Bible Studies From The Daily Office Thursday, December 12, 2024

The Collect:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings:

Psalm 37:1–18

Isaiah 7:1–9

Gospel: Luke 22:1–13

1 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

2 And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.

3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.

5 And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.

6 And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

8 And he sent Peter and John, saying,Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

9 And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?

10 And he said unto them,Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.

11And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

12And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.

13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

Commentary:

The Gospel writer establishes the time of these events leading up to the betrayal and arrest of Jesus as being just before the observance of Passover. For those new to Bible study, Passover was a major Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

“Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.” (v. 1)

“According to the Book of Exodus, God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and mark their doorframes with its blood, in addition to instructions for consuming the lamb that night. For that night, God would send the Angel of Death to bring about the tenth plague, in which he would smite all the firstborn in Egypt. But when the angel saw the blood on the Israelites’ doorframes, he would pass over their homes so that the plague should not enter (hence the name.) The story is part of the broader Exodus narrative, in which the Israelites, while living in Egypt, are enslaved en masse by the Pharaoh to suppress them; when Pharaoh refuses God’s demand to let them go, God sends ten plagues upon Egypt. After the tenth plague, Pharaoh permits the Israelites to leave.” (Wiki)

Being a Pilgrimage Festival, Jesus and all other observant Jews were bound by the tenets of their religion, to make their way to Jerusalem in order to celebrate this event. Therefore the city would have been absolutely overflowing with people, all looking for places to stay for the weekend.

“And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.” (v. 2-6)

Having established the time and scene of the crime, the writer, moved on to the crime itself, the betrayal of our Lord and savior, Jesus of Nazareth.

As we have discussed time and time again, in our all too human nature, in our minds we visualize Jesus and only his twelve disciple traveling from town to town, healing the sick and preaching “Repent for Kingdom of God is at Hand!” However, we we take note of the nuances in the scripture, we find that there were as many as 72 others, disciples themselves, but not of the core original twelve. In addition to these disciples or students, the Gospel writers make mention of “great multitudes” that often followed Jesus and the twelve from place to place.

We must also take note of the fact that at this time in presumably the third year of Jesus’ ministry, his reputation had spread far and wide, so that a significant number of people—even among the full time residents of Jerusalem—admired this itinerant prophet from Nazareth. So much so that the Chief Priests and Scribes: “they feared the people…” To take Jesus under arrest in a public place, would have invited destruction upon those sent to take him into custody.

“Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. ” Many have wondered about the motives of Judas; some have even said that he might have had a noble motive, such as wanting to put Jesus in circumstances where He had to show Himself as Messiah. The Bible indicates no such praiseworthy intention.

“Satan prompted and perhaps even guided Judas in his crime. This does not diminish Judas’ personal responsibility because none of this was done against the will of Judas, but with it. This shows that the real enemy of Jesus was Satan, even more than Judas was an enemy.” (Guzik)

“A treacherous disciple joining in with them, and coming to their assistance, Judas surnamed Iscariot. He is here said to be of the number of the twelve, that dignified distinguished number. One would wonder that Christ, who knew all men, should take a traitor into that number, and that one of that number, who could not but know Christ, should be so base as to betray him; but Christ had wise and holy ends in taking Judas to be a disciple, and how he who knew Christ so well yet came to betray him we are here told: Satan entered into Judas, v. 3. It was the devil’s work, who thought hereby to ruin Christ’s undertaking, to have broken his head; but it proved only the bruising of his heel. Whoever betrays Christ, or his truths or ways, it is Satan that puts them upon it. Judas knew how desirous the chief priests were to get Christ into their hands, and that they could not do it safely without the assistance of some that knew his retirements, as he did. He therefore went himself, and made the motion to them, v. 4. Note, It is hard to say whether more mischief is done to Christ’s kingdom by the power and policy of its open enemies, or by the treachery and self-seeking of its pretended friends: nay, without the latter its enemies could not gain their point as they do. When you see Judas communing with the chief priests, be sure some mischief is hatching; it is for no good that they are laying their heads together.” (Henry)

“It may well be that Judas followed Jesus from selfish motives, expecting to receive a position of great status and prestige when Jesus came triumphantly to Jerusalem as Messiah. When Jesus came and it was evident that He was not going to be the kind of Messiah Judas had hoped for, he may have lashed out against Jesus and opened this door to Satan out of spite. Jesus didn’t give Judas what his selfish heart wanted, so Judas felt his ties to Jesus were broken. In essence, Judas may have said, ‘You betrayed me by not being the kind of Messiah I wanted. So I will betray You.’” (Guzik)

