Luke 22:1-23 - The Son of Man is Going

Introduction

The title of last week’s sermon was The Son of Man Comes and the title of our sermon this morning is The Son of Man is Going.

In our passage last week, Jesus spoke of His return. He said in Luke 21:27…

Luke 21:27 NASB95

27 “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

But before the Son of Man can come, He must go. Before He can return from Heaven after His resurrection and ascension, He must go to the cross.

Indeed, in our passage this morning, the Son of Man is only hours away from going to the cross.

[READING - Luke 22:1-23]

Luke 22:1–23 NASB95

1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. 2 The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. 3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. 5 They were glad and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd. 7 Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.” 9 They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” 10 And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters. 11 “And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 12 “And he will show you a large, furnished upper room; prepare it there.” 13 And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. 14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and 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.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. 21 “But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. 22 “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” 23 And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] The Jewish festival of Passover recalled and celebrated the final plague on Egypt when God’s wrath passed over.

The people of God who were protected by the blood of the lamb from the wrath of God.

But the wrath of God killed the firstborn of the Egyptians who were enslaving God’s people.

The Passover was also called the feast of unleavened bread because only unleavened bread was eaten the week after Passover.

The festival was to take place on the 14th day of the first month of the Jewish calendar.

The Passover lamb was to be selected on the 10th day of that month and sacrificed, prepared, and eaten on the 14th day.

During the Passover we read about in Luke 22, large crowds would gather in Jerusalem to celebrate.

But before celebration, there was preparation.

There was preparation of the lamb and everything that went with it.

There was preparation of the place in which the Passover meal would be eaten.

And there was preparation of the soul—or at least there should’ve been—as God’s gracious deliverance was commemorated.

What we see here in Luke 22 is preparation, but its not the kind of preparation that would accompany a normal Passover.

Here we see religious leaders prepare to murder Jesus, and we see Jesus prepare His disciples for His sacrifice upon the cross.

May prayer this morning is that God would use this passage to prepare us to love anew His saving deliverance in Jesus.

[TS] I want you to notice three PREPARATIONS in these verses…

Major Ideas

PREPARATION #1: Preparation for Murder (Luke 22:1-6)

[Exp] As Passover approached, Judas sought to betray Jesus, which provided the chief priests and scribes the opportunity to put Him to death.

Notice their preparation to murder Jesus was satanic (v. 3).

Luke 22:3 NASB95

3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.

Satan is the enemy of God, the chief of those fallen angels who rebelled against God. In sinful insanity, Satan desired the throne of God, the place of God—that is to say, he desired the death of God. Little wonder then that we find Satan inspiring Judas to betray Jesus—God in the flesh—to the death.

Notice their preparation was sadistic (vv. 4-5).

Luke 22:4–5 NASB95

4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. 5 They were glad and agreed to give him money.

The chief priests and officers were glad to have the opportunity to murder Jesus. They delighted in the thought of subjecting Him to cruelty.

Notice their preparation for murder involved seclusion (v. 6).

Luke 22:6 NASB95

6 So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.

Judas would seek to betray Him in some secluded spot—ultimately the garden of Gethsemane—a place apart from the crowd because the chief priests and scribes were afraid of the people who held Jesus to be a prophet.

[Illus] Be moved by our Lord’s innocence as you consider the forces of evil that gathered against Him.

You recall a man named Naboth in the OT who had a vineyard that the wicked King Ahab wanted. Ahab pouted, and his wicked wife, Jezebel, conspired with other wicked men to falsely accuse Naboth.

Naboth was innocent.

Ahab wanted his vineyard.

So they prepared to murder him.

And eventually they did.

Jesus was innocent.

But Satan wanted His throne, the chief priests wanted his popularity, and Judas wanted his money.

So they prepared to murder him.

And eventually they did.

[App] This is really a very simple principle that we still at work all the time in the world today: people want something that rightfully belongs to Jesus so they get rid of Jesus to get it.

Really that thing that people want is supreme authority. They want determine wisdom and foolishness for themselves. They want to distinguish good and bad, right and wrong, truth and error for themselves.

But all this belongs to Jesus who determines what is wise and foolish, good and bad, right and wrong, truth and error.

Essentially, people want to be the supreme authority over their lives. They want to be their own lords.

But of course you have to get rid of the Lord Jesus in order to be the lord over your own life.

As they prepared together, Satan, the chief priests, and Judas thought they could get rid of the Lord Jesus. And as Jesus hung on the cross, they no doubt thought, “We’ve done it!”

But they’ll soon learn that there is no getting rid of the Lord Jesus.

His resurrection will prove it.

Perhaps today you think that you’ve done away with the Lord Jesus so you can live in anyway you desire.

Perhaps you think you’ve done it through…

…atheism - you say you don’t believe in any god whatsoever.

…agnosticism - you say you can’t be sure there’s a god so why think about it much.

…alternative religions - you’ve decided to believe something else so you can live any way you want.

…alteration of Jesus - you’ve redefined and reformed Jesus so that now he lets you do anything you desire.

But none of this will work.

