Luke 22
Bread and cup are shared around a table, the disciples argue about greatness, Judas leads soldiers to a garden, and Peter denies three times.
Summary
The festival of Unleavened Bread arrives; Judas Iscariot, into whom Satan has entered, goes to the chief priests and captains of the temple guard to discuss handing Jesus over. The plot satisfies them and they agree to give him money. Passover preparation is organized by two disciples who find, as Jesus described, a man carrying a jar of water who leads them to a house where they prepare the meal. At the meal, Luke records two sayings over the cup — one before and one after the bread — bracketing the bread saying in a way unique to Luke. The first cup: I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom comes. The bread: this is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. The second cup: this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. The institution is followed immediately by the announcement of betrayal — the hand of the one betraying me is with me at the table — and then by the disciples' dispute about which of them is greatest, which Jesus settles by describing himself as the one who serves at table and then assigns them the kingdom he has been assigned.
Jesus predicts Simon Peter's denial by framing it with a statement of intercession: Satan has demanded you, he has prayed for Simon specifically, and when Simon has returned he must strengthen the brothers. Peter insists on readiness even for prison and death; Jesus predicts three denials before the cock crows. On the Mount of Olives, Jesus kneels and prays that the cup be removed if willing, while adding nonetheless not my will but yours be done. Luke alone records that an angel appeared strengthening him, and that his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. Returning to the disciples he finds them sleeping from grief. The arrest party arrives; Judas approaches and kisses him; a disciple cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant; Jesus heals it and says this is your hour and the power of darkness. He is led to the high priest's house. Peter follows at a distance, sits at a fire in the courtyard. Three times he is identified as one of Jesus's companions; three times he denies it. At the third denial the cock crows and the Lord turns and looks at Peter. Peter goes out and weeps bitterly.
- Luke 1Chapter 1 opens with a formal literary preface — Luke addresses a certain Theophilus and claims to have investigated everything carefully, setting himself apart as a self-conscious historian among the gospel writers.
- Luke 2Chapter 2 contains the nativity scene that dominates Western cultural memory of the gospels: the census under Quirinius, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth, the manger, the swaddling cloths, the angels appearing to shepherds in the fields at night.
- Luke 3Luke situates John's ministry with extraordinary chronological precision — the fifteenth year of Tiberius, the governorship of Pilate, the tetrarchies of Herod and Philip and Lysanias, the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.
- Luke 4The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness for forty days, where the devil offers him bread, political authority over all the kingdoms of the world, and divine protection — and is refused at each turn with a quotation from Deuteronomy.
- Luke 5By the Lake of Gennesaret, the crowds press against Jesus and he steps into Simon's empty boat to teach.
- Luke 6The chapter opens with two Sabbath controversies: the disciples pluck grain as they walk through fields, and Jesus defends them by citing David's eating the showbread when his men were hungry.
- Luke 7Three distinct episodes give chapter 7 its range.
- Luke 8Chapter 8 moves quickly across a range of narrative modes.
- Luke 9Chapter 9 is a turning-point chapter.
- Luke 10Jesus sends out seventy (some manuscripts say seventy-two) in pairs ahead of him into every town and place he intends to visit, with instructions similar to the twelve's but addressed to a larger group and a longer journey.
- Luke 11The chapter opens with Jesus praying in a certain place; when he stops, a disciple asks him to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples.
- Luke 12With ten thousand pressing around him, Jesus addresses the disciples first: beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 13Some report to Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
- Luke 14Jesus goes to eat at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees on the Sabbath, watched carefully by those present.
- Luke 15The Pharisees and scribes grumble that this man receives sinners and eats with them.
- Luke 16Chapter 16 contains two of Luke's most difficult parables.
- Luke 17The chapter opens with warnings about causing stumbling — better to have a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the sea — and the obligation to rebuke and forgive a brother who sins seven times in a day and repents each time.
- Luke 18Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow to teach that they ought always to pray and not lose heart: a widow in a city where a judge neither fears God nor respects people keeps coming to him demanding justice against her adversary; he eventually grants it not because of justice but because she is wearing him out.
- Luke 19Jericho contains the Zacchaeus scene, unique to Luke: a chief tax collector who is wealthy and short climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus over the crowd.
- Luke 20Chapter 20 is a series of confrontations in the temple.
- Luke 21Looking up at those putting gifts into the treasury, Jesus observes that a poor widow puts in two small copper coins — the smallest unit of currency — and says she has put in more than all of them, because they gave from their abundance and she from her poverty gave everything she had.
- Luke 22Satan enters Judas Iscariot and he goes to the chief priests to discuss how to betray Jesus.
- Luke 23The assembly brings Jesus to Pilate, accusing him of perverting the nation, forbidding tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be king.
- Luke 24Very early on the first day of the week, the women — Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others — bring spices to the tomb and find the stone rolled away.