The Last Supper
Luke 22:14-20
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Many of you have asked me what book of the Bible we are going to study next since we have completed our exposition of the book of Genesis. I am so glad you asked! It thrills my heart that you have the expectation that we will open another book from Holy Scripture, read it, explain it, and apply it. Your anticipation encourages me because I you understand that I preach expository sermons verse-by-verse through whole books or sections of the Bible because of what the scripture is, the word of God. It is God’s revelation of Himself, His person, His purposes, and His provision of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.
Well, I will leave you in suspense no longer. Next week we will begin a study through the Gospel of Matthew. I’ll say more about why I landed on that book next week. But now you have a heads-up so you can begin reading and studying on your own in preparation for Sunday.
I am still reading, studying, and preparing for this sermon series. So today will be a one-off sermon. Since it has been our practice to observe the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of each month, and this is the first Sunday in May, I thought I would take this opportunity to teach you again briefly about the Lord’s Supper before we come to the Lord’s Table.
I have chosen Luke’s account for our text. Luke 22:14-20 is rightly called the Last Supper. Jesus Himself tells His disciples that it is the final time that He will observe the Passover meal with His disciples until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. Here Jesus brings to an end the old covenant and inaugurates the new covenant. He observes the final Passover and inaugurates the Lord’s Supper. This short text from Luke 22 has just two parts: 1) in Luke 22:14-18 Jesus celebrates the final Passover with His disciples; and 2) in Luke 22:19-20 Jesus institutes the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
My prayer is that this text will prepare us to share in the Lord’s Table with a renewed significance and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. The Final Passover (Luke 22:14-18)
Luke 22:14 marks a transition in the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot had already plotted with the chief priests to betray Jesus (Luke 22:1-6). So, Jesus had sent Peter and John into Jerusalem to prepare the Passover in a large furnished upper room that only He knew about (Luke 22:7-13). With the simple words, “When the hour had come,” Luke signals for us that the divine timetable for Jesus’ death had finally arrived. Way back in Luke 9:51 Jesus had “steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” for the last time in His earthly ministry. Everything in Luke’s Gospel has been anticipating this hour, this time. Jesus had repeatedly told His disciple, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” (Luke 18:31-33; see also Luke 9:22).
By the divine predetermined plan, Jesus is now in Jerusalem preparing for His death. A lot happens on this final night. But from Luke’s perspective, one moment clearly ascended above the rest. It was the moment when Jesus
totally revolutionized their understanding of the Passover by explaining it in terms of His death for sin.
Many people understand that at the Last Supper Jesus changed the Passover into the Lord’s Supper and that does have some truth to it. But saying it that way almost assumes that Jesus changed the entire focus of the Passover. More accurately we could say that through His death and resurrection Jesus fulfilled the Passover. In reality, Passover was always about Jesus just as the whole Old Testament was about Him (Luke 24:44-45; John 5:39).
The beginnings of the Passover go back to Exodus 12. In the book of Exodus, the nation of Israel has been in Egypt for over 400 years. They are no longer welcome guests as they were in the days of Joseph in Genesis. Now they are enslaved and oppressed. God sent Moses to lead them out of their captivity into Canaan, the land God promised by covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. When Moses brought the word from God to Pharaoh, “Let My people go, …” (Exo. 5:1), Pharaoh challenged Moses: “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” The ten plagues were God’s answer to this question. The final plague was the death of the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, which resulted in the release of the Israelites. The firstborn sons of the Israelites were spared by means of the first Passover celebration. The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and some of the blood was placed on the doorposts (Exo. 12:7). When the death angel saw the blood on the doorposts, he “passed over” the house (Exo. 12:13). This celebration was made an annual feast for the Israelite nation (Exo. 12:14).
It is important to note that even the original Passover was not to protect Israel from the wrath of Pharaoh but from the judgment of God. The Passover was never solely about deliverance from Egypt, but rather about deliverance from sin and the judgment of God upon sin. So, John the Baptist would declare that Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
It was always a picture of Jesus although the Jews had never really grasped that. But after this night and what Jesus would accomplish through His death and resurrection, we can see the true significance of the Passover. Let’s notice a few things about this final Passover.
First, normally the Passover meal was a family celebration and not just a gathering of men. It is significant that Luke records, “…He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him” (Luke 22:14). That Luke calls the twelve not just disciples but apostles suggests that this event has particular significance for the church, of which the apostles were the foundation (Ephesians 2:20). Here is one of the evidences that while this meal had implications for the Jews, it was designed also for the church.[1] The church is the new family of God. Every time we gather for the Lord’s Supper we do well to remind ourselves of that. We belong to the family of God—brothers and sisters with one another with God as our Father, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit indwelling us.
Second, look at the intense desire of our Lord to eat this meal with them: “Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’” (Luke 22:15). This Passover meal was the final observance of this feast, for all that it had memorialized was about to be greatly overshadowed by the work of the cross. All that the Passover anticipated was, in fact, achieved or made certain. The New Testament declares that Jesus is our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). There is no longer any need to put a lamb to death for it has been fulfilled by the sacrifice of Christ. Jesus intensely desired to share this Passover with them as He foresaw His suffering and death. But the expectation of His suffering was not with dread or dismay—instead, it was with eagerness for what He was about to accomplish. Jesus is filled with anticipation as He says, “for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:16). Jesus essentially says the same thing again in Luke 22:18, “for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Jesus saw this Passover as prophetic, as anticipatory of the coming of the kingdom, and in this, He could rejoice. The old covenant, being fulfilled in Christ, was to be set aside. The Kingdom, while still future, was certain to be established, because Messiah, at His first advent, had laid its foundation by His sacrificial death (cf. Isaiah 52:13–53:12). When Jesus once again takes up the cup, it will be in His Kingdom (verses 16,18).
This is the end, the fulfillment of the Passover. Jesus said He would never again eat or drink the Passover until the kingdom of God comes. Someday, in the consummated Kingdom, Jesus will eat and drink the Passover again—but not until then.
The Bible teaches that the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus Christ, the King of Israel. All of us who believe in Jesus Christ are citizens of that Kingdom today. This is the spiritual reality of the Kingdom of God. But the consummation of God’s Kingdom will not come until Christ returns to earth. Then Christ will reign on earth in His Kingdom for a thousand years (Rev. 20). We call this the millennium or the Millennial Kingdom. So, although there is certainly a spiritual element of the Kingdom here today, we still look for more—a literal earthly kingdom in which all the kingdom promises and prophecies of both the Old Testament and New Testament will be fulfilled. Jesus is looking forward to that day when the Passover is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.
The eating of the first Passover involved the sacrifice of the Passover lamb to deliver the first-born sons of Israel from death. It was done as well as a preparatory step to the exodus, their release from Egypt by Pharaoh, their crossing of the Red Sea, and their entrance into the promised land. Thus, the sacrifice of the Passover lamb was not focused only on the preservation of the lives of the Israelites, but on the possession of the promised kingdom. In the same way, Jesus rejoiced in the assurance that the kingdom would come in all its fullness.
Hebrews 12:2 speaks about Jesus, “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
What joy was set before Him? The joy of a purchased bride; the joy of a redeemed humanity; the joy of a consummated kingdom; the joy of a His coming reign. That is what Jesus is doing here on the night before He would die. He is looking forward to the kingdom He will purchase. He is looking forward to the kingdom He will redeem. He is eagerly anticipating the day when all the saints are redeemed and He returns and reigns on the earth and celebrates with His own.
We certainly enjoy the Lord’s Supper today. We celebrate with a warmth and gratitude that fills our hearts as we remember Christ and His sacrifice. But can you imagine how good it will be to observe the Passover, the Lord’s Supper with Jesus in the Kingdom? Can you imagine how good it will be when sin is gone? Can you imagine how good it will be when we dwell in a land where righteousness dwells?
