A Plot, A Meal, A Kingdom
Jamaal Williams
22 The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called Passover, was approaching.
2 The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put him to death, because they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, who was numbered among the Twelve.
4 He went away and discussed with the chief priests and temple police how he could hand him over to them.
5 They were glad and agreed to give him silver.
6 So he accepted the offer and started looking for a good opportunity to betray him to them when the crowd was not present.
7 Then the Day of Unleavened Bread came when the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
10 “Listen,” he said to them, “when you’ve entered the city, a man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters.
11 Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
12 Then he will show you a large, furnished room upstairs. Make the preparations there.”
13 So they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him.
15 Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.
18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
21 But look, the hand of the one betraying me is at the table with me.
22 For the Son of Man will go away as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”
23 So they began to argue among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do it.
24 Then a dispute also arose among them about who should be considered the greatest.
25 But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them have themselves called ‘Benefactors.’
26 It is not to be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you should become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving.
27 For who is greater, the one at the table or the one serving? Isn’t it the one at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
28 You are those who stood by me in my trials.
29 I bestow on you a kingdom, just as my Father bestowed one on me,
30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
–Luke 22:1-30
Main Idea: Even when evil organizes itself against Jesus, God’s purposes still prevail.
1. A Plot (Luke 22:1–6)
- During Passover week, the religious leaders and Judas secretly arrange Jesus’s betrayal and death, revealing how human fear, power, and deception organize themselves against Him.
2. A Meal (Luke 22:7–23)
- Jesus transforms the Passover meal by declaring the bread as His body and the cup as the new covenant in His blood, showing that He is the Lamb through whom God’s ultimate redemption is accomplished.
3. A Kingdom (Luke 22:24–30)
- When the disciples argue about greatness, Jesus teaches that His kingdom measures greatness by humble service, pointing to Himself as the one who serves and promises them a kingdom.
4. Application
- Maybe you walked into the room today feeling like you belong in the other room. The room where the plotting and betrayal is happening. The room where life has drifted far from God.
- But the good news of the gospel is this. There is still time to switch rooms. To come and sit with Jesus at the table of grace. Not because you are perfect. But because the Lamb of God died so that you might find life.