Luke 22:1-2--The Plot to Kill Jesus

Luke 22:1-2
English Standard Version

The Plot to Kill Jesus
22 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

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Today is Palm Sunday 2022.  We talked about The Triumphal Entry in chapter 19, and everything since then has been part of what we call Passion Week or Holy Week.  Luke wants to remind us in this passage that this is the time right before Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread which starts with it.  There are some final preparations that need to get made now for the sacrifice of God's Passover Lamb--that is Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

We've been pretty sure that it was going to come to this for a while, but somewhere in the midst of Holy Week, the chief priests and scribes decided that they had to kill Jesus.  It was no longer good enough for them to discredit Him or to exile Him.  They needed to get rid of Him, and they even argued that they needed to do so for the good of the people in other gospel accounts, saying that it was good that one man might die so that all the people of God might live.  Yet even these words spoken by the high priest were inspired by the Holy Spirit to talk about Jesus saving all His people through His death.

They had to be careful how they wanted to proceed because they feared the people, but they were certain they wanted to get Him out of the way before the Passover feast.  Time was short and they needed to move quickly.  Fortunately for them, there was a traitor in the midst of the disciples (though Jesus knew that from the very beginning when He chose him to be one of the Twelve.  We will look briefly at that agreement to betray Jesus next time, but for now as the people are preparing for Passover, Jesus is preparing Himself and His disciples for Him to be our Passover.  He is the fulfillment of all the Feasts as they all point forward to the gospel of Jesus Christ.


1 Corinthians 5:6-8
English Standard Version
​6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.