Luke 22:14

The Road To The Cross: Jesus Prepares For What Is To Happen And It Inevitably Happens (22:14-23:33).

We now come to a group of passages which form a remarkable sequence within the above sequence already described covering from Luke 22:14 to Luke 23:33. In them Jesus first prepares His disciples in some detail for what lies ahead and then all unfolds in fulfilment as what He has said is fulfilled. It is possible that this chiasmus is to be seen as the work of Luke's source which he has incorporated in his overall scheme for it is not part of the usual sequences and there is much non-Marcan material here. It is again in three stages.

· It begins with the hour having come and Jesus reclining at table with His disciples, preparing them for the night ahead, and drinking the cup of blessing.

· The night then unfolds in the fulfilling in detail of what He has revealed.

· It ends with Him being hustled around and drinking the cup of suffering.

It is thus in itself a unity as the analysis will demonstrate.

Analysis.

a Jesus manifests the danger that lies before Him and the fact of His coming death, providing the symbol of what its significance will be for His disciples in the bread and the cup. They drink the cup of blessing (Luke 22:14).

b Jesus reveals the hand of a betrayer at His own table (Luke 22:21).

c The disciples are not to seek greatness, but the opportunity of humble service, a service which will be granted to them as they carry on His work, just as they have shared with Him in His trials (Luke 22:24).

d Peter will deny Jesus, but through his experience will be strengthened to serve others (Luke 22:31).

e Jesus makes clear the danger of the hour, it is a time for swords. But this need for swords is symbolic rather than real, for it is not through swords that triumph will come (Luke 22:35).

f Jesus prays in Gethsemane that He might be spared the cup of suffering that He is being called on to drink (Luke 22:39).

e The hour of danger approaches, and the disciples seek to defend Jesus with their swords, but fail (Luke 22:47).

d Peter fails and denies Jesus and ends up temporarily crushed and broken (Luke 22:54).

c Jesus is debased and humiliated to the lowest level of servitude (Luke 22:63).

b Jesus is betrayed by the leaders of the Jews in His own country (Luke 22:66).

a Jesus is sentenced to death by the rulers of the Gentiles and drinks the cup of suffering (Luke 23:1).

We note that in ‘a' Jesus reveals through symbols His coming death, and its significance, and in the parallel that death is brought about. In ‘b' Jesus is betrayed by a disciple reclining at His own table, and in the parallel He is betrayed by the leaders of His own people (compare John 1:11). In ‘c' Jesus tells His disciples that they are called to servitude, and in the parallel He is subjected to something that is below even servitude, to the deepest humiliation. In ‘d' Jesus forecasts the denial of Peter, and in the parallel Peter denies Him. In ‘e' Jesus warns of coming danger which means that they will require swords, although the requirement for swords is symbolic. In the parallel the danger comes and their ‘two swords' are not enough. Centrally in ‘f' Jesus prays that He might be spared the cup of suffering, but chooses above all to follow the will of God.

By means of this chiasmus the symbols at the last supper are directly paralleled with their fulfilment on the cross, and the warnings of Jesus about Peter's denial and the need for swords are directly connected with their fulfilment, first in the use of swords, and then in the threefold denial by Peter. And central to all is the cry of Jesus in Gethsemane, the place where by His obedience He submits to the awesome will of God (Hebrews 10:5). Here it is given a central place.

That being said this chiasmus now divides up into smaller chiasmi, the first covering the activities in the Upper Room.

‘And when the hour was come, he sat down (reclined), and the apostles with him.'

The lack of any preparatory words with reference to His arrival (compare Mark 14:17) suggests that Luke intends us to see a deeper significance in ‘when the hour was come' than simply as a reference to the time of the usual Passover meal, or the time that Jesus had fixed. It rather suggests that solemn hour that had to come when Jesus would begin His preparations for certain death. We must remember that to Luke this is now at the end of His prophetic ‘journeying towards Jerusalem' to die as a true prophet (Luke 13:33; Luke 18:31). And now He had come to that hour. Compare here also John 13:1. From this moment on His course was set. This solemnity would seem to be confirmed by the next verse.

There is an indication of firm courage behind the words here. Death was approaching, but He would carry on as normal. He was prepared for what would come, and was able to relax in the face of it. The Rabbis said that one reason why the Passover had to be celebrated in a reclining position was as an expression of joy and rest. It was in order to reveal that all was well. Symbolically at least it indicated that, unlike at the first Passover, there was no longer any need to be ready to move on. And yet Jesus was well aware that His hour was come and that this night He would commence the path of suffering that would end in a cruel death. But in spite of that He was quite ready to recline among His disciples.