Amy C Walters

The Last Supper | Luke 22:7-23

The story of the Last Supper strangely parallels the Triumphal Entry. Both stories have two disciples sent ahead by Jesus to acquire an unlikely resource. And in both situations, the disciples find it exactly as Jesus has said. These parallels help drive home the lesson that Jesus is in control.

The story of the Last Supper is very familiar, even to people who don’t know much about the Bible. In our familiarity, we can miss some of the strangeness of it, like how it reads a bit like a spy novel. 

Three chapters ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem. He’s been doing a lot of teaching while his critics, the religious leaders, are intensifying their plans to kill him. Then right before this story in Luke 22:1-6, one of Jesus’ own disciples, Judas, agrees to betray him. 

So the story of the Last Supper starts with a clandestine plan to find a place to celebrate the Passover. Jesus chooses his two most trusted disciples, Peter and John, and sends them into the city. 

Now, Peter and John don’t know exactly where he’s sending them. Jesus keeps the location a secret so that he’s not betrayed and arrested before the Passover comes. He tells them that they’re supposed to meet a man who’s carrying a jar of water, follow him, enter his house, and ask the owner about a room for “the teacher to eat the Passover with his disciples.” The owner would then show them a large furnished upper room. So Peter and John follow these strange instructions and actually find it just as Jesus had told them.

This is pretty surprising because Jerusalem at the time of the Passover is packed with

with people. It’s a major holiday. People flock to Jerusalem to celebrate the event there. So it’s amazing that they’re able to even find a room to celebrate together in. 

Peter and John find the place and prepare the meal there. Later, Jesus and the other disciples arrive and recline at the table. 

So far in our spy story, we’ve had someone close to Jesus agree to betray him, local officials look for a way to arrest him, and a secret location revealed. What would we expect to happen next? If Hollywood was writing this script, where would they go with it? 

I think it would be Jesus and his disciples plotting their next move. They would be discussing strategies and counter moves to what the religious leaders were planning. There would be a lot of tension and whispering and looking around at one another, seeing who is listening. 

I’ve been in situations before where people were conspiring against my friends and loved ones. And I can tell you that when that was happening, I wasn’t laying around eating a meal. I was anxious. I was talking it over with people I trusted. I was trying to figure out how to get out of that situation. 

But that is not what happens in this story. Instead, Jesus says that he’s “earnestly desired to share this Passover with his disciples.” He’s been looking forward to it! 

He tells them too that he won’t eat the Passover again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. As John Piper points out, Jesus has been fasting from the Passover feast ever since that moment. Jesus takes the cup and prays over it, saying, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on, I will not drink from the fruit of the vine again until the kingdom of God comes.” 

Jesus’ plans are not stopped by what his enemies are planning. Instead, their fulfillment is coming. The kingdom is coming. This kingdom that Jesus has been talking about is just around the corner.

Jesus is not talking this way because maybe he doesn’t know about the plotting and the betrayal. Even that is part of the divine plan. After supper, Jesus says, “But behold, the hand of the one who betrays me is at the table with me. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to the man by whom he is betrayed.” Jesus knows about the betrayal, and even that is not going to stop his plans. Even this treachery is not beyond God’s power to deal with. 

What we see in this story, and our key truth for today, is that Jesus is in control. 

He has a place waiting for them to celebrate the Passover, even in crowded Jerusalem, and the disciples find it just as he told them.

Jesus is not anxious about the plans of his enemies. He’s not desperately trying to find a way to escape. He’s not trying to build alliances with powerful people who can help him.

He doesn’t even reveal to the other disciples who the betrayer is. He doesn’t kick Judas out and hire some bodyguards to protect him. 

Jesus is so sovereignly in control that even the evil schemes of his enemies play into his plans. In John 10:18, Jesus says, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus is not a helpless victim. He is in control. 

In fact, you may have noticed some parallels between the start of this story and the story of the Triumphal Entry. In both stories, Jesus sends two disciples ahead with a specific task. He gives them words to say to the owners. And exactly what is needed is supplied to the disciples, even if it seems crazy that the owners would make those available. Also, the disciples find things just as Jesus had told them. 

Why would Luke draw these parallels between the Triumphal Entry and the Last Supper? The main theme of the Triumphal Entry is that Jesus is the king. I wonder if Luke draws these

parallels to remind us that even when it looks like things are out of control, Jesus is still the king. 

The same remains true today. Jesus is still in control, no matter what the political situation is, what personal battles you are fighting, or what person has disappointed or hurt or betrayed you. 

That situation I mentioned earlier with people conspiring against my friends and my loved ones, the conspirators went forward with those plans, and the fallout impacted many people. But I don’t doubt for a second that Jesus was still in control. He has taken care of each one of us. He has provided for each one of us in ways that we didn’t expect.

Sometimes I look back on that and still feel the anger and the frustration and the hurt of that betrayal. But I can also look back and see Jesus’ power and sovereignty and control. He did not leave us helpless. He has taken care of us.