark 9.34 and Luke 9.36 those are all passages where they were arguing over who was the greatest and so and those were fairly early and it's not all the same event either so these guys argued early and often about who was the greatest and all the way up to the Last Supper these guys are arguing over which one of them is the greatest and every time Jesus has to come up with look you guys need to understand this arguing over the greatest is not the sort of thing you ought to be doing so the mother of James and John was bold enough to ask that her sons be given the most honored seats in the kingdom right next to Christ himself right or left you pick right and so here we have this ridiculous notion that somehow fighting for you know top position is a good idea with these guys. They're really not getting it. The Lord's going to deal with them, though. And matter of fact, the events of these next several days are going to be a part of dealing with that, who's the greatest issue.

Now, these guys are quite clueless. One of their own, Judas, Judas Iscariot, will betray Christ in just a matter of hours. Matter of fact, by this time, it appears he has left The Passover meal to go out and begin his betrayal, right? Peter Peter's also clueless. He's going to take on an army of about 600 With only two swords among the disciples.

He's got one of them, right? then turn around and deny a Very short time later that he ever knew Christ. So they got some things to sort out You know just like me Okay, arguing right then about which one of them is the greatest is going to show itself to be the most silly and petty and twisted thing that they could ever bring up.

Jesus had told them before about humility. He would take a child and say, unless you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom. He would serve them. Be a servant to them to try to demonstrate it. And even at this late hour, they still weren't getting it. Oh, they would. They would eventually. But it would be difficult. Here's Luke 22, 25 and 26.

They said to him, the kings of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. But it is not this way with you. But the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. So, here's typical Gentile kings, the ones Jesus is talking about. And we have the example here, the not so great. Gentile kings would have absolute authority over their subjects, even to the point of life and death.

And we'd look at Herod and say, boy, that was a real wicked guy. And in fact, he was wicked, but it was also very typical. Herod, not only did he give the command to go and kill the infants in Bethlehem, a very horrible and cruel thing, but that wasn't the only cruel thing he did. Caesar made a joke. in Greek. He says it's better to be, it's a play on words, it's better to be Herod's pig than his son because he would actually have any son killed and even a wife killed that he thought might be any threat to his authority. Another account, there were noblemen in Israel who were giving him some negative feedback, so he had 45 of the nobleman's households all killed and he just took their stuff. He was that cruel a man, and that gives an example. This is the Gentile kings.

All the way up to life and death and robbery, basically, they had that power. The kings also would also claim deity, and this was of course even the instance with the Roman emperor. Except for the Jews who got a special exemption, you had to go and swear allegiance to the emperor by worshiping him as a deity. If the kings would give some subjects substantial gifts, in other words, they would have certain ones and they'd say, I want to get this one's influence. They'd give them substantial gifts, but those gifts came from being oppressive and tyrannical and basically thieving from everybody else. And so the one who gave those substantial gifts by oppressing and thieving from others would be called a benefactor. That's what Jesus is referring to here.

So one of the things that comes out, social ranking among the Jews was very common. And in fact, the Pharisees themselves, who were thought to be the best of the best, were very proud of their social rank that they had attained. And also age was one of the factors. At a typical table, like even in the family if you'd have the father would sit at the head of the table and you'd have you know oldest to youngest so that the youngest ones would be farthest away from the the father typically in that kind of a ranking in Luke chapter 11 that we took a look at many months ago Jesus denounced the Pharisees for being so much about rank and honor before anything else The servants, of course, were the lowest in rank in the household, but even among the servants there was a ranking. You had the highest-ranked servant and then the lowest-ranked servant.

And, of course, that got evidenced by Jesus washing the disciples' feet that very night. So what did He do? He comes in and washes their feet, which would be the job for the lowest-ranked servant in the household. So he comes and washes their feet, and what do they do?

Instead of understanding what he's trying to demonstrate to them, they start arguing about who's the greatest. They're really not getting it. And so you can see Jesus there, and He's got Peter's feet. And He says, does this tickle? No. Anyway, I'm joking. Okay, so Luke 22-27. I'm going to hear about it. Roger's shaking his head. Okay. Alright. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

So Jesus would serve them the elements of the Passover. He would start off the time by Him being the one to wash the disciples' feet. He demonstrated servanthood and yet it still sprung up among them after years of delivering a message of humility that here at the Last Supper they're arguing about which one's the greatest. He began that evening with foot washing.

It was usually done by the lowest-ranked servant. But Jesus washed every single one of the disciples' feet, even Judas. When Jesus said, there's a betrayer among me, among this group right here, none of them had any clue which one it was. Jesus loved Judas. He acted as the servant of the household with the Passover meal.

Usually it was the servant would go and distribute the food around and be the one standing and all the others would sit. But in this case Jesus went and was deliberately the servant among them for the Passover meal. here's Luke 22 28 and 30 you are those who have stood by me in my trials and just as my father has granted me a kingdom I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel it's amazing Jesus I said, look, you're worried about who's the greatest. Don't worry about that now. Look, you've already got this to look forward to, but that's later. Right now you've got something else to do.

So the eleven had stood by him, by them, as indicating that Judas is gone by now. He was ready to betray Jesus, and so he had disappeared. The disciples thought nothing of it, because it was expected with Judas as the treasurer. that it was allowed even by the rabbis to go out and during the meal buy more Passover supplies. By the way, buying more Passover supplies was a very high priority among the Jews. And so for Judas to go out and get more supplies, that would be accepted. It was even told that if you are very, very poor, sell all you have to observe the Passover.

It's that high a priority. So the eleven, at least, had stood by Him over these years of public ministry. Oh yes, there was a lot that they had yet to understand, but they at least stood by Him. And they would have, as a result, a high standing in the kingdom to come.

Jesus says that the Father has granted Him a kingdom, and so He has the authority to grant things within the kingdom. So he tells the disciples two things. One, they will recline at table with Christ, my table. This would be otherwise called the Messiah's banquet at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom period. There will be a great banquet and various ones are said to join that. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are said to be there, for instance. And this will be after they are resurrected, of course. Two, they'll rule over the twelve tribes of Israel.

Very interesting, in this coming millennial kingdom, the disciples will be assigned to rule over the tribes. And so Genesis 15, 18-21 gives the outside boundary, and Ezekiel 48 gives us the tribal distribution within that kingdom. And here is a kind of a map showing the kingdom in the coming millennial kingdom. There are copies of that as a supplement on the cabinet to the right, if you'd like a copy.

And so what's really interesting, it has sort of a flag appearance because you get a band for each of the tribes. This encompasses, by the way, what's now about eight countries. So we think of Israel. Israel is really small. It's actually kind of the size of the greater Denver area. So Israel is a real small country. But here we have Israel being much expanded beyond what it is now. And by the way, the Gentile nations will be happy to have this be the boundary of Israel. They'll love it, even if they don't know.

Luke 22, 31 and 32, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and when once you have turned, again strengthen your brothers. Whenever in the Bible you see double names, that usually is not great. Double names indicate you're about to get a real serious message, right? And you need to do some turning around. So whenever you see double names, that's not good.

Now, Peter here, and that's more commonly what we hear him as, but also called Simon, that was probably his given Jewish name. Peter would be from the Greek Petros, meaning a stone, right? stone or a rock you could call him rocky I suppose right and then Cephas as we usually pronounce it was actually from the Aramaic Cephas and then son of John so who you were the son of mattered a lot in those days and in that culture so Peter would have all these names But Simon, his given name, is what we see here. So one of the things we point out here is double names in the Bible is usually an indication that the message you're about to get is an intense one.

And we have the example that we'll see in Acts, Acts 9.4.

Here is Saul. He is blinded on the road to Damascus. And so what does the What does the Lord say? Saul, Saul, right? Double name. Why are you persecuting, ah, and get this, me? Christ takes persecution of his church personally, right? Takes persecution of his church personally And so here Peter's called Simon Simon, which is his given Jewish name. And he's warned about what's going to happen in just hours from that moment.

Satan asked for permission and Christ prayed for him. So let's talk about Satan a little bit. Satan is opposed to God. He's the opposite, but he's not God's equal. That's very important. There are Christians who kind of get misled by giving Satan too much credit, and that's a problem. He is opposed to God, but he is not God's equal. That's a very important distinction. At no point in time is Satan ever going to surprise God. Christians will sometimes talk about, they'll get mad at Satan, and he did this and he did that. Hey, there's never any time when Satan's going to surprise God.

He is not going to pull one on him. God is not pacing the floor of heaven wondering what is Satan going to do next. Satan asks for permission and isn't as interesting Christ here on earth knows that that's happened So that's one thing to keep in mind that Christ is not just entirely earthly focused. He is constantly aware of His father in heaven and what's going on in heaven, right and what's going to go on and and that's kind of a Mindset and understanding that I think it's good for us to under you know to comprehend and He says he's going to sift Peter like wheat.

Now, to me, it'd have to be non-gluten, but anyway. But he wasn't polite about it, nor did he demand it. He didn't say, God, would you please let me do so-and-so with Peter? No, he went up there and started demanding and being like Satan is. But he asked for permission.

Now, here is a best-kept secret. We're going to see here shortly Peter was not the only one that Satan asked to be to sift. We're going to see that in a minute. Christ being the Son of God knew about it and prayed for Peter about it. Christ said, I know that and I already prayed for you. Turn and strengthen your brothers. Jesus told Peter that he would turn after his stumbling. So this is the Lord saying, look, you're going to have this thing happen, but you'll be alright. You will come out of it. You will go through it.

And be restored to ministry with his brethren. I think that's something really valuable for us to take to heart. If the Lord takes us through something, He does so for a purpose. He does so for a purpose. Even this thing, I mean, Peter's going to get really rocked this night. He's going to get really rocked. But the Lord is going to use that in his life. Oftentimes, if we're going through something, it's because the Lord is preparing us for what's next. Preparing us for ministry. Jesus said, you in the plural. Peter, I'm telling you about this, but Satan asked to sift all of you. That's what he just said. This is probably a best-kept secret in this passage. People think this is all about Peter. Peter's being told about it directly, but that you is plural.

That's where, if you had sort of a Texan habit, that would work. All y'all, maybe, right? But sifted like wheat, all of them, all of them, every single one, not just Peter. So the disciples would all be rattled really badly that night and in the days to come. They're going to think this is a horrible disaster. Most of them will just run. But they would all be restored to ministry with their fellow brethren and Christ is assuring them of that.

Luke 22.33 says, but he said to him, Lord, with you I'm ready to go both to prison and to death. Uh-oh. Peter thought he was ready. And of course, we know how this ends up, and we'll be taking a look at that here. But you know, this is typical of Peter. Peter always feels like he has to say or do something. You notice that?

He's got to come up with something. Here on the Mount of Transfiguration, here's Jesus with Moses and Elijah. And Peter's got to say something, and so he kind of says, you know, let me build some tabernacles. It's kind of like, let's go camping! Right? Wouldn't it be great to go camping with Jesus and Moses and Elijah? Yeah, I guess so.

But he feels like he has to say something on every occasion, and this is no exception. Peter says, I am ready to go to prison and even to death. And do you know, later on, that is exactly what happens. But it's not because he's ready. It's because the Lord's got to make him ready. He felt like he was ready, as both he and the Lord knew.

Have you ever had the experience, maybe you've heard somebody else express that, I wasn't ready for that? Ever heard that? Or felt that yourself? I wasn't ready for that? Whatever it was, somebody said something, some event. Well, Peter had to realize, I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready for that.

So Luke 22, 34, and he said, Christ said, I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied me three times that you know me. These were no doubt stunning, shocking words for Peter to hear. Especially after he said, I'm ready to go to prison and to die for you.

And notice that he used the word today. Today. And remember how the Jews count typically, and by the way there's an exception that we'll address here. Typically counted sunset to sunset as the day, right? So you'll deny me and this is now after sunset, right? You'll deny me today Until the next sunset three times except that he uses something to cut off the what would ordinarily be about 24 hours the rooster the early hours The rooster will crow and I can I testify that's what they do, right? Before the sun is up, they start crowing. We used to have a little cabin that was, oh, just a stone's throw away from the milking barn. And the chickens all hung around there, and early hours, they just start, you know, crowing. So, very early hours, Peter's going to hear that crow and be reminded of what Christ had told him only hours before. He would deny that he even knew Christ, and he'd swear about it, too. So God gave Satan permission to press Peter like this. Peter's failure, however, would be God's preparation. No, Peter, you're not ready, but this will help you get ready.

Luke 22, 35, and He said to them, when I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? And they said, no, nothing. This refers back to something we looked at earlier in the Gospel of Luke and also in Matthew, the whole of chapter 10. has Jesus sending the disciples out two by two, and he prepares them, telling them, here's how you're to go out.

And as they go out, they have special protection, one, and two, they have special provision, so that they really didn't need to carry anything, they didn't need to take anything extra, they didn't need to take money or anything to defend themselves. But this was a special commission for them to go out and preach the gospel of the kingdom, which they did understand at that point in time. Matthew 10, the whole chapter, provides a lot more detail than Luke gives in 9, 1 through 5. They were sent out to preach the gospel of the kingdom with no provision and no protection because they had special provision and special protection.

The character of their ministry, he is telling them, is about to change radically. You're going to go out to places where you're not welcome. You're about to go out to places where you won't have protection, so make sure you take some. So here's Luke 22, 36, and he said to them, but now whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and that's with some extra provisions, right? And whoever has no sore is to sell his coat and buy one. Ooh, okay.

So this is talking about this change in character of their ministry as is going to happen. And they really had not a clue what he was talking about when he said this. It will be later, and in fact much later, that they would understand much more about what he was sending them out for. In the apostolic ministry, they might need to work, sometimes work hard. They would need to take provisions along with them, and even defend themselves at times.

