Luke 22:14-23 — Is it communion or passover?!

READ THIS: Luke 22:14-23

14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 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.”

20 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. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

I read this passage and think about tasty bread and grape juice. But, it's deeper than that! Our communion time is done in remembrance of Jesus, just as He asked in verse 19, and it's derived from the Passover meal. Jews celebrate Passover with a meal in remembrance of the time that God passed over Jewish homes that had the blood of a lamb on their doors, not dealing out a death plague to those homes. Jesus takes that meal and morphs it, telling the disciples to have the meal in His honor instead. Instead of remembering the homes that were passed over because of lamb's blood, we remember our own lives that were passed over because of Jesus' blood. 

But, this new passover isn't fully in place (fulfilled) yet—Jesus says so in verse 16! Some people might say that it found fulfillment when Jesus died and rose again, officially creating the new passover moment where His blood is accepted instead of our own in payment for our sins. Others might say that it isn't fulfilled until the end of time when we get to banquet with Jesus and have a Passover meal together. Either way, we get to choose if we are going to accept Jesus' blood and continue to remember what He has done for us, or if we are going to put that aside and betray Him, choosing other things/people over Him and His sacrifice. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. What about this scene makes you see communion in a new way? How does the context of Passover change the meaning of communion for you?

 

2. In what ways do you "eat at the same table" (that's a metaphor) as Jesus, but yet are deciding to betray Him? (Ex/ I can be sitting in a church pew, and I can still be focused only on what I need to do tomorrow, thinking that the lesson is for other people and not for me).

TRY THIS:

Here's a deep dive by a famous Christian author named John Piper. It talks more into the concept of the Passover not being fulfilled until we're all with Jesus!