Well, good morning. Welcome to
our continuing Bible study in the book of Luke. We are in chapter
22. And our last lesson was entitled,
This Do and Remembrance of Me. And we spent the time examining
the end of the Passover and the Lord instituting the Lord's Supper
and what all that entailed. And while he was doing that,
We'll back up and we'll start reading in Luke chapter 22, verse
20, where he ends the Lord's Supper. And he says, likewise
after the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament
in my blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of
him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. And truly the
son of man goeth as it was determined. But woe unto that man by whom
he is betrayed. And they began to inquire among
themselves which of them it was that should do this thing. And
there was also strife among them, which of them should be accounted
the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings
of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise
authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not
be so. But he that is greatest among
you, let him be as the younger, and he that is the chief as he
that doth serve. For whether it is greater he
that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth, is not he that sitteth
at meat. but I am among you as He that
serveth. Ye are they which have continued
with Me in My temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom
as My Father hath appointed unto Me, that ye may eat and drink
at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel." So that's the portion of Scripture that
we're going to discuss today. For a moment, our attention is
turned back to Judas and the betrayal of Christ that's in
progress. We learned he'd already gone
to the chief priests. He approached them and said,
what will you give me if I turn him over to you? And they said,
well, we're kind of afraid to arrest him in the multitude.
And he says, well, we'll pick a time when it's nobody around. So we have that as the background. And then throughout this, there's
some final loving thoughts to the actual saved disciples by
the Lord before His departure through death. And I think before
we go through this block, it's kind of imperative that we have
an understanding of this term, determined. The Son of Man goeth
as it was determined. And that comes from a Greek word
called horizon, from which we get the Greek word horizon. And
it means to mark out a bound, to appoint, to decree, to specify,
to declare, to limit, to ordain. It's used in that connection
throughout the Scriptures. And he says, the son of man goeth
as it was determined." And this specific word, it's very specific,
and it must be understood in terms of one, capital O-N-E,
who does the determining. There was, I read a commentator
that said, well, it was just, determined because it was written
in the prophecy. The prophecy caused it to be
determined. Well, who caused the prophecy
to be written? So, this speaks specifically to God Almighty,
and the same word is used in Acts 2, 23. It says, Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. Same word there. God determined it. Just like
that hymn we sang. That was a very potent hymn that
we just sang a minute ago about God laying on him his wrath in
our place and determined that he would suffer and die in our
place. And by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain. Another example here, as our
pastor has been bringing out in the Wednesday night study
on Esther, how God takes something that seems so horrendous and
works it for good, and takes something awful like that, and
uses it to save much people alive. And as it says in Romans 8, 28,
we know that all things work for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. And so here in
our text is the ultimate work for good to them who love God
and are called according to His purpose. And so truly the son
of man goeth as it was determined, but woe unto that man by which
he is betrayed. And at this point, I wanted to
turn over to John chapter 13 because it kind of fills in a
little bit of, I just want to bring to your attention There's
kind of two things going on here. Judas is already covenanted to
turn him in, to betray him. And during this little block
of time here, he takes up and goes. And when he goes, before he leaves, he experiences
some grace by God, by Jesus. And then after he's gone, the
Lord has just some wonderful things that he says. It's his
last little bit of time that he's going to spend face to face
with his disciples, whom he loved. And he says some wonderful things
to them that are written down for our benefit, written down
for the church. In Judas' case, he was there
for part of it, but a lot of it didn't apply to him. As it
says in Hebrews 4, unto us was the gospel preached as well as
unto them or unto him. But the word preached did not
profit them or him, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it. So let's take a quick run over to
John 13 for a minute. And in verse 1, John 13, 1, Now before the feast
of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the
end. Boy, what a powerful statement. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. After supper and supper being ended, The devil having
now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray
him, and Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into
his hand, and that he was come from God and went to God, he
rises up from supper and laid aside his garments, and he took
a towel, and he girded himself." And that's very appropriate to
what we're reading here in Luke 22 about this being a servant. And after that, he pours water
into a basin, and he began to wash the disciples' feet and
to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded. And then he cometh
to Simon Peter, and Peter said unto him, Lord, dost thou wash
my feet? And Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I doest Thou knowest not now. You're not going to
quite get this right now, but you will later. But thou shalt
know hereafter. And Peter saith unto him, Thou
shalt never wash my feet. Boy, he just He just had a vision
of Jesus as King, God Almighty. And he said, and you're going
to wash my filthy old feet? And Jesus answered him, if I
wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. And Simon Peter saith
unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head also. I need a shower. I need the shower
of grace. Jesus said unto him, He that
is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. But he's clean
every whit, and you are clean, but not all. So he knows one
of them isn't a part of grace and salvation. You're clean,
but not all. For he knew who should betray
him, and therefore he said, you're not all clean. I imagine that
caused some of them to go. raise their eyebrow a little
bit. So after he'd washed their feet and taken his garments and
was set down again, he said to them, no, you're not what I've
done unto you. You call me master and Lord,
and you say, well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and master
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example that you should do as I have
done to you." And it's not just, there shouldn't be a ceremony
where we sit down and everybody take their shoes off. It's a
spiritual example of here watching over one another and taking care
of one another. And here's another thing to do. It's an example. For verily,
verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord,
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. And if
you know these things, happy are you if you do them. And I
speak not of you all. for I know whom I have chosen.
