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LUKE CHAPTER 22 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Lk 22,1-6 (19c) Sin >> Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by demons – The Pharisees' plan was to remove the Lord from the social setting and do their business with Him apart from prying eyes to avoid witnesses that could testify against them. They separated Him from public knowledge, in the darkness, just like opportunistic monsters do today. The Pharisees were doing the work of Satan, suggesting that he cares what people think of him, because we can do something about him! The weakness of darkness is darkness itself; all it takes is a light switch in the "on" position and darkness is dispelled. Jesus boasted that He did all His works in public because He had nothing to hide and then said of His captors, “but this hour and the power of darkness are yours” (Lk 22-53). Does Satan have anything to hide? He has everything to hide if knowledge of his very existence is his greatest threat! He may be a powerful spirit, but people equipped with the knowledge of God are much more powerful than him and the demons that control this world. There are various shades of darkness just like there are various shades of light, and if Satan wants to advance to a darker shade of wickedness, then he must douse the light by normalizing his works; then he can manifest himself, but only to the level of society’s acceptance of him. His aim is to engrain wickedness and evil into culture, so that people will never question his ways, that he may continue his work in lowering the shade until he envelops the whole world in darkness too thick for mankind to stop him. This will culminate in the last days. See also: Satan is in bondage to sin; Jn 13,23-27; 65i (22b) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The idolatry of greed – Judas was a very complicated person from all the contrasting thoughts and emotions that must have run through his mind, having a 3-year past with Jesus, seeing nearly every miracle He performed. He heard the purest form of God’s word directly from His lips and saw people swooning in His presence, and witnessed His boldness and wisdom rebuking the Pharisees to their faces, and watched Him solve otherwise impossible problems, yet there was something else swimming in Judas' head, the love of money. By no coincidence he was the treasurer. Despite the fact that Jesus’ ministry was mostly to the poor, there was still a steady stream of money flowing through His administration. Jesus could have been a wealthy man, but He personally had little use for money and had fewer patience for those who oppressed people for it. He lived in such a way that did not require an exorbitant cash flow, and made His disciples live that way with Him. People continued giving to His ministry, so the money would have stockpiled, though it never did because Judas regularly pilfered the pot. (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe (195e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> Being double minded – James addressed the issue of double-mindedness, “for let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (Jm 1,6-8). Jesus said it too, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk 16-13). Jesus may have looked right at Judas when He said this. Judas was double-minded and it destroyed him. Everyone is double-minded to a degree; even the apostle Paul who was perhaps the most committed man to the cause of Christ wrote about it in Rom 7,14-25. So, the question is not whether we are double-minded, but whether we are comfortable in that state like Judas, or whether we wrestle with it like Paul. Lk 22-1,2 (143k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His words – Jesus leaned heavily on His popularity to avoid capture. They tried to take Him away in the midst of the crowd, but He defended Himself, verbally sparring with them and so badly defeating them that they had to walk away with their professional reputations as scribes, lawyers and experts of the Old Testament demolished in the eyes of the people. They had to lay hands on Jesus in the dark of night, apart from any witnesses, but they crucified Him in public. (199j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Unwilling to receive Christ >> Rejecting Christ as the Messiah – In their culture and religion it may have been a crime to confess to be the Son of God, but they treated Him as it were a crime to actually be the Son of God. Had He come in the glory and power of His Father and delivered them from their enemies the Romans, they would have embraced Him, so long as He didn't take away their prestige and position as rulers. Had they seen in the Scriptures that the Son of God would first come in human weakness to release mankind from their sins, not as the deliverer of Israel but as their savior, they probably still would not have received Him, because they didn't care about that, and for this reason they crucified Him. By sending His Son the Father wanted to know if they would accept the person that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped and obeyed, or if they merely worshipped a facsimile of Him invented in their own minds. Instead of believing their Messiah was the Son of God in the face of overwhelming evidence, they used His confession as an excuse to crucify Him. Their plan was to capture Him, hold a mock trial and force a confession from Him to appease what remained of their conscience, and then dress up the facts according to their liking and present the result to the people as the truth, and the people bought it. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,3-6 (145k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Being possessed by demons – Were the chief priest and officers aghast at Judas’ appearance as in a scene from a Halloween movie, being possessed by Satan himself? No, they didn’t think anything about it; in fact, they liked Judas all the more; he made them happy! Of course the religious leaders of Israel had demons of their own. Satan held money over Judas as bait in order to betray the Lord, like holding a carrot before a horse. The horse walks toward the carrot but can never reach it because it is tied to the carriage that the horse is pulling. This is what Satan did to Judas, and it’s an accurate description of all forms of addiction. This is the only place in the Bible where it says that Satan himself possessed a man. We say that Satan will possess the antichrist, but the Bible doesn't say that, though it is probably true. Why did Satan have to possess Judas; why couldn’t he have simply convinced Judas to do this instead of possessing him and doing it through Judas? To be demon possessed is not to lose our will to him but to share it. Satan wanted to be directly and intimately involved in every aspect of Jesus’ crucifixion, like partaking of a savory stew or a good wine, swishing it in his mouth before swallowing it, the blood of Christ, not knowing it was a brew mixed in full strength with a toxicity that would destroyed him. Lk 22,7-20 (230a) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of Jesus >> Partaking of communion – Note that Jesus at first spoke about Passover, but when they reclined at the table, He started a new custom called Communion in place of Passover. There is conjecture that during the Millennium God will have the old covenant temple rebuilt and resume sacrifices as a means of looking backward to the cross, but this conflicts with the Scriptures that says that these things have disappeared (Heb 8-13). Old covenant temple worship will not reappear, but communion will continue into the Millennium and throughout eternity. How could we celebrate Passover in heaven if we had to kill a lamb after God had abolished death? Bread is wheat, which is a living plant that had to die before it was made into flour for bread. This means plants are not alive in the sense that we are alive; they don’t have souls, and so bread will be in heaven, and we will use it to celebrate communion forever, and so we will drink wine which is made from grapes or some other fruit. Lk 22,7-13 (8l) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing the sacrifice – Customarily when the Israelites celebrated Passover, they had a Passover lamb to prepare, but there was no mention of a lamb or a fire pit to prepare the lamb. When they assembled in the upper room, they reclined at the table as if for a feast, but there was no food on the table except flatbread and a bottle of wine. According to the Old Testament, the celebration of Passover revolved around a feast in which they were to eat unleavened bread with the lamb. There was no mention in Scripture that the disciples were confused about the unconventional method of celebrating this all-important feast. The first year of Passover was celebrated in Egypt, the night before their exile, God commanded them to eat a hearty meal, for the next day they would have a long road ahead of them, but this night Passover was different; Jesus was their Passover Lamb. (14e) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Being in charge of the details – This upper room they used to celebrate Passover was the same upper room that the disciples used to hide from the Romans after Jesus' ascension until Pentecost. (152f) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the Church -- These verses go with verses 31&32. Walk until you meet a man with a pitcher, and he will lead you where you need to go. That was pretty clever, similar to sending Ananias to Paul (Act 9-11,12). A time may come when we will need to operate in the gifts of the Spirit in the same manner as a way of protection from our enemies. Apparently the Holy Spirit made all the arrangements and spoke to the man who owned the upper room, so Jesus didn’t have to do anything except hear the voice of God and orchestrate the meeting. He didn’t need a telephone! These were things that happened with Jesus; they happened with the apostles and with the first century Church, and now we almost never hear about them, because who’s listening to the Holy Spirit? It is the result of doctrines that have been added, subtracted and deformed throughout the centuries. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22-7,8 (209ja) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus is the lamb of God >> He was the Passover lamb – Jesus brought to an end the old covenant manner of celebrating Passover and instituted a celebration that, instead of using lamb’s blood smeared on the doorposts, required His own blood. Also that night He was abolishing the extensive and essential business of temple worship that was so engrained in Hebrew tradition, literally defining them as Jews, suggesting that communion meant to redefine Israel, and for this reason there is no more need of a lamb. Jesus instituted a new form of divine worship performed through the temple of our bodies, being the first temple of divine worship; communion celebrates His sacrifice and pledges our bodies next in line to be placed upon the altar of God’s will. Centuries of temple worship acted merely as a symbol of things to come, but the substance of those things is Christ, so there is no need for symbols. Lk 22,10-13 (110f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Spirit speaks through Jesus – Jesus was operating by a word of knowledge when He gave instruction to His disciples how to prepare the Passover; it was one of the gifts of the Spirit according to 1Corinthians chapter 12. Some might say that Jesus knew everything, being God in human flesh, but in fact He left His omniscience in heaven along with His omnipotence and depended solely on His Father as an example of what it is to be a Christian. He received a vision of this scenario and related the events that He saw, which had already happened in God's mind, so when the disciples went, they experienced this entire scenario being played in real time. Jesus said that the things He did we can do also (Jn 14,12-14); we can rely on our heavenly Father just as Jesus did, and what He did on the cross makes this possible. The cross gave reason and ability for God to forgive us, which established the communication lines necessary to have a relationship with God, giving us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. Having the same Father makes us brothers and sisters of Christ. Lk 22,14-23 (130a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Communion – Jesus and His disciples did not celebrate the Passover with the rest of Israel, but celebrated a new Passover by themselves at the Last Supper, meaning that communion has replaced the Passover ceremony. Instead of animals being sacrificed, Jesus sacrificed His own flesh once for all, and we partake of the bread and wine in memory of His suffering. The Old Testament adamantly taught that Israel should not drink blood, which no doubt fueled the intense recoil of the disciples to Jesus’ bodacious statement in Jn 6-53, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” This was staggering to hear. They suddenly felt bamboozled into following this man, as though all the miracles He performed never happened. They began seriously wondering that perhaps He was crazy, and some actually walked away from Him. (If you haven’t yet felt this way as a Christian, just wait; everybody has confounding moments in their faith.) They could not accept His words because of their aversion to drinking blood, based on what they knew of the Old Testament (Leviticus 17-10,11). Of course Jesus was speaking figuratively, but it didn’t matter, because nothing could fix what He said. They loved the Lord and had no plan B if their discipleship with Jesus didn’t pan-out, so they sat down with Jesus and celebrated the Last Supper with Him ingesting the bread and wine that stood for His body and blood. (229i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of Jesus’ suffering >> The sin nature partakes of Jesus' suffering – Jesus is not celebrating in heaven; rather, He is still suffering so long as His children in the world are mistreated and persecuted, some to the death. Paul said in Col 1-24, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the Church.” He is seated at the right hand of the father as one level of an entire hierarchy of authority disseminating from the Father. Christ is in a state of mourning until His children are all present in His kingdom. After that, let the celebrating begin! When Jesus said that He will not again drink from the cup until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God, He was referring to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which is a joyous occasion. However, we are to take communion not in celebration but in somber and a thoughtful mood. We are to take communion in mourning with Christ because we are still wrapped in the sin nature of our flesh, and our suffering (thus His suffering) is not yet complete. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,14-18 (224e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> The marriage supper of the lamb -- These verses go with verses. Jesus said He would not partake of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb “until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” What does this tell us about the timing of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; where in the sequence of endtime events does this celebration occur? It is occurs directly after the Rapture. Rev 11,15-17 says, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’ And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.’” This is the first reference in the book of Revelation that speaks of the Kingdom of God manifesting on the earth, which Jesus said is when He would celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, meaning that the Rapture has just occurred at the seventh trumpet. So, the sequence is: the seventh trumpet, the First Resurrection, the Rapture, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the bowls of God’s judgment and finally the Millennium. We will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb during the Bowls of God's wrath. There are other saints who will not be included in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, who missed the Rapture and braved the bowls. These are very special people whom God will use to repopulate the earth during the Millennium. The most logical question is: will there be enough time between the Rapture and the onset of Millennium to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? 2Pet 3-8 says, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” We are used to emphasizing the first half of this verse, but the second half is just as true. Therefore, if the Bowls lasted a couple years, the number of days it equals represents how many thousands of years we have to celebrate. Let's say it lasted 600 days which is conservative, then we would have 600,000 years to celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb, well over half a million years! See also: Remnant of the Bowls will repopulate the earth; 1Cor 15-26; 34h Lk 22-14,15 (198a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Unteachable >> Resisting the knowledge of God – Whenever Jesus used the word “suffer” the disciples bleeped it from their minds; they were still denying the certainty of Christ, simply refusing to acknowledge the possibility that their Lord could fall into the hands of murders. Shortly after celebrating the Passover, Jesus would be captured that very night, and it came as a complete surprise to them, even though Jesus tried many times to prepare them for this, but they would not have it. Lk 22-15,16 (247a) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in His people >> God is interested in the Church – The Father and Son shared a vision since the beginning of eternity of creating a people for His own possession and developing them into His image. Imagine all the thoughts God has for us, and all the joy His plans will bring to Him and to us. He established a creation, knowing the sorrow that it will initially cause, but knowing also the surpassing joy it will forever bring. When we think of Jesus and His desire for the Church, it is impossible to fully imagine how He really thinks and feels about us. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22-19 (136e) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> The flesh of Jesus’ sacrifice – They were in the upper room and Jesus had finished washing the disciples’ feet, and they were about to celebrate Passover, which was the established pattern that Jesus used to introduce communion. There is nothing similar between communion and Passover, yet they mean about the same thing. God Passes over our sins through the body of Jesus Christ, but instead of eating the Passover lamb, they drank wine and ate bread. Swiping the doorpost with the blood of a lamb was a simple act of faith, yet left undone the Jewish household would have suffered the loss of their first-born son along with the Egyptians. It is the same with communion, we take the bread and wine into ourselves, a simple act of faith that represents the loss of God’s first-born Son. (173f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice (Penance) >> Offering sacrifice without God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the word of God – Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." Wouldn’t it be nice if communion had power to transform our lives? The Catholics say that the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ at the blessing of the priest, but if they use their imagination to concoct a religion around communion, it just shows that their hearts are not with God. If they make up stories about God’s word, then why didn’t they say communion has the power to unite people? They don’t care about unity; they only care that their religion makes them money. Note that they never said what communion does after it turns into the body and blood of Christ. If it does what they claim, then why don’t miracles happen more regularly at communion? Instead, they come back to church and repeat the ceremony with no net change. Doesn’t this prove that the bread and wine never undergo change, because they never undergo change? (209jb) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus is the lamb of God >> We remember His sacrifice at communion – This commentary is a comparison between the Catholics, the Lutherans and the Evangelicals/Baptists about the meaning of communion. Catholics believe that the bread and the wine literally transform into the body and blood of Christ. They call it Tran-substantiation (tran- meaning: across, over, or beyond; they use it to mean: change). The Lutherans call it Con-substantiation (con- meaning: together or with). The Lutherans believe the bread and the wine spiritually turn into the body and blood of Christ. Usually, when someone says the word “spiritual”, they use it as a kind of placeholder to represent what they mean, when they don’t understand something. They believe that some kind of miracle occurs at communion, but they deny that the bread and wine literally transform into the flesh and blood of Christ, like the Catholics think. Both the Catholics and the Lutherans focus on the first half of this verse, when Jesus said, “This is my body,” taking Jesus most literally, while the Evangelicals and Baptists focus on the second half of this verse, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” They deny that the bread and wine literally or spiritually turn into the body and blood of Christ; rather, communion is just a ceremony to them. Jesus said we should practice communion every time we come together as a church; this the Catholics and the Lutherans have right, but to say that Jesus actually offered His disciples His flesh and blood to eat and drink at the Last Supper is not right. They entirely rest their belief on this one statement, “This is My body.” This is how we know the bread and wine do not literally or spiritually turn into the body and blood of Christ: the fact that Jesus made this statement before He suffered means He could not have meant that the bread and wine became His flesh and blood at the Last Supper, and if He didn’t mean it then, He doesn’t mean it now. Since He said these words before He suffered, he couldn’t have meant it the way the Catholics and Lutherans say He did, and if it wasn’t true then, it isn’t true now. See also: Catholicism (Transubstantiation); 1Cor 11,23-34; 184k Lk 22-20 (37g) Judgment >> Redemption of man >> His blood is the gift of His grace – Everybody that has ever lived will die or has already died since the beginning of time, but we don’t celebrate their death; we only celebrate the one, Jesus Christ who died for us. Why was His death so important? Everybody else was required to die (Heb 9-27). In fact, Jesus was the only person who chose to be born in the first place, in compliance with His Father, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3-16). The Father subjected Him to human weakness, born in a stable, become a man, miraculously live without sin, and then die for the people. Therefore, just as we were required to die, so Jesus was required to die, the difference being who or what required it of Him. For us it was the Law of sin and death (Rom 8-2), but for Him it was His Father, and the difference between sinful flesh and God Almighty is big enough to save us from our sins. The Law of sin and death states that if a man lives in sinful flesh, He must die, but Jesus broke that law by living in sinful flesh without committing a sin, and so death had no hold on Jesus’ body, so when He died, his death broke the Law of sin and death. Now, everyone who believes in Jesus for eternal life enters Jesus’ victory over sin and death and will partake of the First Resurrection on that day. (205e) New Covenant (Key verse) (205f) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The new covenant in His blood – An old covenant offering that God commanded Moses was called the “drink offering”. Numbers 28-7 says, “Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.” Paul used this as an analogy and said, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come” (2Tim 4-6). The drink offering was carefully prepared and then wasted by pouring it on the ground. Pagans have attempted to please God in many of the same ways, taking something valuable and destroying it in the name of their gods, but the God of heaven does not receive such offerings, because He did not order them. God did order this drink offering of the Old Testament that represented the blood of Christ that spilled on the ground for the sins of the people, from a body that was prepared for that specific purpose, one without spot or blemish. God only accepts sacrifices that He authorizes, and for this reason it is important to understand God’s purpose and calling in our lives. As we do His will, we must sacrifice our own plans and purposes as Abraham did, who is the father of our faith, and God accepted his sacrifice, because He ordered it. Lk 22-21,22 (48e) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your deeds >> In the day of judgment – Is there such a thing as eternal judgment? If all who don’t believe in God are alike destroyed, then why did Jesus emphasize the fate of Judas? Jesus was saying woe to him because he has committed a far greater sin than most people, hence his judgment will be more severe. How could there be varying severities of judgment if they all alike receive the same fate of being destroyed and blinked out of existence, as some would like to believe? Another rendition of the gospel says that it would be better for Judas had he never been born (Mat 26-24). There will be many people in hell who will wish they had never been born, whose existence is a curse to them. (48m) Judgment >> Jesus’ enemies are destroyed >> Enemies of His grace (219i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the word of God Lk 22-23 (68j) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving a wicked heart – Jesus knew all along the deception and trickery that was in Judas, that his heart was not with Him. He perfectly blended into the disciples so they didn’t have a clue as to which one of them might betray the Lord. We think they should have known, but do we know the many Judas-es that live among us? Judas acted like he loved the Lord; in fact, he had to act that way in order to blend with his fellow disciples; but that was just it, he was acting. He no doubt felt an egotistical fascination of being one of the chosen, though Jesus never formally chose him, most likely fueling his excitement of being with Jesus, allowing him to blend with the other eleven, just like there are some around us who are fueled by ulterior motives that propel their enthusiasm to mimic the appearance of Christianity, but inwardly they’re dead to Christ. We love our spouses, sometimes with our commitment beyond our emotions, but Judas had neither affection nor commitment for the Lord. If Judas could hide so well among his fellow disciples who lived with each other for three years, how much easier would it be to hide in the Church today whose members live isolated from each other by comparison? How can we really know a person? This is how -- discernment! Based on Judas’ example, we can’t go by what people say and do, by their Jesus-smile, by how high they leap during praise and worship service or by how loud they sing. None of these things are proof that their heart is with the Lord. The only way we can know for sure is to trust our spiritual gift of discernment. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,24-32 (12l) Servant >> Jesus is the servant of man – Of all the attributes of Christ, His servant-hood is His greatest quality. It should tell us something, that if we want to be great, then we too must serve as Jesus served. It is almost impossible to fathom the God of the universe humbling Himself as much as Jesus did, to take on human flesh and dwell among us; He was the servant of servants. But when it comes to us, put the smallest amount of authority in a person’s hands and he will almost certainly abuse it, because he is unwilling to humble himself as Jesus did and use his power for good instead of evil. Humility is the single-most prominent mark of greatness. Lk 22,24-30 (33f) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Greatness is expressed as being a child (56l) Paradox >> Opposites >> Greatest are least in the eyes of God (73a) Authority >> Hierarchy of authority >> Authority makes you accountable >> Kingdom of God is opposite of the world (77i) Thy kingdom come >> Tapping into the power of God through humility >> The most humble are the greatest servants – This doesn’t seem to be something that the Church readily understands. They all understand that arrogance and pride are not good qualities, yet we will always be tempted to lord our inflated egos over others given the opportunity. We can turn this subject on its head and see that Jesus is indeed telling us to strive for greatness, but if we want to be great, we must serve. Paul said that our commendation comes from God and not from man (1Cor 4-5), so if we want to be great before God, we must be the servant of all, but if we wait for people to reward us for doing the will of God, we will not only have the wrong motive for serving Christ, we will also have a very long wait ahead of us. God has served us by creating us, being a greater act of servanthood than we could ever give back to Him. A million, billion years could never erase the cause of our existence. If that were not enough, He sent His Son to die for our sins, providing a standard of service. Lk 22,24-28 (164d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan rules the world >> Satan is a tyrant over the world Lk 22,29-32 (68d) Authority >> Jesus Delegates Authority To Execute Judgment >> Against sin Lk 22-29,30 (69i) Authority >> Righteous judgment (Outcome of Discernment) >> Passing judgment by the authority of God – The Father granted Jesus a kingdom and now Jesus is granting His apostles that very same kingdom. Will Israel remain twelve tribes judging the nations? Most likely this division will resemble the twelve tribes of Israel but in eternity it will probably take on a slightly different form, twelve divisions of something else, eventually twelve quadrants of the universe. Here lies the power of God’s word: His ramifications are eternal. How God makes choices is probably far more complicated than any of us will ever understand. (219e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God selects us from the world – The twelve apostles have become a link in the chain of heavenly authority. It also says in Revelation chapter 21 that there are twelve foundation stones in the wall surrounding the Holy City named after the twelve apostles. Note that according to Church history there were some apostles who did not accomplish as much as others, yet they will all receive a gate named after them, suggesting that it is not about their performance but about God’s gracious choice. Jesus said in Jn 15-16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last.” Nothing they did impressed the Lord to choose them. Conversely, there were many Christians over the centuries who accomplished great things for the Lord, yet they will not have a gate named after them. (224e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> The marriage supper of the lamb -- These verses go with verses 14-18 Lk 22,31-34 (2e) Responsibility >> Keep your commitments >> it is better not to vow at all – Satan essentially accused Peter of denying his own master in the face of adversity after Peter swore by an oath that he would never fail Him. This is why the Bible teaches against swearing an oath, because it locks us into a situation that we become obligated to keep, which gives opportunity for the devil to test us to see whether we can make good on our promise; therefore, it is better not to vow at all (Mat 5,33-37). (35j) Gift >> God gives Himself to us >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual gifts >> Knowing the mind of God – It was through a word of knowledge, one of the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in (1Cor 12-7,8), that Jesus knew Satan wanted to sift Peter like wheat and that Peter would deny Him three times that he even knew the Lord before the morning rooster crowed. Jesus was completely dependent on His Father for everything. Although Jesus was indeed the Son of God, He was born a man with limitations. Every spiritual gift He exercised and every miracle He performed, He did through His Father, for He left His omnipotence in heaven. God sent His Son in this way to demonstrate that He is willing to work through us in the same manner to the degree of our faith. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22-31,32 (9g) Responsibility >> Strengthen us by the sword of His Spirit >> Through prayer – These verses go with verses 42 & 43 (65i) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan Glorifies God – Peter boasted that he was the greatest of the disciples, which peeked the devil’s curiosity, who happened to disagree, saying to the Lord, ‘Your disciple will deny you just to save his own skin.’ This is reminiscent to Job's trouble; God took everything from him and then watched to see what he would do, but Job did not curse God or blame Him for any of his problems. He held out faith, trusting in the Lord's character in spite of his circumstances. The devil was there in the beginning chapters of the book of Job, accusing him in the presence of God of being disloyal. Likewise, when the devil accused Peter, the Lord gave the devil permission to test his hypothesis, because Peter stood to benefit from humility. God consents to the devil’s demands for permission to test us, because it is useless to merely insist that His servants would not fail Him. Instead, God allows the devil to prove his servants, and if they fail, they will learn from their mistakes. The devil proved that Peter was not totally committed to the Lord, and the only way to resolve the problem was to allow the test to continue, giving Peter an opportunity to see the truth about himself. The devil is far more interested in exposing our weaknesses than he is about seeing the truth about himself. See also: God allows suffering and evil to test us like He tested Job; Gal 3,10-14; 41b (83e) Thy kingdom come >> Intercession >> Jesus stands in the gap >> He prays for us – Jesus was not concerned that Peter was about to fall, because He prayed that he wouldn't fall-away. He prayed that He wouldn’t ruminate with overwhelming guilt that leads to unbelief, Satan in the background orchestrating the scenario. His fellow disciples were not as vocal as Peter, and for this reason they weren’t tested like Peter, suggesting that a big mouth gets us into lots of trouble. After Peter denied the lord, the devil tried to talk him out of his faith, but Jesus prayed for Him in his hour of testing as he wept bitter tears. Jesus prayed that though Peter denied Him and though He would be crucified, Peter would continue to believe, for he could not see far enough ahead to His resurrection. (85la) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing the Son by obeying the Father >> Obeying the law by faith in the cross >> Obey God for answered prayer – Jesus commanded Peter to believe against all odds. For that 3½ days while Jesus’ body was in the ground, Peter demonstrated his faith by remaining with his fellow believers, though they didn’t know what to believe either. Didn’t Peter’s faith fail when he denied the Lord? No! Jesus bled and died on the cross for sin; there is an answer for that, but how can He fix us when we abandon our faith? This was the sin of Esau who despised his own birthright, “For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Heb 12-17). We all fall in various ways throughout our lives, so the question is not whether we fall, but whether we repent. Jesus said to Peter, ‘After you brush the dirt off yourself and pick out the pebbles from your face, “turn and strengthen your brothers.”’ Peter was very zealous for the Lord, so this screw-up was especially hard on his ego. He was a man riddled with foibles, which is why Satan targeted him, being the weakest of the disciples in the area of pride. He was a bit of a blowhard, but when it came to acting on his faith, he often fell short. Jesus wasn’t worried about any of that; He liked Peter, not as a blowhard but as an encourager. He had the gift of encouragement, despite the fact that he didn’t always act on his faith. (131d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Brother depends on you >> To help build the temple – What if Peter, after Jesus was crucified, had walked away from everything and through the grapevine heard three days later that He had risen from the dead? Even if he would have looked up the disciples, in many ways it would have been too late, not too late to be saved, but too late to be the Lord’s apostle. Everything would have changed while he was gone; his absence would have redefined the nature of his relationship with the disciples and with the Lord, for to abandon the disciples was to abandon the Lord, tantamount to abandoning his faith. This is what Judas did. Therefore, remaining with the disciples was the only thing Peter needed to do to demonstrate his faith in Jesus. (152f) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the Church -- These verses go with verses 7-13 (193c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn to God – Jesus used this phrase many times, endure until the end, meaning that we are to beware that our faith doesn't fail. At the time, Peter didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, and we talk about Peter’s denial of Christ as it were a small thing, but Jesus considered Peter on the threshold of losing his faith. What happened to Judas was not all that different from what Peter did, but there were some crucial differences. We know that Judas was the son of perdition and that he never took Jesus to heart, and in the end he hanged himself instead of repenting. We could say that he didn’t have the opportunity to repent, because he was predestined to lose his place among the apostles, but there is the other perspective that repentance was always on the table. Was repentance really on the table for Judas? It says that Judas hanged himself from a sense of guilt and remorse; that doesn't sound like a reprobate mind devoid of conscience. However, to say that Judas had