DAY SIXTY-SIX:
The Last Supper
The Last Supper, by Salvador Dali (1955)
We enter the last third of our 100 Essential Passages study with a look at the events of Holy Week during Holy week itself (I planned it this way!). This study, however, skips straight to Thursday and the Last Supper. I think we need to review what happened in the days before.
The Jewish authorities were offended, but Jesus wasn't done offending them yet. He went to the Temple and found the outer court, the Court of the Gentiles (or Nations) filled with moneychangers and sellers of sacrificial animals. These began as needed services for travelers. The Roman money bore the graven image of Caesar (whom the Romans worshipped as a god), so these coins were exchanged for Shekels of the Temple, and the commission was originally 1/64th. By Jesus' time, however, the rate was exorbitant. Likewise travelers coming to the Passover would find it inconvenient to carry a lamb all the way to Jerusalem. The priests, however, had to inspect each sacrifice, and only those sold in the Temple were deemed acceptable. The Temple of God had become a rip-off palace! Jesus overturned the tables and threw the merchants and bankers out. "My house shall be called a house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves!" Jesus, for a second time, had disrupted the corrupt marketplace where the Jewish elite profited at the expense of the faithful (He cleansed the Temple at the beginning of His ministry as well. (John 2:13-17)
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Jesus taught in the Temple and on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem. All the while the Jewish leaders plotted Jesus' demise and the Romans watched nervously. During this time Judas approached approached Jesus' enemies and offered to betray Him.
This brings us to today's passage, what we call the Last Supper. Jesus and His disciples, along with hundreds of thousands of their fellow Jews, were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. Jesus told His disciples to prepare for the Passover meal. With so many people in the city appropriate places were scarce. Jesus told them to watch for a man carrying a water jar and then follow him. That might not sound unusual to us, but in those days carrying water was women's work. A man carrying water would stand out. They followed the man and he took them to a large upper room. They set to work getting the food, wine and other supplies they'd need.
Jesus began the meal with these words: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." The Greek is literally, "With desire have I desired." The word for desire is epithumia. The word means to want something very strongly. Most of the time it is translated as lust, a sinful desire for sex, money or power. It's also translated sometimes with that wonderful King James word concupiscence. In this case, however, Jesus has fervently desired to share this Passover meal with His disciples. This feeling is a strong as any lust, but it's a pure feeling in this case. He loves these men and He knows that within twelve hours He'll be on His way to Golgotha.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover. He Himself became our Passover lamb. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) At this last Passover with His disciples Jesus demonstrated how He fulfilled the Passover and gave a new meaning to its observance. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, 'Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' 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.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.'" I was confused when I first read this passage and compared it to the other gospels' accounts. Luke has two cups while Matthew and Mark have one. The Passover ceremony calls for four cups of wine. Luke mentions two of those cups, the second and the third, while the others include only the third cup. Jesus said of the bread that it is His body and that we are to remember Him when we eat it. Jesus said of the wine that it is the new covenant in His blood. We'll discuss the theology of the Lord's Supper later in this post.
It's obvious that the disciples didn't understand what Jesus had just done. Immediately following the meal Jesus said that one of them would be His betrayer. They all questioned "Is it I?" Deep down each one knew he was capable of it. Then they argued (once again) which one of them was the greatest. Could they have picked a more inappropriate time? But Jesus was patient with them and explained true greatness. He said don't be like the rulers of the Gentiles, who lord it over their subjects and demand respect. Instead, seek to serve one another. In God's Kingdom the servants are the great ones. Jesus, their Master, illustrated this in His own service. John wrote that Jesus washed the disciples' feet after supper because not one of them was humble enough to assume that role before supper. Jesus went on to say, though, that God would honor them in the Kingdom. They would finally get those twelve thrones.
