The Last Supper
Luke 22:7-23
©Copyright
April 22, 2011 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche GOOD FRIDAY
You
probably own something that to the outsider is of little value . . . but it is
something which you consider priceless. It may be a ticket stub, a baseball, a
piece of furniture. It doesn’t look like much but its value is the meaning
associated with the item.
I
remember I had a pair of corduroy pants that I kept in my dresser drawer for a
long time. I kept them not because I wore them or even liked them. I kept them
because they were a gift my aunt had purchased for me, just before she died
suddenly. The pants reminded me of her. I had trouble throwing them away
because to do so felt like I was losing my last piece of her.
The tie
bar I wear is special to me because it belonged to my dad. There is an
irrational anxiety that I feel if I misplace it.
Tonight
Jesus takes a piece of bread and a glass of wine and gives that kind of meaning
to them. That meaning is so deep that most of us cannot drink any kind of grape
juice without thinking of communion.
In Luke
22 we have a record of the last night Jesus had with His disciples before His
crucifixion. There is some debate as to whether this was the Wednesday or
Thursday Night of Holy Week. Traditionally, it has been viewed as Thursday
night.
We have
already learned that Judas was preparing to deliver Jesus over to the officials
for a moderate bounty. Let’s eavesdrop on what took place.
Preparing for the
Passover
7 Then came the day
of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus
sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the
Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for
it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you
enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the
house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The
Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my
disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished.
Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found
things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. (Luke
22:7-13)
This meal was so significant to the
Jews that many people made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. Many homes
of the area were opened so visitors could meet to eat this sacred dinner. The
only fee for most rooms was the skin of the lamb that was slain for the meal.
When Peter and John asked Jesus where
they would eat the Passover, Jesus was very cryptic. The reason for this is
simple: If Jesus was more specific regarding the location of the meal, Judas
could have used that information to have Jesus arrested before it was time.
The instructions were to go into the
city (Jerusalem) and find a man who was carrying a jar of water. To us that seems like saying, “Go to Wal-Mart and find someone who is
pushing a grocery cart”. However, it was unusual for men to carry water and it
was even more unusual for a man to carry water in a jar (they would normally
carry water in a skin). So the real analogy would be to go into Macomb and at
Wal-Mart follow the man who is dressed like Sponge Bob!
Once they found the man they were to
follow him to the place where he was going and then tell the owner that “you
are with me”. Then, when they had found the room, they were to make
preparations. Most likely Jesus had already made preparations. Some suggest it
was the home of Mark’s family.
The preparations were specified in
detail. The Jewish Mishnah tells us that the
slaughtering of the lambs began at 3:00 p.m. The large group
of people waiting to sacrifice were divided into three shifts. Each
group would enter the court and the gates would be closed behind them. There
would be a long blast from the ram’s horn and the sacrifices would begin.
People came forward to a long row of priests who held basins of silver and
gold. Each Israelite slaughtered his own offering and the priest would catch
the blood in a basin and pour the blood at the base of the altar (a symbol of
atoning for sin). The worshipper would leave with the dead lamb over his
shoulder.
When they arrived home the lamb would
be roasted on a pomegranate spit. Traditionally the participants would dress in
festive white and recline at tables with the leader, or the head of the
household, at the head of the table.
In the Gospel of John we learn that
before the meal Jesus washed the feet of the disciples as an illustration of
the servant mentality the Lord desired from His followers.
A Memorial Created
What we know as the celebration of
Communion actually took place within a prescribed ritual. Again, if we turn to
the Jewish Mishnah we find the traditional order of
the meal.
1.
A
prayer of thanksgiving by the leader or head of the house, followed by drinking
from the first cup of diluted wine.
2.
Lettuce
dipped in bitter herbs would be eaten as a reminder of Israel’s bitter slavery
in Egypt.
3.
Then
the story of the Exodus would be told. Usually the son would ask, “Father, why
is this night distinguished from all other nights?” Then using the book of
Deuteronomy (26:5) the leader would recite:
“My father was a wandering Aramean,
and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a
great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated
us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. 7 Then we cried out
to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our
misery, toil and oppression. . . until the story was
told
4.
Next
the group would sing Psalms 113 and114, after which they would wash their hands
and have a second cup of wine.
5.
Next
they would carve and eat the lamb and the unleavened bread in memory of what
was done on the first Passover.
6.
Following
the meal there would be a third cup of wine.
7.
The
group would sing Psalms 115-118 and then have a 4th Cup of wine. [Pesachim 10:1-9]
What we read in verse 15 likely was
spoken at the beginning of the meal,
15 And he said to them,
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For
I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom
of God.”
17 After taking the cup,
he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For
I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of
God comes.”
Jesus informed His disciples that they
were reaching a turning point. He would not celebrate the Passover with them
again until the Kingdom of God had come. Jesus knew what was coming. He knew
this was going to be the last night He could spend on earth before His death.
When He took what was either the first
of second cup Jesus reiterated the fact that their times of eating the Passover
together would be coming to an end.
Imagine if you gathered for
Thanksgiving and one of the family members said, “I’m sure I won’t be with you
to celebrate next year.” Perhaps some of you have actually had that experience.
Perhaps someone had cancer and the treatments were unsuccessful. The end is
near and the person speaking acknowledges that fact. Such a comment adds a deep
significance to the gathering. Such was the case here.
The Bread
Jesus most likely took the bread
during the time of the meal. It was unleavened bread (in other words it was
without yeast so it was flat)
He broke it and said,
“This is my body given for you; do this in
remembrance of me.”
At this point in the meal Jesus
changed the entire focus of the celebration from Egypt to Jerusalem. He turned
the focus from the lambs that had been killed in Egypt to THE Lamb who would be
executed the next day in Jerusalem. Jesus wanted His followers (He wanted us)
to know that He gave His life willingly on our behalf.
