The Last Supper (part 2) – we need Jesus. – Luke 22:21-38

So there you are.

You've got your bottle of cream and

you're rubbing it into your skin. It's,

you know, enjoying the nice moisturizing

goodness as it goes in and maybe the

delicate scent as it arises. And as

you're sort of dipping into the cream

again, you feel something fibrous, some

sort of little ball of something. You

look down and it's literally a fly in

the ointment.

And uh I I guess this was a problem for

people in the past because we have this

saying, don't we? A fly in the ointment.

And um I don't know, maybe it was just a

common thing. You know, you putting your

stuff on and you go, "Oh, it's a fly."

Uh I don't know. It's a weird weird

saying, but um there we go. But we don't

use it so much these days. Basically,

what it is saying is that this fly, this

something is spoiling something that

should be good. something that should be

enjoyable and yet there's this thing in

the middle of it that you go that's

shouldn't be there and there seems to be

a fly in the ointment of the last supper

several flies in fact this was a meal as

we saw last week that Jesus was very

much looking forward to celebrating with

his friends uh he was going to celebrate

the Passover together with his friends

that was a big part of it was a time to

look back on God's past deliverance and

celebrate that and give thanks for for

God's goodness and delivering Israel. It

was also a time when Jesus showed them

how that Passover pointed to him. And

so, it's a time of looking forward

from that point on to what Jesus had

done or was going to do.

So, it all comes together

in Jesus. He is the apex of God's plan

of salvation. The old looks forward to

him and and the new looks backwards to

him. He's there crowning or crowning it

all. And as he's just explained uh some

of what that involves to his disciples,

how he was going to give himself for

them, it should have knocked their socks

off. There's a funny uh expression as

well, isn't it? I wonder where that came

from. Knocked your socks off. It should

have made them go, "Wow, you're going to

do that for us, Jesus. He's going to

give himself for for for for us. And

yet, as he explains these things,

several flies in the ointment emerge.

There are some things that cast a shadow

over this special mill. The first fly in

the ointment or shadow that's cast over

it is one of Jesus's closest friends

will betray him. And that's our first

point. Woe to you. Woe to you.

We dealt with this a little bit last

week, but there is more to say. Um, so

we saw how Judas had been possessed by

Satan and Satan had taken advantage of

Judas's sinful desires and had

emboldened him to betray Jesus.

But this betrayal

didn't catch Jesus unawares. So verse

31,

but behold, the hand of him who betrays

me is with me on the table. For the Son

of Man goes as it has been determined,

but woe to that man by whom he is

betrayed. So Jesus knows that there's

one there who is eating this this this

this food, this this Passover, this um

friendship meal, there is one there who

isn't truly a friend. For in not long,

even by the end of that night, he would

betray Jesus. And Jesus knows this.

And we might think, well, why does Jesus

choose this this precise moment to bring

the the whole tone of the meal down and

start talking about this when everyone's

having presumably quite a nice time? But

there might be many reasons why Jesus

chooses this moment to address it. But I

think it's at least this. The disciples

need to know

Jesus was not taken by surprise. His

betrayal, his arrest, his death is not

because Jesus trusted the wrong guy and

got caught out. Now Jesus makes it

clear, verse 22, for the son of man goes

as it has been determined. The events

that would take place over the next 24

hours were not something that derailed

God's great plan of salvation.

Jesus is giving himself that he would

die on the cross to save sinners. That

had been determined by God in eternity.

So Ephesians 1:4

Ephesians 1:4

even as he chose us in him, that's in

Jesus before the foundation of the world

that we should be holy and blameless

before him. So there was this plan that

we should be chosen in him before the

foundation of the world. Then 1 Peter

1 Peter 1:19–20

chapter 1 verse 19 to20. I'm reading

from the NIV because it's clearer there.

Christ a lamb without blemish or defect.

He was chosen before the creation of the

world but was revealed in these last

times for your sake. Titus 1:2 in hope

Titus 1:2

of eternal life which God who never lies

promised before the ages began. So this

has always been the plan that God would

send his beloved son into the world to

save sinners like you and me. So the

disciples needed to know that Jesus was

going to die according to God's plan to

what God had determined. It was the day.

