Luke 22: When You Fail

We read Luke 22 as the story narrows to the Last Supper, Gethsemane, betrayal, and Peter’s denial, and we let the weight of Jesus’ love land outside the Easter season. We sit with the reality of spiritual warfare and find comfort in Jesus praying for our faith when we are shaken. 
• the Passover setting and Judas’ decision to betray Jesus 
• Jesus establishing the bread and cup as remembrance and new covenant 
• the disciples’ argument about greatness and Jesus’ model of serving 
• Jesus warning Peter about being sifted and promising intercession 
• Gethsemane prayer, arrest, and Jesus choosing the Father’s will 
• Peter’s three denials, the rooster crow, and bitter weeping 
• Jesus mocked, questioned, and affirmed as the Son of God 
• why darkness is allowed for a time and how healing can follow 
• turning failure into a mission to strengthen other believers 

At outloudbible.com, you can find free resources to help you study the Bible. And while you’re there, send us a message to say hi, or start a conversation about having us at your church or event. 

If Outloud Bible has been a valuable part of your understanding of the Bible, please consider supporting the ministry by visiting outloudbible.com.

Transcript

Why The Gospel Still Hits

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Podcast. This is Mike. We're here in the book of Luke, and we're reaching the end of the book. And like it is with every gospel account that we have, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as we get to the end of the book, we find more and more zoomed-in details of the end of Jesus' life on earth. There aren't many stories that all four Gospel writers all write about, but the death of Jesus is certainly one of them because it is so fundamental to our faith. Fortunately, not just the death of Jesus, but the resurrection of Jesus, spoiler alert, which all four gospel writers uh address as well. And these accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection get a lot of playtime around Easter. That's usually when we hear them, and that's obviously a certainly appropriate thing to do and story to tell at the time. But let's get more comfortable with hearing the story of Jesus' death and resurrection even outside of Easter time. Right now I'm recording this and this is being released early summer. All right? I know we had Easter a few months ago, but the good news is just as good now as it was at Easter. Reminds me of a phrase that says, uh preach the gospel to yourself every day. Now that's not a Bible verse. I believe it was made popular uh by Jerry Bridges, and he actually attributes the phrase originally, not to himself, but to uh a friend of his, Dr. Jack Miller, preach the gospel to yourself every day. So for the next few episodes here, as we're reading through the book of Luke, we're going to be going through some of these stories that are often attributed to Passion Week, the week before Jesus died leading up to Easter, the resurrection. Can we try to allow ourselves to hear it with fresh ears? Can we try to just celebrate in what Jesus did for us? And allow ourselves to be struck again with the awe of, wow, look what Jesus did out of love for me. Let's get into it here in Luke chapter 22 in the New English Translation. Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief

Judas Agrees To Betray Jesus

SPEAKER_00 2:09

priests and the experts in the law were trying to find some way to execute Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. And then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve. He went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers of the temple guard how he might betray Jesus, handing him over to them. They were delighted and arranged to give him money. So Judas agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus when no crowd was present. Then the day for the feast of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed, and Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat. They said to him, Where do you want us to prepare it? He said to them, Listen, when you've entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. That should be a detail that sticks out to them because men did not often carry jars of water, that was often a woman's work. Follow him into the house that he enters, and tell the owner of the house, the teacher says to you, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And then he'll show you a large furnished room upstairs. Make preparations there. So they went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. Now when the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table, and the apostles joined him, and then he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

Bread And Cup New Covenant

SPEAKER_00 3:46

For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, Take this, divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that's poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But look, the hand of the one who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man is to go just as it's been determined, but woe to that man by whom he's betrayed. So they began to question one another as to which of them it could possibly be who would do this. A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. So Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority

Greatness Redefined As Service

SPEAKER_00 5:08

over them are called benefactors? Not so with you. Instead, the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. For who's greater, the one who's seated at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who's seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials, and thus I grant to you a kingdom, just as my father granted to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in the kingdom, and you'll sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, Simon, pay attention. Satan has demanded to have you all to sift you like wheat. But I've prayed for you,

Peter Warned And Faith Preserved

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you've turned back, strengthen your brothers. But Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus replied, I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me. Then Jesus said to them, When I sent you out with no money bag or traveller's bag, or sandals, you didn't lack anything, did you? They replied, Nothing. Well he said to them, But now the one who has a money bag must take it, and likewise a traveller's bag too, and the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one, for I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, and he was counted with the transgressors. For what's written about me is being fulfilled. So they said Look, Lord, here are here are two swords and many told him it's enough. Then Jesus went out and made his way, as he customarily did, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him, and when he came to the place he said to them, Pray that you will not fall into temptation.

