Let us turn in our Bibles tonight
to Luke chapter 22. The title of the message is,
The Passover Fulfilled and the Lord's Supper Instituted. Now,
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Drunai, which is called the Passover. I've never thought that the Lord's
Supper should be something that is merely tacked on to the end
of a worship service. In other words, that we have
our regular worship service and then we hurriedly go through
observing the Lord's table. There have been times in the
history of our church when our whole service consisted only
in observing the Lord's table. But then I came to realize that
tendency is to make this more into a ritual. In fact, I read
that The Puritans in England, they passed a law forbidding
observing the Lord's table in a service without preaching. Of course, they were fighting
the Roman Catholic Church and the mass, and they did not want
anyone to believe that this is its equivalent, eating the bread
and drinking the cup. I've never personally liked the
word sacrament. Sometimes people refer to the
bread and the wine as the sacrament. But the reason I do not like
this is because many people understand that that word means to confer
grace. In other words, those who receive
the bread and the wine, that somehow they are receiving grace
through the bread and the wine. Now we know that's not true for
many reasons, but here in this passage of scripture, we know
this is not true because Judas Iscariot, he partook of the bread
and the wine. If you notice down in verse 21,
our Lord said, but behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me
is with me on the table. He certainly did not receive
any grace. any saving grace or any other
kind of grace by eating the bread and drinking the cup, because
all the time that he was sitting at that table and during the
time he ate and drank, He had already gone to the high priest,
if you look in verses 2 through 7. And the chief priest and the
scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the
people. Then entered Satan into Judas,
surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he
went his way and communed with the chief priest and captains
how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad and
covenanted to give him money, and he promised and sought opportunity
to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. So
certainly he didn't receive any grace. And men may take the Lord's
table, that is, they may eat the bread and drink the wine
from now to doomsday, and that doesn't convey grace. It doesn't
give a person grace, no more than being baptized in water
over and over and over again puts a person into the body of
Christ. These are ordinances that the
Lord has given us, both of which speak to us of the gospel. Some
people use the word Eucharist. And that too, I think, has a
tendency to be taken, although the word itself means thanksgiving
or praise, but people refer to the Eucharist in the Lord's Table. And the idea is it becomes, or
the thought is, over a period of time, it becomes more of a
ritual that people go through and people participate in. And
we do not want that to be the case. But tonight, I want us
to look at a few points here that are given to us by Luke.
Now we know that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the Apostle Paul all
relate God's instructions, the Lord's instructions, His teaching
concerning the Lord's table. But tonight we're looking in
Luke. And first, the Lord Jesus and
the feast of the Passover, beginning in verse 7. Then came the day
of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And
he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover
that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where
wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold,
when you 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. And he shall say, and you shall
say unto the good men of the house, the master saith unto
thee, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover
with my disciples? And he shall show you a large
upper room furnished, there make ready. And they went and found
as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover.
And when the hour was come, he sat down and the apostles, the
12 apostles with him, and he said unto them, with desire,
I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For
I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be
fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave
thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For
I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until
the kingdom of God shall come. The feast which they were celebrating
was a memorial of God delivering the nation of Israel out of Egyptian
bondage. And we know The prominent thing
in that deliverance was the blood of the lamb which was sprinkled
upon the doorpost. Now, it had been about 1,500
years since God delivered the nation from Egypt until this
time when the Lord Jesus Christ was here at this Passover. And I do not see how anyone can
read about the Passover and not perceive that the teaching, the
symbolic teaching of God's purpose to save sinners by the shedding
of blood. Surely no one can read about
the Passover and not see that, that God's purpose is teaching
all through those years. God said it was to be a perpetual
memorial to the children of Israel. And later when their children
would ask them, why is it that we observe this? Why is it that
we have no leaven in our house for this week? Why is it that
we kill the Passover and eat the Passover lamb? It is because
way back yonder, when we were slaves in Egypt, When we were
in bondage, God Almighty delivered us, and He did it by the sprinkling
of the blood of the Lamb. All through that time. And of
course, it was all pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when
He began His ministry, when He was baptized of John, John pointed
Him out and said, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away
the sins of the world. And then the Apostle Paul, writing
in 1 Corinthians, he said, For Christ, for even Christ our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Now here, this Passover that
we read about in our text tonight, this was to be the last time,
the very last time. You say, well preacher, they
still do it. I know that. I know that. And they're deceived. They're blinded. and they're
lost. This was to be the very, very
last time that the Passover was ever to be observed. Why? Because the end of the law. The whole purpose of the law
and all of its ceremonies, all of its rituals, all of its sacrifices,
they all pointed to the promised one who would come And not by
the blood of animals, but rather by the blood of the Son of God
would save and redeem His people. I want us to consider two things