That is what Jesus is anticipating here. Jesus knows what He is about to do. He is doing it out of great love and obedience. He is doing it with joy as He looks to the fulfillment of His sacrifice.
2. The First Communion (Luke 22:19-20)
Here is where Jesus’ explanation reaches its climax. Jews had been taking the Passover for nearly 1500 years but it was not until this night that God finally explained what it was about. It wasn’t just about deliverance from Egypt it was about deliverance from sin. It was about the cross and the atonement which Christ purchased for us.
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
It is so monumental what Jesus is doing here. With these few simple statements, Jesus ends the Old Covenant and launches the new. Jesus speaks of His body as an offering, a sacrifice given for them. “This is My body which is given for you.” Jesus wasn’t saying that the bread was literally His body, clearly, it was a symbol. At the time, He was still using His body.
But why the body? What does that mean? The writer of Hebrews makes it clear. Hebrews 10:4-10
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come–In the volume of the book it is written of Me–To do Your will, O God.’ ” 8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 10:4-10)
What was the body? It is where Jesus satisfied the righteous requirements of God. God didn’t want a sheep or a goat or a bull, God wanted a holy life. Jesus took on flesh and lived that holy life, obedient to His Father in all things. And here He tells the disciples, “I DID IT FOR YOU.” All of My obedience… All of My suffering… All of My resistance to temptation…
IT WAS FOR YOU.
Jesus satisfied the righteous requirements for you. And He told them to eat it. Why eat it?
52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:52-58)
It is symbolic of acceptance. It is symbolic of need. It is an act of worship. They were to eat showing that they needed this righteousness that Jesus alone had obtained.
And Jesus said that when they eat it “do THIS in remembrance of Me.” No longer would the meal remind them of just the Exodus from Egypt and deliverance from slavery—it would remind them of Jesus’ death and their salvation from sin. What truth did the Passover convey? You escape judgment only by death, and the death can be the death of an innocent substitute. Here is the one who ends all sacrifices, for He offers the sacrifice which fully satisfies God.
Then in Luke 22:20, Jesus said “20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.””
That wine they were drinking was symbolic of the blood of Jesus. It wasn’t His actual blood; it was a symbol. It looked to His atoning work on the cross. He spoke of His coming death where He would pay the penalty of our sin against God.
THE BREAD was His righteous life where He fulfilled what we should have been and were not. THE WINE was His blood which was spilled to satisfy what we were and should not have been. And Jesus says that this together ushers in “the new covenant”.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesies of that New Covenant:
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah– 32 “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer. 31:31-34)
The old covenant was instituted by Moses, where He read the Law and then sprinkled the people with blood to ratify the covenant. That covenant was contingent upon the people obeying God. You know they broke that covenant and brought wrath upon themselves.
Jesus came and ushered in the new covenant that DID NOT depend upon the righteousness of the people. RATHER the new covenant said that GOD WOULD DO for the people what they could not do for themselves. And on this day Jesus says, “This is it.” This is the new covenant. This is Me doing for you what you cannot do for yourselves. I will pay for your sin. I will give you My righteousness.
Eat this bread and accept My righteousness. Drink this wine and accept My atonement. And every time you do it, remember what I did for you. And as you do it look forward to the day when we will again do it together. That is how Jesus observed the final Passover and the first Lord’s Supper with His disciples.
And this morning we partake together just as the disciples did. We see this bread and we see this juice. It is symbolic of His body and His blood. It is His righteous life… It is His atoning death… We eat it because we need it. We eat it casting aside the old covenant of works and embracing this new covenant of grace.
We eat it and we worship Jesus for what He did. We eat it and we anticipate the fulfillment when we will eat it with Him in His kingdom. May we approach the Lord’s table as the Savior did, with great joy and anticipation, looking back, but also looking forward to that day when the kingdom of God shall come.
[1] Robert Deffinbaugh, https://bible.org/seriespage/30-last-supper-luke-221-23
