Luke 22:66 – 23:25  66 At daybreak all the leaders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council,  67 and they said, “Tell us if you are the Messiah.” But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me.  68 And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer.  69 But the time is soon coming when I, the Son of Man, will be sitting at God’s right hand in the place of power.”  70 They all shouted, “Then you claim you are the Son of God?” And he replied, “You are right in saying that I am.”  71 “What need do we have for other witnesses?” they shouted. “We ourselves heard him say it.”  NLT Luke 23:1 Then the entire council took Jesus over to Pilate, the Roman governor.  2 They began at once to state their case: “This man has been leading our people to ruin by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”  3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say.”  4 Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!”  5 Then they became desperate. “But he is causing riots everywhere he goes, all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”  6 “Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked.  7 When they answered that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.  8 Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.  9 He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer.  10 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations.  11 Now Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Then they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.  12 Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.  13 Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people,  14 and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent.  15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty.  16 So I will have him flogged, but then I will release him.”  17   18 Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!”  19 (Barabbas was in prison for murder and for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government.)  20 Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus.  21 But they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”  22 For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. I will therefore flog him and let him go.”  23 But the crowd shouted louder and louder for Jesus’ death, and their voices prevailed.  24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded.  25 As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus over to them to do as they wished.

Herod’s reaction to Jesus is a common one.  Some people get excited about Jesus because they think he’s going to do great things for them.  They think Jesus will bring them riches and blessing.  And when they don’t get rich and life doesn’t go the way they think they deserve, they turn on Jesus.  The promise of a life of faith isn’t that it will be easy and filled with blessing, but that we will have peace knowing that God is with us and we have eternal life.  That is the ultimate blessing.

Luke 22:39-53   39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives.  40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not be overcome by temptation.”  41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,  42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”  43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.  44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.  45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.  46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked. “Get up and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you.”  47 But even as he said this, a mob approached, led by Judas, one of his twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus and greeted him with a kiss.  48 But Jesus said, “Judas, how can you betray me, the Son of Man, with a kiss?”  49 When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!”  50 And one of them slashed at the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.  51 But Jesus said, “Don’t resist anymore.” And he touched the place where the man’s ear had been and healed him.  52 Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard and the other leaders who headed the mob. “Am I some dangerous criminal,” he asked, “that you have come armed with swords and clubs to arrest me?  53 Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

When temptation is not around us, it is hard to pray not to slip into it.  We don’t pray proactively; we pray reactively.  We pray for God to help us when we are in trouble, but we don’t pray that God will help keep us out of trouble.  Maybe a better approach is to seek God before life turns against us.  It’s hard, but it is how we can best make it through the temptations of the world.

Luke 22:14-23  14 Then at the proper time Jesus and the twelve apostles sat down together at the table.  15 Jesus said, “I have looked forward to this hour with deep longing, anxious to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins.  16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat it again until it comes to fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.”  17 Then he took a cup of wine, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.  18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”  19 Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had thanked God for it, he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This wine is the token of God’s new covenant to save you– an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.  21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me.  22 For I, the Son of Man, must die since it is part of God’s plan. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer!”  23 Then the disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.

Judas took communion.  To me that says two things – First, that God’s grace is open to us, despite the sin in our hearts.  We don’t have to be perfect to receive God’s grace.  Christ’s love and blessing are open to us even when we have hearts that rebel against Him.  Second, communion isn’t a magic pill that will change us.  Even after hearing Jesus warn that one would betray Him, Judas did.  His heart wasn’t changed.  Communion won’t change us. We must let the Holy Spirit come into our hearts.

Luke 19:45-48   45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants from their stalls.  46 He told them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a place of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”  47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him.  48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

There is a danger when the church tries too much to be like the world.  When we get so comfortable with the things of the world that we let money take a leading role in the church (instead of God), then we fail to be the place of prayer and connecting with God that we are meant to be.  Christ’s desire for the church is that it be a place to praise God and to lift up our lives to Him.  We need to make sure all that we do helps people connect to Christ.