The Great Exchange

[0:01] Luke 22, verses 1 to 23. Now, the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover.

[0:17] And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they fear the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.

[0:33] He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

[0:51] Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.

[1:06] They said to him, Where will you have us prepare it? He said to them, Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.

[1:16] Follow him into the house that he enters, and tell the master of the house, The teacher says to you, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished.

[1:31] Prepare it there. And they went and found it, just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover. And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him.

[1:47] And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

[2:02] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

[2:18] And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you.

[2:29] Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

[2:45] But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined.

[2:56] But woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

[3:11] This is God's holy and authoritative word. Everyone appreciates a good deal. We're elated when we find a good bargain at the grocery store.

[3:26] Or when our favorite sports team makes a good trade. Conversely, however, no one likes to be ripped off. No one likes to be short-changed.

[3:39] To get the short end of the stick. Least of all, us. And in our passage for today, we find two exchanges.

[3:55] First, a terrible exchange. And then, the great exchange. And both of them are extremely unfair. Unequal exchanges.

[4:06] But they work to our favor. By God's grace. First exchange we see is of Judah's exchange of his master for money.

[4:19] And the second exchange we see is Jesus' exchange of his life for our salvation. And the main point that Luke wants us to take away from us. We are to remember the Passover lamb who was sacrificed for our inclusion in the kingdom of God.

[4:38] So let's first look at Judah's exchange of his master for money. Verse 1 tells us that now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.

[4:48] The Feast of Unleavened Bread was one of the most important festivals for which Jews, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, gathered from all over the world to Jerusalem.

[5:01] Because that's where it had to be celebrated. On Passover Day, an unblemished year-old male lamb was sacrificed at the temple to commemorate Israel's exodus from Egypt.

[5:12] And then after sunset that day, which is, according to Jewish reckoning, when a new day would begin, after sunset they would eat this Passover lamb, thus beginning a week-long celebration, this festival called the bread, the Unleavened Bread.

[5:27] And because of this close connection between the Passover day and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, gospel writers often use those two terms interchangeably, which has led to some confusion among some people.

[5:39] But here it's referring to both. Ironically, however, as this holy feast is approaching, it's a feast that celebrates God's sparing and saving of Israel.

[5:52] And as this is approaching, the very leaders of Israel, the Jewish leaders, who should have been busy with preparation, preparing their hearts, preparing the temple for this great celebration, instead they are busy plotting to kill Jesus.

[6:08] Because in the preceding chapters we've seen over and over again how these chief priests and the scribes, they sought to discredit Jesus by asking Him thorny political questions and posing these theological dilemmas that they thought had no answers.

[6:25] But each time Jesus thwarted them and proved Himself to be the superior teacher. So that it said in Luke 20, verse 40, they no longer dared to ask Him any question.

[6:39] And not only did Jesus outwit them, He directly exposed their hypocrisy and challenged their authority as the leaders among God's people.

[6:49] And all of this happened, Jesus did this, not in private quarters, but in the hearing of all the people out in the open. In fact, in these Jewish leaders' home court, right in their backyard, in the temple precincts.

[7:03] And so you can imagine they were embarrassed and enraged. And their prideful sulking soon hatched this murderous plot.

[7:15] And so it says in verse 2, And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Jesus to death, for they feared the people. Especially because there were so many pilgrims, hundreds and thousands of them in the city, and Jesus was very popular.

[7:31] There were many among them who were Jesus' followers and disciples. These chief priests and scribes did not dare to arrest Jesus in public, lest they cause an uproar in the city, riots, protests.

[7:44] And so they were plotting together, How can we get this done? How can we put Him to death without upsetting the masses? They were prevented from carrying out their murderous intent, not because they feared God, whom they are accountable to, which should have been the reason, but instead they were prevented by the fear of man.

[8:07] But it's not just the chief priests and the scribes that are plotting at this juncture. There are greater, stronger spiritual forces at work. It says in verse 3, Satan, Satan, Satan, Satan, who is not an adversary or accuser, he is described in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2, as the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

[8:40] He is prince, a ruler among the evil spirits. He is at work in Judas' betrayal. So the language of entering into someone implies some kind of possession and control.

[8:57] And I don't want you, especially if you're a believer, here to fall prey to unwarranted fears about demon possession. So let me assure you that true believers indwelled by the spirit of God cannot become possessed by evil spirits.

