On a recent trip to the United States to visit some partner churches, we found ourselves with an afternoon to spare in Kansas City — some 800 miles from the ocean. Strangely enough, their train station contains a Titanic museum.
The story of the Titanic is a powerful reminder of the limits of human planning. When that great ocean liner was launched in 1912, its builders believed they had engineered a ship that could not sink. The plans were meticulous. The watertight compartments were state-of-the-art. Experts had calculated and double-checked every detail.
Human confidence was high because human planning was thorough.
And yet, on its maiden voyage, those carefully laid plans met a reality no one onboard could control. Icebergs do not consult blueprints.
History is full of moments like that—moments when human plans collide with forces bigger than the planners.
That theme dominates this passage in Gospel of Luke 22:1–30. In these verses it seems that almost everyone is planning. The question is simple: whose plan will prevail?
1. The Plot of Destruction
The passage opens as the Festival of Unleavened Bread and the Passover approach. These celebrations remembered Israel’s rescue from Egypt in the Exodus—when God’s people sheltered under the blood of a lamb and were delivered from judgment.
But in Jerusalem another plan is forming.
The chief priests and teachers of the law are looking for a way to get rid of Jesus. They have rejected him completely. They will not accept him as Messiah, and now they are plotting his death. Yet they must move carefully because Jesus is popular with the crowds.
Behind their plans lies another.
Luke reveals that Satan himself is at work, entering Judas. The forces of evil are scheming. Satan delights in drawing people away from trusting God and his Messiah, and he would love nothing more than to see Jesus destroyed.
Then there is Judas himself — the tragic insider turned traitor. He goes to the priests, discusses the betrayal, agrees to take money, and begins watching for an opportunity to hand Jesus over when the crowds are gone.
The priests are plotting.
The powers of evil are scheming.
Judas is preparing his betrayal.
It looks as though the world is closing in around Jesus. But appearances are deceiving.
2. The Plan of Salvation
When we read on, we discover that Jesus is planning too.
He sends Peter and John to prepare the Passover meal, giving them precise instructions about where they will find the room. Whether by miraculous knowledge or careful preparation, the point is clear: Jesus is not a passive victim. He is deliberately arranging events.
The road to the cross is not controlled by priests, powers, or betrayers. It is mapped out by Jesus himself.
In fact, one by one, the hostile plans around him are overturned.
The priests will ultimately be replaced. Though they reject Jesus as spiritual leaders, he promises that his faithful disciples will share in governing God’s people in his kingdom.
The powers of evil are outmanoeuvred. Satan believes he is winning as the cross approaches, but the cross will actually become the means of his defeat.
The pariah, Judas, is overruled. His betrayal is real and he is responsible for it. Yet Jesus makes it clear that his death will happen “as it has been decreed.” Human evil cannot derail God’s sovereign purpose.
At the centre of it all is the Passover meal, now fulfilled in Jesus.
For centuries the Passover pointed back to the Exodus, when Israel was rescued by sheltering under the blood of a lamb. But now Jesus reveals that the meal also points forward.
He breaks the bread and says, “This is my body given for you.”
He lifts the cup and declares it to be “the new covenant in my blood.”
The true rescue is about to happen — not from Egypt, but from sin. The Lamb of God will give his life so that people from every nation can find salvation under his blood.
3. The Pattern of the Kingdom
As astonishing as all this is, the disciples are arguing about something else entirely: which of them is the greatest.
Jesus responds by redefining leadership.
In the world, rulers “lord it over” others. Status means privilege and power. But Jesus says to his followers: “Not so with you.”
In his kingdom, greatness looks different. “The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.”
Then Jesus points to himself as the example. “I am among you as one who serves.”
This is the great paradox of the kingdom of God. The one who truly rules is the one who serves. The King wins his victory not by domination, but by sacrifice.
And that pattern now shapes the lives of his followers. We come to Jesus first to be served—to receive the forgiveness he purchased at the cross. Then we are sent out to serve others in the same spirit.
The world may have its plans. But through the coming cross, Jesus is accomplishing the greater plan of God—and inviting us into the upside-down kingdom where the greatest are those who serve.
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