Stories from the Bible - Ep 35 Betrayed (Luke 22)

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

In this episode we look at what happened in chapter 21, exploring how Jesus peels back the layers to help people see and interpret events from God's point of view. Then we hear the stories from Luke 22.The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://netbible.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Beauty, perfection, desire, deception, rebellion, judgment, hope. You're listening to Stories from the Bible. Bible stories told in order, using the words of the Bible, with introductions to give a recap and provide context. At the end of each story, you might want to pause and take a moment to reflect on what you noticed in the story. Things you liked or didn't like. Something the story showed you about God or about people. Don't worry if not everything makes sense. Keep listening to each episode and sit with the journey. I'm stoked to have you on the ride. Hello and welcome to episode 35. Later

we'll be hearing stories from Luke chapter 22. But before we get there, what happened in chapter 21? Well, in chapter 21, Jesus is still at the temple in Jerusalem. He's been teaching the people with insight and authority. He's provoking amement, as well as envy and hatred. Ordinary folks love listening to him, but he's been driving the religious experts mad. They want to get him killed, but in such a way that will save face before the crowds that love him. They've tried getting Jesus to say something that will give them an excuse to arrest him, tried getting Jesus to say something that will give them an excuse to arrest him, but he alludes all their tricks, while at the same time exposing them to be insincere, dangerous imposters with no real love of God in their hearts.

All through Luke's narrative, Jesus has taught his followers that the human experience is not as it first appears. He's kept on peeling back the layers that prevent people from seeing reality through the only lens that truly matters, God's invisible eternal perspective. The shiny appearance of the Jewish experts is just one of those layers where reality is the opposite of what it first seems. More than once, Jesus has shown that religious people who look like they must be close to God are actually far from him. We saw this in chapter 7 in the contrast between Simon the cold Pharisee who didn't feel like he had that much sin in his life

and the weeping prostitute who couldn't stop kissing the feet of Jesus. We saw it again in the story Jesus told of the Pharisee and the tax collector who both went up to the temple to pray. The morally superior Pharisee went home rejected by God, but the guilt-ridden tax collector received God's acceptance. Another layer Jesus peels back is the usual attitude people have towards money. From a typical human point of view, to be poor is to be miserable, and to be rich is to be miserable and to be rich is to be happy. But Jesus has taught that true

reality is just the opposite. Having lots of wealth puts one in greater danger of developing a false sense of security about the future. What ultimately matters is not planning well for a few years of nice living here on this earth. But whether we will end up inside or outside God's eternal kingdom? In Luke chapter 12, Jesus told the story of the rich fool who felt so good about the life he had mapped out for himself that he neglected to think about his eternal soul. Then in chapter 16, Jesus told the shocking story of the rich man who went to hell and Lazarus the poor man who went to heaven. And at the beginning of chapter 21, Jesus contrasts the tiny gift of the poor

widow, which on the surface looked like nothing, with the large donations from the rich. Because the widow gave all the money she had to live on, she demonstrated a heart that truly depended on God to provide for all her needs. And sincere faith like that is of much greater worth in God's sight than the most impressive contribution. And how God sees things carries carries far more weight than any human opinion. Jesus knows that if anyone wishes to be truly happy, they must learn to interpret their lives from God's point of view and not to judge situations in the ways that are typical to human nature. He knows that when a person truly takes his words to heart, those words will bring about

a real change inside the person. Bit by bit, the true disciple of Jesus will start to frame and react to their circumstances in ways that line up with God's invisible eternal perspective. The most extreme case of this is when a disciple feels overwhelming joy in the face of human rejection. Here again what Jesus said back in Luke chapter 6. Happy are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man, rejoice in that day and jump for joy. Jump for joy when people ridicule you?

That is not how people usually respond to bullying. But when the reason people mistreat you is because you look and sound like Jesus, people mistreat you is because you look and sound like Jesus. It is a reason to celebrate, because it's evidence of your worth in God's sight. A heart that has been trained to habitually turn towards God's opinion instead of human opinions will one day find that it only cares about what God thinks. Well what has all this got to do with chapter 21? Well all these themes of Jesus revealing true reality culminate powerfully in chapter 21 where he prepares his disciples for events that will shake the world.

