Last Supper 5 - Luke 22:24-30

Again, I’m not quite sure on the exact sequence of events, but at some point the disciples have a disagreement which one of them is the greatest. Thinking about it, it probably happened while Judas was still there because the spirit of contention was strong with him and if there was going to be a fight it probably would have been then. It would also make sense, though, that the disagreement arose when Jesus started talking about His upcoming death and the disciples freaked out a little bit about who would lead carrying on the work. Because Jesus cited Him being their servant, the context of already having washed their feet would have been there. But on the other hand, it also would have made sense that Jesus washed their feet because of their dispute and wanted to make a very important point to them. So I don’t know where it falls on the timeline for the evening, but ultimately Jesus replies with what he’s said every single time before, “but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.”

There is an interesting statement that Jesus uses when he’s rebuking his disciples this time though, saying, “ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.” The IM says, “Luke 22:28 reminds us that the three temptations in the wilderness were not the only times the Savior faced temptation, trial, and testing. Jesus Christ ‘was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ As the end of His mortal life approached, the Savior reminded His Apostles that they had continued with Him when He was tempted and tried. Earlier in His ministry, they had witnessed the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes trying to trap Him with questions. They had seen Him when He was mocked by unbelievers in His own hometown and when mobs tried to stone Him for His teachings. They had been with Him when He was exhausted, hungry, and mournful.”
I always thought that the three temptations recorded early on in the gospels was the only temptation that Jesus dealt with and I had always thought that it was so unfair that we “try to be like Jesus” but believing that He didn’t have to deal with any of the crap that we do. But clearly that wasn’t the case, he was human too, and he was tempted to get angry, maybe he didn’t want to be alone, maybe he wanted to charge a little bit more money to someone he knew could afford it. There are all types of temptations that come to us, and they would have had to come to Him as well.
I love this C.S. Lewis quote, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it not by lying down. A man who gives into the temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later… We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it; and Christ, because he was the only many who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation really means- the only complete realist.”  Jesus appreciates the support from His disciples, especially when so many others have rejected him, friends, family, and Judas.