Gethsemane Prayer And Arrest

SPEAKER_00 7:22

He went away from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours be done. Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him, and in his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he got up from prayer he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, exhausted from grief. So he said to them, Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared, and the man named Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He walked up to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said, Lord, should we should we use our swords? And then one of them struck the high priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus said, Enough of this! And he touched the man's ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come out to get him, have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw? Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts you didn't arrest me. But this is your hour, and that of the power of darkness. Then they arrested Jesus and led him away and brought him into the high priest's house. But Peter was following at a distance, and when they had made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat

Peter Denies And Breaks Down

SPEAKER_00 9:13

down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a slave girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, This man was with him too. But Peter denied it. A woman, I I I don't know him. And then a little later someone else saw him and said, Eh you're one of them too. But Peter said, Man, I'm not. And after about an hour still another insisted, Now certainly this man was with him because he too is a Galilean. But Peter said, Man, I don't know what you're talking about. And at that moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. And then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord and how he had said to him, Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, Prophesy, who hit you? And they also said

Jesus Mocked And Put On Trial

SPEAKER_00 10:28

many other things against him, reviling him. When day came the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law, and then they led Jesus away to their council and said, If you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, If I tell you you will not believe, and if I ask you you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. So they all said, Are you the Son of God then? He answered them. You say that I am. Then they said, Why do we need further testimony? We've heard it ourselves from his own lips. Well, there's a little detail of the conversation at the Last Supper where Jesus talks to Simon Peter and gives a lot of insight into spiritual warfare and

Spiritual Warfare And Strengthening Others

SPEAKER_00 11:26

prayer and suffering. When Jesus says, Satan has demanded to have you all to sift you like wheat. First of all, that should tell us that Satan is living up to his name. He is the accuser, and he's always looking for reasons to accuse people that they are not worthy of Jesus' love, they are not worthy to be in Jesus' presence. And so Satan demands opportunities, and he is given opportunities to just bring down hell on people, to try to disqualify them, to try to ruin their reputation, to try to ruin their witness, to try to ruin their effectiveness. And I say them and those people, but I'm really talking about us as well. Satan is looking for opportunities to absolutely crush you like a bug, to sift you like wheat, so you have nothing left. But Jesus says that he prayed for Simon. Jesus is the intercessor between us and God. And in that role, he prays that we our faith may not fail, that we may be strengthened. That should be comforting. You're never going through whatever you're going through alone. Now, look, we go through a lot of things because of our own stupidness. Can we be honest? Our own bad decisions, our own lack of wisdom, and our own just, I don't know, sin nature just trying to lead us astray and pull us back to the slavery that we came from. So a lot of that is our own doing. But there are some things in life that are just because we have an enemy who is given some power, some authority to make life difficult for us. But we're never going through it alone. Jesus knows it all, and Jesus will bring about justice, and he will get the final word, and he will make all things right. But in the meantime, he prays that our faith may not fail. And gives us a command, like he gave Simon. Gives us a a mission on the tail end. Hey, look, when look, I it's gonna get bad. You know what, you're gonna be led to do things that you you never thought you would do. But I'm gonna pray that you come back, that your faith will not fail, and when you do come back, would you strengthen the others who are under attack as well? That's a very interesting mission for us to take on as well. When we have failed, when we have made our mistakes, when we have been just going through it, and we feel drained and exhausted, Jesus is holding us up, and Jesus is pushing us forward into position to go and strengthen other people. That's part of our role. Let's not be stuck in our pity parties, let's go and strengthen others who are currently going through things, even while we're still in them sometimes. Well, why doesn't Jesus just stop Satan? Why doesn't Jesus just kill Satan? Well, because Jesus has determined in his own wisdom and sovereignty that there is greater value

Why God Allows Darkness For Now

SPEAKER_00 14:49

in the healing that comes from the result of darkness than if he were to just vanquish darkness once and for all already, and for us to never experience the healing, the reconciliation, the strengthening from Jesus, and the community that we can have with other but other believers. Are you just in it right now? I pray that you will be strengthened, just as Jesus prays that you'll be strengthened. And can I encourage you, just like Jesus encouraged Simon, to step out and strengthen a brother or sister today? And in so doing, I believe you'll find more strength for both of you, more light fighting against the darkness, more healing and reconciliation than you thought was even going to be possible for both of you and beyond. That's the Thinging Out Loud thought for the day. We're going to continue this passion week reading of the book of Luke next time on the Out Loud Bible Podcast.