in these verses hurriedly tonight. First of all, Christ's desire. Notice that in verse 15. And
He said unto them with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. With desire, I have desired to
eat this Passover with you. What could he possibly have meant
by that? In the Gospel of John, John chapter
12, which took place just a short time before this, we read him
saying these words, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall
I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. Father, glorify thy name. With desire I have desired to
eat this Passover. His desire was always to do the
will of his Father. Always. And surely in giving
himself As a sacrifice for His people, He demonstrated in this,
more so maybe than in any other way, His fulfilling the desire
of His Father to do His will. In the sacrifices that God gave
to the nation of Israel, there were five of them. The first
one that is given in Leviticus chapter 1 was a sacrifice called
the burnt offering. And the burnt offering was said
to be a sweet-smelling savor unto God. When the fat and the
parts of the animal were burned upon the brazen altar, it was
said to be a sweet-smelling savor. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He
desired always to do the will of His Father. And that burnt
offering showed that was only and entirely offered unto God. His obedience, His obedience
unto God is manifested in the burnt offering. And here, His
desire was to obey my Father completely, absolutely. And does he mean by these words
that he desired this hour, the fulfillment of the type, the
fulfillment of the type of the Passover lamb, knowing that he
would now once and forever reconcile those whom he loved, unto God
by the shedding of his blood. Remember, his words are the words
of the apostle in Hebrews, which says, looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy, who for the
joy, what joy? Who for the joy of absolute perfect
obedience. Obeyed his father every jot and
every tittle every ounce of his being Obeying the father who
for the joy that was set before him despised the shame He endured the cross despising
the shame and sat down on the right hand of God With desire
I have desired to eat this Passover with you. He desired to to show
his complete obedience unto his love to his father. The second
thing I point out here is Christ took the cup and gave thanks
in verse 17. And he took the cup and gave
thanks. Now remember this is part of
the Passover feast. That passage is speaking of the
Passover feast. He took the cup and gave thanks. Now, I've read that as they observed
the Passover, this was done four times. In other words, four times
they took the cup, gave thanks, and passed it around as they
partook of the Passover. Someone says, why four times? Well, this is what I have read.
It is said that because of the four words, the four words which
God used when He called Moses and sent him at the burning bush,
and when Moses appeared to the nation of Israel, there's four
words, they especially Wanted to praise God and thank God for
the truth of those words. If you will, look back with me
into Exodus chapter 3. Look at these four words. And
the reason I point them out to us tonight is because they all
have their spiritual counterpart. They were true of the nation
of Israel. Yes, literally, but they're true
of all of God's children. in a spiritual way. In chapter 3, the first word
is found in verse 7. And the Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people. We want to thank God. We want to thank God that He has
chosen us to be His people. That's the nation of Israel.
And God did choose them, right, out of all the nations of the
earth. God says, I have seen the affliction of my people.
Well, wasn't all the people of the earth His? Yes, yes. But that nation of Israel was
a particular, peculiar people unto Him. My people. That's the first word. Let's
give thanks for that. Let's pass the cup around, which
is the wine cheers the heart of God. It's a type of joy, isn't
it? Wine. Let's be joyful about this. Now the second word is found
in verse 8. It says, For I am come down to
deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians. The second
word is the word deliver. Oh, let's thank God He's come
down to deliver us. They were in cruel bondage, folks.
Right? Absolutely. They had hard taskmasters. Let's thank God He's come down
to deliver us. He's going to put forth His mighty
hand and deliver us. Now the third word is also in
verse 8. To bring them up out of the land
unto a good and large land flowing with milk and honey. Let's thank
God. He's not only going to deliver
us out of this bondage, but also He's going to deliver us and
bring us into a fruitful, large land flowing, flowing with milk
and honey. And the fourth word is found
in chapter 6 of Exodus, in verse 6, and this is when Moses is
speaking to the nation of Israel. It says, Wherefore say unto the
children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out
from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you
out of their bondage. And here's the fourth word, I
will redeem you. Now think about those four words. And each of them has its spiritual
counterpart, doesn't it? What is the promise? One of the
promises of the new covenant, I will be unto them a God and
they shall be unto me my people. All of God's people, all of his
chosen people, he calls my people. Let's thank God for God's electing
grace. when before the foundation of
the world, having done neither good nor evil, God said, Jacob
have I loved, Esau have I hated. My people. And then the second
he came down to deliver us from cruel bondage, And all of us,
by sin, are in bondage. We're born into bondage. He said,
if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. But
He's the only one who is able to free the sinner from the captivity
and slavery of sin. And the third word, to bring
them out. deliver them out from bondage
and to bring them into a large land. Hasn't he promised us everlasting
life with him forever and ever? And the fourth word, redeemed. Redeemed, oh how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by the blood of the
lamb. Redeemed. God said, I have given
thee the blood Don't eat the blood, he said. Don't eat flesh
with the blood. Why? Because the life of the
flesh is in the blood. And I have given thee the blood
with which to make an atonement. Thank God for the blood. Now, let's look at the Lord Jesus
and His Supper. The Lord's Supper, verses 19
and 20. Let me just point these things
out to us that are on the surface here. And He took bread, and
gave thanks, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body, which
is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. First of all,
He took bread. Now remember, this was the Feast
of the Passover. There was flesh on that table.
