Jesus and the Disciples at the Last SupperBible World
22:15Luke 22:15
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
With doubled language He voiced intense, earnest longing to share that Passover meal with His disciples before His suffering. These were His first words after gathering with the twelve about the prepared table in the upper chamber when the hour had come for the yearly feast remembering Israel's release from slavery in Egypt. That night was virtually the last Passover ever to be kept, for its type met its fulfillment in the slaying and death of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, bringing the system of types and ceremonies to its close. At that same meal He instituted the Lord's Supper to take the place of the Passover as the lasting memorial of His sacrifice and death, with the bread His body given for His followers and the cup His blood of the new covenant, to be observed through all time until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He kept that Passover in obedience to the law and all its divinely appointed ordinances, thereby identifying Himself with the paschal lamb as its great antitype, for the innocent lamb whose blood caused the destroying angel to pass over Israel's homes had pointed forward to Him as the sinless Lamb whose merits alone avert judgment and bring redemption to fallen humanity.
Longing and Setting
With a doubled expression of desire He declared a deep, earnest, eager longing to eat this Passover with His disciples before He suffered. The longing was not casual but intense, the strong repetition marking how earnestly He desired that final meal with them. His words were spoken when the hour had come, as His first words after gathering with the twelve apostles about the table. They met in the upper chamber for the Passover meal they had prepared, the yearly feast commemorating Israel's release from slavery in Egypt.
Unlike the calm joy of His usual meetings with the disciples and the special interest of former Passover suppers, He spoke this time in touching sadness. His spirit was troubled, His heart burdened, and His face shadowed with grief, while they sympathized without knowing the cause. Yet even in that sorrow He treasured this time with them. He clearly foresaw the events soon to come, knowing His suffering was near and that He was soon to receive His full baptism of suffering. He was wrung with grief over the ingratitude and cruelty of those He came to save and over the terrible fate awaiting them.
The few quiet hours between Him and Gethsemane were to be spent for the benefit of His disciples. After eating the supper He went with them to the garden of Gethsemane where He often went to pray. He talked with them and taught them as they walked, until He became strangely silent as they neared the garden.
Type Fulfilled, Memorial Given
This was virtually the last Passover ever to be celebrated, the last before its type met its fulfillment and antitype in the slaying and death of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, bringing the Passover system of types and ceremonies to its close so that the Passover was to end. The Passover had recalled Israel's deliverance from Egypt and pointed forward to Christ, the unblemished Lamb, for the innocent lamb slain there whose blood sprinkled on the doorposts caused the destroying angel to pass over Israel's homes prefigured Jesus as the sinless Lamb of God whose merits alone avert judgment and condemnation from fallen man and bring great salvation and redemption of fallen humanity. He ate and observed this Passover in obedience to the Jewish law and all its divinely appointed ordinances, and in that meal connected the Lord's Supper with the Passover, thereby identifying Himself with the paschal lamb as its great antitype.
On that same night at this last Passover He instituted the Lord's Supper to take the place of the Passover as the lasting memorial of His great sacrifice and death, to be continued through all time and observed by His followers in every land and age. At this supper the bread represented His body given for His followers and the cup His blood of the new covenant. He declared He would eat no more of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He joined that meal to washing their feet, a humble service that would reveal pride, selfishness, or hatred and encourage confession, forgiveness, patience, and love, meant to prepare them for sharing the remembrance of His death in the Lord's Supper.
Those who rejected Christ defiled their souls and made their keeping of the Passover feast of no value and a bitter mockery. The food and drink of that Passover were pure unfermented juice of the grape and bread without leaven, because He never places temptation before anyone and the sacramental service was designed to be soul-refreshing and life-giving with nothing connected to it that ministers to evil. He is the same one who warned that wine mocks and strong drink rages, and He provided no intoxicating beverage, teaching instead to bring the lower nature into subjection by self-denial and suffering to break the power of appetite against Satan's temptation to indulgence that beclouds reason and benumbs spiritual perception.
With doubled language He voiced intense, earnest longing to share that Passover meal with His disciples before His suffering. These were His first words after gathering with the twelve about the prepared table in the upper chamber when the hour had come for the yearly feast remembering Israel's release from slavery in Egypt. That night was virtually the last Passover ever to be kept, for its type met its fulfillment in the slaying and death of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, bringing the system of types and ceremonies to its close. At that same meal He instituted the Lord's Supper to take the place of the Passover as the lasting memorial of His sacrifice and death, with the bread His body given for His followers and the cup His blood of the new covenant, to be observed through all time until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He kept that Passover in obedience to the law and all its divinely appointed ordinances, thereby identifying Himself with the paschal lamb as its great antitype, for the innocent lamb whose blood caused the destroying angel to pass over Israel's homes had pointed forward to Him as the sinless Lamb whose merits alone avert judgment and bring redemption to fallen humanity.
Longing and Setting
With a doubled expression of desire He declared a deep, earnest, eager longing to eat this Passover with His disciples before He suffered. The longing was not casual but intense, the strong repetition marking how earnestly He desired that final meal with them. His words were spoken when the hour had come, as His first words after gathering with the twelve apostles about the table. They met in the upper chamber for the Passover meal they had prepared, the yearly feast commemorating Israel's release from slavery in Egypt.
Unlike the calm joy of His usual meetings with the disciples and the special interest of former Passover suppers, He spoke this time in touching sadness. His spirit was troubled, His heart burdened, and His face shadowed with grief, while they sympathized without knowing the cause. Yet even in that sorrow He treasured this time with them. He clearly foresaw the events soon to come, knowing His suffering was near and that He was soon to receive His full baptism of suffering. He was wrung with grief over the ingratitude and cruelty of those He came to save and over the terrible fate awaiting them.
The few quiet hours between Him and Gethsemane were to be spent for the benefit of His disciples. After eating the supper He went with them to the garden of Gethsemane where He often went to pray. He talked with them and taught them as they walked, until He became strangely silent as they neared the garden.
Type Fulfilled, Memorial Given
This was virtually the last Passover ever to be celebrated, the last before its type met its fulfillment and antitype in the slaying and death of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, bringing the Passover system of types and ceremonies to its close so that the Passover was to end. The Passover had recalled Israel's deliverance from Egypt and pointed forward to Christ, the unblemished Lamb, for the innocent lamb slain there whose blood sprinkled on the doorposts caused the destroying angel to pass over Israel's homes prefigured Jesus as the sinless Lamb of God whose merits alone avert judgment and condemnation from fallen man and bring great salvation and redemption of fallen humanity. He ate and observed this Passover in obedience to the Jewish law and all its divinely appointed ordinances, and in that meal connected the Lord's Supper with the Passover, thereby identifying Himself with the paschal lamb as its great antitype.
On that same night at this last Passover He instituted the Lord's Supper to take the place of the Passover as the lasting memorial of His great sacrifice and death, to be continued through all time and observed by His followers in every land and age. At this supper the bread represented His body given for His followers and the cup His blood of the new covenant. He declared He would eat no more of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He joined that meal to washing their feet, a humble service that would reveal pride, selfishness, or hatred and encourage confession, forgiveness, patience, and love, meant to prepare them for sharing the remembrance of His death in the Lord's Supper.
Those who rejected Christ defiled their souls and made their keeping of the Passover feast of no value and a bitter mockery. The food and drink of that Passover were pure unfermented juice of the grape and bread without leaven, because He never places temptation before anyone and the sacramental service was designed to be soul-refreshing and life-giving with nothing connected to it that ministers to evil. He is the same one who warned that wine mocks and strong drink rages, and He provided no intoxicating beverage, teaching instead to bring the lower nature into subjection by self-denial and suffering to break the power of appetite against Satan's temptation to indulgence that beclouds reason and benumbs spiritual perception.