It wasn't because the religious leaders

had had outmaneuvered Jesus. It wasn't

because he was caught off guard by this

friend.

No, Jesus would go through with through

with this rescue mission because it had

been determined in the eternal council

of the triune God.

So

if Judas

had simply been caught between the good

plan of God and the evil plan of Satan,

we thought about this last week. There

were two different missions going on.

The devil intended to do harm by taking

Jesus's life, but Jesus intended to

sacrif sacrificially give his life. If

if Judas is just sort of caught between

the these two things, these spiritual

things that are a foot,

can he really be held accountable

for what he did, the part he played?

Do you know we are not just helpless

porns in some great cosmic contest?

We are real moral beings who are held

accountable for what we do or don't do.

Judas may have been caught up in

something much greater, much bigger than

he ever realized. But he did know

enough.

He had seen enough. He understood

enough.

As Jesus says halfway through verse 22,

woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.

That woe there is not a cry of

vindictiveness.

It's it's is it's more akin to the word

alas. It's a cry of dis dismay and

sorrow. Alas, how bad it will be for

that person that betrays the son of God.

Now, it' be all too easy for us from our

vantage point to uh wag our fingers

knowingly at Judas. What were you

thinking, Judas? How could how could you

have done that to your friend, to Jesus?

But there's a real warning for us here,

too.

For if God holds us all morally

accountable for what we do or don't do,

then who of us is in the clear?

Which of us can hold our heads up high

and assert, you know, God's got nothing

on me? You know, I've always honored God

with with everything that I am. Not a

day has gone past when I haven't treated

God as God and loved him with everything

I am. I've always loved others as I love

myself.

I've never had a single bad thought

about anybody. I've never coveted

anything. Never lied. Never been had a

flash of anger. Never lusted. Never felt

the the the flash of hatred.

Can any of us really say that?

If Judas is morally culpable,

then so are we.

We too are sinners

and our only hope is not to pretend how

good we are or that we have achieved a

certain level of holiness.

It is to look to Jesus and cry for

mercy.

Save me.

Sadly, even with this warning, Judas

still pushes on and betrays Jesus. And

he doesn't cry out for mercy.

We might think once you've been

confronted with this, he might have

second thoughts, but he goes through

with it. How does he go through with it?

Even when Jesus reveals that he knows

what's going on. Perhaps he didn't

really believe Jesus. Perhaps he

thought, "Well, Jesus just got an

inkling. He doesn't really know, you

know, who it is.

Maybe maybe it's okay." Or maybe he was

just burying his head in the sand. Maybe

he was thinking what he was doing wasn't

really that bad. We often think that

about our own sin. And it's not that

bad, is it? Those people over there,

they're they they're the really bad. But

me, I'm I'm not that bad. Not as bad as

everyone says.

Or

perhaps he made excuses

for himself

because that's what we do, isn't it? We

excuse. We condemn everybody else, but

we make excuses for ourselves. We're

very good at that. Adam did it in the

Garden of Eden. And he blamed God and

Eve for his sin. The woman that you gave

me, God, she gave it to me. It's your

fault. It's her fault. It's not my

fault. You see, excuses.

We've been playing the blame game ever

since. The person caught in sexual sin

blames their unloving spouse. He, she

should have spent more time on on me,

being more affectionate or whatever. The

harsh parent blames their difficult

child. It's not my fault. It's my

child's fault. Or we excuse our own bad

behavior because, well, it's my

upbringing. It's my culture. It's just

the way I am. It's my condition.

I think it's important to recognize

there are other factors.

They are a consideration in who we are.

Clearly, that that is a factor.

But it's so very easy to use these

things as an excuse

so that we don't actually have to own up

and say,

"I did it.

I'm sorry. I was wrong.

I am a sinner. I shouldn't have done

that. Will you forgive me?"

You know, when we're saying those

things, when we've done something wrong,

we always want to try and justify

ourselves just a little bit. You know, I

Yeah. Okay. Okay, I did it. But

we just want to get that in there, don't

we?

Of course, when we're talking about

these things, it is possible that some

people blame themselves for things that

aren't our fault. And we we try and take

on the whole problem when it isn't

actually our fault. And I'm not talking

about that here.

What we need to do at this point is see

from Judas's sin and what Jesus says

that we are moral beings who God holds

accountable.