a conscience is giving him too much credit, for the reprobate mind and the psychopath are brothers in that they are both devoid of a working conscience. Even serial killers have a conscience but one they invented to replace the one God had given them. So it appears that Judas really did love Jesus in a way, but not in a way that leads to salvation. He loved Jesus as a friend, not as his Lord and Master. See also: Comparing Judas Iscariot to Peter; Heb 3,12-14; 98e Lk 22-31 (46l) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Jesus casts out demons (54e) Paradox >> Opposites >> Demanding permission – Just because Satan demanded permission to sift Peter doesn’t mean that God had to grant it to him, and besides isn’t that an oxymoron? Isn’t the Lord our protector; wouldn’t an aspect His protection include denying our enemy’s wishes to tempt us? It would, except that the devil had a point, and for that reason Jesus answered the devil’s prayer. Although Jesus and the devil are opposites like light and darkness, yet He gave the devil permission to test His disciples. Remember, they were just arguing with each other about who was greatest, and apparently Peter won the argument. The devil has a very complicated relationship with the Lord. Why is He so willing to give the devil what he wants? It didn't hurt Peter to be tested; in fact, it probably did him some good. For this reason God uses the devil’s services quite often. (65a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> Jesus answers the devil’s prayer KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,35-38 (37f) Judgment >> Jesus’ humanity >> Jesus had human limitations – Jesus could not hear the voice of God like He once did, and He didn’t know how this prophecy would be fulfilled. He wanted to make sure it was fulfilled, so by his own authority He armed His disciples instead of relying on His Father. When we think of this in terms of people trying to find the will of God in their lives, they don’t know what God wants them to do, and so they just do something, hoping that it is the will of God. Meanwhile, God has a plan outlined for us to follow. For Jesus it was outlined on Old Testament prophecy. When we think of God in human flesh beginning to falter, His connection with His Father fading, when He stood before Pilate and the high priest, His work was done. He only needed to be dumb like a Lamb and go through the terrible event of crucifixion. This was an example of Jesus’ lack of absolute knowledge; He was not omniscient. He had His disciples bring knives with them, so he could fulfill the prophecy that He was numbered with transgressors (referring to Isaiah 53-12). He was crucified between two criminals and thus fulfilled this prophecy (Mk 15-27,28), but He didn’t know this would happen. It is possible that His Father was already withdrawing from Him, and it caused Him anxiety that filled His heart for the trauma that He would soon undergo alone; He wasn’t thinking straight and got jumpy. Instead of allowing the prophecy to be fulfilled on its own, He force-filled it by requiring his disciples to arm themselves. We could say that Jesus made a mistake. He was perfect in character but not in knowledge. Jesus divested His infinite power, becoming fully human with only his divine nature intact, maintaining His perfection throughout His natural life. That is all He used to defeat Satan and to gain eternal life for His people. God leveled the playing field for Satan, becoming no greater than a man. (215ia) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >> Without warning >> Disciples expected the kingdom to appear immediately -- These verses go with verses 47-53. When Jesus said to bring a sword, it was possibly the first time Jesus said something that His disciples actually understood, interpreting it as going to war. Israel expected their Messiah to face Caesar and subdue the Romans, freeing Israel from their enslavement to dominate the nations and become the sole kingdom on earth that would rule the world. Instead, Jesus came as a savior to establish the Church as the spiritual equivalent of Israel's hope. Their ancient hope will be realized at the second coming of Christ, but they overlooked His first visit. (219i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the word of God – In this account of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane we have Him telling His disciples to be in possession of a sword to ensure the fulfillment of prophecy that has Him numbered with transgressors, apparently forcing the fulfillment of prophecy. We need to understand that God’s predestination is also accompanied by man’s will. It was prophesied in the Old Testament, so there is our predestination, then Jesus commanded them to bring a sword, incorporating man’s will, so the two of them together fulfilled the purpose of God. Lk 22,35-37 (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death – Jesus was preparing His disciples for the arduous 3½ days they would face with their Lord in the grave, equipping them to fulfill Old Testament prophecy. They would need money to buy supplies, and He also instructed them to take along a sword to attack the guards in order to fulfill Old Testament prophecy. Does it count to have a hand in fulfilling prophecy? Jesus didn’t make anybody turn violent, but He did make sure the necessary weaponry was present when the moment came and emotions flared. Had they not had a sword, they probably would have found some kind of bludgeoning device to use against their Lord’s adversaries. The sword is symbolic of war; non-sanctioned war is a crime even to mankind, much more a transgression in the eyes of God. Lk 22-35 (30a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God knows our needs >> He is our provider – To the evangelist, if they receive you, they will provide for you; if they do not receive you, there is no point in going. Lk 22,36-44 (58g) Paradox >> Opposites >> Jesus becomes sin that we might obtain His righteousness – We have all heard sermons on this, and every time we hear one we get Goosebumps. Jesus won His greatest victory right there in the garden of Gethsemane. The cross itself was merely confirmation of the victory He won in prayer. In eternity He looked forward to the cross as something He would do in time. When He was born and lived in the flesh, He looked forward to the cross as something He would do one day; but in the Garden of Gethsemane, He settled it that night in His heart. In eternity the initiative of the cross was purely theoretical, whereas in the flesh the resolution of the cross was a very bitter reality. Jesus was born to give His life as the lamb of God; this was His purpose, yet when the moment came He wanted another way but knew there was no other way. He knew that no saint, no angel, no created being could pay for the sins that God would forgive on Jesus' cross. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,36-38 (54c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Disobedience fulfilled the Scriptures -- These verses go with verses 45-51. This prophecy was taken from Isaiah 53-12. The Scripture says that Jesus was numbered among criminals, and so Jesus had His disciples arm themselves in order to fulfill this prophecy. In fact, had Jesus not done this, the prophecy would have been fulfilled anyway, for He was crucified between two criminals. Some would be alarmed by this blatant effort to fulfill prophecy by the arm of the flesh, instead of allowing prophecy to fulfill itself. Jesus did this. He also fulfilled prophecy by healing the sick, and opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, so force-filling prophecy proves no point; rather, it just shows that it takes effort and volition to fulfill prophecy. Most people in the Church today sit on their hands waiting for God to do everything for them from a misconception on the teachings of God’s grace, but we must make Christianity happen to see the will of God in our lives, just like it took fortitude for Christ to fulfill prophecy. (80g) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Fulfill your calling – This passage has received much criticism by skeptics of the Scriptures, accusing Jesus of forcibly fulfilling prophecy, saying that if prophecy is real it should fulfill itself without any assistance. They have a point. Why did Jesus command His disciples to take up swords (more like a stiletto)? Jesus was extremely familiar with Old Testament Scripture, especially with prophecies that pertained to Himself. He had them memorized and would check-off the prophecies as He fulfilled them, and this was the only one He couldn’t see fulfilled on its own, so Jesus told His disciples to find a sword. His mind was preoccupied with the suffering He was about to endure, and it filled Him with dread. Remember, this happened just hours before His arrest; also remember, it was only minutes or an hour before He prayed and sweat drops of blood (Lk 22-44). His Father was already beginning to withdraw from Him, for sin was creeping into His person, and His acuteness to the Holy Spirit was beginning to fade. Jesus was in a dark place in His mind, and He worried that this prophecy would not be fulfilled, so He force-filled it by telling the disciples to arm themselves to be numbered with transgressors (v37). Meanwhile, Mk 15-27,28 says, “They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’],” though Mark has a footnote indicating that many manuscripts do not contain this verse. The Father was already withdrawing from His Son, who would completely abandon Him as He hung on the cross. Jesus didn't trust His Father to fulfill this prophecy, but it was fulfilled when He was nailed between two criminals. Lk 22-37 (255c) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of the Spirit >> Jesus is the manifested word of God Lk 22,38-40 (160h) Works of the devil >> Temptation >> Overcoming temptation >> Jesus was tempted – Jesus didn’t commit a sin but He made a mistake. Just days before this when Jesus dickered with the Pharisees, Scribes and chief priests in the temple He never misspoke, but His suffering was now at hand, and He knew what was coming. They were about to lay hands on Him and His suffering would begin, and it filled Him with anxiety. Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, great drops of sweat mixed with blood fell from His brow (v44). Jesus was in agony over His impending fate, and just as His sweat was mixed with blood, so His agony was mixed with fear. Normally it would have been a sin for the Son of God to fear, but Jesus was in the process of paying for the sins of mankind; He was in the process of becoming the embodiment of sin. The transformation had begun from the flawless Son of God into sin incarnate, and the contrast was more than He could bear. Jesus was not looking forward to the physical pain and suffering that He would endure, but what He dreaded most was to be separated from His Father. This process was already beginning, like a violent thunderstorm that invades a bright and cheerful day, darkening the sky. Thick clouds roll into view, bringing rain. Rumbling in the distance, getting louder, flashes of lightning joining ever sooner with claps of thunder, on the cross He said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mat 27-46). KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,39-44 (247f) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> Concern >> Caring about the will of God – Obviously Jesus cared about the cross, and He cared about the Church that He was about to purchase, but what concerned Him most at the time was Himself. It wasn’t the cross that He dreaded so much; He knew He was about to be separated from His Father; that concerned Him enough to sweat drops of blood. Satan finally accomplished His goal, sin pried the Trinity apart, only on God’s terms, and that meant the difference between success and failure for Satan. The thought of being separated from His Father scared Him like nothing else, just for a few days tormented His mind. Too bad we don’t feel some of that when we haven’t prayed for a while or read His word. When we start feeling estranged from Him, we should be concerned. We don’t have to sweat drops of blood about it, but we can tell God we’re sorry for neglecting our relationship. With Jesus, this mattered to Him a lot more. There was the fear of torment and excruciating pain and the fear of isolation and losing the beautiful life He had with the Father, though he knew He would be rejoined with Him in just a few days; even to be temporarily separated from Him and shoved among the demons and into their world that rejected God totally freaked Him out. He didn’t like doing this, but He was willing to do it, not just for us but more for His Father with the promise of receiving the Church. His Father was foremost in His mind, and He care about the Church too, but in that order. He willingly went to hell for His Father. He knew His Father loved Him, and He knew He was purchasing man from Satan. Man legally belonged to Satan, and the Church consists of the people whom God has chosen from the world to be His worshippers. He purchased mankind from Satan, though God and Satan didn’t actually make a deal, in that Satan would have never agreed to it. In other words, God tricked the devil into gaining rights to mankind. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they and their children came under possession of Satan; they were his children now, but God tricked the devil into giving up mankind when he laid his hands on Jesus and hung Him on a cross until dead; and by virtue that He was without sin, He broke the power of sin and death, so that anybody who would believe in Jesus would inherit eternal life through His victory over death and the grave. Lk 22-39 (174a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Man’s religion >> Good traditions (Exception to bad religion) >> Good customs Lk 22,40-46 (46f) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Fall of Satan >> Resisting Satan’s deception (82a) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> What to pray for (160i) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Temptation >> Overcoming temptation >> Prayer overcomes temptation – God did not hold it against the disciples for abandoning the Lord and running for their lives. When He finished praying, He found them asleep and said to them, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation” (Mat 26-41). What was the temptation? It was to abandon their faith! Judas did, who was not even present with them in the garden, and Peter almost did. Had they prayed would it have made a difference? That is God's promise! Abandoning the Lord was prophesied in the Old Testament; they were not expected to stay by His side only to be nailed on a cross next to Him. During that arduous 3½-day period before His resurrection the disciples could have fallen away from the faith; it was enough time to reconsider everything they believed and could have determined that Jesus to be a hoax. A couple weeks earlier they felt they were the most fortunate people on earth, and now they faced the possibility of being the biggest fools of all time; there is no wider spectrum of emotions than that. Had Judas known that Jesus was going to rise from the dead, he probably would not have killed himself, so why did he commit suicide? He did it from spiritual ignorance. Jesus commanded them to pray that they may not fall away from the faith between the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. In terms of endtime prophecy, this translates to avoid falling away from the faith between the seals of Satan’s wrath and the trumpets of God’s judgment. Lk 22,40-44 (103i) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God purifies His church >> Jesus goes through God’s purifying process – Jesus withdrawing a stone’s-throw from the disciples to pray with Peter, James and John was like Moses, who climbed Mount Sinai with seventy of his elders. Moses received the law on stone tablets written by the finger of God, but the seventy stopped while Moses proceeded alone to the summit, as Jesus departed from His three closest disciples to pray alone. The rest of Israel (other nine disciples) remained at its base, being commanded not to touch the mountain lest they be stoned. When Moses went to receive the law he met face to face with God, whereas Jesus was God clothed in human flesh and spoke with His Father, who sent an angel to strengthen Him. Instead of returning with stone tablets, Jesus returned with victory over death and the grave. Yes, the victory was achieved there in the Garden (not Eden) of Gethsemane, but without the cross to prove His victory, it wouldn't have meant anything. He blazed a new trail by which His beloved children had access to the Holy Spirit and to an anointing that would enable them to walk victoriously with Christ. Lk 22-40 (196j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Replacing God’s standard of excellence with yours >> Sleeping in the spirit -- This verse goes with verses 45&46 Lk 22,41-44 (37a) Judgment >> The cross >> God judged the sin of the world through Christ – For Him to sweat drops of blood sounded like He was afraid to die, but in fact the thing He most dreaded was to take on the sin of mankind throughout all the ages, past present and future, and in the process lose fellowship with His Father. For the first time ever His Father turned His back on Him. He suddenly found Himself alone in the world with all the sins of mankind heaped on Him. Peter felt bad for denying the Lord; surely he felt alone, and he really was alone in his denial of Christ, but when Jesus took on all the sins of mankind on the cross, and God judged them through His Son, at that point Jesus was in hell. When we think of people who don’t know the Lord, God is still interested in them, whereas the father condemned His Son, whose rejection was complete. He literally hated His Son during this time with an utmost hatred, with a hatred that only God could know. It wasn’t the suffering of the cross unto death that He dreaded; death was nothing compared to this, and it was impossible to tease sin from it consequence; which is worse? They are one! (245i) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of Jesus’ victory over sin – The victory in the garden of Gethsemane was the abrupt reality of the next four days fully dawning on Him. Jesus' acceptance of the cross is what made Him the greatest man who ever lived, and His compete victory over sin that resulted makes Him the noblest of all in heaven. It took all of 3½ days for hell to realize that Jesus had never committed a single sin and didn’t belong there and coughed Him up, while the Father was calling His name. Through this push/pull effort, Jesus was expelled from the jaws of hell, being raised from the dead through the glory of the Father just like Jonah was regurgitated on shore by the giant sea monster. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22-42,43 (9g) Responsibility >> Strengthen us by the sword of His Spirit >> Through prayer – These verses go with verses 31 & 32 Lk 22-43,44 (15c) Servant >> Ministering spirits >> Angels give help in time of need – An angel appeared before Jesus strengthening Him. The presence of angels must be very powerful. At that point the Lord needed help with His faith, not that He had questions, but just as the architect sometimes needs to go to the building site in order to immerse his mind in the problem, so Jesus needed a reminder of home, so He could finish His mission and go back to a place wonderful enough to make it all worth it. Lk 22-43 (9f) Responsibility >> God strengthens us through our weaknesses – Jesus, on the night of his betrayal went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed His now famous prayer, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mat 26-39). He knew there was no way to avoid the cross; throughout all eternity Father and Son planned for the cross; it was the Father’s greatest moment. The cross was an opportunity for God to actually experience sin without compromising His principles. He never committed any sin of His own, yet he experienced everyone else’s sin, that He might forgive those who would believe in Him for eternal life, and might earn the position of judge for those who rejected Him. The cross was as important to God as it was for us. Lk 22-44 (38a) Judgment >> Blood of Jesus >> God judged the devil through the blood of His son Lk 22,45-51 (54c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Disobedience fulfilled the Scriptures – These verses go with verses 36-38. What if the disciples had been faithful and prayed as the Lord had commanded; how would that have changed the outcome? Perhaps they would not have taken out the sword or fled, yet sleeping through prayer fulfilled the Scriptures and helped save their lives. The disciples' disobedience was the best thing they could have done, which is a rare situation. It stands to reason, though, since the Son of God was being betrayed into the hands of sinners to reverse the roles between God and men. It was an odd time, an awkward moment even for heaven to witness, wickedness making sport of their Master. Time fragmented, creating a vacuum between B.C. and A.D. when time itself was suspended during the period of our creator’s earthly visit. It was a time when disobedience was right and faithfulness was wrong, a time when good was crucified and evil prevailed. Lk 22-45,46 (103j) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God purifies His church >> We go through Jesus’ purifying process – The last days will be very a difficult time: we will be expected to go through God’s purifying process. In Revelation chapter twelve it speaks of a woman who fled into the wilderness, just like Jesus’ twelve disciples at His arrest, and just like the Christian dispersion from Jerusalem in the persecution of the first century. In each case antichrists were coming for them and so they ran into the wilderness. This is what they were supposed to do. The woman in Revelation twelve represents the 144,000 Jews in Jerusalem, and this wilderness where they will disperse is uninhabited areas most likely outside some of the biggest cities of the world, and they will set up camps there, and any of the gentiles from the nations who wish to be saved will be welcome to join one of these camps. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Camp of the saints); Rev 8,3-5; 31i (196j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Replacing God’s standard of excellence with yours >> Sleeping in the spirit -- These verses go with verse 40. The Church is currently in a sluggish state of apostasy. According to the parable of the Ten Virgins, the wise and the foolish will be split down the middle. It says that the wise will enter through the door, and the foolish will go the opposite direction, back into town to buy more oil for their lamps. Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane is an analogy for the last days, conveying that the Church will fall asleep prior to the tribulation. Jesus explained that there were five wise and five foolish virgins, and both groups fell asleep. We would think that the wise virgins would not have fallen asleep, but sleeping did not make them foolish; it was having insufficient oil in their lamps that made them foolish, being spiritually unprepared for a long, dark night. With Jesus' disciples they all had sufficient oil in their lamps, except for one, Judas, who was not able to ask for oil from his fellow disciples, because oil is non-transferable. Oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In the parable (Mat 25,1-13), the foolish virgins had to go to the dealer to buy more oil, but they had also run out of time, and when they returned, they didn’t come back with oil, so in darkness they pounded on the door saying, “Lord, Lord, open up for us.” Oil is fuel for the fire and directly correlates with the flame in the lamp—run out of oil and the fire goes out. The fire burning in the lamp represents our faith in Jesus that must remain lit, and if it goes out, we have no way of re-igniting it. Jesus lit our lamps the day we were saved and commanded us to keep the lamp burning perpetually for the rest of our lives, just like the old covenant priests were charged with keeping the perpetual incense burning in the temple. This required the priests to enter the temple every day to maintain the golden altar of incense, which represents prayer, and he had to pass the table of showbread to get to it, referring to the word of God, and so the word of God and prayer is how we gather oil for our lamps. See also: Last days (Ten Virgins); 1The 5,1-9; 8b Lk 22-46 (160i) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude determines our direction >> Temptation >> Overcoming temptation >> Prayer overcomes temptation KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,47-53 (126d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> Peacemakers >> Peacemakers avoid violence – Once Jesus rose from the dead, everything congealed in the disciples' minds, and they knew that what parts they didn’t understand would eventually be clarified, so God’s future for them they could dedicate their lives to it. God imposes His reality on us to change the way we live. It’s the way the founding fathers lived: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is the way Moses lived and the way God led Israel; it’s the way Jesus lived and the way He made His disciples live, and now it’s our turn to be befuddled about the purpose of God, until the truth crystallizes in our heart and we dedicate our entire lives to it. When everything turns out better than we could expect, we have just encountered God. When He brings forth fruit in our lives a hundred times greater than anything we could have done without Him, we must step aside and let God have the glory. Our job is merely to obey His lead. See also: Trail of good works (works that God has prepared for us); 2The 1-11,12; 91g (215ia) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >> Without warning >> Disciples expected the kingdom to appear immediately – These verses go with verses 35-38. Cutting off the slave’s right ear was to the disciples the very beginning of God plan; all the prior things Jesus said and did were immaterial. This is how most people think about God, through their preconceived notions. When Jesus came along with God’s truth, they reject it in favor of their own beliefs. God has a way of turning everything on its head so that almost nothing pertaining to God ever happens the way we think it should. Lk 22,47-51 (124j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love your enemies >> Love your enemies because God loves His Lk 22-47,48 (70g) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with Jesus in the flesh (152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world (176i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Passion without principles – People then knew about Jesus, but most were not familiar enough with His face to recognize Him in a crowd, so the guards needed somebody to positively identify Him. We have TV nowadays, and the camera stares into someone's face and suddenly the whole world knows a complete stranger. They crucified Jesus, not even familiar with his appearance, much less His teaching. Likewise, we can kiss somebody without feeling anything in our heart, so it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but the holy kiss meant something to Jesus and to His disciples, and it did to many other people in the Church in those days, but as time elapsed, corruption infiltrated, and they replaced the holy kiss for a simple handshake. When we get to heaven, we will once again greet each other with a holy kiss. (181i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Pretending to be someone you’re not (183e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Nursery for the spirit of error >> Self ish ambition >> Seeking to control the truth – Judas chose the kiss rather than the pointing finger. Did the intimacy of a kiss betray the malice in Judas' heart? Perhaps the only natural thing to do was kiss his Master, since that was how they greeted each other. The demonic spirit of antichrist that possessed Judas certainly hated Jesus, but Judas didn't; he betrayed the Lord for money, for there were no human motives for what Judas did outside of thirty pieces of silver. He was the treasurer of the ministry and had a lot of money, but thirty more pieces of silver was still more, and more is always better to those who love money. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,49-53 (19b) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Evil is good >> Darkness of man’s thinking Lk 22,49-51 (79b) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Satan will control your mind if you don’t – They sought to crucify a man who never did anything wrong, a miracle worker who had solutions to every problem to the extent of fixing the entire world, but the world would not have it; for every fix that Jesus attempted would diametrically oppose the very nature of this world. His intent would be to turn the world into a paradise of righteousness that served and worshipped His Father in heaven, but the world has never been about that, but about serving and worshipping self, which is tantamount to serving and worshipping the devil. (168k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> You cannot hear God while you listen to the devil -- These verses go with verses 67-71. It was not a coincidence that Peter cut off the slave's ear, since he wasn't using it anyway. This was symbolic, especially when contrasted against the Old Testament Scriptures of temple worship, “Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot” (Leviticus 8-23). This indicates the significance of reserving our ears to hearing of God’s word, our hands to doing His will and our feet to going where He commands. Obviously this slave could not hear the word of God or he would not have been part of this posse, but after Jesus healed his ear, he may have been able to hear out of it for the first time. It is also possible that the high priest lost a slave that night, and the Lord gained a disciple. (242j) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Worldly pressure >> World pressures you to forsake your neighbor Lk 22,50-53 (186g) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> After they reject God’s faith how can they believe? – Normally Jesus could not perform miracles in an environment of unbelief, and when faith was present He performed miracles to inspire those who witnessed them to further believe in God, but Jesus performed this miracle to spite the unbelief that surrounded Him. He performed a miracle among His captors just before they laid hands on Him, conveying one last time that what they were doing was dreadfully insane and horribly evil. Their minds were overrun by demons, causing them to ignore the facts, so the miracle proved that their hearts were hardened beyond hope. Lk 22-50,51 (128h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >> Jesus is gentle Lk 22-51 (115g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Laying on of hands >> Seeing signs, wonders and miracles (144j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by Jesus’ touch KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22-52,53 (75h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people in the dark >> Through hidden motives (184a) Darkness (Key verse) (184b) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false authority – As bullies, Jesus’ captors treated Him like a common criminal, knowing in their hearts He would never resist them and knowing He didn’t have a tangible army behind Him. They also knew Jesus let them capture Him. Jesus reminded them that He did His work in broad daylight, but they did their works at night through satanic darkness. They operated by evil spirits, and we can say the same about the world today. If we want to see demonic activity all around you, obey the Holy Spirit and God will reveal them to us. Lk 22,54-62 (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying (185d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> Denying Christ in spite of His proven identity – Our sin denies Christ, so should we have as a goal to always live according to the will of God, to never speak a foul word, to never have outbursts of anger, to always be kind and gentle, patiently bearing the fruit of the Spirit? We will not always achieve this goal. Nevertheless, the Bible does not teach that we should leave room for our faults or to only walk eighty percent by faith, but to entirely fulfill God’s purpose in our lives, though we will often fall. By always doing the will of God we do not keep the faith, because now we are just lying to ourselves. 1Jn 1,8-10 states, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We don’t keep the faith by remaining perfect; we keep the faith by remaining sincere and repentant. That is something we can do, and that is why God has ordained repentance as a means of accessing His grace and mercy. We don’t keep the faith by never committing sin or by always doing what is right; we keep the faith in spite of the fact that we fail in these areas. Life is not perfect; we get mad; we struggle with our flesh; we do and say things that are wrong. Jesus said to Peter prior to his denial of Christ, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter would learn a lot by this negative circumstance; he would have a lot more to offer as a result of this terrible sin he committed, for Jesus wanted Peter to share his faith with his brethren. Lk 22,63-71 (241ib) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus by the predetermined plan of God >> The Jews had Jesus murdered – The spirit of this world loves to make a mockery of the truth, and the soldiers who made sport of Jesus were doing just that through demon spirits. The demons behind the scenes orchestrating His crucifixion honestly believed that they were destroying a member of the Godhead. This was their diabolical plan to somehow seize heaven itself (Lk 20,9-19). There is no way they understood that they were undoing themselves by killing a man who had never sinned. Remember that sin is the cause of death, going back to the Garden of Eden, in the very beginning God said to Adam, ‘If you sin you must die,’ but Jesus had not sinned. Since these satanic forces played such a direct role in murdering Jesus, who held the keys of sin and death, the moment Jesus breathed his last this law of sin and death was torn in half, epitomized by the veil of the temple also tearing in half, and the way into the Most Holy Place was created. He snatched the keys of sin and death from Satan, creating a way for His people to access eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He essentially broke the law of sin by dying without sin, which has been the law that Satan has been using against mankind ever since Adam fell into sin. See also: Jesus broke the law of sin and death; Act 2-24; 254g KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 22,67-71 (19m) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unwilling to believe >> Spirit of unbelief – The demons were acting by instinct when they killed Jesus, an instinct so strong that it was impossible to deny themselves the pleasure. This was God’s way of deceiving the devil by his own power of temptation to lay hands on the Son of God. It was absolute joy to control those who tortured Christ, their coup de gras to put Him under their power. This is what they would love to do to each of us who know and love the truth, except that God is protecting us. (85g) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Testify of God’s works (88c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> Faith without works is dead (122i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness in adverse circumstances >> Speak the truth in the face of adversity (150e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Confessing Jesus >> Making the good confession (Son of God) – Jesus made the good confession; He told them the truth to spite them for the very purpose of being crucified. They asked Him if He was the Son of God; He answered, “Yes, I AM.” They used His confession to condemn Him, because He wasn’t the Messiah they wanted. They were no better than the children of the Exodus from Egypt who grumbled about eating manna in the wilderness; it wasn’t the food they wanted. (152e) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Apostles >> Jesus is our great apostle (168k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> You cannot hear God while you listen to the devil (199j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Unwilling to receive Christ >> Rejecting Christ as the Messiah – What kind of Messiah did the Pharisees and the scribes and the chief priests and the officers of the temple want? Had Jesus come directly to them and hatched a plan to overtake the Romans, to make Israel the greatest nation in the world and make them the center of the world, they would have accepted Jesus’ confession as the Son of God. However, these people, being so depraved, would have eventually attempted to subvert their own Messiah to become leader of His empire, just like Satan did and was cast out of heaven, being the reason Jesus called them the prodigy of the devil (Jn 8-44). These religious hypocrites wanted a Messiah who would glorify them instead of paying attention to poor people and constantly ruminating about sin. They wanted a Messiah who would assist them in exploiting the people for the purpose of gaining more power and prestige than ever. Essentially, they wanted a Messiah that would fit comfortably in their back pocket. As it was, Jesus completely ignored them, except when He occasionally rebuked them in public for being money-grubbing glory seekers. They were not part of anything Jesus did, and that is why they hated Him. How could Jesus have possibly included them, being so contrary to Him, the antithesis of everything Jesus represented? Lk 22,67-70 (154h) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Witness that the world is rebellious against God >> Witness against unbelief Lk 22,67-69 (217b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> No one can tell God what to do Lk 22-70,71 (253ea) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the Son of God >> Contested the Son of God by sinners and demons See next page