Passover was approaching and the chief priests and teachers of the law were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus. They thought He was gaining too much power since the people were turning to Jesus’ way in large numbers. As mentioned in Luke 22:1:-20, Satan plays a part in the betrayal of Jesus by entering as an evil spirit into Judas who went to the chief priests and officers of the temple guard to discuss with them how he might betray Jesus (v. 4). He accepted thirty pieces of silver from them in exchange for identifying Jesus as the one they could capture.
Jesus took precautions when a place was chosen for the Passover supper. He knew the place and the person who owned the guest room so He told Peter and John to look for a man who was carrying a water jar. This would stand out since for the most part only women carried water jars. These precautions were taken because of the significance of the Lord’s Passover Supper.
The Passover lamb had to be sacrificed at this important annual event in which Jews from all over the Roman Empire converged on the city of Jerusalem. The Passover meal institutes what the church calls “Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper”. The bread and wine represents Christ’s broken body and his blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. When we partake in communion, we are identifying ourselves with Jesus’ body and blood. Jesus became the sacrifice talked about in Exodus 12 when the Lord passes over each house that had sacrificed a lamb.
The Romans paid one of Jesus’ trusted followers named Judas to betray Him. Just like Judas who went against Jesus, people will at times go against us for short term gain. Think of times in your life when others have gone against you. Maybe, they wanted to get a promotion and decided to cut corners to make themselves look good with the boss’s rather than getting the job done the right way like you did. We may feel betrayed by others but the good thing about our Lord is that He will never betray us.
At the Last Super, Jesus begins to paint the picture of how the mission will be accomplished. Through His death on the cross, a new helper known as the Counselor will give advantages to those who believe. Through prayer, we have the greatest power because we are speaking to the ONE who already has the answer.
Lord, we are grateful for the Holy Spirit guiding us in our daily decisions. At times, there is a bit of Judas in all of us. Our agenda is not always Your agenda and we get off the path. This day with You, we would like to make sure we put Your guidance into practice and follow Your path. Amen!