And yes, there will be contributing

considerations and they might be very

complicated things to to to to bear in

mind. But then, aren't we so thankful

that God is a God who

judges justly, who sees all things? He

will judge fairly. Deuteronomy 32:4. He

Deuteronomy 32:4

is the rock. His works are perfect and

all his ways are just. A faithful God

who does no wrong. Upright and just is

he.

If there's any ambiguity in a situation,

God will see straight through it. He

will not unfairly judge anyone. He will

judge perfectly and rightly.

So let us not excuse our sin

because we will be held accountable for

our sin. And so our only hope then is

Jesus. It's not excuses. It's Jesus.

Judas is blindly carrying on rejecting

and betraying Jesus. And that lack of

repentance, that lack of confession, it

is tragic for him.

Matthew's gospel gives us a fuller

wording of what Jesus says. It says, "It

would have been better for that man if

he had not been born." Do you know if

you are pushing on with your sin

and you know God has spoken to you about

this, he's put his finger on on you and

and you know he has, then stop making

excuses.

Stop blaming other people. Confess your

sin.

And the Bible tells us he is faithful

and jud and will forgive you. There is

forgiveness.

But we have to own up, confess, and

repent.

Whoever you are, Jesus is your only

hope.

So that was one horrible fly in the

ointment of an otherwise special meal.

But buzzing in after that comes another

and we'll look at that in our second

point. Great leaders serve.

Sorry to keep mentioning this fly in the

ointment idea. I like the word ointment.

It's a great word, isn't it? I think we

should use it more, but um it's it's a

helpful thought because it's it it's

speaking about something that isn't

fitting. It doesn't belong somewhere.

So, it's like a toenail in your dinner,

right? I know it's gross, isn't it? I

thought that would get you. It's like a

half a maggot in the red apple you've

just bitten into. You go, "What are you

doing here? That's just disgusting. You

don't belong." And we might think

similarly about the next verses we read

in verse 24.

A dispute also arose among them as to

which of them was to be regarded as the

greatest.

Of all the times they have this

argument, clearly they haven't grasped

what is going on. Jesus will be dead in

less than 24 hours, having performed the

greatest act of sacrifice ever.

And they are arguing about who is the

greatest.

They're missing their moment because of

how self-absorbed they are.

How did this come to this point at this

special meal? Matthew's gospel tells us

that they all started to deny it when

Jesus said that one of you will betray

us or betray him. So perhaps it's not

too hard to imagine that that could lead

onto a more assertive defense. So, you

know, I I wouldn't be me. I would never

betray Jesus. You know, I've been with

Jesus for for years and I'm always the

first to volunteer. And someone else

might say, "Well, yeah, well, maybe."

But Jesus always comes to me if he wants

some crowd control. you know, I I I

would stand with Jesus. Yeah. But what

about me? And you can sort of see maybe

that that jostling for for position,

whatever led to this point, suddenly in

this this precious time,

they're arguing about who is the

greatest. Again, we can look at them

with the benefit of hindsight and wonder

what were you thinking? Why would you do

this at this particular moment?

But are we so different?

If we feel

we are being overlooked

or that someone else is getting just a

little bit too much praise and you

think, well, what about me? You know, we

all know that, don't we? It's very easy

to pop into the conversation a few

wellplaced hints to enhance how we

appear to others. I was just doing this

other thing this other day. thought I

could you know it's very easy

we might be more subtle about it but but

there is always this temptation that we

want to be admired we want to be

perceived as more important and better

than everybody else and so Jesus draws

this a contrast for the disciples first

he he he brings to mind this this

negative example of the gentile kings

and gentile kings they they were all

powerful they had uh power they had

money and they had everything that their

kingdom could give them. And um despite

living off their people's wealth, they

wanted to be honored as the benefactors,

the one who's blessed their people.

Often that was the way like they like to

be seen. And Jesus points to them as

those who lord it over others and demand

service and demand honor from them. He

says that that's one way. That's the

world's way. That's the kingdom there.

Verse 26, but not so you.

And then he gives them a positive

example. Let the greatest be like the

youngest.

