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Explaining The Passover
Luke 22:14-20
November 1, 2020
You’re familiar with the train we’ve been riding now in Luke’s gospel.
Ever since chapter 18 the focus has been on GETTING TO THE CROSS.
• We’ve actually said that Jesus was “Securing a Crucifixion”.
• We saw the journey through Jericho to Jerusalem.
• We saw Jesus go on the offensive giving His enemies no choice.
• And the last couple of times we were in Luke’s gospel we saw the divine plan of betrayal come to the forefront.
But verse 14 marks A TRANSITION in Luke’s gospel.
We read these simple words:
“When the hour had come…”
Those are huge words in the divine timetable.
If you are familiar with John’s gospel, he especially liked the reference.
There was the time when Jesus’ brothers wanted Him to make a flashy public appearance at “The Feast of Booths”
John 7:6-8 “So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
It wasn’t time for Jesus to make His final play and go to the cross.
Later when Jesus went up to the feast sort of incognito we read:
John 7:30 “So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”
We saw it again:
John 8:20 “These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.”
You are aware of the divine time table which was laid out by Daniel.
Though Jesus certainly irritated the religious elite His entire ministry,
It was not yet His time to die.
BUT NOW WE HAVE REACHED THE TIME.
By the divine predetermined plan
Jesus is now in Jerusalem preparing for His death.
“the hour had come”
And now we are at the final moment of ministry and instruction by Jesus.
John’s gospel gives us the most detailed account of this night in his famous “Upper Room Discourse” which fills John chapter 13-17.
• It is where we get stories about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet
• It is where we get the famous “I am the way, the truth, and the life” statement.
• It is where Jesus lays out His “I am the vine, you are the branches” analogy.
• It is where Jesus speaks of the coming persecution of the disciples.
• It is where Jesus reveals the benefit of the Holy Spirit.
• It is where Jesus offers that powerful intercessory prayer for all believers.
A lot happens in this final night.
But from the perspective of the synoptic gospel writers
One moment clearly ascended above the rest.
It was the moment when Jesus
Totally revolutionized their understanding of the Passover by explaining it
It is typically quite common for people to say things like “Jesus changed the Passover into the Lord’s Supper” and that ISN’T ENTIRELY WRONG.
But saying it like that almost assumes that
Jesus changed the entire focus of the Passover.
And that is not necessarily true.
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”
In reality the Passover was always about Jesus,
Just as the entire Old Testament is about Him.
It’s just that until this night no one understood it.
You are familiar with the Passover from the Old Testament.
Its beginning is found in Exodus 12 coinciding with the final plague God would pour out on the Egyptians as He prepared to deliver Israel from bondage.
The final plague was the death of the firstborn.
• Israel would be spared a visit from the death angel by painting the blood of an
unblemished lamb on the doorpost.
It is important to note that even the original Passover
Was not to protect Israel from the wrath of Egypt,
But from the wrath of God.
The Passover was NEVER solely about deliverance from Egypt,
But rather about deliverance from sin
And the judgment of God upon that sin.
It was always a picture of Jesus,
IT’S JUST THAT THE JEWS NEVER REALLY GRASPED THAT.
But after this night, and the explanation of Jesus,
No one should ever misunderstand it again.
As we work our way through it there are 3 points we’ll make
#1 HIS SUBMISSIVE AFFECTION
Luke 22:14
On one hand this is A POINT WE’VE ALREADY MADE.
“When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.”
That is to say that Jesus was totally submissive to the divine plan.
• As the hour approaches, you don’t find Him skipping town or resisting in any way.
• He is totally compliant to the divine mandate.
• He came to this earth to ultimately die upon a cross and now that the hour is upon Him
• He is approaching it with the same humble obedience that we’ve seen from Him His entire ministry.
There is also another point which Luke doesn’t mention, but it is such a remarkable point, that we will for a moment appeal to John’s gospel.
John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
John gives us a little more insight into the phrase “hour had come”.
Specifically John says that it was the hour
“that He would depart out of this world to the Father”
In short, Jesus knows full well what is going on.
• He is not caught off guard.
• He is not in the dark.
• He is not some sort of turtle optimist with His head in the sand regarding the plot that is brewing against Him.
