Luke 22: 1-23, The Upper Room

The 22nd chapter of Luke is a long (71-verse) chapter on the last meeting of Jesus with his disciples, followed by his capture by the followers of the High Priest.  Because of its length we will take three days to read through Luke 22.

Luke 22: 1-6, Judas
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 

 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

For some reason, Judas has given up on Jesus and is eager to betray him.  There are hints at his motives; Judas is identified elsewhere as greedy and a thief.  So money certainly offers an incentive. Others have pointed out that Judas was probably a Zealot, that is, a radical who wanted Rome overthrown.  Yet his Messiah was not headed in that direction.

Luke 22: 7-12, The upper room

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

"Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.

He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, `The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there."

The upper room most likely belonged to the family of John Mark.

Luke 22: 13-23, The Passover Lamb
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. 

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

"But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."

They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

At the end of the two symbols of bread and cup, Jesus let's them know that he will be betrayed that night.

Every Sunday, as I take the bread and cup, I am grateful that the Passover Lamb, the Messiah of Jews, offered his body and blood for me.

Luke 21, The Destruction of the Temple and the Last Days

Jesus is teaching in Jerusalem during Passover Week.

Luke 21 : 1-4, A poor woman draws Jesus' attention
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Jesus continues to observe the poor.  The woman put into the treasure two lepta.  The Greek word lepton means "small" or "thin"; even the title of the coin argued for its little value.

The Old Testament tithe (ie., giving a tenth) is a simple idea, people were instructed to give a ratio of their wealth.  The poor give less; the rich more.  When I was a grad student making $4500 a year (!) a ten-percent gift would be only about $450 per year.  Years later, when I made $45,000/year, I planned to give at least the amount equal to my old salary.

But there is a stronger gift than the tithe.   Here the woman is not just giving 10% and struggling with the other 90%, but she is giving everything, enthusiastically throwing herself onto God.

Luke 21 : 5-24, The Destruction of Jerusalem
Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."

"Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"

He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am he,' and, `The time is near.' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."

Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

This will result in your being witnesses to them.

But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.

"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Much of the events described here did happen, in 70 CE, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.  Is this event described by Jesus the same one?  In the next paragraph, Jesus's description seems to morph into a new final event which has not yet occurred.

Luke 21: 25-28, Then Redemption
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

This event seems global, not local, spared far across the globe and ending with the Son of Man's final return.

Luke 21 : 29-33, Look for the approaching Kingdom of God
He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

Some of the events described by Jesus seemed to be for those in his audience, before the end of their lives.  But some of the events may be a foreshadowing of a greater, far off Redemption of the universe.

Luke 21: 34-36, Final warning
"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

As before, Jesus emphasizes a need for his followers to be ready, consistent, active and responsible in their waiting.

Luke 21: 37-38, Daily preaching in the temple
Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.

Note the reaction of the people.  They like to hear him; some arrive early in the morning just to do so. At this time there are probably several thousand people who consider themselves a follower of Jesus.

Throughout the Passover Week, Jesus speaks in Jerusalem, to Passover crowds, and then go back out to the Mount of Olives for the night.  So far the religious leaders have left him alone.  But that is about to end.

Luke 20: 27-47, Even More Tricky Questions

The religious leaders in Jerusalem are relentless in challenging Jesus with a series of tricky questions.

Luke 20: 27-39, Tricky question #3
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too.

Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.

But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord `the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

Some of the teachers of the law responded, "Well said, teacher!"

The Old Testament quote in verse 37 is from Exodus 3:6.

What Old Testament practice is the basis of this question? Is there a modern version of this question?

How does Jesus turn this question into a lesson? What is his point?

I find the leaders' response interesting.  Although some leaders (Saducees) were clearly not happy to have their beliefs challenged, a number of the leaders recognize the depth of Jesus's argument.  Jesus argues that the future age, after the resurrection of the dead, will be a very different age, with "old" things like marriage and societal structure replaced by a very different reality.  The Saducee argument against the resurrection was simplistic and superficial, without much thought. (I am reminded of the silly conundrum, "Can God make a stone so big he can't move it?"  This question was once given to me as proof God did not exist, and my reaction was simply to smile.)

