Text: Luke 21:37-38; Luke 22:1-18
Event(s): The plot to kill Jesus; Jesus and His disciples prepare the Passover
Luke 22:1-6 “The plot to kill Jesus” The Gospels have all made it quite clear what the motives of the religious and political leaders has been in killing Jesus. Now, it is clear that the motive of Judas was greed, a trait that had possessed him all along. John 12:6 records that he had been embezzling funds entrusted to him. Matthew’s account records Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver. The amount constituted a month’s wages, if the silver pieces were denarii, which seems likely. This small amount of money shows the light esteem with which the chief priests and Judas regarded Jesus.
Luke 22:7-13 “Jesus and His disciples prepare for Passover” The Jews slew their Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the Jewish month of Nisan (which corresponds with our March-April). They ate the meal after sundown. Sundown began the fifteenth of the month because according to Jewish calendars, each day begins at sundown, not at midnight like our days do. So in other words, the fourteenth of the month would have been Thursday until sundown. Verse 7 marks the transition to Thursday from Wednesday, the day on which Jesus had His controversy with the leaders in the temple and gave the Olivet Discourse we read in Matthew.
The plans for where they were to celebrate Passover remained confidential to avoid Jesus’ premature arrest. Remember how intense things were getting; the rulers were on the hunt for Jesus and they were now collaborating with their inside man, Judas, who was looking for an opportune time to turn Jesus in. Judas wouldn’t have known this location where the Passover meal was being prepared since Jesus disclosed it only to Peter and John. The area would have been packed with people coming from everywhere to celebrate Passover. So how would the disciples have known what to look for? This was an unknown location to them, and they would be led by an unusual sign. For it was customary for women to carry pitchers of water, not men (vs 10). Therefore, it would be very easy for the disciples to pick out in a crowded public area a man carrying a pitcher of water.
Luke 22:14-18 Jesus announced that He would eat with them “again” next in “the kingdom,” specifically at the messianic banquet when the kingdom comes in its fullness.
Today’s Takeaway: I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, seeing as over the next couple of days, our reading plan will include more about the meal and Jesus washing His disciples feet, etc. But what stands out to me today is all the pieces that had to come together and how one by one were being moved and positioned. The people involved, the place, the preparation that had to go into it, right down to the detail of looking for a man walking around with a pitcher of water on his head. God is so in control and Jesus was so in tune.
Additional (optional) reading: Parallel accounts of these events can be found in Matthew 26:14-29 and Mark 14:10-25
Linda G Riddle 