Luke 22:15-22 And {Jesus} said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17 And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19 And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth Me is with me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed!

I always enjoy celebration of “the Lord’s Table” (1 Corinthians 10:21), also known as “The Lord’s Supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20) or “Communion” (1 Corinthians 10:16). Some people call this celebration “The Last Supper” or “The Eucharist”, and that’s fine, but I prefer “Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper”.

Jesus could have established His “Supper” at any time, but specifically chose the Jewish time of the “Feast of the Passover”. Why? Because

Our God is a Covenant Keeping God

God has made Himself known to us through His Covenants or contracts that He made with man. The very first Contract God made with mankind is commonly called “The Covenant of Eden” or “The Edenic Covenant”. In that Covenant God told Adam:

Genesis 2:8-9 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve had limitless sources for food. In the middle of that Garden, God put two trees – the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

This is a very simple CONTRACT or COVENANT. God said “Eat anything BUT the Tree of Knowledge, and you can eat of all the other trees INCLUDING the Tree of Life. You will have life – a blessed life with God – as long as you DO NOT eat of that one tree.

Adam broke the contract, and was evicted from Eden. “By one Man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin” (Romans 5:12). Sin came into the world and became mankind’s master. Because sin was our Master, death reigned (Romans 5:14). “By one man’s offense death reigned” (Romans 5:17). “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19). “Sin hath reigned unto death” (Romans 5:21). Sin became the Master of mankind, the king of a dark kingdom.

Adam thought that by disconnecting from God, he could be God. Adam was wrong. Disconnected from God,

Sin becomes our master, and Satan our Messiah!

But God would not leave us here. God loved us, and reached out to connect to us through Abram, a.k.a. Abraham. Here God established the Abrahamic Covenant, saying…

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, … in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

God promised to make of Abraham a mighty nation – this would be ISRAEL. This is called the Abrahamic Covenant. God promised that THROUGH ISRAEL, HE WOULD BLESS THE WORLD. It was God’s intention to bring The Messiah, Jesus Christ, to humanity through Israel. Our God is a Covenant Keeping God.

God allowed Israel to grow IN Egypt, and to be eventually be enslaved BY Egypt. Only when Israel cried out to God, seeking to reconnect to Him, did God deliver His people.

God told Israel to take a Lamb without spot or blemish, and “kill the Passover Lamb” (Exodus 12:21). The Blood of that Lamb was to be placed on the doorway of the home of God’s people. God said:

Exodus 12:23 … the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Our God is a covenant keeping God. He passed through Egypt that night, and where ever He did not see the Blood of the Lamb, the Lord took life. Where the Lord saw the Blood of the Lamb He PASSED OVER judgment. This is GRACE. The Lamb was slain to save those who believed in God’s Covenant.

God established the Feast of the Passover as a memorial for Israel within it’s law. A Commentary notes:

Exodus 13:9. “This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with His mighty hand.” The purpose of the Passover as a memorial is for the people, “This day is a memorial for you.”

You will notice that there is a relationship in the Bible between remembering how God has delivered His people and the obedience of God’s people. If the people forget that they belong to the Lord and how Jehovah has delivered them, then they will show no regard for God’s law. If God’s law is going to be on their lips, then they must remember that they belong to the Lord because He has saved them from the tyranny of slavery. They are holy because they belong to the Lord.”

The Passover Meal Is A Memorial

Exodus 12:14 (ESV) This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

And again Exodus 13:9 (ESV) … it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

Israel was enslaved to the world. But with the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, Israel was freed from slavery. They were no longer bound to Egypt – that is, as long as they killed the Passover Lamb. The Lamb died so that Israel might live.

Our God is a Covenant Keeping God.

God made a Covenant with Adam. Adam broke it.
God made a Covenant with Abraham. Abraham kept it.
God made a Covenant with Moses and Israel.
God gave Israel the Passover Lamb.
Jesus will keep this Covenant.

Luke 22:7-13 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. 8 And {Jesus} sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat. 9 And they said unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare? 10 And {Jesus} said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples? 12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13 And they went, and found as He had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover.

Before there is there is the Lord’s Supper, there must first be God’s Passover. Our God is a Covenant Keeping God. Jesus told Peter and John to go to Jerusalem and find a man “bearing a pitcher of water”. Back in these days there was no running water in a home, and it was a woman’s duty to gather water for the family. You would often see women going down to the river or to a well to draw water. But Jesus said, “you’ll see a man with a pitcher of water – follow him”. They followed this man back to a place where they could do as God demanded, and celebrate the Passover.