In fact, in the very next verses which we will read next week:
Luke 22:21-22 “But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
Jesus knows what is going on.
John’s gospel even spells that out.
John 13:1-5 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”
• Jesus knows that Judas is planning to betray Him.
• Jesus knows this is His last night on earth.
• Jesus knows He is about to die.
• Jesus knows the crucifixion is just hours away.
And yet we find Jesus TOTALLY SUBMISSIVE to the Father’s plan.
And we even see the MOTIVE behind it.
John says, “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
• Literally it means He loved them to the uttermost.
• He loved them to the max.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
And so here we see Jesus, in the upper room,
Driven by submission to His Father, and by love for His own.
Jesus isn’t going anywhere.
He knows what is coming, but He is facing it with submissive affection.
His Submissive Affection
#2 HIS SINCERE ANTICIPATION
Luke 22:15-18
Here we find a great picture which LUKE
Seems to FOCUS ON EVEN MORE than the other gospel writers.
Matthew includes:
Matthew 26:29 “But I say to you, 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.”
Mark adds:
Mark 14:25 “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
But neither of them include as much of the statement as Luke does.
Luke includes the repeat.
Clearly it was an important statement to Luke
As it gives us INSIGHT INTO THE MINDSET of Jesus.
According to Luke Jesus said:
“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;”
It is a word that speaks of INTENSE DESIRE.
To say that Jesus was looking forward to this was an understatement.
And that at first might seem a little strange,
Especially with regard to where we are in the timeline.
From a human standpoint it seems a little bizarre
That Jesus would so eagerly anticipate His last meal.
But this was a very important moment for Jesus.
And rather than facing this moment with dread
For what He was about to endure,
Jesus is anticipating this moment with eagerness
For what He was about to accomplish.
These 4 verses are filled with OPTIMISM and anticipation from Jesus.
(16) “for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
He essentially says the same thing again in verse 18
“for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
What do we make of such statements from Jesus?
To understand Jesus’ point
It is important that you understand Jesus’ view of the kingdom of God.
And honestly, Jesus’ statement here should clear up
A lot of theological confusion regarding differing views.
For example.
There are those, and I am one of them,
Who reads the Old Testament and the book of the Revelation literally and thus believe that there is coming a physical earthly kingdom of Christ.
• We call it the millennium.
• We expect a physical and bodily return of Jesus.
• We expect a physical kingdom on this earth where Christ will reign for a 1,000 years.
If you read the Old Testament literally and Revelation literally
That is the only view you can come up with.
Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
So in a sense, we are waiting for a kingdom.
A holy city where righteousness dwells.
There are others
Who spiritualize those teachings in what is commonly referred to as Amillennialism. (No literally 1,000 year reign)
They seize upon statements in the New Testament
Like the preaching of John who says:
Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Or the preaching of Jesus:
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
And they would say, “The kingdom is already here. It arrived spiritually at Pentecost with the birth of the church, and thus it is here in a spiritual sense.”
They DO NOT LOOK FOR a future earthly kingdom or millennial reign,
They simply see the kingdom as a spiritual reality
Currently enjoyed by the redeemed.
But if you read what Jesus says here, it becomes clear that
Jesus is looking for an actual physical kingdom on the earth.
For Jesus says, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you…I shall never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
What in the world could Jesus be talking about?
He goes on to tell the disciples (17) “Take this and share it among yourselves…” [But] (18) “…I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
IF the kingdom of God were only a spiritual reality
THEN Jesus’ statement makes no sense at all.
Certainly there is a spiritual element here today, but we still look for more.
We look for a literal earthly kingdom.
And it is apparent that Jesus looked for a physical earthly kingdom.
Jesus is clearly looking for a physical kingdom,
And a fulfillment where He will be physically present.
He is looking toward the day where the Passover is totally fulfilled.
The Passover was literally a passing over of the wrath of God.
• It was literally a day of salvation.
• It was literally a day of deliverance from bondage.
WE SEE THAT OCCURRING in lives this very day,
But none of us would say that the work is
Totally finished or completed or fulfilled.
But there is a day coming when the true Passover will be totally fulfilled.
Revelation 7:9-12 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Does that scene ring a bell?
Do you know what that is?