Like Satan, the chief priests, and Judas, you’ll soon find out that there is no getting rid of the Lord Jesus no matter what you do.

[TS] …

PREPARATION #2: Preparation for Passover (Luke 22:7-13)

[Exp] On the first day of Unleavened Bread Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare for the Passover meal. They found everything just as Jesus said.

The Passover lamb had to be sacrificed and eaten, but notice especially the secrecy with which the upper room was arranged.

Luke 22:9–13 NASB95

9 They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” 10 And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters. 11 “And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 12 “And he will show you a large, furnished upper room; prepare it there.” 13 And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

Some think that Jesus used His divine power to miraculously arrange all this and others think that Jesus just set it up in advance.

In any event, it was ordained by God and set up in this clandestine way to temporarily avoid the crowds that favored Jesus and those who were preparing to murder Him.

But especially notice that they found everything just as He had told them.

Indeed, everything had always been just as Jesus told them.

When He went to the cross, that was just as He told them.

When He was raised, the angel said, “He is not here; He has risen just as He said.”

At no point was there ever anything that wasn’t just as He had told them.

The man with the water was just as He told them.

The house and owner was just as He told them.

The upper room was just as He told them.

[Illus] Think about what an encouragement this would’ve been to the disciples just a little later when they were once again in that upper room afraid, praying, and wondering what to do next.

The book of Acts opens with Jesus’ ascension to Heaven and His promise to send the Holy Spirit upon them.

And of course in Acts 2, we see the Holy Spirit come upon them just as He had told them.

And once the Holy Spirit came upon them, the time for secrecy was over. The Passover Lamb had been slain! By believing, the disciples had partaken of Him! And now the time for proclamation had come!

So they preached Christ crucified and resurrected and thousands believed!

[App] If you believe in the Lord Jesus this morning; if you’ve staked your life on His death and resurrection, then you too have partaken of the Passover Lamb! You too have been filled with the Holy Spirit! And you too can share the good news of the risen, reigning, and returning Jesus with the rest of the world!

If we do that, then when day when He comes will be able to say, “See, there He is… just as He said.”

PREPARATION #3: Preparation for Sacrifice (Luke 22:14-23)

[Exp] Through the Passover supper, Jesus prepared His disciples to understand the sacrifice He was about to make. What did Jesus want them to understand?

He wanted them to understand that this meal would not be their last one together.

Luke 22:14–18 NASB95

14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

Jesus told them that He was headed to the cross, but they found that hard to believe. Even so, Jesus had never been wrong about anything else, so there’s no doubt that they were confused, alarmed, and even scared during this Passover meal.

If Jesus was crucified, what would that mean? What would they do? Would they ever see Him again?

Jesus comforted His disciples in the Gospel of John by saying…

John 14:1–3 NASB95

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Here in Luke, Jesus comforted His disciples by pointing to the fulfillment of the Passover symbols—bread and win; symbols fully and finally fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

[App] The Bible says that we are saved and that we are being saved. This means that although our salvation has been accomplished and applied, it will be made fully manifest when the kingdom of God is made fully manifest.

Jesus will come again, the Kingdom of God will be fully realized, and we will recline with Jesus at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and then Jesus will once again eat of the bread and drink of the vine that represent the salvation He won for us.

Until then, we look forward to that day.

Until then, we look on these elements and know that He will come and eat with us once again.

He wanted them to understand and remember the sacrifice He was about to make for them.

Luke 22:19–20 NASB95

19 And when He had taken some bread and 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.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

The bread which Jesus shared with His disciples represented His body which would be given for them at the cross.

The wine which Jesus shared with His disciples represented His blood which would be poured out for them at the cross.

They were sinners who deserved God’s wrath, but Jesus was the one and only Savior who took that wrath upon Himself at the cross.

After the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were to look on this bread and wine and remember with thanksgiving what the Lord had done for them.

[App] In observing the Lord’s Supper we look forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb but we also look back with thanksgiving on what the Lord has done for us in His death and resurrection.

As you eat the bread this morning, remember Jesus body given for you at the cross.

As you drink the juice this morning, remember Jesus blood poured out for you at the cross.

And remember His body and His blood with thanksgiving.

He wanted them to understand the will of God.

Luke 22:21–23 NASB95

21 “But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. 22 “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” 23 And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.

It was of course Judas who was going to do this thing. Judas had already agreed to betray Jesus, and He was going to make that sin into perhaps the greatest of all sins when he followed through and led the religious leaders to the Garden of Gethsemane in order to arrest Jesus.

But this was the will of God—“For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined...”

Judas would be guilty of betraying Jesus, but God used that great sin to bring salvation to all those who believe.

[App] It was the will of God to sacrifice His Son for our salvation.

It was the will of God to crucify His Son for our salvation.

It was the will of God to love us so that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Through this passage on the Passover supper, Jesus prepares us to understand and remember His sacrifice.

It is a sign pointing us to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

It a reminder of what Jesus has done for us.

It a proclamation of God’s love (His will) toward those of us who believe.

Conclusion

[Observance of Lord’s Supper]