LUKE 22:14-23 - An Earnestly Desired Meal

Introduction

Have you ever wondered what thoughts were going through Our Savior’s mind as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? Over and over He had warned His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to die—a few chapters earlier from our text, Jesus told them:

Luke 18:31–33 (ESV)

31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

I have tried—unsuccessfully—to place myself in Our Lord’s position as He rode that donkey into Jerusalem. How do you deliberately ride into that city, knowing that you are going to be tortured to death by the end of the week? How could He spend that week debating with Pharisees, preaching in the Temple, defending the Resurrection before the Sadducees, answering trick questions about Rome’s taxes, and all of the other things the Gospels tell us He did that week? If I have a dentist appointment on Friday, I can’t concentrate on anything all week!

Please understand me; I’m not trying to be flippant about what Jesus went through. But how does a Man know the horrifying things that are going to happen to Him and still function while He waits for that horror to descend on Him? And once again, as we always have to do when we consider Our Lord’s life on this earth, we have to remember that the way His human and divine natures coexisted within Him will always go beyond our comprehension—it’s easy to say, “Well, He dealt with His coming crucifixion because He was God!”, but I don’t know as it is as simple as that. Because He was also human, and the terrifying ordeal that was awaiting Him would be enough to cause any man to lose his mind. And yet Jesus did not.

There is a statement that Jesus makes here at the beginning of our passage that is easy to miss, but I believe that it helps us see why Jesus was able to bear up under the threat of the agonies He was about to suffer. Verse 14 says that Jesus and the Apostles were reclining at the table, and He said to them:

Luke 22:15 (ESV)

15 ...“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

The King James says, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover...” The word desire is the Greek word epithumia, which describes a powerful and overriding passion (it is translated lust in other places in the New Testament). Jesus says that He has desired to eat this Passover with the disciples with a passionate passion. He didn’t just look forward to it; it was an overriding desire, it was the thing that He wanted more than anything else that week. This was the meal that He was looking forward to because this meal represented everything He was about to suffer for! As Matthew Henry puts it in his commentary on this passage:

See the love he had to his disciples; he desired to eat it with them, that he and they might have a little time together, themselves, and none besides, for private conversation, which they could not have in Jerusalem but upon this occasion. He was now about to leave them, but was very desirous to eat this passover with them before he suffered, as if the comfort of that would carry him the more cheerfully through his sufferings, and make them the easier to him. Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1901). Hendrickson.

Jesus delighted to eat this meal with His disciples because it represented to Him everything He was about to do for them. And so here is the way I want to bring it to you this morning: As we consider this account, I want you to see that

Christ DELIGHTS in you through the SUPPER He has PREPARED for you

As we prepare to take this very Supper here today, I want us to consider Luke’s account of how this meal was established. I want you to see that the delight He had in His disciples taking that supper with Him is the same delight that He takes in you as you eat it today.

The first reason that Christ delights in you through this Supper is that in it

I.He celebrates your SANCTIFICATION (Luke 22:17-18)

Look at verse 17:

Luke 22:17 (ESV)

17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

Now, we remember from verse 15 that this meal was the Passover seder that He was celebrating with the apostles. We know from history and modern practice that there are four cups that are part of the seder, each representing the four “I will” statements that YHWH gives to Moses about delivering His people from Egypt in Exodus 6:5-7:

Exodus 6:5–7 (ESV)

5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out [the Cup of Sanctification] from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery [Cup of Deliverance] to them, and I will redeem you [Cup of Redemption, or Cup of Blessing] with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, [Cup of Restoration] and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

This cup that Jesus tells them to drink in verse 17 of our text is most likely the first cup, the “Cup of Sanctification” or “Cup of Separation” (“I will bring you out…”) Jesus delights in you through this supper because by His work

You have been brought out of BONDAGE to SIN (cp. John 17:6; cp. Isaiah 53:11)

Just as the children of Israel were brought out of bondage to Egypt and set apart as YHWH’s own children, so Christ has separated you to holiness! He would go on later that night to pray in the Garden:

John 17:6 (ESV)