[9:15] Now, Christians can give ground to the devil, give opportunity to the devil, and come under significant demonic attack and influence. That's why Ephesians 4, 26 to 27 teach us not to remain angry for long, lest we give an opportunity, a foothold to the devil.

[9:34] However, Christians cannot be possessed by the devil because Colossians 1, 13 says, God has delivered us, God's people, from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son.

[9:48] We now have a new allegiance. We're in a new kingdom, not under the prince of the power of the air's authority anymore. We're under Christ's authority in a new kingdom of God.

[10:00] And this is why whenever the New Testament speaks of demon possession, it invariably involves unbelievers, non-Christians. It happens in the context of evangelism.

[10:14] So in the Gospels, for example, when Jesus encounters an unbeliever who is demon-possessed, it says that Jesus casts them out, exorcises the demon. But in all of the New Testament epistles, letters that are written to the church, to God's people, there is not a single instruction on exorcism.

[10:35] When it comes to instructing believers on spiritual warfare, the language that the New Testament uses is remarkably consistent. 1 Peter 5, 9 says, resist the devil. Ephesians 6, 11 says, stand against the schemes of the devil.

[10:50] James 4, 7 says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Why? Because when it comes to believers, the exhortation is never to cast them out, because they're not in you, but rather it's to resist them, because they're outside of you, and are oppressing you, and attacking you, and pressing in on you.

[11:06] But Judas here is subject to internal possession. Satan enters into him. Now, that doesn't mean that Judas is not personally responsible for what he did.

[11:19] We see that his personal agency is not erased, because he still held accountable for his deed in verse 22 later. But there is a satanic conspiracy behind Judas' betrayal.

[11:32] Earlier in Luke chapter 4, Satan appeared three times to tempt Jesus, to tempt him to take his life into his own hands, to disobey his father. But Jesus triumphed in that encounter, and overcame his temptations.

[11:47] And it's said at that point, in Luke chapter 4, verse 13, that the devil, Satan, departed from Jesus until an opportune time. And since then, Satan has not appeared in the Gospel of Luke as a character, as a direct agent.

[12:05] He's been mentioned by other people, but he has never appeared as a character in the story. And this is when he first reappears after Jesus' temptation. So then this is the opportune time that he's been waiting for to finally, in his own mind, to try to get the best of Jesus.

[12:25] And we can see here that Satan is not, you know, waging his war on God's people and God's kingdom in a willy-nilly fashion, in an unplanned manner. He is planning. He's strategizing.

[12:37] He waits for the opportune time. He handpicks people like Judas with whom he can do great damage. It says in verses 3 to 5, Then Satan entered into Judas, called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.

[12:56] He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money.

[13:14] In order to avoid a public outcry, remember that the Jewish leaders were trying to figure out how to get Jesus arrested privately. And here is an insider, one of the number of the twelve, a member of the most exclusive and intimate group of Jesus' disciples, volunteering to betray his teacher and Lord.

[13:37] And this is a great boon to these Jewish leaders because he knows, Judas knows Jesus' schedule. He's itinerary. So he can direct the chief priests and the scribes to arrest Jesus in a secluded place outside of the view of the crowds.

[13:54] This has just fallen onto their laps. So of course, he says they were glad. They're delighted. And notice the terrible exchange that takes place here. It says in verse 3, Satan entered into Judas and it says in verse 4 that Judas went away, that is, away from Jesus.

[14:13] The two words in the Greek enter and went are exactly the same except for the prefixes. So it highlights this contrast. Satan went into Judas so that Judas went away from Jesus.

[14:27] Satan entered into Judas so that Judas exited from Jesus' presence. It's a horrible exchange. An unthinkable betrayal by one of Jesus' most intimate companions.

[14:40] And why did Judas commit such a despicable act? What had Jesus done to him? The Bible only gives this one reason.

[14:55] Verse 5. And they were glad and agreed to give Judas money. Judas discerned that the Jewish leaders were hostile toward Jesus.

[15:12] He deduced that they intended to kill him, to harm him. And he went to them seeking to make a deal. I think I can make some money off of this.

[15:25] I see what they're up to. And he found the Jewish leaders' financial offer agreeable because it says in verse 6 he consented. It's like a formal deal taking place.

[15:37] He consented and sought an opportunity to betray Jesus to them in the absence of a crowd. This is especially shocking because the Gospel of Luke, really more than any other gospel, warns against the love of money.

[15:54] Jesus has repeatedly warned about the love of money throughout this gospel. He said in Luke 16, verse 13, No servant can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

[16:12] You cannot serve God and money. Judas could not serve both Jesus and money. And Judas chose money.