There was flesh. There was meat. The lamb. But He didn't take flesh, did
He? He took bread. He took bread. And bread is made
from wheat, and the very production of wheat symbolizes the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember He said this, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a grain, a corn of wheat, a grain
of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
grain of wheat that had to die in order to bring forth much
fruit, in order to save many. He said the grain would remain
alone if it didn't die. God had one Son, one eternal
Son, one only begotten Son, but for Him to have many sons by
adoption, to bring many sons unto glory, it was necessary
that the grain of wheat come to the earth and die. And also in John 6, he took bread
to symbolize himself. He said, I am the living bread,
which came down from heaven and give life unto the world. So
first of all, he took bread. Second, he gave thanks. He gave thanks. For what did
he thank God? For what did he thank God? Well,
surely he thanked God that God's purpose was to be gracious and
show mercy in saving poor, helpless, lost sinners. Remember that passage
in Proverbs 8, which speaks of him, and it says that his delights
were with the sons of men. Surely he gave thanks unto the
Father, that God's purpose of grace and mercy is to save sinners,
to bring many sons to glory. And then third, he break it. Now he explained the meaning
of this, for he said, my body is given, it is broken for you. And the prophet Isaiah had foretold
that by his stripes we are healed. Healed of the very worst of all
diseases, that is the disease of sin. By his stripes, by his
body being broken for us. And then the scripture says,
he gave unto them. So we see, he took the bread,
he gave thanks, he break it, he gave unto them. And this word
gave reminds us it describes the Lord Jesus Christ who loved
the church and gave himself for it. One of the requirements of
this sacrifice was it had to be a voluntary sacrifice. He said, no man taketh my life
from me, I lay it down of myself. Sometimes people will say, it
cannot be right. Cannot be right for God to charge
my sins and the sins of others to this innocent person. That just cannot be right. And
we would say, that's true, except he was willing. He gave himself. He gave himself. He loved the
church, Paul said, and gave himself for it. In another passage, he said,
who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity. Now in Matthew's account, he
also says this, not only did he take the bread, give thanks,
break, and give it unto them, but he blessed it. He blessed
it. And I looked at that and I thought,
Isn't he telling us by blessing that bread, that first time this
supper was instituted, that this shall be a blessing to God's
children as long as we are in this world. This is a blessing,
isn't it? To be able to come and join together
with brothers and sisters in Christ. and partake of this table. This do, he said, in remembrance
of me. Eat this bread and remember me. When you take the bread tonight
and place it in your mouth and eat this bread, remember Christ,
remember me, he said. This do in remembrance of me. Remember how much he loved you. Remember how great his sacrifice
was. Remember me. Now, secondly, Christ
and the cup. In the other three passages about
the supper, we see that he did the same thing. Paul says it
like this, after the same manner. He did the same thing with the
cup that He did with the bread in the sense that He gave thanks
and gave it to His disciples. He chose wine, not water. He chose wine, not water, but wine to be the
picture, the symbol of His blood. Where do we get wine? Wine comes
from grapes. Grapes come from the vine. I
am the true vine. Isn't that what he said? Surely
to remind us that as we drink this cup tonight, this wine came
from a vine and I must be in the vine, just like he said.
that a branch that is not in the vine is fit for burning and
nothing else. And just as the wine comes into
my body, I must be in him. I must be in him and union with
him by faith. Just as the branch is in the
vine and the sap flows through the vine to the branch to bring
forth the fruit. And something else about wine.
Wine goes through a process, doesn't it, where the grapes
have to be damaged. It's what they call
a wine press. They put the grapes in the press
and press the grapes to squeeze out the juice. And this, no doubt,
is a picture of our Lord's agony, His torture, and his death in
suffering and dying for our sins. And remember this, this blood,
remember me, when we remember him as we drink this cup tonight,
that with his blood, he said, this is my blood of the New Testament,
the new covenant. The new covenant was ratified
by him shedding his blood. just as a man's last will and
testament is ratified by his death, cannot be changed, cannot
be altered. Whatever he wrote in his last
will, he has an executor to make sure that everything is given
out, dispersed as he desired. Many times, you know, executors
don't do what they're supposed to do. But the Lord Jesus Christ,
he is alive to make sure that all of the blessings in his last
will, this New Testament, they're all given, they all come to those
who are heirs, those he named in the covenant. Well, I trust
the Lord would bless these words to all of us here tonight as
we think about our Lord's suffering and death.