His Supper
A Physician Introduces the Cure • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsJesus instituted the Lord's Supper during the Last Supper, while observing the Passover meal with his disciples. His hour had come. Looking to Jesus, we discover how to face every hour of our lives.
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Transcript
The Coming Hour
The Coming Hour
When was the last event that, as it approached, you found yourself watching the clock? For me, it was this past Sunday, because I knew at 3:00 my daughter and son-in-law were coming over with our grandson! Sebastian is only a month old, but it sure felt like it had been a year since I last saw him. Perhaps you have felt this way for other life events. Maybe your wedding day involved a lot of clock watching. Students, maybe it was the final exam of the year, and you couldn’t wait for it to be over. Maybe it was a milestone test, such as a medical board certification or the Bar Exam. You may have found yourself tossing and turning in bed the night before a big trip, too excited to sleep. Anticipation builds as the hour approaches for big moments, especially ones that are life-changing.
Not all of these are happy events. Perhaps you have felt apprehension watching the hands of the clock move slowly toward the time of your doctor’s appointment - the one where you’ll learn the results of the biopsy. You may have felt anxiety as the hour of your court appointment came for a divorce or custody hearing. These are not happy events, but they are life-changing.
Our text mentions that the hour had come for Jesus - an hour he had repeatedly referenced before, at those times saying it had not yet come. Luke 22:7 tells us,
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
The day came, and then so did the hour, as we will soon read in Luke 22. Our passage is Luke 22:14-20, and it tells us where to look in the important hours of our lives. No matter what hour we face, we must look to Jesus Christ. Jesus explains more in our passage, so I invite you stand in respect for God’s Word as I read.
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 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.” 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.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Look to the future with hope.
Look to the future with hope.
We will later partake of this Lord’s Supper, the first of which, we just read, Jesus instituted during the Last Supper, while observing the Passover meal with his disciples. As someone who was watching the clock tick toward this particular moment, Jesus admits to his disciples that he had “earnestly desired” to eat this meal with them. The way it is worded in the original Greek text is like a double word. It would translate literally to something like desirously desired. In English, we don’t generally talk like that. Otherwise, we might speak of thoughtfully thinking or sleepily sleeping. This double word construction means Jesus was doubling down on how much he had looked forward to the meal.
Jesus then explained the reason why this particular Passover meal was so special to him. Verse 16 says,
16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus says something similar in Luke 22:18 after taking a cup.
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.”
These two statements look forward to the future, fully-established kingdom of God. Jesus shared confidence in an assured future, and we can have that same confidence. We look to the establishment of God’s kingdom here on earth, which will include a special meal with our Savior. This meal likely refers to what is called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, mentioned in Revelation 19. If Leonardo da Vinci was a faithful Christ-follower, perhaps God himself will commission Leonardo to paint the Marriage Supper, just like he did The Last Supper. If so, Leonardo will need a much bigger canvas, because this meal will involve all Christians and Old Testament saints.
I am somewhat amazed that Jesus could look forward to such an event when so much was on his mind that was about to happen. He was about to pray in anguish to God in the garden over what was to come. He was about to be arrested, beaten, and subjected to six trials. The scourge of the whip was still to come, along with plucking out his beard, stripping him bear, and forcing him to carry the cross to Golgotha. There the spikes would pierce his hands and feet as he was lifted up to pay the price for our sins. Yet Jesus could look forward to something, to look beyond the anguish of the moment toward a brighter future.
In a sense, we do this all the time. We undergo elective surgery and the painful healing and physical therapy, looking forward to a future decrease in pain or increase of mobility. You might endure a major home project that disrupts most of your everyday life in the hope of something complete and better. Parents patiently get up all hours of the night for their crying baby, all the while reminding themselves a day will come when they can again get more than twenty minutes of sleep at a time. In the same way, we can view all of the troubles and trials of this life - especially hardships we will face as followers of Christ - we can view these with an eye toward a future when we will be united with Christ and all of God’s people.
Scripture affirms this. Psalm 126:5 reminds us,
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
And 2 Corinthians 4:17 declares,
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
That phrase “weight of glory” is an interesting one. It reminds me of a post I found by Karell Roxas on the website mother.ly. She writes,
My almost 4-year-old recently started waking up in the middle of the night for seemingly no good reason, and it was starting to take a toll on both of our moods.
I never knew when it would happen—sometimes midnight, sometimes 4 am—but every night I would hear the tell-tale scream for me to come lay beside him, or my door being knocked wide open (seemingly by a 400-pound gorilla) as he stomped in and burrowed himself deep under my covers, promptly falling back asleep while I tossed and turned for the rest of the night.
We needed a solution. And fast.
Enter: the weighted blanket. I recently started sleeping with one and it made such a difference. I hoped it would work on my son, too. And oh, it did.
The first night he slept with it we put him to bed at his normal 7 pm bedtime, and he didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning. (YASSSS.) The "hug" of the weight helped him sleep soundly, plus it had the added benefit of not being able to be easily kicked off. My son moves all over when he sleeps, and he often wakes up with no covers shivering. Win. Win. Win.
(https://www.mother.ly/shop/best-weighed-blanket-for-kids/weighted-idea-weighted-blanket-for-kids)
This mom, Karell, might think of this blanket when she hears the term “weight of glory,” and if so, she might be onto something. One aspect of that glory in contrast with our sufferings is certainly comfort - like a weighted blanket - that allows us to rest peacefully in God’s presence. We can look beyond our suffering to a future full of hope.
Look to the past with understanding.
Look to the past with understanding.
We can also look to the past with understanding. We can understand God’s faithfulness and his arrangement of events to bring us to our particular time and place. At this last supper, Jesus used the history of the Passover meal to bring understanding about his coming death on the cross for our sins. The meal’s observance would have included not one but four cups, two of which are mentioned in this passage. Typically, after the second cup was prepared, the youngest son in the household would ask by this night was different from other nights. The head of the household would tell the story of the exodus and underscoring God’s deliverance. It was an act of remembrance of salvation for the participants to drink from this second cup.
After this, the head of the family would take the unleavened bread, bless it, break it, and distribute it. This is the point when Jesus connected the bread to his own body, given for us. Eating the bread was a new act of remembrance of God’s deliverance - not from oppressive Egypt but from sin. Then came the third cup, through which Jesus added another act of remembrance, this time for the new covenant in his own blood, which brings salvation from our sin.
Tracing God’s hand of salvation for his people in the context of this meal brought understanding that our God is a God who delivers his people. He has been at it for millennia. Remembrance - looking to the past - helps us see the God who saves.
This act of remembrance is something we will do now, by observing the Lord’s Supper together. If you are a Christian, I invite you to partake with us. Even if you are not a member of this local church, if you are his, this is yours.
Look to the present with peace.
Look to the present with peace.
We seen why no matter what we face we must look to Jesus. Jesus shows us how to look to the future with hope. He shows us how to look to the past with understanding. Finally, he shows us how to look to the present with peace. It is a supernatural peace. Philippians 4:7 describes it as a peace which surpasses all understanding.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
It is not a peace that you achieve; it is given to you by God. During this final night with his disciples, Jesus gave this peace to them. John 14:27 records,
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
After his resurrection, Jesus commissioned his disciples, speaking a blessing of peace on them in John 20:21.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
We remind ourselves each Sunday to carry this peace with us throughout our week. Colossians 3:15 is the source of our benediction.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
If Jesus can impart his peace to his disciples on the night of his crucifixion - his otherworldly, incomprehensible, supernatural peace - we can carry that peace with us now, in a spirit of thankfulness for our Savior who marched to the cross on our behalf.