Daily Dose of Hope
September 22, 2025
Scripture - Luke 22:1-38
Prayer: Holy God, We come before you this morning in awe of your blessings and love. Thank you, Lord, for the ways you continue to guide our lives. Lord, we are desperate to know you better. In these next few moments of silence, Jesus, please speak to us. We need to hear your voice... In Your Name, Amen.
Welcome back, everyone, to the Daily Dose of Hope, a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts. Happy Monday! This is the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.
Today, we start Luke 22. First, we encounter Judas. Satan has entered him and he goes to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus. This is a scary and intriguing Scripture. From what I've read, this is the only place where Satan himself enters a person. All other evil possessions involve demons. This was a crucial time in salvation history. Satan would not delegate this task to anyone else. So important was this time that Satan himself "entered Judas."
But how could this happen? While Satan is the one who initiated entering Judas, this only occurred because Judas allowed it to occur. He opened the door to his heart. We don't have any evidence that Judas tried to resist. We don't have any indication that Judas prayed to God for help, dug into Scripture, or did anything to prevent this from happening. In fact, we do get the impression that Judas' heart had become hard. We don't know anything about his inner thought life or prayer life, but we can surmise that things had gone south here. None of this happened quickly. Gradually, Judas allowed himself to fall prey to evil.
We then come to the time in which the disciples will share the Passover meal with Jesus. When I read this text, it reminds me of the Palm Sunday Scripture in which Jesus had planned everything out. Here, it is the same thing. He tells the disciples that when they enter the city, there will be a man carrying a jay of water, follow that man. And that all happened. The man showed them an upstairs room that was furnished and that was the place they were to prepare for the Passover. Jesus had taken care of all the details.
And then we have the Passover meal. But this wasn't a Passover meal like the disciples had experienced before. Jesus took something that was so familiar and transformed it. He knew what was going to happen. He knew that he would soon suffer and die. And he uses this sacred meal to do a new thing. (God is always doing a new thing.) The bread and wine become his body and blood. They represent a new covenant and a new meal. Of course, this is what we celebrate as a body of Christ when we come together for Holy Communion, also called the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist.
One thing that's particularly interesting to me is that Jesus knew that Judas would betray him. Does he make him leave the table? Does he force him to leave the Upper Room? No, not at all. He allows him to stay. He is still welcomed at the table.
Another interesting element in Luke's account is the dispute over which disciple is greatest. Can you imagine just having this holy moment with Jesus and then arguing over who among you in greatest? It seems absurd and yet, these disciples were human and they really didn't understand the kind of Kingdom being ushered in by Jesus. But Jesus stops them and tells them quite bluntly to be careful what you wish for. In Jesus' Kingdom, to lead is to serve. The greatest becomes the least.
We then have Jesus predicting Peter's denial and we have this confusing discourse about swords. Jesus tells them to go buy a sword. Several disciples present him with two swords and he yells, "Enough!" Okay, I'm lost – how about you?
Some pastors have used this passage as evidence that Jesus is saying we are to defend ourselves. But that doesn't seem right. Two swords would not be enough for eleven disciples. Plus, the Sermon on the Mount does not seem to allow for any kind of violence. Most scholars say that this command to buy a sword means to be ready for hardship and self-sacrifice. It points to being ready for persecution, not ready for revenge. The term sword needs to interpreted figuratively.
What are your thoughts?
More tomorrow.
Blessings,
Pastor Vicki