• It’s the heavenly triumphal entry.
All the redeemed from every tribe and tongue
Waiving palm branches before the King
As He prepares to come and claim His earthly kingdom.
WHICH HE DOES LATER IN THE BOOK.
• He comes from heaven and destroys His enemies.
• And He sets up His 1,000 year reign on the earth.
Revelation 20:4 “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
That is the kingdom Jesus is talking about here.
He is telling the disciples, “Look, you drink this wine, and you do it as a memorial, and you do it in hope. I’m not doing it again until I do it in My earthly kingdom.”
We’ve been reading Ezekiel on Sunday nights in our Scripture reading.
And you’re seeing the millennial kingdom, and millennial temple,
AND THEY’RE SACRIFICING.
Why are they sacrificing?
• They’re doing exactly what Jesus said He’d be doing.
• They’re participating in those ordinances as a memorial to a completed work.
And Jesus here, on the night before He would die,
IS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT DAY.
Hebrews 12:2 “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
What joy?
• The joy of a purchased bride…
• The joy of a redeemed humanity…
• The joy of a purchased kingdom…
• The joy of a coming reign…
That is what Jesus is doing here on the night before He would die.
He is looking forward to the kingdom He will purchase.
He is looking forward to the kingdom He will redeem.
Do you remember Satan offering Jesus the kingdom very early on in Jesus’ ministry?
Matthew 4:8-9 “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
Jesus resisted that temptation.
He chose rather to worship God and endure suffering.
But now, on this night, He is looking to the final fulfillment.
He is eagerly anticipating the day when all the saints are redeemed
And He returns and reigns on the earth and celebrates with His own.
It reminds me of the promise God made to Moses.
Remember when God was sending Moses back to Egypt to liberate His people.
Exodus 3:12 “And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”
• You and I know that before the fact that doesn’t seem like much of a sign.
• But my how sweet the worship must have been for Moses when he came back
to that mountain with the delivered people of God.
That is where we find Jesus here.
He is anticipating the day of His return.
He is anticipating His earthly reign.
He is anticipating the total fulfillment of God’s Passover
When all the elect have been saved.
He is anticipating the true JOY OF THE VINE
When all the redeemed are in.
Isaiah 25:6-9 “The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
We certainly enjoy the Lord’s Supper today.
There is certainly a warmth and gratitude that fills our hearts
As we remember His sacrifice.
But can you imagine how good the Lord’s Supper or Passover will be on the day we take it with Jesus?
• Can you imagine how good it will be when sin is gone?
• Can you imagine how good it will be when we dwell in a land where righteousness dwells?
That is what Jesus is anticipating here.
• He wanted to take this last Passover with the disciples because there is some explaining to do.
• But He wouldn’t take it again until He can take it on earth in His glorious kingdom with all His redeemed.
That is the sincere anticipation of Jesus here in the upper room.
• He knows what He is about to do.
• He is doing it out of great love and obedience.
• He is doing it with joy as He looks to the fulfillment of His sacrifice.
That is pure joy to the heart and hope for the soul
As we see Jesus rejoicing in what He is about to accomplish.
His Submissive Action His Sincere Anticipation
#3 HIS SACRIFICIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
Luke 22:19-20
And here is where the explanation reaches its climax.
Jews had been taking the Passover for nearly 1500 years
But it was not until this night
That they finally understood what it was about.
It WASN’T about deliverance from Egypt
It WAS about deliverance from sin.
And THE FOCUS of the ordinance was not the Exodus,
It was the cross and the atonement which Christ purchased for us.
He didn’t change it here, He merely explained it.
(19) “And when He had taken some bread and 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.”
What a statement!
All of those feasts and all of those sacrifices
Were so filled with imagery and symbolism.
Jesus just unlocked the greatest image and symbol yet.
He took that bread and He broke it and “gave it to them”
It was an offering of Himself to them.
And He said, “This is My body which is given for you”
He WASN’T SAYING that the bread was literally His body, clearly it was a symbol. At the time, He was still using His body.
But why the body?
What does that mean?
The writer of Hebrews made it clear didn’t he?
Hebrews 10:4-10 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'” After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
What was the body?
It is where Jesus satisfied the righteous requirements of God.