Let the leader be as one who serves. And

in that culture, age carried uh prestige

and honor. You would honor those who are

older amongst you. If you were the

youngest, you were the last in line. You

were the least important really in that

culture. Um that was that was just how

it was and and that is what they are to

be like. Not insisting on my rights, not

pushing themselves forward and only

doing things that promoted their own

interests.

Now Jesus isn't saying, "Let me tell you

the way to greatness. If you want to be

great, then serve in the lowly places

and then eventually you'll get promoted

and get what you want." He's saying

truly great people serve.

This is the way. This is this is it.

Service.

And Jesus knows this flies in the face

of perceived wisdom. Verse 27. For who

is the greater? One who recines at table

or one who serves? Is it not the one who

recines at table? And this seems obvious

really, doesn't it?

That's the way the world operates.

That's the way of worldly kingdoms, but

not God's kingdom. For Jesus delivers

the punchline at the end of verse 27.

For I am among you as the one who

serves.

Implicit in that is the fact that Jesus

is great,

greater than them all. They're all there

because they think Jesus is worth

following.

He is the leader. He is the teacher.

He's the one that is greater than they

even realize at this point. They they

they haven't fully realized just how

great Jesus is. But he's there. He is

the great one amongst them. He is the

most important person in the universe.

And he's not sitting there with his feet

up expecting everyone else to run around

attending to his his every need. No, he

says he he is among them as one who

serves. And as Jesus said that, that

would have hit like a sledgehammer

because John's gospel has reported how

he had already in that supper uh washed

their feet. He'd already taken the

position of the lowest servant. He's

already done it. He's already proved it.

How wrong we get it sometimes, don't we?

when we assume that others should be

serving us. Isn't this why it's so

important that we keep our eyes fixed on

Jesus and not on ourselves?

Isn't this why it's really important

that we continue to come and meet around

the Lord's supper? Because that's good

for our ongoing spiritual health because

it reminds us of what Jesus did. He He

gave himself. He came to serve.

We do it in remembrance of Jesus who

even though he is the son of God, he

took the form of the servant, humbled

himself even to death.

So even worse than a toenail in your

food,

is when people use Christianity to puff

themselves up and lord it over others.

Leadership and power aren't given so

that we can dominate others, but so that

we can serve them.

I do hope

that your first impulse in church life

is

what can I do to help?

How can I serve?

Rather than what are they doing for me?

What am I getting out there?

I hope that's your attitude. I'm here to

serve.

And it kind of goes against the grain,

doesn't it? But but we need not fear

missing out. Jesus reassures his

disciples of the rewards and privileges

that they will receive for faithful

service in verses 28 to 29. And uh he

speaks about difficult things to

understand, but uh those particular

positions and privileges are given to

the apostles.

But all who are in Christ have been

promised an inheritance and rewards and

joys and privileges too. If you

faithfully serve the Lord, you do not

have to worry about missing out.

You might not get everything you want in

this life, but you won't miss out in the

next. Hebrews chapter 6:10 says this,

"For God is not unjust so as to overlook

your work and the love that you have

shown for for his name in serving the

saints as you still do.

to be assured as you commit yourself to

a life of serving, the Lord sees what

you do.

Even for the least of the saints,

he sees. He sees.

Then the final thing that's going to

take the shine off the evening is Jesus

warning about approaching danger.

And that's our final point.

There's an approaching danger coming.

Since the earliest of times, people have

used watchmen to look out for danger.

Um, typically a a watchman's tower would

be used and that would be put up in

pastures so that they could see if

wolves or wild animals or robbers were

coming or watch tower would put up by

city so you could see if um enemies were

coming to attack the the city. and um

from his prophetic vantage point Jesus

looks out and he sees there is danger

approaching and it's approaching on two

fronts. Uh so firstly it's approaching

from the devil. Secondly it's

approaching from people. So firstly the

danger from Satan. It seems that Satan

wasn't content to possess Judas.

He's sniffing around the other disciples

too.

The you in verse 31 is plural.

And some suggest that Satan is eyeing

all of the disciples. He He wants them

all.

That may be true, but he certainly seems

to have one particular disciple in his

sight, Simon Peter.

It's interesting to note

Satan can't just do anything he wants.

He's not been given free reign.

He can only operate within the limits

God allows him to. Now, I'm not going to

pretend that I understand all of these

things and how it works, cuz I don't.

But I think this is reassuring for

anyone who who's ever come into contact

with demonic activity

and you found it unsettling and and

scary.

But there is reassurance here in that he

doesn't have free reign. The devil is

extremely dangerous, but he's tethered

to some degree.

But in this case, he has been given

permission to sift Peter. I've never

sifted wheat in my life. So this is

theoretical stuff. Apparently, you use a

sie and lots of vigorous shaking and

throwing involved. And I've read various

descriptions I won't bore you with, but

you know, it's the idea is you're

separating the wheat from the the chaff.

And this is obviously a metaphor for

great trials. This great shaking, a

great trial uh approaching. Severe

testing is going to come upon Peter.

Satan wants to test Peter to to break

Peter's faith.

So what's Jesus's response to this

demand of Satan?

It is to pray.

Note Jesus doesn't pray that Peter won't

be able to avoid the test, but rather

that his faith will not fail.

It's it's crucial that our faith doesn't

fail because it's as we thought about at

the beginning is we were saved through

faith.

Faith is the channel that connects us to

the savior and all that is in him. We

are saved through faith by grace. If the

faith is no longer there, then how are

we connected to Jesus?

So Jesus prays that his faith won't

fail.

We look again uh what uh Jesus says in

verse 32. Because actually when we just

think about this we might think well

hang on a moment because Jesus prayed

that his faith wouldn't fail and yet it

looks like his faith did fail because he

messed up big time didn't he Peter he

denied Jesus so so let's just look again

verse 32 but I have prayed for you that

your faith may not fail

and when you have turned again

strengthen your brothers that tells us

quite a few things but at least two

things I'm going to point out so first

of all it tells Peter's faith would fail

in that instance right then there

horribly shamefully he would deny Jesus.

He would be so fearful that he was going

to deny Jesus. Secondly, it shows us it

wasn't permanent because Jesus says when

you have turned again. So although

Peter's faith is going to take a massive

nose dive and hit the ground and fail

temporarily, by the grace of God, he's

led to repentance, he soarses right back

up to a life of love and dedication and

service.

So why does Jesus allow him to go

through this temporary shaking,

maybe even failure of his faith? But

we're not told. But we need to remember

that God's plan is greater and wiser

than we will ever be. So there might be

many, many reasons why he was allowed to

go through this when Jesus knew what was

going to happen.

In allowing Peter to fall as he did,

Peter becomes the poster boy for every

other Christian failure out there.

If the disciples had done everything

perfectly, had never got anything wrong,

then what hope would we have?

But in Peter, we have the reassurance

that the guy sinned. He really messed

up. It was not a great moment. And yet,

that was not the end of his story. I'm

sure we'll talk about this more as we we

get work our way through the the verses

um and the story. in coming weeks. But

Peter's failure has been a help to to

millions of Christians throughout

history, hasn't it? Those who've

struggled with failure, who've sinned,

we realize

that doesn't have to be the end. In

Jesus, there is hope and there is

forgiveness and he can pick me up and

restore me. And even when I failed, he

can still use me. that sin does not have

to be the end of you.

As well as being helpful for us to look

at Peter and his failure and

restoration, it's an important lesson

for Peter as well. This didn't justify

his sin, but in going through this

experience, it contributed to who Peter

became. It would be a constant help for

him as he shepherded other disciples in

all their mess and their failures. But

you know, it's the person who thinks

they've never done anything wrong.

They can often be quite harsh.

They can forget grace. They can forget

mercy because they're so full of how

good they are. When other people don't

quite measure up, they're like, "Oh, you

sinner."

You know, there's no mercy there.

There's no grace there. But for the

person who have failed and made a right

mess of it, for the person who knows,

man, I need Jesus. when they come across

other believers who are messing up, they

go, "Yeah, I know how how that is.

There's mercy. There's grace. You you're

patient with them. You're gracious to

them. When you see them failing and go,

"Well, that's a bad situation you've got

yourself into. Let me help you."

And so, as Peter shepherded other

believers,

he's got this gracious backdrop

informing how he is.

Another lesson our failures teach us is

that our own weakness,

our own weakness. Yeah. I I dare not go

it alone.

