Luke 22:15-20
Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
As we travel closer to the obvious moments when Jesus fulfilled the law and prophets we will start looking at things that all happened within a 24 hour period. We begin in the upper room as Jesus is celebrating the Passover meal with His closest friends, His disciples.
The Passover meal was a big deal to the Jewish people. The annual celebration was to remind the people of Israel of the way that the Lord brought them out of the bondage of Egypt. It was to be a reminder that they had been called out to worship God. Each element of the meal was to remind them of another part of the original event.
Jesus knew this was His last Passover celebration and it likely brought up many memories of Passovers past. Memories of His parents teaching Him about the elements and being the young one to ask the questions about what God did that night so many years ago. But this night was different. There was the building sense of what was coming. The knowledge of what Judas was already thinking about doing and the heartbreak of knowing that those who were for Him had no idea what was in the works. This is the time that had been chosen for Him to establish this new covenant.
Looking around at His beloved friends He takes the cup for the first time in our passage, this cup known as the cup of thanksgiving was to be shared by each person at the table. Jesus uses this cup of thanksgiving to join His disciples in a final drink before the Kingdom of God comes. This was the Passover Lamb referencing the wedding feast of the Lamb in heaven.
He then breaks the bread and after giving thanks shares it with His friends saying that it represents His body broken for them. Just as the lamb was broken apart for the Israelites to eat during the very first Passover, He shares what will become a memory to celebrate when His followers remember Him.
He then takes another cup, the cup of blessing. He shows them that this cup is the sign of His new covenant with them. While the original Passover lamb shed its blood to be a sign on the doorframe, Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, would be shedding His blood for the salvation of His people. There is no blessing greater than being in covenant with Christ.
Making It Personal
What does the Lord’s Supper mean to you? Do you think about what it meant for Him to give His body to be broken for you? When you drink from the cup, do you think of what it means that He poured out His blood for you?
Making It Personal Kids
Why did Jesus want to make this covenant with His friends, including you? How does Jesus’ love change the way you live? What can you tell Jesus about how much you love Him?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for being a covenant God and for making covenant with us. Father, help us to view the Lord’s Supper as an intimate time of remembrance of You. May it never become a practice that we merely partake of. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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