John Calvin Commentary Luke 22

¹⁸⁸ “Que les saincts peres ont observé ceste ceremonie solennelle de prendre la coupe, et gouster un peu de ce qui estoit dedans;” — “that the holy fathers observed this ceremony of taking the cup, and tasting a little of what was within it.”;” — “that the holy fathers observed this ceremony of taking the cup, and tasting a little of what was within it.”

¹⁸⁹ “De prende la coupe, et en gouster.”.”

Which is given for you. The other two Evangelists leave out this clause, which, however, is far from being superfluous; for the reason why the flesh of Christ becomes bread to us is that by it salvation was once procured for us. And as the crucified flesh itself is of no advantage except to those who eat it by faith, so, on the other hand, the eating of it would be meaningless, and of hardly any value, if it were not in reference to the sacrifice which was once offered. Whoever then desires that the flesh of Christ should nourish him, let him look at it as having been offered on the cross, so that it might be the price of our reconciliation with God.

But what Matthew and Mark leave out in reference to the symbol of bread, they express in reference to the cup, saying that the blood was to be shed for the remission of sins; and this observation must be extended to both clauses. So then, in order that we may feed rightly on the flesh of Christ, we must contemplate its sacrifice, because it was necessary that it should have been once given for our salvation, so that it might be given to us every day.

You are they who have continued with me. Although Luke appears to relate a different discourse of Christ, and one which was delivered at a different time, yet I have no doubt that it refers to the same time. For it is not a continuous discourse of Christ that is related here, but detached sentences, without any regard to the order of time, as we will shortly have occasion to state.

But Luke uses more words than Matthew, for he declares that, as the apostles had accompanied Christ and had remained steadfastly in his temptations, they would also be partakers of his glory. It is asked, in what sense does Christ call them his temptations?

I think that he means the contests by which God tried him and the apostles together. And he properly used the word temptations; for, from the perspective of human nature, his faith and patience were actually tried.

And I appoint to you the kingdom. Here he makes them not only judges, but kings; for he shares with them the kingdom which he received from the Father. There is an emphasis in the word appoint, that they may not, by warmth and vehemence of desire, hasten too eagerly to possess the kingdom of which he alone has the lawful right to dispose.

By his own example, also, he exhorts them to patience; for, though he was ordained by the Father to be a King, yet he was not immediately raised to his glory, but even emptied Himself (Philippians 2:7), and by the ignominy of the cross obtained kingly honor. To eat and drink at his table is put metaphorically for being made partakers of the same glory.

Look, Satan has desired. The other two Evangelists relate more briefly and simply that our Lord foretold to His disciples their fall.

But the words of Luke contain more abundant instruction, for Christ does not speak of the future trouble in a narrative way but expressly declares that they will have a contest with Satan and, at the same time, promises them victory.

It is a highly useful admonition, whenever we meet with anything that causes us to stumble, to always keep before our eyes the snares of Satan; as Paul also teaches:

we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with spiritual armies (Ephesians 6:12).

The meaning of the words therefore is: “When, shortly, you will see Me oppressed, know that Satan uses these weapons to fight against you, and that this is a convenient opportunity for destroying your faith.”

I have said that this is a useful doctrine, because it frequently happens that, from lack of consideration, we are overcome by disregarding temptations, which we would consider formidable if we reflected that they are the fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16) of a vigorous and powerful enemy.

And though He now speaks of that singularly fierce attack by which the disciples, at one time, received dreadful shocks, so that their faith was almost extinguished, yet He clearly conveys a more extensive doctrine: that Satan continually goes about, roaring for his prey.

Since he is driven by such furious madness to destroy us, it is utterly unreasonable for us to surrender to drowsiness.

Before there is an apparent need to fight, let us prepare ourselves beforehand, for we know that Satan desires our destruction and with great skill and diligence seizes every method of harming us.

And when we enter the conflict, let us recognize that all temptations, from wherever they come, were forged in the workshop of that enemy.

That he may sift you as wheat. The metaphor of sifting is not applicable in every respect, for we have elsewhere seen that the Gospel is compared to a winnowing-fan or sieve, by which the wheat is purified from the chaff (Matthew 3:12); but here it simply means to toss up and down, or to shake with violence, because the apostles were driven about with unusual severity by the death of Christ.

This should be understood, because there is nothing in which Satan takes less delight than the purification of believers. Yet though it is for a different purpose that he shakes them, it is nevertheless true that they are driven and tossed about in every direction, just as the wheat is shaken by the winnowing-fan.

But we will soon see that an even more disastrous fulfillment of these words was experienced by the disciples. And this is what is meant by the words of our Lord, as related by Matthew and Mark: you will all be offended at me.

They mean that the disciples will not only be attacked, but will almost give way, because the ignominious treatment of Christ will completely overpower their minds.

For while it was their duty to advance steadily with their Master to the cross, fear kept them back. Their weakness is thus shown to them, so that by prayers and groans they may turn to God’s holy protection.