Luke 22: 24-71

The last few hours before the crucifixion of Jesus are recorded here.  Luke had started this account with a desire to put it all down in consecutive order, " having investigated everything carefully from the beginning", so that we might have "the exact truth about the things [we] have been taught".  

After their meal together and after Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him, the disciples again argued over which one of them was the greatest.  Perhaps Peter though that would be him.  Maybe that is why he had to go through the sifting by Satan.  Peter thought he could do it... prison or death did not seem too much for him at that moment.  But, Jesus knew he was not able and so He prayed for Peter.. not that he would not fail.. but that his faith would not fail.  It is that prayer that is answered!

Jesus said that the greatest would be the one who allowed himself to be the least. The leader would be the one willing to be a  servant.  Jesus Himself is the supreme example of greatness.   He came to serve. He came to die. He came to bring all the Word of God to fulfillment.  "And He was numbered with transgressors;"  This quote from Isaiah 53:12 is being completed.  What precious words:
 "

"But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, 

putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One, 

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities. 

Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,

And He will divide the booty with the strong;

Because He poured out Himself to death,

And was numbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

and interceded for the transgressors."

Isaiah 53:10-12

Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives and prayed.  His disciples could not even keep awake. 

Judas came with the enemy to turn Him in.  Peter followed from a distance. 

Jesus is arrested and tried.  Peter denied he even knew Him. 

Jesus is beaten, mocked, and blasphemed... Peter runs away in sorrow and shame, weeping. 

Jesus is taken to the Council and plainly declares that He is indeed the Son of God. 

They reject Him completely. 

All this happens so that He could save us. 

I was given a book by Charles Spurgeon titled Till He Comes, a selection of sermons centered around the communion table.  In a sermon titled "Under the Apple Tree" Spurgeon uses an obscure verse from the Song of Solomon 2:3 " I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste."  He likens Jesus to the apple tree where the bride sits to find shade from the heat and to enjoy the fruit thereof.  Spurgeon says this:

 " Did you ever feel the heat of divine wrath?  

Did the Great Sun - that Sun without variableness of shadow of a turning - ever dart upon you His hottest rays - the rays of His holiness and justice? 

Did you cower down beneath the scorching beans of that great Light, and say,

'We are consumed by Thine anger'?

If you have ever felt that, 

you have found it a very blessed thing to come under the shadow of Christ's atoning sacrifice. 

A shadow, you know, is cast by a body coming between us and the light and heat;

and our Lord's most blessed body had come between us and the scorching sun

of divine justice, so that we sit under the shadow of His mediation with delight." 

What a wonderful picture of our Lord, who bore our sin, took our punishment, and covers us with His blood.  Spurgeon goes on to write this, " I do not know a more delightful state of mind than to feel quite overshadowed by our beloved Lord.  Here is my black sin, but there is His precious blood overshadowing my sin, and hiding it forever. Here is my condition by nature, an enemy of God; but He who reconciled me to God by His blood has overshadowed that also, so that I forget the I was once and enemy in the joy of being now a friend. I am very weak; but He is strong, and His strength overshadows my feebleness. I am very poor, but He hath all riches, and His riches overshadow my poverty . I am most unworthy; but He is so worthy that if I use His name I shall receive as much as if I were worthy ; His worthiness doth overshadow my unworthiness." 

As Peter learned.. we must come to Jesus and be overshadowed by Him.. in all He has done for us and in all of who He is.. the Son of God who came to fulfill all of the Father's will, to bear our sins and to cover us by His blood. What a wonderful Savior!  Delight in Him!

Father in Heaven, You are exalted in the heavens and we exalt You here on earth.  How precious is Your word to us and how great is Your love, that You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ to be numbered with the transgressors so that He could cover us with His blood.  We rest and we delight in the shadow of His sacrifice.  Oh, how we love You and give You praise and thanksgiving for the salvation that comes in Christ alone.  Fill us anew with Your Holy Spirit so that we might bear much fruit in Your Kingdom.  We are Your servants and Your children and we willingly lay down ourselves to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus .  It is in His shadow that we come before You to pray. Amen.