Episode Transcript
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Abba, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Abba, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Luke 22:14–23 (NIV)
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
CONSIDER THIS
As good Jews, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table in order to celebrate the Passover, the commemoration of God’s deliverance of the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage (see Deuteronomy 16:1–8). This Passover, however, took on special meaning because, beyond its historic reference to an ancient captivity and a mighty deliverance, Jesus related this meal to the future, to his own upcoming suffering. In fact, he told his apostles that he would not eat this meal again until the kingdom of God came. Put another way, Jesus would not eat another Passover until he was crucified and raised from the dead in glorious power, actions that would bring about a much greater deliverance, even freedom from the captivity of sin and death. Such a fulfillment then could be seen in the post-resurrection meals found in Luke’s gospel (24:30–31, 41–42) or perhaps in a much later period after the second coming of Christ.
The author of the Gospel of Luke (and the book of Acts) was likely influenced by the apostle Paul. We can see this influence in terms of how the material of our text is arranged into three parts. The first part, verses 14–18, describes the Passover, which we have just considered. The third part, verses 21–23, explores the betrayal of Jesus by his own disciple Judas, an account that both Mark and Matthew place at the beginning of their narratives and not at the end as Luke does. The second part, our principal interest right now, describes a meal, but this one seems to be somewhat different from the Passover, and it is not exactly clear how this other meal is related to the first. Indeed, its details correspond to what the church referred to as “the Lord’s Supper” in 1 Corinthians 11:20. To see this similarity between the two accounts, between a gospel and an epistle, compare verses 19 and 20 of our current text with what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:23b–25: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” The similarities between these two accounts are striking.
The way that Luke arranges his material in our passage suggests that the Passover meal, with its bread and many cups of wine, flows into a different meal, the Lord’s Supper, with its specific focus on the person and work of Jesus. The bread of verse 19 does not principally derive its meaning from the historic affirmations of the Passover (although there are some similarities) but from its present context that points to the body of Christ, “given for you.” Here Jesus was no doubt referring to his upcoming sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. He knew what was coming. In the same way, the cup that Jesus held in verse 20 is best understood not in terms of the cups (plural) of the Passover feast but in terms of the present context, that is, the Lord’s Supper and of Christ’s upcoming passion on the cross, now specifically with respect to his blood, “which is poured out for you.” Notice also that the language of “given for you” and “which is poured out for you” both reveal that what is being offered is a sheer gift to be received. The direction is from Christ to us.
So then, in placing his material in this way, Luke presents the old—the Passover—in terms of the new, the Lord’s Supper. Here both similarities and contrasts can be noted. To illustrate, it is only the Lord’s Supper that illuminates in a very pointed way the fulfillment of God’s purpose that will take place in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is, the Passover in this account points beyond itself to a greater meal and to a greater deliverance that is remarkably new. In fact, only Luke’s text refers to the cup of this supper as “the new covenant in my blood” (emphasis added). Both Mark and Matthew, for their part, simply refer to “my blood of the covenant” (Mark 14:24a; Matt. 26:28a). Continuity with the past, however, can be seen in terms of the new covenant promised earlier by the prophet Jeremiah:
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “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.” (31:31–33)
Luke’s account then, in our judgment, is far more clear and crisp in its telling of the story. It highlights the contrast between the old and the new while mindful of their similarities. Indeed, God’s redemptive activity is not simply a continuation of what is already past, though the past does indeed prepare for it. That’s something very helpful to recognize.
The contrast between the old and new in terms of these meals can also be seen in that most of the religious leaders of the Jewish people during the first century would not make this transition from the traditional religious meanings, well more than a thousand years old, to what was new—to what was now being offered as an utter gift. These leaders would continue to embrace the Passover and many other traditions, but they would ultimately reject the Lord’s Supper, especially when they finally figured out that it pointed to both the person and work of Christ. The common folk also rejected the new, following along comfortably, hardly disturbed at all, in all of the old ways. Tradition is as settled as the past that holds it in place. It can, in some instances, offer a sense of security that is not fully warranted, especially when God is doing something new. Such is the case here.
At this intimate meal Jesus uttered some of the most precious words ever spoken by anyone at any time: “This is my body given for you” and “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (emphasis added). The fellowship, love, and affection among those present (with but one exception), reclining at the table, surely must have been sweet, even tender. Given such a thick atmosphere of friendship and devotion, it is all the more disruptive, a breach of the deepest confidence, when the betrayer picked this occasion above all others to set in motion his evil design. Knowing what he was to do, why did he even attend the supper at all?
So deceitful was the faithless one that the other apostles apparently didn’t know who it was, as evidenced by their anxious questioning among themselves. Because Luke placed the betrayal at the end of our text, this means that Judas had received both the bread and the cup from Jesus. The offering of these gifts was surely a sign, and it tells us far more about Jesus and his kingdom than it ever does about the betrayer. Though Luke did not record it, both Mark and Matthew revealed what Jesus had declared in terms of this hypocrite: “It would be better for him if he had not been born” (Mark 14:21; Matt. 26:24).
THE PRAYER
Lord, as I reflect on the Lord’s Supper, help me to understand that you gave yourself for us. The gift that you have given was not only for the worthy and worthwhile, but it was offered freely to everyone—even the one you knew would betray you. Help me to live out that self-giving love unconditionally, offering it freely even to those who have hurt me, just as you did.