But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread
with me hath lifted up his heel against me." Quote from the Old
Testament there. Now I tell you before it come,
that when it come to pass, you may believe that I am he. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth
me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. And when Jesus had thus said,
he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, verily, verily,
I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples
looked one on another, doubting of whom he spoke. And now there
was leaning on Jesus bosom, one of the disciples whom Jesus loved. And I just know he was sitting
there saying, I sure love you. I hope it's not me. I hope I'm
not the one. I don't want to be the one."
But deep in his heart he probably said, I'm capable of that. And Simon Peter therefore beckoned
to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
And so he said, John, ask him who it is. I'm afraid to. You're leaning on his breast.
You love him. He loves you. Ask him, ask him
who it is. And Jesus answered, he it is
to whom I shall give a sop or a crumb or a morsel of bread
when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the morsel,
he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the
sop, Satan entered into him, and then Jesus said unto him,
What thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto him. for some thought that
because Judas had the bag or the purse, the money, that Jesus
had said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against
the feast or that he should give something to the poor. And he
having received the sop, went immediately out and it was night.
So the eleven said, he's just going on an errand. No big deal. They had no idea it was him. said the same as all of them.
I wonder who it is that's going to do this awful thing. So, we're going to read down
here just a couple more verses. Therefore, when he was gone out,
Jesus said, Now, I think that's very important for us to remember
because this person had been ordained to do what he was about
to do. He was on his way to the chief priesthood. Betray him
and he says now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified
in him all things are coming to fruition here all things are
coming and As it was determined the son of man goeth as it was
determined of him But woe to that man by whom he was betrayed
if God be glorified in him God shall also glorify him in himself
and straightaway shall straightaway glorify him and listen little
children and Another term of endearment that we run into here
calls them little children. Yet a little while I'm with you.
You shall seek me and as I've said unto the Jews, whether I
go, you cannot come. So now I say unto you, a new
commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have
loved you that ye also love one another. And by this shall all
men know that you're my disciples. So, as we read that, he knew absolutely who it was.
And Norm brought to my attention here that it was recorded also
in John 64, was it? he knew who it was who would
betray him. It was no mystery to him. For
he knew who it was that would betray him. And so he teaches
him this. He washes Judas' feet before
he goes out the door to turn him in, to trade him in. And
they're all saying, could this be me that is going
to do that? And so at this point, somewhere
in here, Judas takes his exit. And the graciousness of the Lord
to them whom He loves flows out in the text of John, recorded
through and ending all the way through John 14 through 17. What gracious, wonderful things,
he says. We don't have time to read them
all, but boy, if you have time to read John 14, 15, 16, and
the Lord praying, this wonderful prayer in John
17. This is his final words to the
disciples because after that they go out to the mount. and
they come up and arrest him and take him away. If you could imagine if each
one of us were to put ourselves in that position and we have
children or those whom we love that we have terms of endearment
for, and we knew We're going to be killed in just a short
time or we're going to be taken away and we're never going to
be with them again. What would we say to them? What
things have we saved up? that we would say to them. Jesus is always saying wonderful
things to them. Some things he holds back and
he says, you know, I've got a lot of things to tell you, but you
haven't reached that spiritual level yet where you're able to
understand. You can't bear them now. It'll
have to be later. But He has some wonderful things
to tell them in John 14, 15, 16. And then the things that
He reveals in His prayer. Those whom Thou hast given Me.
I lay down My life for those whom Thou hast given Me. He records these wonderful words
and then prays for them, whom he would lay down his life for.