[16:24] He was a lover of money. John 12, 4-6 tell us that he was a thief who helped himself to the communal purse of Jesus and his 12 apostles to help himself.

[16:39] We have a catchphrase in English that dovetails well with this story. You've heard the phrase, follow the money, right? I looked up the origin.

[16:49] I think it comes from a movie that none of us have probably seen. If you want to identify the root of political corruption, if you want to identify the mastermind behind some criminal activity, follow the money.

[17:04] Ask yourself, who will profit from this venture? Because the money trail will inevitably lead you to the culprit. It's no wonder that 1 Timothy 6, 10 says, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

[17:24] It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Judas wandered away from the faith and pierced himself with many pangs because he loved money.

[17:39] And this example of Judas' betrayal, one of the 12 apostles, one of the most trusted friends and followers of Jesus, is intended to teach us that being around Jesus doesn't necessarily indicate that we are with Jesus.

[18:00] It's possible to pay lip service to Jesus without actually loving him with your whole heart. it's possible to look like a Christian without being one.

[18:16] You may have all the cultural accoutrements of Christianity. You may very well have the appearance of being a Christian. But here's the true test.

[18:31] Is there anything that you love more than you love Jesus? Is there anyone that you love more than you love Jesus?

[18:46] There can be only one King, Lord, and God. In order to submit to Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have to subordinate all of our other relationships, interests, and allegiances, and priorities to following him and loving him and worshiping him and serving him.

[19:09] So do you crave the respect and approval of other people more than you desire Christ and his love? Do you want to be liked by your peers more than you want to become like Jesus?

[19:25] Do you want to be successful, wealthy, more than you want to be faithful to Jesus?

[19:36] Jesus. I'm not talking about trying and failing. We could try and fail and then repent and believe again.

[19:50] Everyone sins. Every Christian sins. But the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is that a Christian always repents of his sins and turns toward Jesus in faith clinging to him for salvation.

[20:08] Is Jesus the one whom you are living for? No servant can serve two masters. This is the reality for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

[20:25] Human beings are by very nature servants. That's how God created us. That's why Philippians 2.7 says that Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a servant and what is that form like?

[20:41] Being born in the likeness of men. To be a human is to be a servant. Bob Dylan had it right.

[20:53] You've got to serve somebody. It's woven into the very fabric of human identity, human existence. The question is whom will you serve?

[21:10] There can only be one master and there's only one who is worthy to be your master and that is God. Is God your supreme authority in life? Are your beliefs, your behaviors, are they grounded in and guided by God's word?

[21:27] Or are you your own master? there's a word for that. A word for someone who claims to rule, claims to be a master, but doesn't have the right to rule.

[21:43] It's called rebellion. It's called treason. It's called sin. And we are all guilty of it.

[21:58] And that's what necessitates the second exchange, the great exchange. Let's turn to verses 7 to 23 here and it says the Passover that was approaching in verse 1 is now here.

[22:16] Then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat it.

[22:31] But Peter and John are unaware of any prior arrangement that Jesus had made so they ask him in verse 9, where will you have us prepare it? And Jesus replied with a very specific set of instructions in verses 10 to 12, behold, when you have entered the city a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.

[22:49] Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, the teacher says to you, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? It's an amazing story.

[23:01] It reveals Jesus' foreknowledge, supernatural knowledge, but also the fact that he is in total control of the situation. It shows that Jesus is in full command of his destiny, his journey into Jerusalem and ultimately toward his death.

[23:21] And that's why Luke notes in verse 13 with wonder, and they went and found it just as he had told. And they prepared the Passover.

[23:34] This is in here to show us that Jesus is not a pawn in the hand of Satan that entered into Judas or Judas. He is not a hapless man that happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[23:49] Jesus is the Lord of creation. He is the Son of God in total control, fully aware of all that is happening around him, and he's heading very deliberately to the cross where he will die for the sins of his people.

[24:05] This is his choice, and he's taking those steps. And Peter and John are preparing an unblemished Passover lamb for supper as Jesus, the blameless lamb of God, readies himself for the cross.

[24:22] And it says in verse 14 that when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. There's so much drama and anticipation building up to this meal.

[24:33] Notice the way Luke builds it up. He drums up the expectation. First, he told us in verse 1 that the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover. The week-long feast was approaching, but not yet here.

