Scripture Reading:
Luke 22:47-53
Key Verse:
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:19-20)
What does this passage teach us?
We should learn, for one thing, from these verses—that the worst and most wicked acts may be done under a show of love to Christ. We read that when the traitor Judas brought the enemies of Christ to capture Him—he betrayed Him “with a kiss.” He made a pretense of affection and respect at the very moment when he was about to deliver his Master into the hands of his deadliest enemies!
Conduct like this, unhappily, is not without its parallels. The pages of history record many an instance of enormous wickedness done under the garb of religion. The name of God has too often been pressed into the service of persecution, treachery, and crime!
When Jezebel would have Naboth killed, she ordered a “fast to be proclaimed,” and false witnesses to accuse him of “blaspheming God and the king” (1 Kin. 21:9-10). When the Spanish Inquisition tortured and burned Christians they justified their abominable dealings by a profession of zeal for God’s truth. The false apostle Judas Iscariot has never lacked successors and imitators! There have always been men ready to betray Christ with a kiss, and willing to deliver the Gospel to its enemies under a show of respect.
Conduct like this, we need not doubt, is utterly abominable in the sight of God. To injure the cause of religion under any circumstances, is a great sin—but to injure it while we pretend to show kindness is the blackest of crimes! To betray Christ at any time, is the very height of wickedness—but to betray Him with a kiss, proves a man to have become a very child of Hell.
We should learn, for another thing, from these verses—that it is much easier to fight a little for Christ, than to endure hardness and go to prison and death for His sake. We read that when our Lord’s enemies drew near to capture Him, one of His disciples “smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.” Yet the zeal of that disciple was very short-lived. His courage soon died away. The fear of man overcame him. When our Lord was led away as a prisoner he was led away alone. The disciple who was so ready to fight and smite with the sword had actually forsaken his Master and fled!
The lesson before us is deeply instructive. To suffer patiently for Christ is far more difficult than to work actively. To sit still and endure calmly is far harder than to stir about and take part in the battle. The grand test of grace is patient suffering. “I will show Saul,” said the Lord Jesus, “how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:16). Peter, we may be sure, did far less good when he drew his sword and cut off a man’s ear than he did when he stood calmly before the council as a prisoner, and said, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
We should learn, lastly, from these verses—that the time during which evil is permitted to triumph, is fixed and limited by God. We read that our Lord said to His enemies when they captured Him, “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
The sovereignty of God over everything done upon earth, is absolute and complete. The hands of the wicked are bound, until He allows them to work. They can do nothing without His permission. But this is not all. The hands of the wicked cannot stir one moment before God allows them to begin—and cannot stir one moment after God commands them to stop. The very worst of Satan’s instruments are “working in chains.” The devil could not touch Job’s property or person, until God allowed him. He could not prevent Job’s prosperity returning, when God’s designs on Job were accomplished.
Our Lord’s enemies could not capture and slay him, until the appointed “hour” of His weakness arrived. Nor yet could they prevent His rising again, when the hour came in which He was declared the Son of God with power, by His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). When He was led forth to Calvary, it was “their hour.” When He rose victorious from the grave, it was His hour!
Let us take comfort in these words of our Lord, in looking forward to our own future lives. If we are followers of Christ—then we shall have our “hour” of trial—and it may be a long hour too. But we may rest assured that the darkness shall not last one moment longer than God sees fit for us. In His good time, it shall vanish away. “At evening time, there shall be light.”
Finally, let us take comfort in these words of our Lord, in looking forward to the future history of the Church and the world. Clouds and darkness may gather round the ark of God. Persecutions and tribulations may assail the people of God. But the “hour” of trial, however grievous, will have an end. Even at the worst, we may boldly say, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:12).
Questions:
1. What are the themes of chapters 1-22?
2. What insincere gesture did Judas use to betray Christ?
3. What can we learn from Jesus saying this time was “the hour of darkness”?
Family Application Questions:
1. Why do people find it easier to fight rather than to suffer over a long time? What does this tell us about human nature?
2. When we undergo suffering, what should we remember about God’s providence and purposes?