This is the chapter where Jesus prepares his disciples for the kinds of things that shake human society to its core. War. Famine. Natural disaster. He wants his disciples not to get drawn into the normal fear and confusion that others will experience during such times of turmoil, but instead to remain courageous and calm. In chapter 21, Jesus peels back another layer to help his disciples live in line with eternal reality, not how things temporarily appear. First, Jesus starts by saying something shocking about the beautiful stones of the temple which

some of the people were admiring. These stones were well worth looking at. They were huge rectangular blocks, finely chiselled and laid with remarkable precision. Some of the stones in the temple mount were exceptionally large too, weighing over 400 tonnes, which, for comparison, is about 10 times heavier than the largest megalith at Stonehenge. The temple was an awe-inspiring example of human architecture.

It looked as solid and permanent as anything humans could create. So when Jesus says, days will come when not one stone will be left on another, all will be torn down, it really would have been astounding and even unimaginable to his first hearers. It's understandable when the people react saying, well, when will this thing happen? I mean, if you know something terrible and unavoidable and out of your control is going to happen, at least if you have a certain date for when the thing will happen, psychologically that's comforting because then you can at least try and plan around it.

But Jesus does not answer their when question. What Jesus is prophesying is painful and unsettling. But he has not come to give temporary psychological comfort to his followers by telling them the human timeline of future catastrophes. No. Jesus wants his followers to discover the permanent, eternal comfort, which comes only through careful listening and obedience to his words. Jesus follows up his foretelling of the destruction of the temple with words that are definitely

not comforting for those who only have hope in the visible human structures of this world. He speaks of times to come when not just the beautiful stones of the temple will be torn down but human societies will be torn apart by wars and rebellions. The foretelling of the destruction of the temple, which did indeed happen about forty years later, forms part of his foretelling of the End, which Jesus says will not come at once. The End that Jesus speaks of means the total destruction of everything that is opposed to God. Once the End has happened, then the New Age, where God's currently invisible kingdom will finally appear

in power and glory, will begin. The new age is when God's King, Jesus, will rule the new earth forever. It will be a time of unutterable relief for everyone who has waited for it. What Jesus is telling his followers is that the end of the whole world will begin with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The temple, as the official seat of the Jewish leaders who opposed and rejected Jesus, is the first place to receive the judgment that will one day fall upon all human establishments that are proudly opposed to God. The events that signal that the end of this world is here and that the kingdom of Jesus is just around the corner won't happen in a single moment of time. The end of the world is a process that began with the tearing apart of the Jerusalem temple

in 8070, has continued until this present day, and will come to completion when Jesus visibly returns. Instead of saying how long this process of the end will last or when certain events will occur, Jesus teaches about the characteristics of the end. During the end there will be wars, famines, natural disasters, and those who follow Jesus will be persecuted, betrayed, cross-examined or even killed. The end will be a time of upheaval and uncertainty as the world displays signs that show it is broken and on the way out. And during such hard times, Jesus doesn't want his followers to freak out. Rather, he wants them to have confidence

that they will be taken care of through whatever might happen. They're not to worry about self-preservation. God has their preservation taken care of. Jesus promises that not a hair of their heads will perish. Jesus didn't avoid rejection and death, but instead trusted that his Father in heaven would take care of him through those things. And in the same way, Jesus wants his followers to know that their rescue his Father in heaven would take care of him through those things. And in the same way, Jesus wants his followers to know that their rescue will not be from death but through death.

God will bring them safely through to the other side of whatever awful things might occur during the end. Jesus prepares his followers for the terrible events of the end, not by giving them a timeline, but by reassuring them of God's knowledge of what is happening, his care for those who trust in him, and his ultimate triumph after everything is finally over. There will indeed be much pain during the time of the end, but Jesus gives his followers a way to understand the pains that they will go through. Pain, without the right interpretation, results in intense suffering and confusion.

For example, I might experience the rejection of a loved one and form the wrong interpretation that I am worthless or abandoned by God. It's my misinterpretation of the pain that causes the really unbearable suffering. This is why the words of Jesus are so powerful. His words give the right interpretation to the pains that will happen during the time of the end. Those who don't take the words of Jesus seriously will experience fear and confusion when the terrible events of the end occur. During the end, when there are wars and disasters,

people will be offering their own interpretation of the world's pains. Some will even claim to be the saviour and the solution to the pains. But Jesus says, don't put your hope in those voices. Don't be misled. Listen to my interpretation and find strength to get through uncertain times.

