Bible Study series: Luke 22:1-6. Satan enter Judas, even though he had seen healings on his mission trip (Luke 9:1-6).
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 22:1-6
1 The feast of Unleavened Bread associated with the Passover was nearing. 2 The chief priests and teachers of the law were looking for the means to get rid of him, for they feared the people.
3 Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. 4 He left and talked with the chief priests and temple guards about how he would hand him over. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented and sought the best time to hand him over to them, away from the crowds. (Luke 22:1-6)
Comments:
1:
The Passover came first, and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover is one of three spring festivals required by law (Tabernacles or Booths and Pentecost are the other two).
Festivals in Leviticus 23 from a NT Perspective
Let’s define Passover. It comes from the noun pascha (pronounced pah-skha, for the -ch- is hard). Let’s define it. BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT. It says: (1) An annual Israelite festival commemorating Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the Passover, celebrated on the 14th of the month Nisan and continuing into the early hours of the 15th … Ex 12-13 … This was followed immediately by the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the 15th to 21st. Popular usage merged the two festivals and treated them as a unity, as they were for practical purposes (see Lk 22:1 and Mk 14:12)”…. (2) “the lamb sacrificed for observance of the Passover, Passover lamb …figurative of Christ and his bloody death 1 Cor. 5:7 … eat the Passover Mt 26:17; Mk 14:12b, 14; Lk 22:11, 15; J 18:28.” (3) “The Passover meal Mt 26:19; Mk 14:16; Lk 22:8” …. (4) “in later Christian usage the Easter festival.”
The key points in that definition: popular usage merged Passover and Unleavened Bread for practical reasons; the Greek can be translated as the lamb itself, so the figurative usage is easy to apply to Christ’s sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7). (To this day, modern Greeks celebrate the pascha by eating a lamb.)
Here are more basic facts about the two festivals:
(1). Passover
Time of year in OT: First Month: Aviv / Nisan 14th day (for one day)
Time of Year in Modern Calendar: March / April (second Passover is one month later according to Num. 9:10-11)
How to celebrate it:
(1) A whole lamb by the number of people in household, being ready to share with nearest neighbor; (2) one-year-old males without defects, taken from sheep and goats; (3) take care of them until the fourteenth day; (4) then all the community is to slaughter it at twilight; (5) put the blood on the tops and sides of the doorframes of the houses where the lambs are eaten, with bitter herbs and bread without yeast; (6) that night eat the lambs roasted over fire, with the head, legs and internal organs, not raw or boiled (7) do not leave any of it until morning; if there is any leftover, burn it; (8) the cloak must be tucked into belt; sandals on feet and staff in hand; (9) eat in haste in order to leave Egypt soon (Exod. 12:4-11).
Purpose: Exodus from Egypt and Protection from Judgment:
“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt” (Exod. 12:13).
Other Scriptures: Exod. 12:4-14; Num. 28:16
(2). Unleavened Bread
Time of Year in OT: Same month, 15th to 21st days, for seven days
Time of Year in Modern Calendar: Same month, on the fifteenth day, which lasts for seven days
How to celebrate it:
Exod. 12:14-20 says that the Israelites were to eat bread without yeast for seven days, from the fourteenth day to the twenty-first day. On the first day they were to remove the yeast from their houses. If they eat anything with yeast from the first to the seventh days they shall be cut off (excommunicated), and this was true for foreigner or native-born. They must not do work on those days, except to prepare to prepare the food for everyone to eat. On the first days they are to hold a sacred assembly (meet at the tabernacle) and another one on the seventh day.
Other Scriptures: Exod. 12:14-20; Num. 28:16
Purpose: see the previous section “Passover.”
Paul writes in 1 Cor. 5:6-8:
Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. 5:6-8)
The ancient Israelites were not supposed to eat leavened bread during this time. They were in such a hurry to leave Egypt that they could not wait for the yeast to raise the lump of dough. In this context yeast symbolized sin and hindrance. We are to keep the Passover, but only in a spiritual sense: “with sincerity and faith.” We are to get rid of the old yeast or moral corruption in our lives and the life of the church. Christ is our Passover lamb, and he protects us from God judicial wrath or judgment, when we are in union with him.
Let’s discuss the Passover in relation to the Last Supper. There are three options if one intends to harmonize the four Gospel accounts.
(1).. The Last Supper was not on the Passover, but was a “New Passover” which Jesus inaugurated and celebrated early with the disciples. The Jewish Passover (Nisan 15) began on Friday evening as John’s Gospel indicates and continued through Saturday afternoon. Jesus inaugurated the New Passover on Nisan 14, which began on Thursday evening, running through Friday.
