We all make plans. Some of us even make plans for the plans we make. We premeditate and obsess over what we want, why we want it, what we will do to get it and how we will do what we need to do to get it. The questions we need to ask as we examine this passage today are: What do our plans reveal about what we really want? What do our plans reveal about the condition of our hearts? In what ways do our plans bring honor or dishonor to the Lord? What will you do when you realize that all of your best-laid plans intersect with the plans of the cross of Christ?

Look at Luke 21:37 – 22:13…

37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. 1 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.

3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

In verses 37 – 2 we see the priests and the scribes making plans…

All throughout the gospel of Luke we’ve watched Jesus follow his carefully laid plan to seek and to save the lost. We’ve watched him perform miraculous things like healing the sick, returning sight to the blind, casting out demons, preaching the gospel amidst intense opposition and making bold prophetic claims about the future. And he’s done all this while staying ruthlessly focused on his predetermined plan to die horribly for the salvation of all who would believe in Christ as their Savior from the presence, power and penalty of sin.

And as we enter into the final few days of Jesus’ life and ministry here on Earth, Luke tells us that Jesus “was teaching (daily) in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him (as the) Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.” In other words, as Jesus followed his predetermined plan towards the cross where he would become our ransom for sin, he spent his days teaching in the temple and his evenings sleeping on the Mount of Olives. People were gathering daily to hear his words and the Passover feast was right around the corner. The Sacrificial Lamb was physically present and preaching powerfully to people who were hanging on his every word.

But not everyone was hanging on Jesus’ every word. Luke tells us that; “the chief priests and scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.” While Jesus followed his carefully predetermined plan of redemption his enemies were plotting and scheming and planning to destroy him. One scholar says “The evil intentions of (Jesus’) enemies show that even someone in a God-given place of leadership is capable of falling into grievous sin. The very men who should have been doing the most to worship Jesus and spread his gospel were plotting to destroy him. They were suppose to be getting ready for Passover, praising God for delivering his people and preparing to offer a sacrificial lamb for their sins. Instead, they were conspiring to murder the very Son of God.”

Jesus’ enemies couldn’t stand to hear Jesus preach. They couldn’t stand to see him in the temple daily. They couldn’t stand to see people hanging on his every word. They couldn’t stand to see him doing miraculous things. They couldn’t stand the thought of Jesus having the power and the authority and the influence they desperately wanted. Jesus’ enemies simply hated him so they made plans to kill him and if you study the story enough you’ll realize that they made these plans shrouded in religious language. They actually believed they were doing God a favor as they planned to murder the Son of God. The priests and the scribes made their murderous plans. We all make plans. The questions you and I have to ask are: What do our plans reveal about what we really want? What do our plans reveal about the condition of our hearts? How do our plans bring honor or dishonor to the Lord?

In verses 3 – 6 we see Satan and Judas making plans…

While Jesus followed his predetermined plan to come to this filthy sin-soaked earth to walk his journey to the cross his enemies were constantly planning for his demise. The religious leaders planned to end his life but they couldn’t follow through with it in broad daylight because too many people were hanging on his words and they were afraid of the backlash and the rioting that would take place if they came and murdered him in cold blood. They tried to argue with him publicly to catch him in some death-deserving heresy but they failed epically every time. They sent spies to buddy up with him and ask questions in hopes that his answers would condemn him with the government but He flipped the tables on them and showed how we should submit to our governing authorities out of our submission to the Lord.

In short… every plan the religious leaders made to destroy Jesus failed epically. They needed some extra help. This is when Luke tells us that, “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve (and) he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.” The religious leaders who planned to murder Jesus needed an insider that was willing to betray his Master and Lord and they needed supernatural help from the pit of hell. And in the person of Judas the betrayer under the influence of Satan the liar and schemer, the religious leaders found co-conspirators to their murderous plot.

Luke goes on to say that the religious leaders “were glad, and agreed to give him money. So (Judas) consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.” Can you imagine this scene? The religious leaders were glad because their plan was finally coming together. People who were suppose to be godly were actually planning to kill the Son of God in partnership with one of Jesus’ closest and most trusted disciples and this plan coming together actually made them happy. Satan, who has been murderously sneaking around in the background since the Creation of the world, now sees his opportunity after thousands of years of scheming and planning. After just nearly 3 years after tempting Jesus he sees the most opportune time to strike his deadly blow through the betrayal of a close friend and the pride-filled jealousy of the religious elite.