[24:49] And then in verse 7 he told us that then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And now finally in verse 14, when the hour came. So he goes from week to day to the very hour that's been building this up.

[25:04] What is this moment that he's looking forward to? And it's the feast, and Jesus is the guest of honor, and he's reclining at table, which shows that it's a formal banquet where they recline instead of sitting, and his disciples are with him.

[25:19] And Jesus says to his disciples in verse 15, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. The Passover comes around every year.

[25:36] Jesus has celebrated this with him multiple times already. Why was Jesus particularly eager to eat this Passover? He tells us in verse 16, 4, I tell you, I will not eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

[25:56] This is the last Passover meal before Jesus' suffering, his death. And he will not get to celebrate it again with them until, he says, until it, until the Passover is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

[26:14] until the Passover is completed, brought to its intended end and fulfillment, Jesus will not eat of it again. This is confirmed by verse 17 and 18 as well where he says, and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he said, take this and divide it among yourselves.

[26:32] For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. The coming of the kingdom of God parallels the coming of the Son of Man that Jesus spoke of earlier in Luke chapter 21 verse 27.

[26:47] It's a reference to his second coming and the consummation of the kingdom of God. Until then, the kingdom of God, until the kingdom of God is fulfilled, Jesus will not drink this Passover wine or eat this Passover bread with his disciples again.

[27:04] That's why this meal is often called the Last Supper. That's true, but in another sense, this meal is actually the second to last supper. it's the penultimate supper because it foreshadows the eternal heavenly banquet that Jesus is anticipating and looking forward to celebrating with his disciples.

[27:29] This is why Jesus was so eager, desirous of this banquet. He wants to savor this banquet because it's the last time he'll get to enjoy this Passover with his disciples until that time.

[27:43] he wants to enjoy this, he looks forward to this because it's to him a foreshadowing, a picture of that ultimate banquet to come. I find this very moving that he says, I earnestly desire to eat this Passover with you.

[28:00] Let me illustrate why this way. when a man takes his wife out for a date, he should say, hey, I reserved the table at a special restaurant so we could have dinner together this Friday night.

[28:16] I'm not going to tell you where it is yet, I don't want to surprise you, but I think you'll really like it. I already secured the babysitters, so be ready for me when I come home at 5 p.m. He shouldn't say, hey, we don't have anything better to do tonight.

[28:34] You don't go out to eat? What are you in the mood for? I'm not saying that you can't ever do that, but you get the point.

[28:47] The first ask shows intention and care, while the second ask shows laziness carelessness. And Jesus here is definitely not doing the first.

[29:04] He's definitely not doing the second ask in this passage. Everything has been preordained. He has been eagerly anticipating, desiring, and looking forward to this banquet.

[29:20] He had arranged for everything to happen, just as he had said, and he tells these disciples, these bumbling disciples, these selfish disciples, these slow to learn disciples that have been pestering him, pushing him, the very reason he's headed to the cross, and he's looking eagerly forward to this moment, to eat with them.

[29:52] the Passover, according to Exodus 12, was supposed to be celebrated with one's own family. But here, Jesus, as the head of this new household of God that he is forming, he dines with his disciples.

[30:10] In Luke 18, verses 28 to 30, Peter has said to Jesus, see, we have left our homes and followed you. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life.

[30:35] This scene, this last supper, is an enactment of the church, the family of God. Jesus is saying in this meal, you have left your homes, you have left your families to follow me.

[30:51] Your home is with me now. You're part of my family now. You're going to be a guest at the eternal banquet that my father's preparing.

[31:09] That's Jesus' heart. John 14, 2 to 3, during the same Passover, last Passover meal with the disciples, Jesus says this, in my father's house are many rooms.

[31:22] If it were not so, would I have told you that I would go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.

[31:37] Jesus is longing to be with his disciples before his departure, as well as his longing to celebrate this last Passover meal with him. they're explained by this, this is what explains Jesus' earnest desire to eat the Passover with them.

[31:55] And if you are a child of God, if you're a member of the family of God, with the same eager anticipation, it's for you, to join you, for you to join him at the heavenly banquet.

[32:13] He is earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you. Do you look forward to that? Does that anticipation shape the way you live now?

[32:28] As Jesus continues in this meal with his disciples, he says in verse 19, and he took bread, when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you.

[32:40] Do this in remembrance of me. Jesus is using figurative language here. Scripture nowhere describes the bread as becoming the physical body of Christ in any shape or form.

