"The Meal, Christ's Suffering, and the Coming of the Kingdom" (Sermon for Holy Thursday)

“The Meal, Christ’s Suffering, and the Coming of the Kingdom” (Luke 22:7-20)

Our text is the Holy Gospel, from Luke 22, the account of our Lord’s institution of his Holy Supper. Specifically we want to look at these words from our Lord which Luke records, where Jesus says to his disciples: “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.” Likewise Jesus says to them, “For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” What does Jesus mean by these puzzling statements? Tonight we find out, as three things come together: “The Meal, Christ’s Suffering, and the Coming of the Kingdom.”

Jesus’ words link together these three things: a meal, his own suffering, and the coming of God’s kingdom. Let’s begin with the meal. The meal he refers to is the Passover, also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover was the annual commemoration of God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. They left Egypt on the night of the first Passover, when the Lord sent a plague of death upon the land but spared the homes of the Israelites. It was the blood of the Passover lamb, spread on the doorposts, that marked their homes as ones to be spared. The people that night ate unleavened bread, bread that did not have time to rise, because of their haste in leaving. That was the Passover. The Lord commanded Israel from that time forward to celebrate the Passover every year, to remember in a very real way that their continuing existence as God’s people depended on that great and mighty act of God’s deliverance.

It is that Passover meal that Jesus is celebrating with his disciples. Jesus is acting as the host, as the head of the household. We see that in the way he directs all the preparations to be made for the Passover. Jesus definitely is in charge. He will be in control of the events that are about to happen. He tells his disciples in advance certain things to look for in making the preparations, thus showing his divine foreknowledge and preparing the disciples--and us--for a very special Passover celebration.

Now the hour has come. Jesus and his disciples are reclining at table. He tells them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you.” Note, “this” Passover, this very special Passover. Now the liturgy for the Passover meal had several different parts to it. Each participant probably had four cups of wine over the course of the evening. Each one had its own significance. There was the cup of sanctification at the start of the evening. Then, after the reading of the Exodus narrative and the accompanying teaching, spoken by the host, each guest filled his cup a second time, for the cup of redemption. Then came the meal itself, which began with the host speaking the blessing over the unleavened bread. The main course was the Passover lamb. At this time they had the third cup, the cup of blessing. After the meal came the fourth and final cup, the cup of praise. Luke, by the way, is the only evangelist who mentions more than one cup, giving us an indication of the entire Passover liturgy.

So it would seem that Jesus and his disciples are having yet another in a long line of Passover meals. But what Jesus does with this Passover is entirely unique, new, and different. What he says over the bread and what he says over the cup transform the old Passover meal into something new: “This is my body, which is given for you.” “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” So this is something new. No Passover host had ever said anything like that. The Passover meal now becomes the Jesus meal. It is his Supper now, the Lord’s Supper, and he gives it to his church. “Do this in remembrance of me.”

“This is my body, which is given for you,” literally, “which is being given for you.” “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood,” again literally, “which is being poured out for you.” This meal is linked to Christ’s suffering, his imminent suffering. Jesus told the disciples, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you . . . before I suffer.” And suffer he would, starting right after this meal, when they go out to garden of Gethsemane. There he would be betrayed, arrested, and hauled back to town. Through the night and into the morning, he would endure a series of unjust trials. He would be beaten, mocked, whipped, and crowned with thorns. Before the next afternoon was over, Jesus would be nailed to a cross and die. So yes, his body and his blood are now in the process of being given over into death.

The day and the hour had come. After all, it was the time when the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus is that Lamb, in its fulfillment. He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world--who takes away your sin, my friend! Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb, whose blood spares us from the plague of eternal death and damnation. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, now we are free from our bondage in the Egypt of sin and death. Your life--and our continuing existence as God’s people, the church--depends on this, the greatest and mightiest act of God’s deliverance. God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, willingly sacrificed himself for us--for you! His body, given for you! His blood, poured out for you! Yes, Jesus Christ tonight, in this meal, gives you his very body and blood, the same body and blood he gave for you on the cross.

Now we can understand what Jesus means when he says that the Passover meal will be “fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” By his suffering, death, and resurrection--that is how it is fulfilled and how the kingdom comes! The new era of salvation is ushered in by Christ’s atoning work. This is the new covenant in his blood, the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy, the new covenant in which the Lord forgives our iniquity and remembers our sin no more. Christ ushers in the new creation, which we will experience in full when our Lord returns and welcomes us to the unending heavenly banquet.

We get a foretaste of that feast to come here tonight, in this meal. Tonight our Lord welcomes us to his table, to enjoy fellowship with him. He earnestly desires for us to eat this meal, the Holy Supper of his body and blood. He gives us to eat of the bread that is his body. He gives us to drink from his cup, the new testament in his blood. So come and receive this bread of life and this cup of blessing! Tonight we receive all the benefits of his suffering for us: God’s forgiveness, new life, and eternal salvation. Tonight, in this meal, by virtue of Christ’s suffering, the kingdom of God comes into our midst.

Luke 22:7-20 (ESV)

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “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.” 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.”

An adaptation of a Eucharistic Prayer for Maundy Thursday which appeared many years ago in Lutheran Partners:

Blessed are you,
O Lord our God,
King of the universe,
for endless is your mercy
and eternal your reign.

You have filled all creation
with light and life,
heaven and earth
are full of your glory.

Through Abraham and Sarah,
you promised to bless all nations.
In power and great glory
you rescued Israel you chosen
from the oppression of Pharaoh;
you shielded your people
from the angel of death;
delivered them out of the hands
of their pursuers, and,
by fire and cloud,
led them through the sea
out of despair and slavery
into freedom
and the land you had promised.

Through the prophets
you renewed your promise;
and, at this
the end of all the ages,
you sent your Son,
who in words and deeds
proclaimed your kingdom
and was obedient to your will,
even to giving his life.

In the night
in which he was betrayed,
our Lord Jesus took bread
and gave thanks and said
“Bah-ROOCH a-TAH a-do-NAI
e-lo-HEY-nu MEL-ech ha-o-LAM,
ha-mo-TWY MAT-zah may
ha-AR-etz”
“Blessed are you,
O Lord our God,
ruler of the universe,
who has given us
bread from the earth.”

And he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
“Take and eat;
this is my body, given for you.
Do this
for the remembrance of me”

Again, after supper
he took the cup,
gave thanks and said,
“Bah-ROOCH a-TAH a-do-NAI
e-lo-HEY-nu MEL-ech ha-o-LAM,
bo-REY pe-REE ha-go-FAIN.”
“Blessed are you,
O Lord our God,
who gives us the fruit of the vine.”

And gave it for all to drink,
saying:
“This cup is the new covenant
in my blood,
shed for you
and for all people
for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this
for the remembrance of me.”

Therefore,
we give you thanks
for Christ our Passover Lamb,
who, by his life and death
has delivered us
from our captivity to sin,
whose blood shields us
from the angel of death,
who leads us
into the fullness of your promise,
and who spreads
his Passover meal before us.

Send now your Holy Spirit
that we who gather at his table
may be filled
with his blessing and grace,
and, by your mercy,
may enter into the fullness
of your kingdom,
and with all your people,
share the feast that has no end.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
ruler of the universe,
now and forever.

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