Those who have the words of Jesus will perceive that terrible events are evidence that the current evil age is on its way out and the new age is on its way in. Jesus says it's like trees sprouting leaves after the winter. When you see the leaves you know it's a sign that summer is near. In other words, Jesus says, when you see the world falling apart, or even if your own life falls apart because of me, don't freak out. Don't misinterpret the pain as God's abandonment of you. Rather, see it as a sign that I am very near. The other warning Jesus gives is, watch out that you don't slip into numbing the pains of the end with pleasure or other distractions. Jesus says, stay awake and on the lookout for me, because when I come it will be sudden. In chapter 21, Jesus peels back another layer that prevents people from seeing reality from

God's perspective. He teaches that the structures of human society, which, like the stones of the temple, may appear to be solid and unchanging, will all one day fall apart, making way for God's kingdom alone. Anyone who looks to human structures for their hope and stability will become confused and terrified. Those who ignore what's happening to the world in favour of distracting themselves with pleasure or work will be caught unawares when disaster strikes. Only those

who put their hope in the words of Jesus will be able to stand and courageously face whatever happens. Today's stories from Luke chapter 22 start here. Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find some way to execute Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve. He went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers of the temple guard how

he might betray Jesus, handing him over to them. They were delighted and arranged to give him money. So Judas agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus when no crowd was present. Then the day for the feast of unleavened bread came on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare the Passover for us to eat. John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat. They said to him, Where do you want us to prepare it? He said to them, Listen, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters, and tell the owner of the house, the teacher

says to you, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Then he will show you a large furnished room upstairs, make preparations there. So they went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. Now when the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table and the apostles joined him, and he said to them,

I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Then he took a cup and after giving thanks he said, take this and divide it among yourselves for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. Then he took bread and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

But look, the hand of the one who betrays me is with me on the table, for the Son of Man is to go just as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. So they began to question one another as to which of them it could possibly be who would do this. A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. So Jesus said to them, "'The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, "'and those in authority over them are called benefactors. "'Not so with you.

"'Instead, the one who is greatest among you "'must become like the youngest, "'and the leader like the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials. Thus I grant to you a kingdom, just as my Father granted to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Simon, Simon, pay attention. Satan has demanded to have you all, to sift you like wheat, Israel. Simon, Simon, pay attention. Satan has demanded to have you all, to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.' But Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus replied,

I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me. Then Jesus said to them, When I sent you out with no money bag or travellers bag or sandals, you didn't like anything, did you? They replied, nothing. He said to them, but now, the one who has a money bag must take it, and likewise a travellers bag too. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me. And he was counted with the transgressors. for what is written about me is being fulfilled.'

So they said, Look, Lord, here are two swords. Then he told them, It is enough.' Then Jesus went out and made his way, as he customarily did, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. When he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you will not fall into temptation. He went away from them about a stone's throw, knelt down and prayed, Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me, yet not my will,

but yours be done. Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him, and in his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, exhausted from grief, so he said to them, why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation. While he was still speaking,

suddenly a crowd appeared and the man named Judas, one of the 12 was leading them. He walked up to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said, Lord, should we use our swords? Then one of them struck the high priest's slave,

cutting off his right ear. But Jesus said, enough of this. And he touched the man's ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard and the elders who had come out to get him, have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw? Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts you did not arrest me, but this is your hour and that of the power of darkness." Then they arrested Jesus, led him away and brought him into the high

priest's house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a slave girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, This man was with him too. But Peter denied it. Woman, I don't know him. Then a little later someone else saw him and said, You are one of them too. But Peter said, Man, I am not. And after about an hour, still another insisted, certainly this man was with him because he too is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I don't know what you're talking about. At that moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,

how he had said to him, "'Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly. Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, prophesy, who hit you? They also said many other things against him, reviling him.

When day came, the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law. Then they led Jesus away to their council and said, If you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." So they all said, Are you the Son of God then? He answered them,

You say that I am. Then they said, Why do we need further testimony? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips. Today's story ends here. Today's story ends here. Thank you for joining us for today's story. You might like to take a moment to pause and think about what you noticed, things you liked, things you didn't like, something the story showed you about Jesus.

To read it for yourself, it's in the book of Luke chapter 22. If you can find someone willing to read it and talk about it with you even better. You've been listening to Stories from the Bible. I'm Jen and I look forward to sharing more stories with you.