God didn’t want a sheep or a goat or a bull, God wanted a holy life.
Jesus took on flesh and lived that holy life.
• That is why He was circumcised at 8 days old.
• He put Himself under the Law.
• He bound Himself to the righteous ordinances of God.
• And He perfectly fulfilled it.
• He perfectly obeyed it.
• He earned a righteous standing before God.
He did that in His human body.
• We see Him meticulously obeying the Law of God.
• We see Him resisting every temptation.
• We hear the Father declaring Him pleasing.
JESUS DID IT!
And here He tells the disciples, “I DID IT FOR YOU.”
All of My obedience…
All of My suffering…
All of My resistance of temptation…
IT WAS FOR YOU.
It is what we call the ACTIVE OBEDIENCE of Jesus.
Jesus satisfied the righteous requirements for you.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
And Jesus offered that righteousness to His disciples.
• He offered His holy resume…
• He offered His holy life…
• He offered His righteous robe…
To His disciples.
And He told them to EAT IT.
WHY EAT IT?
John 6:52-58 “Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “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. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”
It is symbolic of acceptance.
It is symbolic of need.
They were to eat showing that
They needed this righteousness that Jesus alone had obtained.
And Jesus said that when they eat it “do THIS in remembrance of Me.”
Certainly in an immediate sense He was referring to the Passover.
• When you do this every year, don’t do it thinking about the Exodus, do it thinking about the cross.
• When you come together every year for this feast, remember that it is about Me and what I did for you.
But if you’ll remember a remarkable phenomenon took place.
They didn’t wait another year until they did it again.
Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:46 “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,”
Paul alludes that the Corinthians met weekly for their “love feast”
Where they took the Lord’s Supper.
They couldn’t get enough.
THEY CELEBRATED IT ALL THE TIME,
Not only was it a reminder of the cross,
But it was also an act of anticipation of His coming
And the kingdom He would bring with Him.
They ate in remembrance and in anticipation.
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
And that brings us to the SECOND SYMBOL Jesus revealed.
(20) “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”
That wine they were drinking was symbolic of the blood of Jesus.
• It wasn’t His actual blood, it was a symbol.
• It looked to His atoning work on the cross.
He spoke of His coming death
Where He would pay the penalty of our sin against God.
• THE BREAD was His righteous life where He fulfilled what we should have been and were not.
• THE WINE was His blood which was spilled to satisfy what we were and should not have been.
This is where we speak of His PASSIVE OBEDIENCE
And what He endured on our behalf.
HE PAID OUR DEBT WITH HIS LIFE.
And we DRINK the wine symbolizing again that WE NEED IT.
• On one hand we are clothed in His righteousness.
• On the other hand He was clothed in our sin.
• And we needed both to happen.
And Jesus says that this together ushers in “the new covenant”.
Do you remember what He is referencing?
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
• The old covenant was instituted by Moses, where He read the Law and the sprinkled the people with blood to ratify the covenant.
• That covenant was contingent upon the people obeying God.
• You know they broke that covenant and brought wrath upon themselves.
Jesus came and ushered in the new covenant
That DID NOT depend upon the righteousness of the people.
RATHER the new covenant said that GOD WOULD DO for the people
What they could not do for themselves.
And on this day Jesus says, “This is it.”
• This is the new covenant.
• This is Me doing for you what you cannot do for yourselves.
• I will pay for your sin.
• I will give you My righteousness.
Leave the covenant of you earning God’s favor behind
And enter this new covenant of Me doing it for you.
Eat this bread and accept My righteousness.
Drink this wine and accept My atonement.
And every time you do it, remember what I did for you.
And as you do it look forward to the day when we will again do it together.
That is how Jesus explained the Passover to the disciples.
And this morning we partake together just as the disciples did.
We see this bread and we see this juice.
• It is symbolic of His body and His blood.
• It is His righteous life…
• It is His atoning death…
We eat it because we need it.
• We eat it casting aside the old covenant of works and embracing this new covenant of grace.
We eat it and we worship Jesus for what He did.
We eat it and we anticipate the fulfillment when we will eat it with Him in His kingdom.
As always, we will have a time of preparation as we prepare to partake.
1 Corinthians 11:26-28 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
