Jesus' Last Testament

Reading:

Luke 22:14-20 “And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Introduction:

When we think through Communion it is easy to forget exactly what they were all partaking in. Eating and celebrating.

We can all relate getting together with those you love and sharing a meal together. Making plans and hoping it all works out. We just finished taking part in that type of thing. Many plans hadn’t worked out due to weather and sickness, which can be disappointing; but we can enjoy the times when everything does work out.

It is easy to get disappointed when you enjoy the company of those you made plans with, only for those plans to fall through.

In this scenario Jesus made plans with the Apostles, and they were excited to get together and celebrate the passover.

One commentator says that Luke loves meals. This particular meal is the seventh meal scene recorded in Luke.

Think of all that takes place at a dinner table:

Fellowship or enjoying causal conversations with those seated around you, catching up with one another.

Opportunities to reflect on times had together.

Jesus was perfect at setting the stage and He prepared this situation for what He would reveal. We have here an close and intimate scene that would be the perfect timing for them, and us, to best remember what was proclaimed by Jesus.

Transition:

Jesus knew what was coming: His sacrifice. Jesus reveals that even when He would be justified to focus on Himself, He didn’t. He only focused on preparing the disciples for what would happen next He gave:

I. A Future Blessing

Luke 22:14-16 “And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.””

Jesus sitting at the table with all the apostles, celebrating the passover meal together.

Illustration:

Katie and I had been dating for a while, I knew she was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

I needed someone to smirk at my corny jokes and to pester.

It was time to ask her dad for permission to marry her.

Him and I went to a study on revelation at Church one night.

We chit chatted for a bit of the drive, then I decided to ask him.

It was the opportune time and place. We were together, just the 2 of us, and enjoying the conversations.

It was the right opportunity.

This is exactly like the scenario for Jesus here:

He created the opportune place where all of them were together and the timing was perfect for what He had to say.

Transition:

Jesus leads into the real conversation He wants to have:

Luke 22:15 “And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

He opens the curtain to

A. The Future.

He is going to suffer.

Great Segway:

I really looked forward to celebrating the passover meal with you.....especially before I suffer.

But It was a great opportunity to speak about the sacrificial lamb who would pay for the sins of the world and save them from death!

Remember what the passover celebration was:

Deuteronomy 16:1-8 ““Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose, to make his name dwell there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, but at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening …”

Baker Encyclopedia has this to say about the evening meal:

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Meals, Significance Of

The evening meal was the time when all family members normally were gathered together, and was thus an important time of fellowship. Providing food for the traveler was both a social and a religious responsibility, while the ideal of a quiet social life was realized by having friends break bread with the family and discuss the problems of the day by the light of small oil lamps. The significance of the meal retains its central focus, both in the Jewish religion with the Passover meal and in Christianity with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

It was the celebration of the Holy Spirit acknowledging the sacrifice that was made for the family back in Egypt, and passing over that home to the next.

They are celebrating the very thing that Christ would do for them and for all mankind.

He was to be the final passover lamb for the sacrifice.

Transition:

Jesus took the opportunity after the remembrance feast to point to what He came to do:

Be the final Sacrifice once for all.

He said that He was excited for this moment!

Why wouldn’t He be excited? God’s moment for handing the gift of redemption to the world was at hand. The promise from back in the garden was going to be fulfilled.

The Hope is: the future celebration that would take place again when it is all fulfilled:

It spoke of the messianic banquet, when the full arrival of God’s Kingdom would be set up.

The marriage supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:6-9 “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.””

Point:

That marriage hasn’t happened yet. We are still waiting for the groom (Jesus) to come gather His bride (The Church). Then we will celebrate the marriage and enjoy being with our Lord.

The future is coming and the bride needs to be ready! She should present herself as ready, clean and in constant looking for that great and glorious day when the Groom comes.

Would you say the church is ready, and clean for the marriage?

Anticipating and hoping for that joyous day?

How about you are you ready and hoping for that day?

We should be ready, clean, and anticipating our belief.

We can trust and hope in that future when Jesus is coming for us! It will happen; we just don't know when.

Transition:

Jesus presented 2 elements that would represent His Sacrifice. The first being:

II. The Cup

Luke 22:17-18 “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.””

It was proper passover etiquette for the head of the home being given the responsibility to explain the meaning for passover ceremony: The Lord’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

It is only fitting that Jesus is the Head of this meal and that He should remind them of the deliverance; only He is forecasting the deliverance much greater than that of slavery in Egypt.

He raises the cup:

Gave thanks to God for His deliverance.

It is supposed that the cup Jesus is holding up would be the third cup of the passover meal.

This cup would be followed after the passover lamb was eaten, with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Also following is the explanation of why the meal was celebrated.

Illustration:

Your all sitting around the last meal of Christmas and the Head of that home raises a glass to bring into focus everyone’s hearts and minds for the reason of the celebration.

Making a proclamation about the fellowship, food, and reason for gathering.

He commands that the cup be “shared” with one another.

The ones they love and care for should not be kept in the dark about Jesus’ sacrifice.

Point:

We are to remember that the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice is to be shared!

The statement is made about the cup:

1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

Jesus is presenting a new symbol to watermark in history the greatest sacrifice for the undeserved.

It is something that should be observed to remind us of Jesus’ blood willingly being poured out as the payment for us.

It can also reveal the power that Jesus’ blood possesses to cover our sins before the Lord and break the chains of sin, so that we can obey the Lord.

He gives the cup a fresh meaning.

Luke B. Preparing for Glory to Come: The Last Supper (22:7–38)

Passover included four cups of wine drunk at specific intervals. The last two came after the meal and were separated by the reading of the rest of the Hallel Psalms. Jesus took the occasion of one of these cups to again transform the meaning of Passover, transforming the Jewish celebration into the Christian Easter. The cup they drank served as an eternal reminder that Jesus had spilled his blood for them. Passover celebrated the old covenant ratified on Sinai (Exod. 19–24). The Lord’s Supper celebrates the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31 written on the hearts of the people rather than on tablets of stone. As blood sacrifices sealed the old covenant (Exod. 24), so Christ’s blood would seal and ratify the new covenant.

Point:

The cup being presented to commemorate the passover brings new meaning and a call for continual remembrance:

Jesus’ death was for you and I, and it was brutal. He knew all the details before they happened and still willingly submitted.

When we gather together for the celebration of communion, we celebrate the new covenant that was written in blood, and is forever and powerful.

Transition:

The blood was payment for the remission of sins.

Hebrews 9:22 “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus had given the 2 parts for remembrance, the second being:

III. The Bread

Luke 22:19 “And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.””

The bread isn’t something spiritual.

It doesn’t change to His Literal flesh, His presence isn’t in the bread. It’s just bread!

The bread serves no special purpose except to put an image in front of us to associate a memory, an emotion and feeling.

Illustration:

Have you ever struggled to remember things?

Did you know there are scientific ways for remembering things?

The idea is that you create in your mind a familiar place and each item in that image would be attached to a number, or something that you want to remember.

It is called creating a memory palace. From this people can memorize very long numbers and also many different facts about something.

You can also create an phonetic alphabet that associates the same things: memories to an systematic number system.

Jesus here is giving us an image to attach a memory to:

The bread being His body.

?What happened to His body?

Why is this important for us?

Connection:

I believe that His body should highlight something that He did which we all find very difficult!

Obeying the Lord’s will rather than ours.

At salvation we are giving our will into His hands in substitute for His will; but that is something that we struggle with every day.

Illustration:

Someone offends you, cheats you, lies to you.

Is your reflexive action to dismiss it and not hold it against them and forgive them?

No, it is to call them out and let them know how they wronged you. Or at least highlight it.

How about when big things happen:

A person is drunk driving and crashes into you, your loved one passes away because of it.

Are you hateful towards that person and want bad to happen to them?

Point:

We struggle with and will continue to struggle with being subject to the Lord’s will over ours.

We fight our sin nature.

Jesus showed His humanity by submitting to the Father’s will. He revealed His humanity.

Transition:

We have an example in Jesus to be able to submit to the Lord’s will through each and every situation.

To know and remember what He goes through in submission.

The bread is a symbol for us to remember the willing servant’s sacrifice on our behalf.

Conclusion

Luke 22:20 “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Jesus had the perfect opportunity through the passover for presenting:

The final sacrifice, the worthy sacrifice; which could only be done by Him.

He was putting forward in Himself the future celebration for the marriage celebration with the union of Jesus and the Church.

He filled the role as Head of the house when He presented the cup for a new covenant. The item that brings a fresh and eternal meaning for remembering His sacrifice and why He would subject Himself to it.

The blood was thee necessary payment and we were worth it.

Jesus provided new images for us to recall His submission and that because of this new covenant we still struggle between our will and the Fathers.

Jesus - God in the flesh submitted leaving us an example: submit to His will and praise Him for what He is going to do through you because of such a great sacrifice made, and a gift of salvation received!

Pray!