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6) Luke 22:1–6: Passover memorializes Israel’s deliverance from the final plague upon the gods of Egypt (Num 33:1–4).[1]
At that time the Lord’s angel of death passed over the homes covered by the blood of lambs and spared Israel’s firstborn sons (Exod 12:1–14).[2]
Due to the deaths of many of their people, the Egyptians begged the Israelites to leave. This ended their enslavement (Exod 12:33–36).[3]
Soon, Jesus would fully achieve the salvation that feast day commemorates (1 Cor 5:7).[4]
As one of three required festivals in God’s presence, the population of Jerusalem swelled from about 70,000 to 250,000 each year during Passover (Exod 23:14–17).[5]
Since the festival embodied themes of national liberation, those gatherings could provoke civil disturbances, upsetting the leaders of the Roman occupation.[6]
Therefore, Christ’s opponents acted secretly to keep the throngs of festival pilgrims ignorant of their actions.[7]
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However, these were not merely human schemes. Satan himself intervened,[8] although he had always been lurking in the shadows (Luke 4:12–13; Luke 22:31–33; John 8:37–44).[9]
When one of Christ’s disciples decided to defect, popularity with the people would no longer protect Jesus from the religious leaders.[10]
Judas seems to have experienced satanic direction and influence,[11] rather than outright possession.[12]
Thus, the right moment Judas sought to betray Jesus coincided with Satan’s own strategy.[13]
Once the religious leaders involved the Roman government, they completed the trinity of evil set against Jesus.[14]
Ironically, those who appeared to control Jesus’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion did not. Christ permitted them to proceed.
Not only did he know what Judas was doing,[15] Jesus wielded enough power to frustrate their plans (Matt 26:20–25, 48–54).
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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Read Luke 22:1–6. What role did the serpent play in the betrayal of Christ? How can we avoid participating in Satan’s schemes?
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Go to A Most Cruel and Ignominious Punishment (Matt 27:26–37)
[Related posts include The First Good News (Gen 3:15); Blood Given for You (Matt 26:26‒28); and Redemption through Christ’s Blood (Eph 1:7–8)]
[Click here to go to Chapter 7: The Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:14–15)]
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[1]David E. Garland, Luke (ZECNT; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 845.
[2]Darrell L. Bock, Luke (NIVAC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 545.
[3] Garland, Luke, 845.
[4] Bock, Luke, 545.
[5] Osborne, Matthew, 755–6.
[6]Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 752–3.
[7]John Nolland, Luke 18:35–24:53 (WBC; Dallas: Word, 1998), 1030.
[8] Green, The Gospel of Luke, 752.
[9] Garland, Luke, 845.
[10] Nolland, Luke 18:35–24:53, 1029.
[11] Bock, Luke, 545.
[12] Nolland, Luke 18:35–24:53, 1029.
[13] Green, The Gospel of Luke, 753.
[14] Garland, Luke, 845.
[15] Bock, Luke, 544.
Redemptive History and Theology 