Put yourself in the sandals of those
disciples. They had no idea of the events that were about to knock them flat.
They likely had no idea what Jesus was telling them. But they never forgot His
words; “this is my body, broken for you.” The bread because a symbol of our
Savior giving His life as a payment for our sin.
The Bible is clear on several things:
1.
God
is Holy; untarnished, pure. He expects us to be holy too.
We
are told to “Be Holy as I am holy” (Leviticus 19:2)
2.
We
are not holy but sinful. Sin is rebellion against God in our attitudes and
actions.
“all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
3.
Because
of our sin we must face the penalty of our sin which is physical and spiritual
death.
“For the wages of sin
is death; but the gift of God is eternal life” Romans 3:23
4.
No
matter how hard we work we cannot earn our way into Heaven.
“Not of works that
any man should boast (Eph. 2:9)
5.
Jesus
lived a perfect life making Him uniquely qualified to serve as our substitute.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are—yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
6.
Jesus
died as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin.
For Christ died for
sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1
Peter 3:18)
This is
difficult for us to grasp. How could one man
pay for the sin of millions? I hope you know the answer to this question:
it was because of the office or position of the one man. Because Jesus is the
perfect Son of God, His life carries enough value to pay for anyone who will
put their trust in Him.
When
Jesus says His body was broken for His disciples, He was speaking literally.
His death was the literal payment for our sin.
The Cup
It was
probably the third cup (the one after dinner) when Jesus stood and told the
disciples that his blood would establish a new covenant with God.
In the
book of Hebrews this new covenant is explained,
13 Under the old system,
the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse
people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much
more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that
we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ
offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That
is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant
between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal
inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the
penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. [Hebrews
9:13-15 NLT]
In the
book of Jeremiah God told Jeremiah about the coming New
covenant,
33 “But this is the new
covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep
within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and
they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach
their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You
should know the Lord.’ For
everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their
wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” [Jer
31:33-34]
This
new covenant will bring a cleansing from sin that goes beyond a surface
cleaning to our very heart. The blood of Christ makes it possible not just for
us to be forgiven, but for us to become a new creation. Through faith in Christ
God give us the Holy Spirit who enables us to know God with a new intimacy and
serve Him with a new strength.
Let me
draw you a picture,
On one occasion Dr.
Christian Barnard, the first surgeon ever to do a heart transplant, impulsively
asked his patient, Dr. Philip Blaiberg, “Would you
like to see your old heart?” On a subsequent evening, “the men stood in a room
of the Hospital, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Barnard went up to a
cupboard, took down a glass container and handed it to Dr. Blaiberg.
Inside that container was Blaiberg’s old heart. For a
moment he stood there stunned into silence—the first man in history ever to
hold his own heart in his hands. Finally he spoke and for ten minutes plied Dr.
Barnard with technical questions. Then he turned to take a final look at the
contents of the glass container, and said, ‘So this is my old heart that caused
me so much trouble.’ He handed it back, turned away and left it forever.”5
This, is what Christ makes
possible for us. He gives us a new heart. God has written his laws within us.
A Traitor
21 But the hand of him
who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of
Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.” 23
They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who
would do this. (21-23)
This is
a good news bad news statement. The good news is that those who put their hope,
faith, and trust in Christ will be forgiven and will get a heart transplant.
However, for anyone who turns away from Christ (like Judas did), there would be
a different result. Jesus says, “Woe, to the man who betrays him.”
Don’t
miss the tragedy of these events. The Savior is giving His life to redeem us
from ourselves, yet Judas spurns the love of the Savior. Sadly, we see this
happen again and again. Every time someone turns away from God’s offer of
salvation they follow the way of Judas. Every time we turn away from standing
with the Lord in our daily living we spurn the very one who gave His life for
us.
You may
not feel that you are betraying the Lord. Let me ask you a question: if your
teenage child left home and refused to acknowledge your existence would you
feel betrayed? Of course you would! You
gave life to that child and you provided what they needed to live that life.
There were sleepless nights, trips to the Doctor, preparation for school,
nights sitting down doing homework. If your child simply disowned you, you
would feel betrayed.
Now
take this into your relationship with God. You may not be openly antagonistic
to God. You may not be living your life recklessly. However, if you have turned
your back on the One who died to save you, you are a betrayer. If you are
indifferent to the Lord, you are facing the woe of Judgment rather than the
blessing of forgiveness and a new heart.
Conclusions
Anytime
we come to the Lord’s table we remember what God has
done on our behalf and how it impacts the way we live our life today. Every
time we hold the bread we are reminded that our relationship with God is not
due to our good deeds but is a result of the willing sacrifice of Christ on our
behalf. Without His willing sacrifice we would be hopelessly beyond redemption.
The cup
reminds us that the transaction at the cross was not solely legal. It was not
just about removing sin . . . it was about giving us a new life. A life filled
with the Holy Spirit, a life that is headed in a new direction; one that brings
hope, joy, and everlasting life in Heaven.
Every
time we come to the table we should renew our commitment. We should confess and
banish our acts of indifference and rebellion. We should come to Him humbly and
gratefully, willing to serve Him in whatever way possible.
We call
this day Good Friday not because it was good that people killed Jesus. It is
Good Friday not because of what happened to Jesus, but because of what happened
to us because of the death of Christ. This is a holy celebration. It is one
that should lead us to deep reflection, sincere worship and everlasting
gratitude. In one sense it is just bread and wine (or grape juice). However, in
a deeper way . . . it is soooo much more.
©Copyright
April 22, 2011 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche GOOD FRIDAY