Jesus then turned to Peter. "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." How is Satan in a position to demand anything? Really he's not, but remember that the devil is a whiner. God is not going to give him any excuses. Peter, the leader of the disciples, must be tested. Jesus had confidence in this rugged fisherman whom He turned into a fisher of men. Peter protested that he was ready to go to prison or even to die for Jesus. He turned to Peter and told him that before the rooster crowed in the morning that He would deny Him three times.
The disciples will soon be on their own (though really not alone). He asked them if they lacked anything when He sent them out to minister without any money or food. They said no. Jesus said that's right, but from now on you'll need to take these things with you. This was preparation for how they would receive and use the believers' offerings that we read about in the Book of Acts. Jesus is about to, as Isaiah's prophecy requires, to be numbered among the transgressors. They will witness His shameful treatment which He didn't deserve. He told them to go out and buy swords. They said that they had two swords with them, and Jesus said that was enough. What did He mean by this? I'm still wresting with this one. I'll keep studying and perhaps I'll have something to add to this tomorrow when we consider Jesus' arrest and Peter's swordplay.
Jesus and His disciples then left the city and headed up the Mount of Olives. The disciples might have thought that they were heading back to Bethany where they had been staying. Instead Jesus led them into the Garden of Gethsemane. He was going to pray, and He asked the disciples to watch and pray with Him. Then He went a "stone's throw" and began to pray. "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." This cup that Jesus wished to be removed from Him was the cup of God's wrath. In the Old Testament God's wrath frequently is portrayed as a cup of strong and bitter wine. Psalm 75:8 says, "For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs." Jesus knew the horrors that awaited, and He was asking one more time if it was really necessary. He submitted His will to the Father, and would do as He asked. Luke tells us that Jesus was in so much agony that drops of blood mingled with His sweat, and that angels came to strengthen Him. When Jesus finished praying He found the disciples fast asleep. This is understandable, as they had a big meal with four cups of wine. In addition all of Jesus' talk of suffering and dying was a downer. But this was not the time to be sleeping! Jesus said, "Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."
Tomorrow we'll pick up with Jesus' arrest and trial.
Jesus initiated what we call The Lord's Supper in the context of the Passover. This is not readily apparent from the way we usually celebrate Communion, so it's good for us to remember Jesus as the Passover Lamb. He said "This is My body," and "This is My blood." The people of Israel at the Passover Lamb and painted its blood on their doorposts. God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt the very next day. Jesus gave what His listeners termed a "hard saying" when the people came looking for more free bread. "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 you. Whoever feeds on 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. Whoever feeds on 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 whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." Just what did Jesus mean?
There are essentially four different ways to understand the Lord's Supper:
- The bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Christ in every respect except outward appearance. When we participate we are literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood. This is called transubstantiation, change in "substance," and is the teaching of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches;
- The bread and wine remain bread and wine, but the body and blood of Christ are added to them. This is called consubstantiation, adding to the substance. This is how Lutherans view the Lord's Supper. Martin Luther argued that the risen and ascended Christ promised to be with us always, so His body and blood are everywhere. They are "in, with and under" the bread and wine;
- The bread and wine remain bread and wine, but Christ is spiritually present and we feed on His body and blood in a spiritual manner. The spiritual is no less real than the physical, just different. The Lord's Supper reminds us that as we are dependent upon food and drink to sustain our physical bodies, we are utterly dependent on Christ for our spiritual lives. This is the view of most Presbyterians; and
- The bread and wine are bread and wine, and nothing more. They are reminders of what Jesus did for us but have no force or effect in and of themselves. Most Baptists hold this view.
Whenever I preside at the Lord's Table a sense of joy comes over me. I can't really describe it, but it kind of creeps up on me as we proceed with it. I have to believe that Jesus is with us in a very special way when we share in His Supper. He desires with desire to have fellowship with us, and this is one of the ways He is present with us. I'm looking forward to celebrating Communion in the original context, the Passover meal, this Thursday evening at 6 PM. Hope you can come!
Here is a clip from the movie The Passion of the Christ depicting this last Passover that Jesus shared with His disciples, along with a beautiful song to prepare our hearts.
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