Lk 22:14-34

• v22: the Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to the man who betrays him
• Judas was not part of God's plan, even though God knows and allows it to happen;
• Satan entered Judas and carried it out as he desires;
• Satan has asked for others too (v31); but Jesus had prayed for them (as least for Peter) that their faith may not fail;
  
• so where is the line of division between God's work and man's duty? it seems that it's not clearly defined; there seems to be a gray area where you can call that's our responsibility (e.g. to take guard against Satan), but also God's work (e.g. Jesus prays for us; or God would not allow it) at the same time;
  
• however, has Jesus ever asked men to take guard against Satan? Or did he only asked us to take guard against men's false teaching (e.g. the yeast of the Pharisees)?
  
• After all, is man equipped to fight against Satan? Apparently, yes. The 'full armor of God' (Eph 6:14-18) is for us to struggle against 'the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms' (Eph 6:11-13); are they like flies that hover over our head and not more than just an annoyance? Probably not;
  
• therefore, we might be able to say this:
  
• yes, we are at war--it's a spiritual one;
• sometimes we are in the front line, where the battle is most severe, and sometimes not; but we are involved in this constant struggle so we need to do our part (Judas didn't take his part, so woe to him);
  
• God is involved, too; even more so than men and from the very beginning; ultimately it's His war;
  
• and He has given us the needed armors;
  
• spiritual warfares require spiritual weapons, the most important of which is probably prayer (so Jesus prays for us, and we also need pray "on all occasions");
• if we don't take the weapons and fight, then we won't be able to stand in the end;
  
• v33: a resolved Peter;
• but is it sufficient? Apparently not.
• so is it necessary that we are resolved, if all is depending on God and not men alone? the answer is probably yes;
• if not then we can all indulge ourselves in every possible way; the result of that is easily imaginable;
• however, where does our faith and our conviction ultimately come from?
• Again, it's from God;
• so men are not complete free? Probably not; just like the stars and planets in the universe--there are laws that constricts their motions, invisible forces that define their relations;
• the purposes are probably only known to the invisible God, and what we know depends on how much can really be revealed to us;