Luke 22 Part 4

47. And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.

Before the Lord has finished speaking, a multitude arrives. In most plays and movies that are made depicting this, there is a group of soldiers that arrive, but nothing like a multitude. Indeed, I have never seen pictured even close to the number that is actually described here by this word “multitude.” This was a very large crowd indeed of His enemies, come out to try to capture Him once and for all.

Most depictions of this make these men to be largely Roman soldiers. Yet none of the four gospels actually says that there were even any Roman soldiers present. What we do see in all four gospels is rather a crowd of followers of the chief priests and Pharisees. Although Israel was not allowed an army, there was a strong and able temple guard, and it was no doubt these men whom the enemies of our Lord sent after Him en masse to arrest Him in the garden.

Luke 22 Part 3

31. And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

The Lord now speaks to Peter, calling him by his given name of Simon. (Remember that the Lord gave him the name of Peter.) He repeats his name twice. The Companion Bible calls this the figure Epizeuxis, or Duplication. The Lord seems to use it when gently but sternly offering warning or rebuke. That is certainly the case here.

The Lord reveals to Simon that Satan has made request for him. This recalls to our minds the story in the book of Job, wherein Satan comes to the LORD and requests of Him the ability to do certain things to Job. The Lord is revealing here that Satan has done the same thing in this case.

Now the way this reads in the New King James, we might imagine that Satan’s request was only for Peter himself, and that he was hoping to snare Peter especially along with Judas in the events that were to come. However, this impression is left by the current weakness of the English language, which does not specify between a singular and a plural “you.” In Greek here, the word “you” is plural, and it is masculine. We might make this, then, “Satan has asked for you men.” In other words, the Lord is not just telling Peter that Satan had asked Him to be able to sift him personally as wheat, but rather that Satan had asked to be able to do this to all the disciples.

Luke 22 Part 2

17. Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves;

Here we come upon the next element of the Passover after the lamb, which was the Passover cup. The three essential elements of the Passover are outlined in Exodus 12:8.

8. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Notice that the third element listed here is “bitter herbs,” yet the word “herbs” is in italics.

Luke 22

1. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.

These two are not the same feast, but since the one led right into the other, they were often called by the same name, and one name was used to refer to both feasts. They were not very technical about this, just like we are not very technical about what we call “Christmas,” and sometimes seem to call the entire month of December after this name. Therefore, we have to carefully consider the context to know what is being spoken of.

According to Exodus 12, on the tenth day of the month, which was the month Abib (sometimes called Nisan), they were to choose a lamb for the Passover. Then on Abib 14th, they were to slay the lamb at twilight (the start of a new day according to their reckoning). This was the day of Passover. Then on Abib 15th through the 21st was the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first and last days of this feast, Abib 15th and 21st, were special feast Sabbaths. We can see this in summary in Leviticus 23:4-8.

Luke 21 Continued

20. “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.

At this time, they will see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. These will be the forces of the anti-Christ, coming to break his agreement with them, and to stop the temple worship, instead setting himself up as God in the temple. When they see these armies compassing the city, then they will know that its desolation is near.

Many have noted that there was a seeming fulfillment of this prophecy about forty years after Christ said these words, when Israel was invaded by the Roman army under General Titus. He did surround the city of Jerusalem, and that was indeed a sign that its desolation was near, for Titus leveled the city to the ground. It certainly would have been good in those days for all those in Judea who believed in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to do exactly what it says in the following verse. That is, not to enter into Jerusalem to weather the siege, but rather to flee to the hills. The devastation that took place in the city was terrible, and it was far better for them to be nowhere near it.

Luke 21

1. And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,

Though we did not learn earlier where the spies who came to question Him first encountered the Lord, and where this contest between them took place, now we discover that the location was in the temple, and that they were near the place where men brought their gifts to the treasury. It seems the Lord pauses His teaching for a bit and watches as the rich bring their gifts. It is thought that the custom of these men was to bring their gifts in coin, and to give as much of this coin as possible so it made a great noise as they poured it in abundance into the box used for collecting it. Those who stood by would hear this great noise, and would be impressed with the giver’s generosity. However, this seems to fit right in with the kind of hypocritical showmanship that the Lord was just condemning in the previous two verses.

Luke 20 Part 3

27.  Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him,

It seems that, the spies having failed, the Sadducees decide to take their shot at Christ. The Sadducees were a sect that did not believe in resurrection. They seem to have believed that a person would live his life, die, and that would be the end of him. As such, the only reason to serve God would be because it benefits us in this life, since there is no benefit in the life to come. The result of such a philosophy is seen in the Sadducees, in that they believed in living this life “to the fullest.” These were the moral liberals of the day, and were only tolerated by the morally conservative Pharisees. Yet it seems that all the leaders, liberal or conservative, had a common goal in attempting to trap the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 20 Part 2

9. Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.

Now the Lord turns to the people and begins to tell them a parable. However, even though He addresses this to the people, it is nevertheless a parable against the leaders whom He has just spoken to and who are still present to hear it.

In this parable, He speaks of a landowner who plants a vineyard. This would have been a very common thing to do, for Israel was a good country for grapes, and the making of wine and other products made from grapes was a very profitable enterprise in that land. Now this owner, having planted a vineyard, seems to be uninterested in maintaining it himself. Either that, or else other, more pressing business arises to which he must attend. At any rate, he goes into a far country for a long time. Not willing to leave his vineyard untended during this time, he leases it out to certain vinedressers. The agreement is that they are to keep the vineyard in his absence. No doubt they are to receive a certain amount of its fruits for themselves in payment for their labors, but they are also to render a percentage of the fruits of this vineyard back to the owner upon request.

Luke 20

1. Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him

Now we move forward to one of those days between His arrival in Jerusalem and the Passover. Remember that the lamb or kid that was to be used for the Passover was to be chosen on the tenth of the month, but it was not to be killed until the fourteenth day of the same month. Thus there was this preparation time for the Passover when all was in waiting. Now, the Lord has been presented to all the people and shown to be without blemish, and so He has been chosen by God to be His sacrifice. Now, all must wait until the actual day of Passover arrives, and the Lord’s great sacrifice can be made. During one of these days of waiting, this event takes place.

Luke 19 Part 3

28. When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Now the Lord Jesus leaves Zacchaeus’s house, if indeed He had not done this already, and continues on His way to Jerusalem. This is described as “going up” because the road from Jericho to Jerusalem ascended. For us today with our automobile-centered society, we might think of “up” as “north,” but this was not the case in a culture that traveled with their feet.