Luke 22:1-13. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 24, 2016.
Today we are going to return to our study through Luke of the True Jesus. We left off at the beginning of Luke 22 and the last week of Jesus before his crucifixion. Here we have a passage that begins to set up the betrayal of Jesus.
Although it is important to recognize the involvement of the Romans in the death of Jesus, it is the religious and political leaders of Israel that betrayed him. Thus Jesus was betrayed by his own people. This is not a statement against the Israeli people, but recognition of a horrible act. Both Israelis and Gentiles are pronounced as sinners in need of salvation by the Law of Moses. Just as the nations of the world had betrayed God by casting off the truth and embracing deceptions, so we see the nation of Israel officially betraying the messiah for whom they were waiting. It should be no surprise to us today that these things are still true. All nations insist that God bless their plans, but none have leadership that are totally submitted to God.
In verse 2 we are shown part of the source to their betrayal. The leaders “feared the people.” These leaders were playing politics. They wanted to kill Jesus and yet his popularity made such a proposition particularly sensitive. They wanted to figure out how they could get what they want and still have the people on their side. This is at the heart of all wicked politics. It is a manipulation that diminishes the people to being only a means to an end. This is why ethics and morality are so important in our leaders. If those who seek to be our leaders have betrayed people in their lives that they were supposed to love or were close to, then how much more will they betray the rest of the nation? John 12:42 tells us that “even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” This fear of people exists not just towards the populace, but also within the group of leaders itself. When we treat our decisions as a type of scientific endeavor to get what I want without upsetting the applecart, we set ourselves and our nation up for disaster. It was fear of one another that kept many good men from speaking up. Instead they went along with a horrible travesty of justice as the Lord Jesus was crucified.
They also feared losing the power and authority that they held over the people. We see this in John 11:48, “If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” You should take notice which comes first, “our place,” and then “nation.” When we operate out of a fear of people we allow ourselves to become a tool of Satan. However, the answer is not simply to refrain from fearing people. If we only quit fearing people then we can become a tyrant who does not care for them. Rather, we are to fear God in our dealings with those under our leadership. We operate for their good, but not at their whim. It is the fear of God’s judgment of our leadership that is a guardrail to a leader. Even better than that is to love God’s ways. When a leader loves the ways of God, they will lay themselves and their designs down in order to better serve the people.
Now the leaders of Israel are a warning to us and a picture of what we are like. This is not about an us versus them, Gentile versus Jew, issue. All humans have the same sinful nature. No matter how much knowledge of God we have or how little, we are still corruptible. Yet, the good news is that we are also still redeemable. Picture if Jesus were to come to America today as the savior of America and the world. Would our leaders really lay down their positions at his feet and invite him to rule? Hardly! He would be attacked in the press and legal system until he was removed from the situation. Christ is the supreme challenge from heaven to all men and all nations. He is also the sublime offer of grace to them as well.
Within the larger betrayal of the nation’s leaders, is the individual betrayal of one of the close disciples of Jesus. Judas is one of the top 12 disciples and was clearly picked by Jesus. Yet, we see in verse 3 that Satan was involved in what Judas did. Judas was not the real enemy of Jesus. It was Satan all along. Satan was working through the mind and heart of Judas. Judas had somehow become a puppet under the manipulation of a spiritual enemy. How had this happened?
It says that Satan entered Judas. This isn’t the normal language of demonic possession. However, Judas had left the door open for Satan to enter his mind and heart. It is questionable whether Judas ever had a moment of repentance and true desire to be a disciple of the way of Jesus. Most likely he saw Jesus as a means of getting into a powerful position. Much like investing in a new company brings the ability to strike it rich, so he most likely saw Jesus as an investment. If I get in early then I will have a powerful position later. We are also told that Judas was put in charge of the money bag and that he would often steal money from it. Clearly this was told to them by Jesus later. Giving in to such fleshly appetites as power and money will open the door for spiritual forces to manipulate us. Ephesians 4:26-27 warns, “Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” Notice that anger and our giving in to sin can “give place” or open the door to the devil. Some versions translate it as giving a foothold to the devil. When we reject the way of Jesus and instead think and act in ways to satisfy what our flesh wants, we will end up becoming a tool of Satan. Don’t give him any space or a foothold in your life.
It was Matthew Henry, a Presbyterian minister of the late 1600’s who said that “it is hard to say whether more mischief is done by the power and policy of open enemies, or by the treachery and self-seeking of pretended friends.” Here we see both, open enemies and a pretended friend, colluding together in order to take down Jesus the messiah, all along professing a desire for the messiah to come. This is critical to see. We often crucify the real Jesus while professing to want Jesus. That is because the Jesus we want is false, a figment of our imagination. These same dynamics continue today. There are those who parade themselves as disciples of Christ, but they are enemies of the cross. They only serve an idol of their own making and slap a “Jesus” label on it. It is only those who stick with the true Jesus who will come out the other side of such betrayals.
In the midst of all this betrayal Jesus is still in control. Verses 7-13 show us that Jesus has a plan that is not afraid of such betrayals. He lays out exact details for his disciples to follow in order to prepare for his last supper with them. Notice the phrase that they found it “just as he had said to them.” Everything was just as Jesus had told them. Jesus didn’t give them instructions on snuffing out Judas, or going public about the collusion of the leaders. Rather, Jesus has an agenda for His disciples that has nothing to do with these betrayers. This is a real challenge for us today.
We should not be surprised that things are just as our Lord told us they would be. Chapter 21 of Luke involved the prophecies of our Lord regarding what the Church would experience in the first century, the centuries since, and at His Second Coming. He told us that we would be hated by ALL nations for His sake. He told us that all of mankind would betray the Lord. The leaders of the world are following the script of Psalm 2 as they betray the one to whom all leadership belongs. All the while, many professing Christians have betrayed the Lord. This is not a question. What is a question is what will you do? Will you join the betrayal? Or, will you be doing what Jesus has told you to do? The world today is under the influence of Satan. He has manipulated leaders by fear of people and fear of one another. Christians are under great stresses that are intended to open doors for the devil in our hearts and mind. We can only stand against such attacks and keep from giving entrance to Satan by trusting our Lord and keeping focused on what He has told us to do. Let us proclaim the good news of the Kingdom. And, let us grow in learning to love one another with the true love that is submitted to the ways of Jesus, as opposed to the false love that is submitted to the ways of the world. Take heart. The Lord Jesus is in control. Those who betray Him will end up with nothing and those who remain faithful to Him will be brought through the fire that lies ahead.