Indeed, Judas’ heart was probably not in the right place to begin with. Consider John 12:1-8 which reads: “Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus,Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. ”

Returning to today’s selected verses; “And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.” The enemies of Christ covenanted, or entered into a contract with Judas, to make one of history’s most infamous betrayals. After traveling with Jesus these past three years, Judas knew his master’s ways, he knew that Jesus would want to have a private dinner with his closest friends just before the time of fasting during Passover, and he knew of how Jesus always took time to retire to a private place to pray and commune with his Father in Heaven. What better time and place to betray Jesus than in a garden late at night when the public was asleep.

“Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying,Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.” (vs. 7-8)

“This must have been a very moving commemoration for Jesus. Passover remembers the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, which was the central act of redemption in the Old Testament. Jesus now provided a new center of redemption to be remembered by a new ceremonial meal.” (Guzik)

“And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them,Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.” (vs. 9-10)

We must always remember, as we read accounts of times so long ago, the traditions and culture was—in most cases—far different that that of our own contemporary society. Here we see a prime example, in that it would have been unusual, for a man to be seen in public, carrying a pitcher of water. This was a task normally reserved for a woman or a girl, but yet Jesus has prior knowledge of such an out of normal occurrence, and tells Peter and John to watch for this sign.

“And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee,” (v. 11a) “The scene here implies secrecy, and Jesus had good reason to quietly make arrangements for Passover. He didn’t want Judas to betray Him before He could give a final talk to the disciples.” (Guzik)

As all four Gospels reveal, this final meal with his core group of students, those he would leave in charge of the continuance of his ministry, would not have a time for food and refreshment, but for a final teaching, a final discourse before his betrayal. Jesus did not want any plans made beforehand, presumably by the betrayer himself, Judas, or any other treacherous person, to inform the authorities who might show up and arrest all of them.

“Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.” (vs. 11b-13)

“…where I shall eat the passover with my disciples …”

“The mention of Passover brings up complicated issues of the precise calendar chronology of these events. The main complicating issue is that Matthew, Mark, and Luke present this meal Jesus will have with His disciples as the Passover meal – normally eaten with lamb which was sacrificed on the day of Passover with a great ceremony at the temple. Yet John seems to indicate that the meal took place before the Passover (John 13:1), and that Jesus was actually crucified on the Passover (John 18:28).” (Guzik)

“Possibly the best explanation is that there were different calendars in use. Jesus died as the Passover victims were being slain according to the official calendar; but he had held the Passover with his followers the previous evening, according to an unofficial calendar.” (Morris)

“It is a common opinion that our Lord ate the Passover some hours before the Jews ate it; for the Jews, according to custom, ate theirs at the end of the fourteenth day, but Christ ate his the preceding even, which was the beginning of the same sixth day, or Friday; the Jews begin their day at sunsetting, we at midnight. Thus Christ ate the Passover on the same day with the Jews, but not on the same hour.” (Clarke)

“Passover starts on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which is considered the first month of the Hebrew year. The Rabbinical Jewish calendar is adjusted to align with the solar calendar in such a way that 15 Nisan always coincides with Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. The Hebrew day starts and ends at sunset, so the holiday starts at sunset the day before. For example, in 2024, 15 Nisan coincides with Tuesday, April 23. Therefore, Pesach starts at sundown on Monday, April 22.”

Being a “movable” feast, one celebrated on different dates depending on the season, and that John reports a slightly different sequence of events from that of the other Gospel writers, one can certainly understand why these is such a great difference of opinion regarding which day Jesus actually ate the Last Supper.

Perhaps a more substantial point to reflect upon is that during Passover, it was traditional to eat a roasted lamb, but none of the Gospel writers mention such being a part of the menu that fateful night. Perhaps Jesus planned it this way so that he would be remembered for all time, as the ultimate sacrificial lamb. “According to the Book of Exodus, God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and mark their doorframes with its blood,” Just as the blood of an innocent lamb sparred the lives of the first born children of the Israelite people so long ago in Egypt, the blood of Christ now shields those who believe in him.

Benediction

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen