Luke 21:25-22:30 Stand up! Your redemption is drawing near.

Christians are to different to the rest of the world - when the signs of the end of the age start, we are to stand up & lift up our heads, because our redemption is drawing near.  We are to be careful, not becoming weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness or the anxieties of life, but rather to be watching out, alert & praying.  Our relationship to Jesus is what makes the difference.

Our lives are to be different to the world's - we are waiting for Jesus' return.  Everything is to be geared around this.  We are to live in our relationship with the Son of Man, so that when He appears, we are able to stand before Him.

22:1-6
The parties involved were:
Chief Priests & teachers of the law
The People, also described as the crowd
The Twelve, including Judas in particular.
The officers of the temple guard
Jesus

Some were with Jesus, going with Him, living with Him, following Him, unaware of what was about to happen.
Then there were those who were opposed to Jesus, plotting what would happen - drawing Judas into their crowd.
In the midst of them all were the people/the crowd, who were intrigued by Jesus - who enjoyed and appreciated Him, but had not yet made their minds up on Him.

22:7-13  It is vitally significant Jesus' death took place at Passover - the image of sacrifice loomed large.  1 Cor 5:7 reminds us that Christ was our Passover Lamb - making sacrifice for us.  He was the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world.

22:14-23  Jesus points out the necessity of His going to the cross, as it has been decreed.  He is going to pour out His life to be given for others, it is part of His new covenant in His blood.  All this is to bring in His Kingdom.

22:24-30  Jesus takes the world's standards of who is the greatest and turns them upside down.  He says the greatest is actually the servant, that lording it over others is not the way we are to be as believers, but rather, we are to be servants, not those who exercise authority.   Jesus Himself lived this out in practice on a day to day basis.  He practised what He preached.