GOD Morning! May 2, A Servant, a Backstabber and a Ruler

GOD Morning! May 2

A Servant, a Backstabber and a Ruler

Luke 22:1-30

22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread was drawing near, which is called the Passover.

² And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to do away with [Jesus], for they feared the people.

³ But [then] Satan entered into Judas, called Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve [apostles].

⁴ And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray Him and deliver Him up to them.

⁵ And they were delighted and pledged [themselves] to give him money.

⁶ So he agreed [to this], and sought an opportunity to betray Him to them [without an uprising] in the absence of the throng.

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover [lamb] had to be slain.

⁸ So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare for us the Passover meal, that we may eat it.

⁹ They said to Him, Where do You want us to prepare [it]?

¹⁰ He said to them, Behold, when you have gone into the city, a man carrying an earthen jug or pitcher of water will meet you; follow him into the house which he enters,

¹¹ And say to the master of the house, The Teacher asks you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover [meal] with My disciples?

¹² And he will show you a large room upstairs, furnished [with carpets and with couches properly spread]; there make [your] preparations.

¹³ And they went and found it [just] as He had said to them; and they made ready the Passover [supper].

¹⁴ And when the hour came, [Jesus] reclined at table, and the apostles with Him.

¹⁵ And He said to them, I have earnestly and intensely desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

¹⁶ For I say to you, I shall eat it no more until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

¹⁷ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He said, Take this and divide and distribute it among yourselves;

¹⁸ For I say to you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine at all until the kingdom of God comes.

¹⁹ Then He took a loaf [of bread], and when He had given 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.

²⁰ And in like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you.

²¹ But, behold, the hand of him who is now engaged in betraying Me is with Me on the table.

You just know. Here are two tell tale signs that Judas exhibited.

They give you a compliment and you feel like you have been slapped.  

Remember when Judas kissed Jesus in the Garden? (Luke 22:48)  I’m sure that incident wasn’t the first time Judas’ affection had seemed a little off.

Here’s another sign that one of your friends is a traitor:

They seem coldly calculating.

They may profess to love you more than anything else in the world but there is no smile behind their eyes. There is no warmth in their embrace. You feel on guard when you are with them. All of your gut feelings in these instances are more than likely correct.

Jesus knew.

²² For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined and appointed, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed and delivered up!

Jesus knew the future. He said it right out. And Judas was so caught up in his evil scheme that he didn’t even pay attention to Jesus’ prophetic words. But Jesus was wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. (Matt. 10:16) He didn't try to call Judas out in front of everyone. He just warned him and then let him go on his self destructive way.

²³ And they began to inquire among themselves which of them it was who was about to do this.

People are so predictable.  The disciples’ concern about who was going to betray Jesus quickly turned into who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom!

²⁴ Now an eager contention arose among them [as to] which of them was considered and reputed to be the greatest.

²⁵ But Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles are deified by them and exercise lordship [ruling as emperor-gods] over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors and well-doers.

²⁶ But this is not to be so with you; on the contrary, let him who is the greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who is the chief and leader like one who serves.

²⁷ For who is the greater, the one who reclines at table (the master), or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am in your midst as One Who serves.

And then Jesus gave us the perfect example of a leader. A server.  Wow. So totally opposite of what we would think of as a great leader.  And yet Jesus was the most amazing example of a Leader that the world has ever seen. He led all the way to His death.  And then he said that we were to follow His example! Whoa! This is a tough one!

1 Peter 2:21 

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

John 13:15

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Okay, now on to the exciting part of Luke chapter 22!

²⁸ And you are those who have remained [throughout] and persevered with Me in My trials;

²⁹ And as My Father has appointed a kingdom and conferred it on Me, so do I confer on you [the privilege and decree],

con·fer

kənˈfər

verb

past tense: conferred; past participle: conferred

1.    1.

grant or bestow (a title, degree, benefit, or right).

"moves were made to confer an honorary degree on her"

synonyms:

bestow on, present to, grant to, award to, decorate with, honor with, give to, endow with, extend to "she conferred a knighthood on him"

³⁰ That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

So if we simply stick with Jesus, through the trials, through the storms, through the backstabbing, the crushing and breaking process, through the dying (I could go on), the Kingdom will be given to us!

We will sit down and eat with Jesus! We will sit on thrones! We will be judges!

Jesus knew the future. If we could only grab ahold of this and just know that no matter what is happening around us, our future is secure. As long as we stick with Jesus through it all.

“Dear, precious Jesus, How I love You. How I adore You. You are my perfect, sinless example. I long to be like You. I long to serve You. I long to have the strength and courage to follow Your example. But it scares me. I desire to embrace my fear. And know that if You walk beside me, I can go through anything. You are so amazing. Change me. I long to be like You. I have such a long way to go. I love You forever. I pray this in Your Name, Jesus, AMEN.”