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

This holiness was illustrated by the disciples all drinking from the Cup of Sanctification that night—that cup itself is not part of how we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (the cup we celebrate, the “Cup Of Redemption” or “Cup of Blessing” comes later in the text). But it is for us to see here that Jesus delights in the work He has done to bring you out of the world and make you His own! Jesus told His disciples to drink that cup that marked their being set apart by His work, and in the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah,

Isaiah 53:11 (ESV)

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Christ delights in you through the supper He has prepared for you, Christian—this meal celebrates your sanctification as you have been brought out of your bondage to sin, and it commemorates how

You have been delivered from the POWER of DEATH (v. 18; cp. Matthew 26:29)

Jesus tells His disciples in verse 18

Luke 22:18 (ESV)

18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus’ words as well, and between Matthew and Luke (and Mark!) we have a full picture of the events of the evening—Matthew records Jesus as saying

Matthew 26:29 (ESV)

29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus is delighted to look forward to that day when you will take this meal with Him! Surely part of what He means to say here is that you will rise again in Him! When that Day comes and the Kingdom of God arrives when Christ appears, you will be alive to meet Him! As we just saw in 1 Thessalonians, you will either be resurrected out of your grave to meet Him, or you will be transformed from these shadowlands of this mortal life to real, everlasting life in Him—and you will share this meal with Him!

Death has no power over you when you come in faith to Jesus Christ for salvation! There is no sickness, no disease or pestilence or injury or violence or congenital defect or deterioration that will hold you back from drinking the cup of sanctification with Christ on the Day when He brings His Kingdom with Him! And every time we take this meal together, Christ delights to see it! Because He delights to look on your taking this meal as a promise of the feast to come!

This meal that we are about to share represents the delight of Christ in you—He is earnestly desiring that Day when He sits down with you to take it—in this meal He celebrates your sanctification, and see in verses 19-20 that

II. He provides your NOURISHMENT (Luke 22:19-20; cp. John 6:40; 54)

When we celebrate this Supper together, it is our custom to read from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, where he directly quotes from Jesus here in this account:

Luke 22:19–20 (ESV)

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.” 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.

Having celebrated their being set apart by His work, Jesus now goes about nourishing His people in this meal. Consider that there are at least two ways that He nourishes you in this Supper. First

You REMEMBER His sacrifice (John 6:40; 1 Corinthians 11:25-26)

John Stott once said that that if preaching is the “radio” Gospel, the Supper is the “television” Gospel! In other words, you hear this Good News every time the Word is faithfully preached, but here in this meal you see the Gospel represented in these elements. Here in this meal you have a visual representation of His body broken and His blood spilled for you. The Gospel is not just an idea or an Aristotelian form—the death of Jesus Christ is shown to you in these elements.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks plainly about the connection between seeing and faith--

John 6:40 (ESV)

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Here in this Supper we are given the opportunity to see in these elements the work of Christ in sacrificing Himself for us. This is why Jesus so earnestly desired to establish this meal for us; so that we will always remember what He did for us on the Cross. This is what Paul records of Jesus words in 1 Corinthians 11:25-26:

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 (ESV)

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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

This meal is the way we are nourished in our faith—this meal is our regular remembrance of His broken body and spilled blood; this meal helps us look on Him so that we may believe and have eternal life.

But we are not merely nourished by the sight of these elements in this Supper—you not only remember His sacrifice at this meal,

You DIGEST His work (John 6:54; cp. 1 Cor. 10:16)

A few verses down in John 6 Jesus reiterates the same formula that he did in verse 40—He says that when you look on His work and believe in Him, you have eternal life. Down in Verse 54 He says the same thing a different way:

John 6:54 (ESV)

54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Now your good, solid Reformed Evangelical Spidey-sense might be starting to tingle at this point—the whole notion of securing eternal life by looking on and eating the body and blood of Christ might sound more than a little like Roman Catholicism, which some of you have come out of. And you are rightly wary of anything that feels like a pull back across the Tiber, as it were.

