14When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19And 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.” 20Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. —Luke 22:14-20
presented Himself as the Way.
Jump back into the passage.
The scene was the Upper Room.
The occasion was the yearly celebration of the Passover. This festival was the celebration of God’s deliverance from Egypt. Read the institution of the Passover in Exodus 12.
21Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. 28Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. —Exodus 12:21-28
The command to “remember yearly” is what Jesus was doing, but He was also doing something much BIGGER, and the disciples did not quite pick up on it.
Verses 19 and 20 references regular elements of the Passover, but notice what Jesus did.
19And 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.” 20Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. —Luke 22:19-20
Jesus blessed the bread and wine at the expected moment but then integrated Himself into the Passover. One commentary said…
It was the point of transition between two economies and their two great festivals, the one about to close for ever, the other immediately to open and run its majestic career until from earth it be transferred to heaven. —Brown, David, Faussett Commentary
Focus up on the “new covenant” language and lean into the comparison found in Jeremiah’s writings…
31Behold, 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—32not 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. 33But 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. 34No 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. —Jeremiah 31:31-34
Holy Application — Jesus made the
for you.
We are as the Israelites – slaves. They were slaves to the Egyptians and we are slaves to sin.
20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. —Romans 3:20-21
God delivered the Israelites as a picture of what Jesus would do for humanity.
22But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 3:22-23
Holiday Application —
accordingly.
There will be a litany of things that will go wrong this week.
Do you know what won’t happen? You will not be a slave to sin!
Frame your holiday celebration through thanksgiving and your salvation.
6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. —Colossians 2:6-7