(2).. The Last Supper was the Jewish Passover. Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples on Thursday evening (Nisan 15) as the Synoptics suggest and was crucified the next morning (still Nisan 15, which ran Thursday evening through Friday afternoon). John’s reference to “the Preparation of the Passover (John 19:14; cf. 19:31, 42) does not means preparation for the day of Passover week, the day the lambs were slaughtered but preparation for the Sabbath of Passover week (i.e. Friday before sundown). This meaning of “preparation” is common and appears in Mark 15:42. To eat the Passover (John 18:28) means the general sense to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
(3).. The Jewish Passover was celebrated at two different times. Nisan falls on two days for two groups or the Passover was spread out over two days, perhaps because of the large number of lambs to be slaughtered. Celebrated on two days for the (a) Sadducees and Pharisees; (b) Galileans and Judeans; (c) visiting pilgrims and local residents. Or Jesus was following the solar calendar used at Qumran and in the Book of Jubilees, where Nisan 15 began on Tuesday. The religious leaders were following the traditional lunar calendar, where Nisan 15 fell on Friday evening.
Mark L. Strauss, Mark: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Zondervan, 2014), pp. 617-18.
See this post for a summary of the major festivals.
Festivals in Leviticus 23 from a NT Perspective
Also see John 13 (after the first pericope) for more explanations for harmonization of the four Gospels:
At that link, the discussion is narrowed down more than Strauss has done.
France produces a table (which I slightly modify):
After sunset: disciples ask about and make preparations
During the night: Passover meal held; walk out to Gethsemane; arrest and preliminary hearing of Jesus
At daybreak: transfer to Pilate; formal trial and conviction
Morning/noon: crucifixion
Afternoon: official date for sacrifice of lambs
France, R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Eerdmans, 2002).
Also see this offsite commentary: Barry D. Smith, “The Chronology of the Last Supper,” Westminster Theological Journal 53:1 (1991): 29-45. He too stretches out the meal and says that the labels “Passover” and “Unleavened Bread” were used interchangeably, in the NT and various Jewish sources.
Here is a shorter version of Smith’s study:
Thomas Brewer. “Does John’s last supper chronology differ from the other Gospels?” Christian Post. 13 May 2022.
If either of those offsite links go dead, just copy and paste the bibliographical references in a search engine.
Once again, you can decide or work up your own chronology.
Also see the table on the Passion week at the bottom of this post.
2:
“chief priests”:
“teachers of the law” (the are often translated as “scribes”):
You can read about these groups in this post:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
The groups are put in alphabetical order.
“get rid”: “to get rid of someone by execution, often with legal or quasi-legal procedures” (Culy, Parsons, Stigall, p. 662). They were about to get rid of him by quasi-legal process, in their minds.
“feared the people”: he had been teaching in the temple, and people got up early, conducted their business, like getting breakfast and the kids ready, and went out to listen to him. He audience was numerous, for he was popular. His teaching was impactful.
3:
“Satan entered him”: it is remarkable that Judas was numbered among the twelve and evidently did the same miracles that the eleven did (Luke 9:1-2), yet Satan entered him. Apparently, he was not yet born again and filled with the Spirit, as the eleven (plus Matthias) were (John 20:22; Acts 2:1-4), so Satan had access to his soul. Yet the other eleven were not born again and filled with the Spirit. Satan didn’t have access to their soul. Why is that? Maybe the answer is seen in James 4:7, which says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Judas was not submitted to God; he was even a thief, for he stole from the money purse (John 12:6). Vices open the door to Satan. Don’t do bad things like stealing or getting high or constantly losing your temper. Pray that God would deliver you from your vice. God will give you strength and purge out your sinful weaknesses. It may take time but keep praying specifically for your clinging sin (Heb. 12:1).
Spirit-filled Christians cannot be demon possessed. They can be attacked and harassed, but not possessed.
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
For the notion that Judas may have repented and showed the fruits of repentance, please see my comments on Matt. 27:3-10.
But alas, John says Judas was lost (John 17:12)
4-6:
“Temple guards”: as the name implies, they were in charge of security. The temple had to be kept holy, like no Gentiles in the holy areas, though there was a court for them.
They were “delighted” or “rejoiced.” The Jerusalem establishment will suffer judgment for carrying out this plot. This is irony. They think they are right and are following God, but they are deceived and have been wandering off the path for many years. They were actually wrong.
“consented”: he agreed. Now it was up to Judas to find the right or best time to betray Jesus. But it had to be apart from the crowd. Jesus was popular.
GrowApp for Luke 22:1-6
1. Read Heb. 12:1. How do you conquer sin that so closely clings to you?
2. Have you ever been betrayed? How did you overcome the hurt feelings? Or have you yet?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
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