And be ready for all that. All this special provision that you've had, special protection that you had when you went out before, it's going to be different now. He's trying to warn them. One of the pictures we have here, for example, here's the Apostle Paul pictured with Aquila and Priscilla, and making tents.

And so that's something, and Paul referred to having to work as he was carrying out ministry. They would also suffer great and many hardships and persecution. We won't go into details. 2 Corinthians 11, 23 and 29. Paul lists the various things that he went through in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.

Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. And by the way, this is before the shipwreck that's recorded in Acts, right? So that means at least four. Day and night I have spent in the deep.

I have been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, and so this would be the reason for having a sword with you. Dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, and he goes on there. So you will need, and he says, and he's been hungry and thirsty. So you will no longer have that special provision, special protection that you had, and you need to be prepared for that. Because you're not going to aim for martyrdom, you're going to aim instead to survive these things because you have ministry to carry out and there's nobody to take your place.

Alright, so Luke 22.37, For I tell you, that which is written must be fulfilled in me, and he was numbered with the transgressors. For that which refers to me has its fulfillment. So, Christ has been trying to prepare them for this event. They've not been listening. Here's Luke 9, 21 and 22. Did they get this? No, not at all. Not at all.

They did not understand it, even though Christ had given many clear warnings about what was going to happen, starting that night. So, Jesus told his disciples that he was going to be killed. He said who it was that was going to be the responsible party. They had no idea. Even the resurrection was a complete surprise. It didn't soak in. Even as of this last supper, they're not understanding what he's telling them. Not even one, not even one of the disciples understood and had any idea what Christ was telling them.

Now, numbered among the transgressors, where did that come from? Isaiah 52, and this is on page 4 of your handout, Isaiah 52, 13 to 53, 12 is the passage where Jesus takes this out of, and this is from verse 12. He was numbered with the transgressors. And think about that. What does it mean that he was numbered with the transgressors? It means that Jesus was treated like a common criminal. crucified between two thieves, right? He was numbered with the transgressors.

It is amazing, we won't take the time to read through it this morning, it is amazing how Isaiah, seven centuries before the birth of Christ, predicted all the details about Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and his eventually being made in the position of Messiah in the second coming.

So here's Luke 22, 38, and they said, Lord, look, here are two swords. And He said to them, it is enough. So here's the disciples. They present two swords. In fact, the picture I got here looks like two kitchen knives to me. But anyway, here's two swords, because that actually would have been a longer sword than what they show. But here are two swords. So these guys are getting way sidetracked on the sword thing, right?

We've got two, and Jesus says that's enough. Not just two is enough for twelve people, but we're not going to go there. We're not going to talk about that. We've got many more important things to cover here. He told them a great many more things that night, and almost all of it Almost all of it was way over their head. They did not understand. It was only later that the Holy Spirit would have them recall. That's John 14, 26. And understand the things that He had said. So that would be the Holy Spirit's work in later times to come. You have on page 4 a map like this. We're going to be walking kind of our way through it.

What's interesting is from here until the time of the resurrection, Everything that happens will be in or very close to Jerusalem. All the events will be in or very close to Jerusalem in what's now called the Old City. Golgotha is pointed out there. Golgotha was a part of a quarry where the quarry material was not as good a quality so they just left it there and so it made a mound or a hill within the quarry and it was quite close to all the rest of Jerusalem there.

It's now inside the city walls which is why you see newer walls kind of showed in gray there. So we're going to be walking our way through this upper room is in the lower left corner. And so they're going to be going from there over to Gethsemane, which is there kind of just above the middle and on the right. And so they're going to be making that trip pretty soon.

The events that we're going to see all happen within this small area. There will be amazing, I would say stunning and astounding things that we're going to be looking at here over these next several weeks as we examine what happened that night and in the several days that followed.

One of the things to think about though is in all these things we were identified with him in his crucifixion, in his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, and his seating. We were not identified with Him there at that Last Supper, were we? We were specifically identified with Him in these things. So Jesus, though He's going to be crucified in a very short period of time, that's the beginning of our identification with Him. These things that lead up to it are very important for us to know about and great truths are brought out. But in these things, we were identified. We were with Him. And four of those happened in or near Jerusalem. The last one being seated in the heavenlies with Him. Let's pray.

Lord, as we anticipate what is about to happen here in this Gospel of Luke account, we just are so thankful for what You have done. And like Peter, We may think we're ready for things, but we know it's only your preparation, your work in our hearts and minds and lives that can make us ready for anything. And we do give you thanks for that preparation. We thank you for your work among us and in us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.