An Earnest Desire

Introduction

Turn with me in your Bibles for a few moments to Luke 22. I am going to read verses 14-23. As we go through this text together, my hope is that we see our time together at the Lord’s Table in a far deeper way. It is easy to get caught up in the redundancy of it. We do it every first Sunday of every month, as the Lord allows. We even do it at the same time during the service. Tonight, however, is a little different. When we take communion on a Sunday morning, it is not the primary emphasis of our time together. It is in collusion with the service at a whole. I am not saying that it is less important or insignificant in any way. However, for our time this evening, the subject of communion is going to be our main focus. Yes, I could have also done a sermon on feet washing, but I didn’t think you would all want me to wash your feet tonight!

That being said, let us turn our attention now to Luke 22:14-23, starting in verse 14… There is no bulletin insert tonight, nor is there going to be a detailed roadmap with specific points. We are going to go through this text a little quickly and we are going to do so verse by verse. With the reading of the text, it is not a challenging exegetical exercise.

The title of this sermon is “An Earnest Desire.” It comes right out of the words of our Lord in verse 15. Lord willing, at the conclusion of this message you and I will have an earnest desire to take communion together this evening and for those to come which Lord willing, He will bless us with.

Sermon Body

I must say at the beginning, the Lord’s Supper as recorded for us here is the long-awaited fulfillment of the Day of Atonement and the events of the Passover. When Christ goes to the cross, dies there, is buried, and is resurrected, He fulfills the Day of Atonement as recorded in Exodus and Leviticus completely and He also is the Passover lamb. The nation of Israel would offer the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:21). This is the Old Testament context of the Lord’s Supper as recorded in the gospels.

Let’s look at Luke 22:14. In this verse, the disciples are all together with Jesus at the appointed time, notice verse 14 says “when the hour had come.” This should be no surprise to any one of us that at just the right time, Jesus Christ institutes the Lord’s Supper. We saw a few days ago that with the taking of the colt and the palm branches being laid down, and Christ the King being hailed was all done at just the right time. This is the common thread that we find throughout Passion Week. Everything is done just so and in a beautiful and perfect way that only God Himself could orchestrate and carry out. Are you maybe thinking this is all coincidence? May I speak to that for a moment. Remember the wedding feast at Cana which John records in 2:1-12? Verses 3 and 4 capture the dialogue between Jesus’ mother and Himself. He asks her what the wine has to do with Him. What does Jesus say next? Verse 4, “My hour has not yet come.” From that example, we see that Jesus, being very God knew what was coming, even down to the wine which would be used at the Lord’s Supper to symbolize His blood. This is not coincidence!

This leads us, then, to verse 15. For a brief moment, I want us to focus on Jesus’ desire to have this Passover. This desire is “intense,” it is something that Jesus has had His heart set upon for some time” (BSL). This is not something that is loosely held on to, or had with a lack of care. This is deep and something of great affection to our Lord. There is one implication that I would like to point out. If any one of us comes to the table of our Lord Jesus Christ in an uncaring or in a lackluster way, as fervently as I could, I urge you to run from the table and reconcile with the Lord! Why? Because this is not the way that Christ, nor His disciples came to the table. Who was the only one who showed no care? You know who, the betrayer, Judas Iscariot. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that those who do not care are all Judas. But what I am saying is that this is a serious event, not to be taken lightly! Our hearts must be in the right place.

The reason that Jesus was so determined that this happen is because He knew the correlation between the Passover and His death. He knew that He was going to bear the sins of the world. He did not want the disciples to miss this. After His death and resurrection, the disciples understood what the Lord’s Supper truly meant. This is detailed for us in John 20:19-22. The Holy Spirit is given to them by Jesus, and they have understanding of the events of Passion Week.

Let us look at verses 16 and 18. Upon first reading these simultaneously, they are almost identical. The difference is the element being used. Verse 16 is the bread and verse 18 is the cup. There is one detail that is said about both verses. Jesus says that He will not eat or drink again, until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Matthew is a little more detailed. His rendition is as follows, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).

There is much more that could be said about these two verses. One thing that we must make mention of is that Jesus is the Initiator of this meal. Nowhere in the Old Testament do you find this meal, and nowhere in the New Testament before this do you see this meal. This meal is about Jesus, and it is initiated and carried out first by Jesus. This is why Jesus can say in John 6:53, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”

When will Jesus drink of this meal again? Revelation 19:9 and 16 confirm that it is His second coming just as He said. The fulfillment in the kingdom of God is carried out by Christ who “has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Verses 17 and 19 of Luke 22 have a similarity that I would like for us to see. Why do we pray before we take the bread and the cup? The short answer is because that is what Jesus did. He gives thanks in verses 17 and 19. Another way of saying this is that Jesus “expresses gratitude” (BSL). When we pray during communion? Do we express gratitude? Of course! And to whom do we express gratitude? The Lord Jesus Christ! Even in our prayer before the taking of the elements, we are following in obedience to how Jesus instituted the Last Supper.

Look down to verse 20. Luke is the only writer who describes the covenant in Christ’s blood as “new.” Thus, with doing so we see the clear comparativeness with Jeremiah 31:31-34. Matthew 26:28 says that the covenant is poured out for many for the sole purpose of forgiving sins as we see it written in those same verses in Jeremiah 31.

Who are the many? The many are you and I who have trusted in Christ. I also believe that “the many” are those who have walked before us. Every Old Testament saint that has gone before us is covered in the shed blood of Christ. How do we know? John 8:56-58, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” and “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” You cannot get any clearer than that! If you need another verse to clarify, here it is. Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering He (that is, Christ) has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

We end in verses 21-23, with more proof that what Jesus spoke concerning Himself is absolutely true even down to the details of the betrayer. Matthew 16:21 and 20:17-19 are the two occurrences when Jesus foretold His being given up to the leaders and His betrayal. Listen, the events of the Lord’s Supper and everything else that is included in the narrative, all proves that Jesus Christ, sent by God the Father, is the flesh in whom we partake of with the bread, and the blood in whom we partake of with the cup.

Conclusion

I think it is clear to see that there is every reason to have a high view of the Lord’s Supper. Mainly, because Jesus did! As we come to the end of this time together, may I encourage you a few ways.

1. The time we spend together at the Lord’s table should never be taken lightly, it should never be done in a spirit of tradition or redundancy. This is most precious time spent together as you and I remember what Jesus Christ has done for each one of us who believe in Him. May we be eager to spend this time together each time we come to the table!

2. Our salvation hinges on the breaking of Jesus’ body and the shedding of His blood. Think about that for a moment. What we come to remember in Jesus Christ is the frontline of our salvation. Without the body that was broken, and the blood spilled as the once for all infinite Atonement, salvation is not a reality. So, is communion just another thing we do? No. There are salvific undertones and may we come to a deeper appreciation for what this time around the table means.

3. Each time we come together for communion we are reminded that every promise that Jesus makes comes true. Therefore, we can come together anticipating this practice being “fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16).

May our sights be set on taking communion together earnestly as we anticipate the ultimate fulfillment at the second coming of Christ.

Let’s pray.

Benediction

Ephesians 6:23-24 “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.”