Luke 20: 40-44, Tricky question #4
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Then Jesus said to them, "How is it that they say the Christ is the Son of David? David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: "`The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."'

David calls him `Lord.' How then can he be his son?"

This time it is Jesus who asks the tricky question!  Jesus is asking for an interpretation of a passage in Psalm 110 in which David appears to recognize the Messiah as his Lord even though the Messiah will be of the lineage of David.  How can the descendant of David also be the Messiah to whom God is speaking in David's time?

No answer is given by the Jewish leaders.  Luke expects us to recognize that this Christ is divine, having existed in David's time yet appearing in Jesus.

Why does Jesus raise this question here, in Jerusalem, before Passover?

Luke 20: 45-47, Summary
While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, "Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."

Does Jesus seem mild in this chapter?  His verbal responses are pretty sharp.

In the next chapter Jesus teaches on the destruction of Jerusalem.

Luke 20: 1-26, Tricky Questions

After Jesus enters Jerusalem, he endures a day of questions, during which time the religious leaders try to trap him.

Luke 20 : 1-8,Tricky question #1
One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?"

He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men?"

They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, `From heaven,' he will ask, `Why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, `From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet." So they answered, "We don't know where it was from."

Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

What is the dilemma that Jesus presents his interrogators?  Why does Jesus refuse to answer their questions? Shouldn't he tell them who he is?!

Luke 20 : 9-18, More on the rejection of Jesus
He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.

He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

"Then the owner of the vineyard said, `What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'

"But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. `This is the heir,' they said. `Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others."

When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!" Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "`The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

Jesus is quoting from Psalm 118: 22-23.

What is the reaction of the people to this parable? What is Jesus' final point? How does he do to communicate the seriousness of the story?

Luke 20: 19-26, Tricky question #2
The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"

"Caesar's," they replied. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

How do the teachers begin their questioning of Jesus? (Whose taxes do you pay?)

We will continue with the tricky questions tomorrow.

Luke 19: 28-48, The Long Anticipated Messiah

Jesus is approaching Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.  (He has just finished teaching a parable on faithful action while the king is away.)

Luke 19: 28-40, Jesus enters Jerusalem as the Messiah

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

They replied, “The Lord needs it.”  They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives,the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”  "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Bethpage and Bethany were "suburbs" of Jerusalem, outlying towns, within a few miles of the city.

The Old Testament passage of Zechariah 9:9 is fulfilled here and the crowd seems to be expecting this. One suggestion (See here, for example) is that the crowds were aware of a prophesy of Daniel, interpreting the 70 "weeks" of Daniel 9 as a timetable to the entrance of the Messiah in Jerusalem.

The phrased used by the crowd, "Bless is the king..." is from Psalm 118:26. It is clearly Messianic and angers the religious leaders. Jesus's response is confident, indeed arrogant. He makes it clear that the crowd is correct!

Luke 19: 40-44, Weeping over Jerusalem

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, about forty years after Jesus wept over the city.

Luke 19: 45-48, Driving out the temple merchants

When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’;but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 as he cleans out the temple.

The Jewish leaders have been conspiring against Jesus now for some time, but now that he is amongst them they are paralyzed by fear of the crowds.

Luke 19: 1-26, A tax collector and a returning ruler

At the end of chapter 9, Luke records Jesus's plans to go to Jerusalem, knowing that he will die there. But then, after that, Luke records a variety of teachings and events that occur, presumably along the way.  In chapter 19, we finally have the entrance of the Messiah into Jerusalem, this time to be the sacrificial lamb.

Luke 19: 1-10, Salvation comes to Zacchaeus

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The sacrificial Lamb of God is not out to reward people who have been successful but to restore people who are hurt.  (If Christianity is a crutch, as some claim, it is because people are broken and cannot walk on their own.  The followers of Jesus all need a Savior.)

Luke 19: 11-26, The parable of the minas

While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

“He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

“Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

“‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

According to the NIV Footnotes, a mina is about a typical three months wages.  In the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:14-30) there is a similar parable of the talents. For a discussion of the similarities and differences of these two parables, see this Wikipedia article.

I find this parable difficult.  It says a bit about being serious with what you have been entrusted and emphasizes the need to do this during a time of abandonment, when the ruler is out of sight and far away.