So let us be as clear as we can be here—these verses do not support the blasphemous and idolatrous superstition known as “transubstantiation” that is spread by Rome. That damnable false doctrine denies the Word of God that says that Christ was crucified once for all time (Heb. 10:12) and seeks to re-crucify Christ every week. That poisonous heresy tramples on God’s Law expressed in the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4) and compels those in thrall to it to bow down before a created substance as if it were God. Those wolves and false teachers who hold to it and compel others to obey it—up to and including the Bishop of Rome himself--will be called to account for this wickedness before a holy and righteous Judge on the Last Day (Revelation 22:15).

But at the same time, this meal—these elements—are not just a mere memorial (as some of the Reformers would go on to insist). The bread is bread, the juice is juice. There is nothing magical or particularly holy about them in and of themselves. But Jesus Himself instructs us to take these elements, to eat them. It’s not enough just to look at these symbols of your salvation; He invites you to literally make them a part of your life.

On a purely biological level, what happens when you eat this matzoh and drink this juice? They get metabolized, don’t they? They literally go to work as calories to be burned, carbohydrates and sugars and other nutrients to be broken up and used as fuel for your body and regenerating cells and repairing neurons and whatever else food and drink does when you consume it.

Do you see here the connection with your faith? That the way this bread and this cup go to work nourishing and strengthening you to live and move is meant to be an illustration of how the transforming work of the Gospel in you is to nourish and strengthen you! This meal is the way that you demonstrate your participation in this Gospel; it is not theoretical to your life—the work of Christ for you on that Cross is as real to you and your life as the work that food and drink does to nourish and strengthen your life! And when you take these elements, you are declaring that you are not just familiar with this Gospel, you are participating in this Gospel! That is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 10:16 when he writes:

1 Corinthians 10:16 (ESV)

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Christ delights in you through this meal that He has established for you—He delights in your participation in his body and His blood; He delights to nourish you in the Gospel. He celebrates your sanctification and He provides your nourishment. But then in verses 21-23 of our text,

III. He delivers a WARNING (Luke 22:21-23)

Luke 22:21–22 (ESV)

21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

Consider for a moment that Jesus earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal—knowing that Judas would be there! In John’s account of this Supper we see that Jesus actually served Judas a piece of bread in a custom meant to be observed between close friends:

John 13:26 (ESV)

26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

Judas was numbered along with the Twelve. He was entrusted with the cash box (that he used to filch from- John 12:6). Even on this night, when he left during the Supper, the other Apostles assumed he was going to buy more food, since he carried the cash (John 12:29).

And yet this trusted, beloved member of Jesus’ inner circle never belonged to Christ at all. And so the warning that comes to us is clear in these verses:

Do not DECEIVE yourself (Matt. 7:21-23)

Perhaps the most terrifying words that Jesus ever uttered are found at the end of His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:21-23 He warns His hearers:

Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I know you hear these verses from me a lot; but how can we consider Judas’ participation in this supper without hearing Jesus’ warning in these verses? I can imagine no greater horror than to discover at the Last Day that you have been lying to yourself all along! It should cause us to tremble to realize that there are so many people who take the name Christian for themselves who believe that they are in a right relationship with Christ because they can speak in tongues or have “deliverance” ministries. That Christ will on that Day welcome them because they taught Sunday School faithfully or preached hundreds of sermons or baptized hundreds of people. That because they were part of what Christ was doing in a church that they automatically belonged to Christ!

But the warning here in our text is that it is not enough to belong to a church; it is not enough to be part of a ministry or part of great deeds. If you have not looked on Christ and believed on His work as your only hope for cleansing from your sin; if you believe—like Judas—that you can participate in Him while still holding on to the love of the world and the flesh; if you sit here this morning all outwardly composed as a faithful and true member of His Body but inwardly are waiting for all this to be over so that you can drop the act and get back to your real life; if your reason for coming here today is so that you can be seen coming to church because it will get you some advantage in your life in some other way; then how are you different from Judas who only came to that Supper so that he could give the chief priests and scribes accurate intel on where Jesus was going to be that night?