And then back to our text in Luke,
and they're all saying, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? And then the next thing we find,
just the next sentence is, and there was also great strife among
them which should be accounted the greatest. The term, and this
term greatest here is used in the sense of larger, literally
or figuratively, specifically regarding age, an elder, or something
more. And so it's kind of an age-related
thing you know and we all want to be thinking well I'm the old
wise codger that can advise the the youth you know you young
tads out there listen to me because I'm important and I know I've
got all this vast experience And you should listen to me,
which they never do. But here he says, there was great
strife among them which should be accounted the greatest. And
we ran into that term back in Luke 9, 46, where they had just
came back from, the Lord sent them out, and they cast out devils
and healed people and preached the gospel. And when they got
back, They were having the same debate about who should be the
greatest. And I think that was the part
where they said, well, there's one devil that we couldn't throw
out. But they were kind of boasting
about, well, I cast out 47 demons, and you only cast out 32. And
I healed 19 people, and you only healed six. And so on it went. Anyway, in our scripture in Luke
22, 24, there's strife among them which be a count of the
greatest. And He said unto them, Jesus said unto them, the kings
of the Gentiles exercise lordship, and that word, lordship, means
they lord it over. the kings of the Gentiles lord
it over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called
benefactors." And he's kind of trying to point
out to them a contrast here between the way of the world versus the
way of the kingdom of God. This is how the Gentiles and
the kings and stuff do it. They're in charge. They lord
it over them. And they don't ever let them
forget who's in charge. They don't ever let them forget
who's controlling things. And it also has a connection
with this term benefactor means, a literal translation of it is
one who works good, does works of good works. But it's used
in a connection of, I did you a favor. You need to
remember that. I did something for you. You
owe me. So he said, and then the kings
of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise
authority upon them are called benefactors. So it's the way
of the world versus the kingdom of God, and one who bestows favor
for worldly purposes. But Jesus says, but you shall
not be so. It's not that way with my folks. It's not that way with the Church.
It's not that way with people that are regenerated. He says,
you shall not be sold, but he that is greatest among you, let
him be as the younger. So we have that age, kind of
that age comparison. So it's not a greatest doesn't mean like, Muhammad
Ali, I am the greatest boxer. He that thinks he's the oldest,
wisest, let him be as a younger. And he that is chief, as he that
does serve. And here, in our translation
of our KJV, it says the term chief here is supplied by the
translators. It's from this specific Greek
word. Hegiomai, which means leader
or commander, esteemed governor, to judge, or to have the rule
over. So, that word there, he that is chief
is he that serves. So, if you're in a leadership
position, It's all the more example that you should be in a position
of serving. And that's what we'll explore
this as we go through here in the New Testament. But I just
brought that to your attention because the same English word
is used in 1 Timothy 1.15 where Paul wrote, here's a faithful
saying. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Well, in the Greek, that
word is protos. Same word chief is used in both
cases, but in the one, it's hegeomai. And in this case, it's protos.
And protos, pro means in front of. And tos, or the back part
of that, means the most. It means foremost. Jesus Christ
came to save sinners of whom I am the foremost, not I used
to be or I'm really wise now." He said, he came to save sinners
of whom I am chief. And so those two things are not
the same in the Greek, but here a while back, our pastor was, discussing this with me and he
said, we were talking about how the Greek language is so precise.
So precise, even in gender, it's exact. It leaves nothing
to be debated, really. He said, that's probably the
reason the Lord chose that Greek text, the Greek language, because
it was so exact, so precise. Here we have an example where
in the English, and we find that a lot in the Bible where the
same English word is used in many different ways, and a lot
of times it's translating a specific Greek or Hebrew term and using
the same English word over them to mean different things. It would be better if it had
a little more information there to amplify what the original
word meant. As he says that, but ye shall
not be so. But he that is greatest among
you, let him be the younger as the younger. And he that is chief
as he that doth serve. And he says, so which is, whether
is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth? The
one that's sitting at the table and somebody comes along and
pours his coffee and hands him the entrees and takes away the
dirty dishes or whatever. Or, who's greater, he that sitteth
at meat or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at meat?
And then when I was reading this, it just struck me, he says, but
I am among you as he that serveth. The biggest chief, the biggest
God Almighty. I am among you. It's interesting
that I am, that's the same, in the Greek, that's the same words
used in John 8, 58, before Abraham was, I am. And this word among
you, I am among you, among you is misos. And that's the same term that
we find in Matthew 18, 20, where he says, wherever two or three
are gathered in my name, there I am in the mesos of you. So, he's trying to give them
a lesson. Here is the Sovereign Lord, God
Almighty, the Great I Am, who loved them from eternity, who
loved them with an everlasting love, washing their feet. serving them, I'm serving you. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
you know what, you guys are kind of puffed up. Your heads have
gotten way too big. You need to calm down a little
bit and kind of keep things in the right perspective. So what's the lesson to the church
here? Just one of humbleness. One of love for one another.