Luke 22:14-16 And when the hour was come, {Jesus} sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

The Passover was fulfilled year after year by believing Jews, a reminder that they were supposed to be God’s people. The Passover Lamb was killed and eaten, a reminder that it was by Grace that God saved Israel from slavery to Egypt. Jesus said,

Luke 22:15 With desire I have desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer

With Jesus, The Old Covenant Ceases
And The New Covenant Begins

Jesus honored the Covenant that God made with Moses. But Jesus is now going to establish another Covenant with Israel, and with us. God is going to change things. Under the Old Covenant, man had to sacrifice a Lamb for forgiveness of sin. Man had to keep a feast for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus Himself Who came to “fulfill all righteousness” must honor the Passover Feast. But Jesus is going to establish a NEW COVENANT. This Covenant is not based on the Blood of an animal, but on Jesus Himself.

God foretold the New Covenant that we today have through Jesus. God said:

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV) Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

As Jesus sat with His disciples, He ended the Old Covenant and started the New Covenant. The Old Covenant relied upon animal sacrifices, feasts, and rituals. The New Covenant relies entirely on Jesus. We read:

Luke 22:19 And {Jesus} took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

What is it that makes us right before God? It is the Blood, not of an animal, but of the Christ.

God told Israel, “Kill the Passover Lamb in remembrance of My love for you”. God now tells the Church,
“Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb. His Blood brings the New Covenant, where God’s Law is written in our hearts.
See Jesus and remember how God loves you.”

This is My body which is given for you

Remember that no one made Jesus go to the Cross for our sins. Jesus willingly went. Jesus chose the nails.

1 John 3:16 (NLT) We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Remember that no one took Jesus life. Jesus willingly died for us.

John 10:17-18 (ESV) … I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

The Father did not make the Son die for us. He laid His life down. Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, ESV). His Body was broken for us. Jesus said,

John 6:51 (ESV) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh

Adam ate, and took away our Paradise, took away the Tree of Life. Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to give up everything so that we can have access to the Tree of Life in glory, and access to God Himself RIGHT NOW.

Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament (COVENANT) in my blood, which is shed for you.

Remember that Jesus Christ gave His Body and His Blood to deliver us from sin and darkness. The Bible says:

Titus 2:14 (ESV) {Jesus} gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Remember that Jesus did not save us by His horrific suffering that we might continue on in the darkness of this world. He saved us to deliver us from Egypt. He saved us to build the Kingdom of God on this earth. The Apostle said:

Galatians 1:4 (ESV) {Jesus Christ} gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

The Lord’s Table reminds us that we have been freed from the dominion of darkness.
A sinning Christian is an anomaly.

Yes, we do slip, we do fail. But we do not revel in sin. Sin is no longer our Master, but God is our Master. The Apostle said:

1 Peter 2:24 {Jesus} himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The Apostle wrote in another place:

Romans 6:16-18 (ESV) Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

We who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to “walk in the light”.

1 John 1:5-7 (ESV) … God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

The Lord’s Table is a reminder to us that we are members of His Kingdom. We obediently follow Jesus. We live through Jesus, and love Jesus. Our Lord said “This is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). His Blood was not shed so that we might wallow in sin, but that we might be freed from sin.

We belong to Jesus.

I do not like to call this Communion, this Lord’s Table “The Last Supper”, for it was not.

After Jesus died on Calvary, He rose from the grave three days later. The Bible testifies that Jesus ate with His disciples following His resurrection. Jesus

• Ate with disciples at Emmaus the Sunday evening He rose from the grave (Luke 24:30-32).
• Jesus also ate with His disciples in a locked room that Sunday He arose from death (Luke 24:36-43)

The Apostle Peter – preaching at the Roman Centurion Cornelius’ home, said:

Acts 10:40-41 {Jesus} God raised up the third day, and shewed Him openly; 41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead.

Remember that the Lord’s Table is a memorial to us all. Death is dead to us who have received Jesus. We live now, and will live into eternity with Jesus. We sometimes fail, but sin is never our Master. Jesus is our Master. We live because He lives. Do you know Him? If Jesus your Lord and Savior? If not, receive Him now. Give your life to Him Who gave His life to you. May God touch your hearts with His Word! Amen and Amen.