Do not deceive yourself—do not tell yourself that you can just go through the motions of faithfulness and put Jesus’ Name onto your own works and He will accept them as His. It is profoundly telling that when Jesus told His disciples that one of them was about to betray Him, none of them suspected Judas! He had his “cover” down pat—the rest of the Twelve were left to wonder who could possibly do such a thing:

Luke 22:23 (ESV)

23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Mark’s Gospel adds one other significant detail to this moment:

Mark 14:18–19 (ESV)

18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”

Look at this—every other one of the Apostles recognized that they were capable of betraying Christ! They were not deceived about what kind of heart they had, about what kind of failure they were capable of. The warning here in this account of the Supper not only warns you that you must not deceive yourself, it also warns that

You must EXAMINE yourself (cp. Mark 14:19; 1 Cor. 11:27-30)

Each of the disciples (except for Judas, who was self-deceived and in thrall to Satan) realized what they were capable of—that they had it in them to walk away from Christ; that they had it in them to be self-deceived about their relationship with Him. But notice how they responded—they brought their lives before Christ for His judgment! They asked Him to examine their hearts, they trusted His assessment of their faithfulness to Him. Their prayer was the same as David’s in Psalm 139--

Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV)

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

In the same way, when we come together in a few moments to celebrate this meal, we are reminded by God’s Word that we must examine ourselves:

1 Corinthians 11:27–30 (ESV)

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

Indeed, Judas himself died after eating this meal, didn’t he? He betrayed Christ; he was “guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord”. And if you come to this meal the way Judas did—holding on to a sinful habit or pattern of rebellion against Christ that you cherish more than Him—then you are eating and drinking judgment on yourself at this Table.

Don’t deceive yourself—bring your heart to Christ this morning and plead with Him to examine you, to try you, to expose whatever rebellion or unbelief or secret desire for sin that lurks there. He has brought you to this Table today so that you may see this Sacrifice He has made for you, and to call you to enter into the promise that this Table represents: The body of the sinless Son of God was tortured to death on that Cross and the blood of the perfect spotless Lamb of God was poured out on that Cross so that you might be set free from the penalty and power of your sin! The wrath of God was satisfied by Christ’s sacrifice; you can be free of the guilt and shame of your sin before Him, and He invites you to this Meal so that you can see this Good News and savor it and enter into it for eternal life!

Jesus couldn’t wait to celebrate this meal with His disciples; He “earnestly desired” to celebrate their sanctification with them, nourish them with His body and blood, call them to examine themselves to know that they belonged to Him by faith. And so He has set this Table before you this morning for the same reason—come to this Meal to celebrate the holiness that He has purchased for you, come here to be nourished in your faith as you see His sacrifice and digest His work into your life. And as you come to this meal, remember that this fragment of bread and sip of a cup is just a foretaste—you see your holiness dimly, you look on His sacrifice from a distance, you examine your life in the midst of daily warfare with besetting sin.

But on that Day—you will see the perfection of your holiness; your battles with sin will be over once and for all! You will not have to look dimly through these symbols of bread and cup to see the body and blood of Christ given for you; you will see Him face to face! And no matter how earnestly you desire that Meal with Him, be assured, beloved, that He earnestly desires even more to eat it with you! So come to this Table—come to the holiness He has purchased for you, come to this Meal with which He nourishes you and strengthens you in your faith! Come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Hebrews 13:20–21 (ESV)

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

How do you approach the Lord’s Supper? Do you see it as a sad and somber time, a convicting time, or a joyful and refreshing time? How does the way Jesus desires this meal change your perspective?

How does the Lord’s Supper point to your sanctification—the holiness that Christ has purchased for you? How does this meal encourage you in your daily battles with sin?

Read Hebrews 10:12 again. How does this verse answer Rome’s assertion that Christ is crucified every time the Mass is celebrated? Read Exodus 20:4. How does this verse answer Rome’s demands that a created thing (e.g., bread) are to be worshipped as if it were God?

What is the significance of eating and drinking the bread and the cup during this meal? How does this act portray the significance of Christ’s work in your life?

How does this supper offer a warning to those who take it? Read 1 Corinthians 11:27-30. Are you trusting your own “worthiness” in this meal, or in the worthiness of Christ?