Every one of these characters in this plot wanted something so bad that they conspired together to murder the Son of God. One writer says, “Once we decide that we want something more than we already have, we start thinking about ways to get it. The more that desire grows, the more tempted we are to get what we want in ways that do not please God or depend on his providence. Unfortunately, there is more than a little bit of the betrayer in all of us.” These characters in this plot wanted something so bad they were blinded by it. They wanted something so bad they would stop at nothing to get it.

Satan wanted to dethrone Jesus and put himself on the throne. The religious leaders wanted to silence Jesus so they could regain their influence over the people of Israel. Judas wanted to strengthen his financial standing so that he wouldn’t be numbered with the poorest ministry team on the face of the planet anymore. The priests and the scribes and Satan and Judas all made their plans. We all make plans. The questions you and I have to ask are: What do our plans reveal about what we really want? What do our plans reveal about the condition of our hearts? How do our plans bring honor or dishonor to the Lord?

In verses 7 – 13 we see Jesus and his disciples making plans…

Luke has described how the priests and the scribes have made their plans. Then he described how Satan and Judas made their plans. Now Luke says, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.” In other words… even though there was a co-conspiracy between the proud religious leaders, Jesus’ friend Judas the betrayer and Satan the deceiver all preparing for the murderous plot of the death of Christ, Jesus was making preparations for his plan of redemption to continue unfolding with the celebration of the Passover Feast.

This celebration of God’s salvation of Israel from the hands of treacherous enemies through the shed blood of a perfect lamb was an annual celebration that was meant to remind Israel of it’s need for God to save them and it was meant to cause them to look forward to and recognize the Messiah who would come and save them. “So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’ (And) They said to him, ‘Where will you have us prepare it?’ (And) He said to them, ‘Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.’ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.” Jesus was preparing or planning to celebrate the Passover Feast or the Salvation Feast (as I like to call it) with his disciples. He knew where his journey was leading him and part of his plan was to mark the minds and hearts of his disciples with an object lesson that would become crystal clear after the horror of the cross a few days later.

Jesus was literally planning a gospel feast for his community of disciples to share together even though he knew that his enemies were planning to finally succeed in their murderous plot to take him out. One author says, “Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. He knew what Judas wanted to do to him, and what the devil was trying to do, but he also knew what he was going to do. His preparations for our salvation were underway. Already Jesus was moving towards the cross. He was as determined as Satan that he would die.” Jesus’ plan all along was to come this sin-soaked earth from his perfect spot in Heaven so that he could run a rescue mission within a yard of hell by giving his life willingly into the hands of his enemies to murder him at the cross. The plans of Christ’s enemies intersected with Christ’s plans for redemption. They all intersected at the same place. The cross where Christ’s life was willingly given as a ransom for your sins and my sins was the place where all of the evil plans in the world and all of the holy plans in the world met.

Jesus’ response to all of the evil plans made against him was to follow a carefully, premeditated plan that went back to before the very foundations of the Earth. Christ’s plan in the face of the demonically, evil plan of betrayal was to give himself in death not just for you and for me but also for those who laid their evil plans against him and the evidence of this is his words a few days later on the cross where he begged his Father in Heaven to forgive his enemies for being deceived. The priests and the scribes and Satan and Judas all made their plans but Jesus’ redemptive plan trumped their murderous plan. We all make plans. The questions you and I have to ask are: What do our plans reveal about what we really want? What do our plans reveal about the condition of our hearts? How do our plans bring honor or dishonor to the Lord?

Closing reflections…

Listen to this comment by one pastor, “When Jesus was crucified, the religious leaders got what they wanted, Judas got what he bargained for, and Satan got what he had been scheming to get since the day God made the world. Only none of them got what they thought they were getting, for at the place where the conspiracy ended (at the cross), the counter conspiracy was beginning to bring salvation. Unlike Satan, Jesus knew what his death by crucifixion would accomplish. He knew that it would be the death of the devil himself, and the death of sin for everyone who trusts in him, not to mention the death of death for everyone who believes in the cross and the empty tomb.”

We all make plans. What kind of plans have you made? What kind of plans have you obsessed over? What kind of plans have you premeditated? What kind of plans do you make when you realize that you want more than you already have? What kind of plans do you make when you’ve been betrayed? What kind of plans do you make when you want more influence? What kind of plans do you make when you get confronted with your sinfulness? What kind of plans do you make when you hear the message of the cross? What kind of plans do you make when you hear of what Christ has done for you and I?

The priests and the scribes and Satan and Judas all made their plans but Jesus’ redemptive plan trumped their murderous plan. We all make plans. The questions you have to ask are: What do your plans reveal about what you really want? What do your plans reveal about the condition of your heart? How do your plans bring honor or dishonor to the Lord? What will you do now when you realize that all of your best-laid plans intersect with the plans of the cross of Christ?