There is so much in Luke 22 as it primarily details the night when Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and put on trial. So much of this account is familiar to us, and so these notes will focus on a few things that may not be familiar or that may not be as immediately obvious as we are prone to think because it is so familiar.
22:1 The Feast lasted seven days, and the day of Passover was the first day of the feast when the lamb was slain. Sometimes “Passover” was used to talk about the whole of the feast, not just the one day, which is why we see them equated here in this verse. (Verse 7 also uses both terms but refers to the one specific day.)
22:3 This seems to be the “opportune time” referred to by Luke in the account of Jesus’ temptation (4:13).
22:6 Judas certainly didn’t act alone; he was the catalyst for action for the leaders who were afraid of the people (22:2). So it makes sense that this arrest happened at night, away from all the crowds that had been following Jesus.
22:11 The words “guest room” is one word in the original, and it’s the same word used earlier in Luke 2, in the well-known verse that we often hear as “no room for them in the inn”. If we chose the same translation of that word in Luke 2 as here in 21:11, it would be: “no place for them in the guest room”. Luke 2 isn’t necessarily talking about an inn in the sense that we immediately think about it, as a motel.
22:14-20 The Last Supper becomes for us here and now the Lord’s Supper, as we continue to do what Jesus instituted that night. The Lord’s Supper now supercedes the Passover for Christians.
22:24-30 How is it that even on this night, the disciples were still arguing among themselves who was the greatest? Again, Jesus contrasts leadership and authority in His kingdom with the world’s. The disciples’ greatness was not to be seen in this kingdom, but in the one to come.
22:33 Often we pray for a bold faith, but Peter’s boldness here wasn’t so much a result of faith as bravado.
22:36-38 The disciples seem to again misunderstand Jesus, and the sword will actually be used in verses 49-51.
22:42 Even the Son of Man submits to the Father’s will! Though there is complete unity and equality in the Trinity, Jesus willingly submits to the Father.
22:44 Luke was a physician; only he notes this physical detail, which has prompted much conversation among Bible scholars. Was this a simile or a literal description? The clear indications from the language used is that it was literal. There is medical evidence that under extreme stress, sweat can indeed become mingled with blood as capillaries can break.
22:51 Even in one of the darkest moments of His earthly life, Jesus shows compassion for His enemies. How huge of a deal this is cannot be overstated!
22:61 All Jesus needed to do was look at Peter to remind him what He told him just hours prior. Peter’s bravado was exposed by the reality of the situation.
22:65 To blaspheme was a technical term, suggesting that it wasn’t simply being insulting, but mocking God and specifically His claims to the ability to save people. The English word is a direct transliteration of the Greek: “blasphēmeō”.
22:67 Christ is most properly a title: the Greek form of Messiah; both mean "Anointed One", referring to the One who was promised by God in the Old Testament who would save His people Israel and sit on David's throne forever. This calls to mind the pronouncement by the angel of the birth of Jesus as “Christ the Lord” in 2:11.
22:70 Jesus accepts their testimony that He is the Son of God, although the great irony is that they are not testifying to that fact in true faith, but mockingly, and only to get him to confess something that they could use against Him in their sham trial. When Jesus says “I am” here, He uses the phrase given to us in Greek as “ēgō eimi” (pronounced AY-go ay-MEE), which is the name of God Himself: I AM.
(Just a note that the way we often refer to I AM in Hebrew is “Yahweh”, though strictly speaking only we as people can say “Yahweh” because that means “He is”. It’s just a difference in grammar; first-person vs. third-person. So God says I AM (Hebrew: HYH), but we say HE IS (Hebrew: YHWH).
22:71 Jewish Law required the testimony of two or three witnesses. Because the charges against Jesus were false, finding witnesses that could agree was difficult (see also Mark 14:55-59). So to hear it from Jesus finally gave them what they needed to twist the law into their own hands.