Now
the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people. Satan entered into Judas, who was also called Iscariot, who was numbered with the twelve. He went away, and talked with the chief priests and captains about how he might deliver him to them. They were glad, and agreed to give him money. He consented, and sought an opportunity to deliver him to them in the absence of the multitude.
Luke 22:1-6
Luke 21 [37.] Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet. All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.
Luke 22 [1.] Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people. Satan entered into Judas, who was also called Iscariot, who was numbered with the twelve. He went away, and talked with the chief priests and captains about how he might deliver him to them. They were glad, and agreed to give him money. He consented, and sought an opportunity to deliver him to them in the absence of the multitude. The day of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed. He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
Luke 22 [9.] They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare?”
Meaning:
Luke now begins the account of Jesus’ suffering and death. Every day Jesus had been teaching in the temple, and “All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him” (Luke 21:38). That popularity is why the leaders could not arrest him openly. A way into the circle of the twelve gave them their chance. Mark and Matthew tell the same story (Mark 14:1-2; Mark 14:10-11; Matthew 26:1-5; Matthew 26:14-16).
- “the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching”
Passover remembered the night when God struck the firstborn of Egypt and passed over the houses marked with the blood of a lamb, and the seven days of unleavened bread followed it. By the first century the two were spoken of as one festival. Jerusalem filled with pilgrims, perhaps several times its normal population, and the air was charged with hope of national deliverance. Luke’s timing is deliberate. The Lamb of God was about to be sacrificed at the very feast that celebrated redemption through the blood of a lamb (Exodus 12:5-8).
- “they feared the people”
The chief priests and scribes had already decided that Jesus must die. Earlier Luke noted that they “sought to destroy him” but “couldn’t find what they might do, for all the people hung on to every word that he said” (Luke 19:47-48). Their problem was not whether, but how. Fear of the crowd, not fear of God, ruled their decisions.
- “Satan entered into Judas”
Luke draws back the curtain on the spiritual battle. After the temptation in the wilderness the devil “departed from him until another time” (Luke 4:13). Now that time had come. John also writes that at the supper, “After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him” (John 13:27). Satan’s entry does not excuse Judas. John tells us that Judas “was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it” (John 12:6). Repeated sin had left a door open. Paul warns believers, “don’t give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27).
The tragedy is underlined by the phrase “who was numbered with the twelve.” Judas had been chosen by Jesus after a night of prayer (Luke 6:12-16), had heard his teaching and seen his miracles. The psalmist’s lament came true: “my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).
- “They were glad, and agreed to give him money”
The “captains” were officers of the temple guard, who would carry out the arrest. The leaders were glad because an insider could tell them where Jesus would be at night, away from the crowds. Matthew reports the price, thirty pieces of silver, the amount Zechariah had called “the handsome price that I was valued at by them” (Zechariah 11:12-13). Judas “consented” and began to look for “an opportunity,” a quiet moment “in the absence of the multitude.”
The Significance of Luke 22:1-6
- The danger of a divided heart
Judas walked with Jesus for years yet let greed take hold. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Closeness to holy things is no substitute for a surrendered heart.
- Spiritual warfare is real
Satan works through human choices. Believers resist him by guarding their hearts, confessing sin and drawing near to God (James 4:7-8).
- God’s plan is not defeated
The leaders plotted, Judas bargained and Satan schemed, yet the timing of Jesus’ death fell exactly at Passover, as God intended. Evil intentions were overruled to bring about redemption.
Cross-References:
Mark 14:10-11: "They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money." Mark’s parallel account.
Psalm 41:9: "my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me." Betrayal by a friend.
John 12:6: "he was a thief," Judas’ character before the betrayal.
Zechariah 11:12: "So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver." The price foretold.
Conclusion: As Passover approached, the religious leaders looked for a way to kill Jesus without stirring up the crowds, and Judas, one of the twelve, gave them their chance. Satan entered a heart already opened by greed, and a friend agreed to hand over his Master for money. Yet behind the plotting God’s purpose stood firm: the Lamb of God would die at the very feast that celebrated redemption.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible