Today in God's Word—August 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
August 15, Luke 22
In the borrowed upper room where he ate the last supper, Jesus told the disciples, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” I hear a longing in those words older than the hunger of that day or the anticipation of the week leading up to it. The longing was older than the time of his public ministry or even his life on earth. I can imagine God the Son watching Israel eat the Passover from the first time in Egypt down through the centuries, knowing the day was coming when he would become the real Passover, the Lamb of God slain to set God’s people free.
Now, with the arrest just hours away, it had come down to an intimate meal with the men responsible for carrying out the mission. The Passover meal, rich for every Jew in the symbolic significance of each part of the ritual, unfolded with the cups of wine, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs. And out of it, Jesus took two elements of the meal and infused them with rich new meaning. The bread and the wine would become a new meal with new significance to every disciple of Jesus. The bread was supposed to remind them of his body, which would be tortured in the hours to come as he endured multiple trials and the execution itself. The wine would remind them of his blood—blood of a new covenant between God and his people, blood shed to redeem. His memorial would not be a statue or a building, but a simple meal whose elements would recall his death for those who would partake of it.
Jesus shared the meal that night with the innermost circle of followers, the apostles. Was his heart breaking by knowing one of them would betray him with a kiss into his enemies’ hands? Did their quarrel at the table that very night about who would be the greatest in the kingdom get on his nerves more than usual? Did Peter’s boastful overestimation of his loyalty bring tears to his eyes? Later in the garden,
they would sleep while he prayed in agony, and run away when the guards seized him.
We look back at that gathering in the upper room the night before the cross, and see not one of those who ate with Jesus that night deserved to be there. And we know that no one who gathers around to eat the Lord’s Supper now deserves a place at the table, either. We, too, are guilty, self-centered and unworthy. But we, like they, are welcomed to eat, drink and remember. It was Jesus’ earnest desire to accomplish our redemption, to do for us, in our place, what had to be done to atone for our sins. How can we be less than earnest about meeting with other ransomed ones to eat the bread and drink the wine of remembrance?
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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