The Minister Group was meeting at our home. I was looking forward to seeing all of them. Being a good husband, I offered my wife my help in getting the dinner ready. She said she could use some help getting the iced tea poured. Maybe because I was eager for them to get there, or maybe it was my usual clumsiness, whatever the reason, I broke the pitcher. Tea, ice and what was left of the pitcher covered the counter top. I may have been clumsy but my mind was sharp. I knew right away that I was in trouble and that however much I would enjoy the guests and the dinner, the memory of that spilled tea would dampen that meeting.
In Luke 22:1-23, we read of Jesus having a dinner with His disciples. He didn’t spill their drink, He isn’t clumsy, but He did look forward to that dinner. He had chosen the place where the dinner was to be held and He invited all of His disciples, even those who would deny Him and he who would betray Him. Jesus knew this would be His last supper and He knew the pain and agony that He would soon suffer. Reason enough if we were in His place to lose our appetite, but not for our Lord. This was the Passover meal, the Passover lamb had been sacrificed and cooked, Jesus had passed the cup with the invitation to all of them to drink from it. Jesus was not going to let the clouds He faced deter Him from his duty. Peter’s denial and Judas betrayal would not cause Him to abandon His character of love, mercy and justice.
When Jesus spoke of the agony awaiting Him, Peter said he would stay with Jesus, even in death. But when Jesus was on trial, a servant girl identified Peter as one of Jesus’ disciples. Peter denied this. Then on two more occasions two men made the same accusation. As Peter made his third denial of Jesus, a cock crowed. Jesus turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered the words Jesus spoke at the dinner, “Before a cock crows today, you will deny Me three times” (Luke 22:61, NASB)Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him and that, surely, would dampen His enjoyment of the supper.
Then there was Judas. Luke 22:3 says “Satan entered Judas who was called Iscariot” Judas met with the chief priests and scribes. These were trying to find a way to put Jesus to death, but Jesus looked like a very ordinary man, and He had a number of people that worshipped Him. So the chief priests and the scribes wanted someone to identify Him, and to do it away from His followers. Judas was their man. Jesus often went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. When He was there, Judas led a large group of those that wanted to seize Jesus.