Not proudness. Not boastfulness. Not being puffed
up. I'm the greatest. I'm the smartest. I'm the wisest. Paul wrote, when a man thinks he knows something,
turns out he knows nothing as he ought. There's just so much. It can't be contained. That's
what John wrote at the end. Well, if we wrote down everything,
there's just not enough materials to do that. So the great I Am
among you. Our pastor again remarked how
precise that language is that conveys these thoughts of the
Lord to us and no possibility of ambiguity. Another, interestingly enough,
another term that's used here in this sentence that we just
read, I am among you as he that serveth. Well, that word serveth
there is an English word that is taken on proportions to which
it was never intended. And in the Greek, that word is Diakoneo, from where we get the
English word deacons. In the Greek here, it gives a
sense of one who attends, who ministers, who waits upon, who
is a friend, who's a host, who's a teacher. That's what that word
means. It's not somebody that sits on
a board. But that kind of that slant of that comes from 1 Timothy
3 in the modern language, because in 1 Timothy 3, it says, let
these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a
deacon. So because it says the office
of a deacon gives it that sense of an official, authoritative,
station where they have authority over things. And in 1 Timothy
3.10, let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. And so the idea that's really
brought out there is that a good minister is one who's been proved
holding the mystery of the faith in or with a good conscience,
and then firstly being found irreproachable concerning the
gospel of grace and subsequent faith. So once they've shown
that they have a grip on that, if they don't have a grip on
grace and the gospel, then they ought not be a They ought not
to be a minister. They ought not to be a teacher. They ought not to be one who's
advising people. If they don't have those basics
down, then that kind of disqualifies them. It says, that's from the Greek
interlinear, it says that. So it says, once they have done
that, then let them minister, then let them serve. And you
know, Webster's Dictionary defines a deacon as a cleric, just under
a priest in a church. And also, the second definition
is a church officers who helps the minister. Well, They've changed
a verb into a noun there. A minister is now, it's a title,
it's a noun, where before it was a verb, one who ministers. A servant, a server. And we have
a change to authority instead of action. And then in our last couple of
minutes, in closing here, he says, in closing this block of
scripture in Luke 22, 29, I appoint unto you a kingdom.
You don't have to try and create one here for yourself, a little
mini fiefdom or kingdom and decide who's got authority over what.
I appoint unto you a kingdom, and as my Father hath appointed
unto me a kingdom not of this world, but a heavenly, a spiritual
kingdom. In John 18, 36, Jesus answered
and said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were
of this world, then would my servants fight that I should
not be delivered unto the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from
hence. And so, you know, we go back
to our previous teachings about him addressing his people. In Luke 12, 32, he says, fear
not, little flock. It's your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. He calls it, in verse 33 of our
text today, he calls it, my kingdom. He's the authority. It's my kingdom. In Luke chapter 12, verse 21-32,
he calls them, ye little face, you little flock, you little
children, my little children, all these things that he's trying
to bring out to you, these terms of endearment that he applies
to his people. in these last few words that
he can say, and again, if you get a chance to go over and read
John 14-17, it's just so uplifting, so wonderful. Contrarily, Paul had to write
to them darn Corinthian people again in chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians
saying, you guys are getting involved
in brother against brother, suing each other at law and saying
who's greatest and who's in charge. And he said, it ought not to
be so. That is not the way to do it.
So we're going to stop there. And next time we get into this
part about Peter in Luke 22, He just gets through telling
them, you know, here's some things to look forward to. John wrote about it in Revelation
chapter 12, I think, when he's describing the New Jerusalem
and the city. The names of the 12 apostles
are in the walls. I thought that was interesting.
They're in the walls, not just written on them, but they're
in the walls. And then he says a strange thing. He says, Simon
Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that
thy faith fail not. And when you're converted, strengthen
thy brethren. Man, I'm sure Peter's saying,
what? What? What am I going to do? You know, we find the Lord after
the resurrection, He appeared to them. What's the first thing
out of His mouth? Fear not. And He doesn't, whenever they
do something, He doesn't scold them. call them names or say, man,
I wish I hadn't called you guys. Look, you're already bickering
and fighting. He just looks at them through the eyes of grace. Here, in just a few hours, I'm
paying for all this. So he tells Peter, when you're
converted, when you get woke up here after this is all over
and figure out that I still love you, then strengthen the brothers. So a good lesson for us in that.
So we'll talk about that more next time. So in the meantime,
as always, be free.