I need Jesus. And Peter needs to learn

this because look at how he responds to

this when Jesus says you, you know,

you're going to deny me. He says in

verse 33,

Peter Peter said to him, Lord, I am

ready to go with you both to prison and

to death. And no doubt he really

believed that when he said that. But the

truth is if we are trusting in our own

ability, if we are trusting in our own

strength, it's not going to be enough.

It won't see us through. At some point

it will fail. And Peter needs to stop

trusting in his own strength and come to

the lifesaving realization.

I need Jesus.

I can't do this on my own. I need Jesus

not just to save me now but to keep me

throughout my life too. I need the good

shepherd. This is why the right response

to trials is prayer. Lord strengthen me.

Lord keep me. Lord help my faith not to

fail because on my own I will.

So there's the danger from the devil

very very briefly. This is very briefly

danger from the world. In Matthew's

parallel account, uh Jesus says, "You

will all fall away because of me on this

night. For it is written, I will strike

the shepherd and the sheep of the flock

will be scattered." As of that night,

Jesus would no longer be with them in

the same way that he had been. Uh and so

Jesus refers to a previous mission that

they had gone out. He sent them out. He

said, "Don't take any provisions. Um the

Lord will provide." And that was an

exercise in learning to trust the Lord.

Wherever they went, he would provide for

them. And that's an important lesson to

learn.

But Jesus now tells them, well, these

are different times. A different uh

approach is required. And he says, now

you need to take the proper

preparations.

Times are dangerous. Times are going to

be difficult. There's going to be all

sorts of oppositions and things that you

didn't face before.

Times are going to be dangerous. And

those are the days we live in, too.

So, we are to take precautions. We are

to be on our guard. Jesus says in

Matthew 10:16, there's a when he's

Matthew 10:16

warning about persecution, he says,

"Behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in

the midst of wolves, so be wise as

serpents and innocent as doves. Beware

of men, for they will deliver you over

to the courts and fogg you in their

synagogues." Those are the days that we

live in. And so, as believers, we are to

we are to try and help each other. We

are to support each other. to look out

for each other and and especially those

who who go abroad as missionaries or in

other countries who've been persecuted.

We are to try to help each other

practically, prayerfully, wisefully,

wisely, and sacrificially. And as we we

think about this life mission 2026, what

do we do? Do we do it in our own

strength? We go, "We've got this. We can

do this, church. Come on." No, we go,

"We we've not got this. We can't do

this. We're too scared to even speak

about speak to our friends about Jesus.

So, you know, we need some help here,

don't we? We need some help.

We need Jesus. We dare not go it alone.

We dare not think that North Bradley

Baptist Church is enough or that I or

you are enough. We dare not proceed

without prayer and planning as we think

about these things.

But even as we find ourselves in

spiritual warfare,

there is comfort.

For remember, the devil doesn't have

free reign.

Despite all the evil of men, despite

even Judas or powerful political

figures, God's purposes will be

achieved.

And our good shepherd watches over us.

And even now, he intercedes for us. Even

now he prays for us that our faith will

not fail. Even in the face of great

difficulty and struggles that you are

facing,

whatever flies occur in your ointment

this week, whatever trials you face,

whatever challenges come our way as a

church, remember, cling to Jesus.

He is our hope in life and in death.

Let's just be quiet before the Lord.

Father, we come before you as as a needy

people, as a people who look to you.

We recognize that we by worldly

standards, we are weak, largely

insignificant.

And so Lord, we we we pray um for your

help. Uh Lord, we recognize that even

just getting through one day can be a

challenge sometimes. Lord, we recognize

that we are in a spiritual battle. And

so Lord, we come to you as your people.

We draw near to you, praying that you

will draw near to us. Lord, we thank you

that the one who is in us is greater

than the one who is in the world. And we

thank you uh that you are over all

things. You are the sovereign God. And

Father, we confess we do not understand

so much of what is going on in our

world. We don't understand so much of

what is going on in our own lives. And

Father, we we don't want to go through

trials and struggles and testing. And

yet, Lord, we submit ourselves to you as

those who trust in you. As those who put

our faith in you, who those who say you

are God and you know best.

So Lord, we pray that you'd help our

faith not to fail. Help us always to

look to Jesus, to cling to Jesus. Give

us the strength we pray in Jesus name.

Amen.