[32:56] Just as when Jesus says in John 10 verse 9, I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. He doesn't mean by that he is a literal door with a handle, but he is the door to heaven in a figurative sense.

[33:12] The bread which can easily be broken represents the body of Christ because the body of Christ will soon be broken on the cross for the spiritual nourishment and salvation of many.

[33:25] God That's why Jesus says here, this is my body which is given for you. This is my body which is given on your behalf.

[33:35] There's a substitutionary and sacrificial aspect to what Jesus is talking about here, to his death on the cross. You can see that also in the wine that they drink.

[33:47] Verse 20 says, and likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, this cup that is for you, is the new covenant in my blood.

[34:01] And who is Jesus speaking to? For whom is the body of Christ broken and the blood of Christ poured out? Jesus is speaking to his family, to his disciples, to his followers, those who have been adopted into the family of God through repentance and faith.

[34:20] Because sinners, rebels guilty of high treason cannot hope to join the heavenly banquet in the kingdom of God. They deserve to be shot out of the kingdom and punished for their rebellion.

[34:34] And that's what we all deserved. But God in Christ reconciles us to himself. He takes the people that have broken their covenant with God and enters into a new covenant with them through Jesus.

[34:52] And that's what Jesus is speaking of here. The new covenant is an allusion to Jeremiah 31 verses 31 to 33 where God promises to establish a new covenant where he puts the law of God into people's hearts to transform people's hearts so that they desire to and follow God's word instead of constantly rebelling and disobeying as Israel historically has done.

[35:18] Our covenant is a legally binding relational commitment much like a marriage between a man and a woman or the relationship between a parent and a child.

[35:30] That's why it's not surprising that God often describes himself as Israel's husband or the church's husband and he calls Israel his firstborn son.

[35:42] These are very intimate and intensive relationships and they also have legal aspects to it. You could examine that in our own lives. A father is legally required to provide for his child just as husband and wife are legally joined together and are responsible for one another.

[36:01] We can see that in the benefits like shared health insurance, disability, joint taxes, etc. Our covenant with God likewise is intimately and intensely relational but it's also legally binding.

[36:17] That's what a covenant is. We have duties, obligations that we are to perform before God. The old covenant was established at the time of the Exodus when in Exodus 24 verse 8 Moses took the blood of the sacrificed oxen and sprinkled it on the people setting them apart and marking them as people who are holy to God set apart for God's special purposes.

[36:41] But in the new covenant it says in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 to 22 It's the sprinkling of Jesus' blood that established the new covenant and this explains a very curious omission in this passage.

[37:11] Notice it says in verse 7 Then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. You're supposed to sacrifice a lamb.

[37:26] That's the centerpiece of the meal during Passover. But look through this passage. There's not a single mention of the eating of the lamb during this supper.

[37:38] It only mentions the bread. And the wine. Why is this the case? It's because Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb.

[37:54] Because Luke wants to make sure that the focus as we read this account is not on the lamb that atones but on Jesus that atones on the cross.

[38:07] When the Old Testament people of God Israel they were enslaved in Egypt God delivered them with mighty signs like the Exodus and this is what the Passover celebrates the last and the greatest sign was that of the Passover which is recorded in Exodus 12.

[38:22] Some of you already know that as Egypt was oppressing Israel which God calls his firstborn son in Exodus chapter 4 verse 22 God strikes down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt both man and animals but God spares the Israelites who according to his instruction slaughtered a lamb without blemish and took its blood and daubed it smeared it on the lintels of the door posts the Lord God then saw the blood of the lamb on the doors and as he was going through Egypt to kill the firstborns he passed over the Israelite households and after that great judgment Israel was finally liberated from its slavery in Egypt and so this unblemished Passover lamb that ransomed people that's who Jesus is that Passover lamb couldn't in an ultimate and real sense atone for the sins of human beings but it pointed to

[39:31] Jesus it foreshadowed Jesus and that's why John 1 29 says Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world that's why 1 Corinthians 5 7 says Christ is our Passover lamb who has been sacrificed because Christ the lamb of God has been sacrificed in our place we even though we are sinners deserving of eternal death can be spared because Christ's body was broken because his blood was poured out we do not have to shed blood or be broken God man this man man man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone

[40:37] God accepts penalties that belong to man alone this is the great exchange the sinless son of man died in the place of sinful men and if we only knew what kind of person Jesus really is how glorious he is how holy and worthy he is how good he is and if we only knew how depraved we are how sinful we are in the core and the depth of our being how selfish we are we will never cease to stand in awe of this great exchange that's what Jesus is already looking ahead to in verses 21 to 22 but behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table for the son of man goes as it has been determined but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed look at how verse 22 so aptly captures both divine sovereignty and human responsibility for the son of man goes as it has been determined who determined this this is in the perfect passive tense this it's been determined this assumes

[42:13] God as the agent of the act it's what Greek grammarians call the divine passive it's been predetermined predestined by God that Jesus Christ his son would die on the cross for the sins of his people and be raised from the dead for their salvation but this does not mean that Judas is not responsible Jesus says woe pity to that man by whom he is betrayed it's Judas who betrayed Jesus and he will be held accountable to God for his treachery and so Jesus says woe a pity what a pity for Judas and the word betray which literally means to hand over or to deliver up to give up is a key word that's repeated throughout the gospel of Luke and it's the word that is consistently used to refer to Jesus betrayal and death and interestingly it's the very same word that the

[43:14] New Testament authors pick up to describe how God the father delivered up handed over his own son this is in Romans 4 25 Jesus our Lord was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification Romans 8 32 says he who did not spare his own son but gave him up or delivered him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things and as Luke himself puts it in his sequel Acts 2 23 this Jesus delivered up into the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men the hands of lawless men the hands of Judas the traitor even the hands of Satan himself all of those without exception play into

[44:19] God's sovereign hands God and that should be a comfort to us no wind of fortune no whim of men can alter the course of human history can alter God's sovereign control over your life yes you're responsible for your actions but everything you do whether you are for God or against God ultimately plays into his sovereign hands that's why it's a comfort to believers because for a Christian seeing God's kingdom come on earth as it is heaven seeing God's will fulfilled here in our lives that's our greatest desire and if that's the case then we can take comfort because that desire will be fulfilled our goal will be accomplished because

[45:20] God's plan will prevail in the end but this passage leaves no room for resignation and passivity Jesus gives us a command here and I think this is our main exhortation verse 19 do this in remembrance of me this is not a re-sacrifice of Jesus on the altar but it's a remembrance of the once and for all sacrifice that Jesus already made on the cross now Jesus only says here do this in remembrance of me after breaking the bread but since verse 20 says and likewise the cup I think it applies to both and that's confirmed by 1 Corinthians 11 remembering remembering remembering Jesus and his sacrifice remembering God's wondrous acts of salvation is one of the most often repeated commandments in all of scripture God frequently tells us to remember and do not forget because we're forgetful people countless times throughout our days we forget

[46:23] God's love for us we forget God's sovereign control over our lives we forget God's promises but we're exhorted here to remember so when you feel down when you feel alone when you feel unloved remember the lavish love that God displayed in giving his son over to die for you when you feel helpless anxious fearful and out of control remember the sovereignty and providence of God revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ when we're prideful selfish and self important we have to remember the depth of our depravity pictured in that heinous cross when we are distracted by the bells and whistles of wealth and pleasure when we're stupefied by the dazzling lights of this world worldly success and esteem we have to remember the truth displayed in the cross of

[47:31] Jesus Christ that our Jesus eschewed the world's acclaim and praise and that those who follow him will be despised as he was it's by remembering the gospel that we live faithfully to Christ and that's why we gather regularly as it says in Hebrews 3 we exhort one another every day as long it is called today as it says in Hebrews 10 we do not neglect meeting together but we encourage one another why because sin has a hardening and numbing effect on our hearts we are forgetful people we can drift into unbelief that's why we must take care to remember God's truth we need to exhort one another remind each other and that's why we're here that's why every week 52

[48:31] Sundays of the year we proclaim Christ crucified from this pulpit that's why every Sunday 52 Sundays of the year we celebrate the Lord's supper to remember what Christ did for us to proclaim what Christ did for us and for those of you who are not yet followers of Christ we'll celebrate the Lord's supper at the end of our service but you will not be able to partake because the Lord's supper is a picture of your inclusion in the family of God that you have believed in Jesus that you are partaking in the body broken for you and the blood poured out for you that's what that signifies it serves to assure God's people that they are indeed in the people in the family of

[49:32] God but don't take this as an excluding gesture receive this as our invitation to you to come to Jesus because Jesus says in John 6 35 to 37 I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever me I will never cast out this is our invitation to you this morning if you come to the Lord in humility in repentance and faith the

[50:32] Lord please take a moment to reflect on that and let thank you