J.C. Ryle's Devotional Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke. Section 126. The Last Supper. Luke 22, verses 1-13.

Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad and covenanted to give him money. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where will you that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when you are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he enters in. And you shall say unto the goodman of the house, The master says unto you, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished. There make ready.

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

The chapter which opens with these verses begins Luke's account of our Lord's sufferings and death. No part of the Gospels is so important as this. The death of Christ was the life of the world. No part of our Lord's history is so fully given by all the Gospel writers as this. Only two of them describe the circumstances of Christ's birth. All four dwell minutely on Christ's death. And of all the four, no one supplies us with such full and interesting details as Luke.

We see firstly in these verses that high offices in the church do not preserve the holders of them from great blindness and sin. We read that the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill Jesus. The first step in putting Christ to death was taken by the religious leaders of the Jewish nation. The very men who ought to have welcomed the Messiah were the men who conspired to kill him. The very pastors who ought to have rejoiced at the appearing of the Lamb of God had the chief hand in slaying him. They sat in Moses' seat. They claimed to be guides of the blind and lights of those who were in darkness, Romans 2.19. They belonged to the tribe of Levi. They were, most of them, in direct succession and descent from Aaron, yet they were the very men who crucified the Lord of glory.

With all their boasted knowledge, they were far more ignorant than the few Galilean fishermen who followed Christ. let us beware of attaching an excessive importance to ministers of religion because of their office. Ordination and office confer no exemption from error. The greatest heresies have been sown, and the greatest practical abuses introduced into the Church by ordained men. Respect is undoubtedly due to high official position. Order and discipline ought not to be forgotten. The teaching and counsel of regularly appointed teachers ought not to be lightly refused, but There are limits beyond which we must not go. We must never allow the blind to lead us into the ditch. We must never allow modern chief priests and scribes to make us crucify Christ afresh. We must test all teachers by the unerring rule of the Word of God. It matters little who says a thing in religion, but it matters greatly what it is that is said. Is it scriptural? Is it true? This is the only question. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8 20

We see, secondly, in these verses, how far men may fall after making a high profession. We read that the second step toward our Lord's crucifixion was the treachery of one of the twelve apostles. Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. These words are peculiarly dreadful. To be tempted by Satan is bad enough. To be sifted, buffeted, led captive by him is truly terrible. But when Satan enters into a man and dwells in him, the man becomes, indeed, a child of hell.

Judas Iscariot ought to be a standing beacon to the Church of Christ. This man, be it remembered, was one of our Lord's chosen apostles. He followed our Lord during the whole course of his ministry He forsook all for Christ's sake. He heard Christ preach and saw Christ's miracles. He preached himself. He spoke like the other apostles. There was nothing about him to distinguish him from Peter, James, and John. He was never suspected of being unsound at heart. And yet this man turns out at length a hypocrite. betrays his master, helps his enemies to deliver him up to death, and dies himself the son of perdition. John 17.12. These are fearful things, but they are true.

Let the recollection of Judas Iscariot constrain every professing Christian to pray much for humility. Let us often say, Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me, and know my thoughts. â€"Psalm 139, verse 23 At best, we have but a faint conception of the deceitfulness of our hearts. The lengths to which men may go in religion, and yet be without grace, is far greater than we suppose.

We see thirdly in these verses the enormous power of the love of money. We're told that when Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray his master, they agreed to give him money. That little sentence reveals the secret of this wretched man's fall. He was fond of money. He had doubtless heard our Lord's solemn warning, Take heed and beware of covetousness, Luke 12, 15. But he had either forgotten it or given it no heed. Covetousness was the rock on which he made shipwreck. Covetousness was the ruin of his soul.

We need not wonder that Paul called the love of money the root of all evil, 1 Timothy 6, 10. The history of the church is full of mournful proofs that it is one of the choicest weapons of Satan for corrupting and spoiling professors of religion. Gehazi, Ananias, and Sapira are names which naturally occur to our minds. But of all proofs there is none so melancholy as the one before us. For money a chosen apostle sold the best and most loving of all masters. For money Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ.

Let us watch and pray against the love of money. It is a subtle disease, and often far nearer to us than we suppose. A poor man is just as liable to it as a rich man. It is possible to love money without having it, and it is possible to have it without loving it. Let us be content with such things as we have, Hebrews 13, 5. We never know what we might do if we became suddenly rich. It is a striking fact that there is only one prayer in all the book of Proverbs, and that one of the three petitions in that prayer is the wise request, Give me neither poverty nor riches. Proverbs 30, 8. We see lastly in these verses the close connection between our Lord Jesus Christ's death and the feast of the Passover. Four times we are reminded here that the evening before his crucifixion was the time of the great Jewish feast. It was the day when the Passover lamb must be killed.

We cannot doubt that the time of our Lord's crucifixion was overruled by God. His perfect wisdom and controlling power arranged that the Lamb of God should die at the very time when the Passover Lamb was being slain. The death of Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover. It was the true sacrifice to which every Passover lamb had been pointing for 1,500 years.

What the death of the lamb had been to Israel in Egypt, his death was to be to sinners all over the world. The safety which the blood of the Passover lamb had provided for Israel, his blood was to provide far more abundantly for all that believed in him.

Let us never forget the sacrificial character of Christ's death. Let us reject with abhorrence the modern notion that it was nothing more than a mighty instance of self-sacrifice and self-denial. It was this, no doubt, but it was something far higher, deeper, and more important than this. It was a propitiation for the sins of the world. It was an atonement for man's transgression. It was the killing of the true Passover lamb, through whose death destruction is warded off from sinners believing on him.

Christ, our Passover lamb, says Paul, is sacrificed for us. 1 Corinthians 5, 7. Let us grasp that truth firmly and never let it go.