Amy C Walters

The Last Supper | Luke 22:7-23

In the story of the Last Supper, several words and phrases are repeated, revealing important things that we need to pay attention to: Passover, the kingdom of God, and given. Through this, we learn that Jesus is the sacrifice that gives us freedom.

Today, we’re going to focus on some of the repeated words in this passage. Because, when an author repeats something, he’s drawing your attention to it. 

First of all, notice how often “Passover” is mentioned. At the very beginning, Luke writes that it’s “the Day of Unleavened Bread when the Passover Lamb had to be sacrificed.” Jesus tells Peter and John to prepare the Passover for them. Jesus’ message to the owner of the house was, “Where’s the room where I can celebrate Passover with my disciples?” Peter and John prepare the Passover. Jesus tells the disciples, “I’ve eagerly desired to share this Passover with you.” That’s five times in 16 verses. 

So clearly, the timing of all of this is no accident. Jesus has intentionally lined up these things with the Passover for a reason. 

The Passover was the Jewish remembrance and celebration of God rescuing the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt. This was their Independence Day. You can read about the first Passover in Exodus 12. 

The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. They were stuck, they couldn’t escape, and Pharaoh was totally unwilling to let them go. “So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses” (Exodus 9:35). 

The people couldn’t rescue themselves from this situation. Their only chance of freedom was for God to intervene. So God calls Moses to be the one to lead them out of slavery in Egypt.

God also sends a number of plagues on Egypt, like locusts and frogs and darkness and blood and boils. And these plagues then culminate in the plague on the first born, when every first born son in the land would die. 

But God had a plan to protect the people of Israel so that they could escape death and ultimately escape from Egypt. This plan involved a lamb.

Each family would kill a lamb, then would roast it and eat it, along with other things like unleavened bread and bitter herbs and spices. The people would also take the blood of that lamb and paint it on the doorposts of their house. The blood was a sign of protection for those inside.

That night when Passover happened, God passed over those houses that had the blood painted on them. But in any house that did not have the lamb’s blood, there was death. 

Can you imagine what that must have been like to be an Israelite on that first Passover night? You’re supposed to be eating this meal, but I’m not sure I could eat. I think I would be anxious, wondering, is this going to work? Are we going to be protected from death just by the blood of this lamb? You’d probably hear cries in the night as other people woke up to discover loved ones who were dead.

And then morning dawns, and you’re able to walk out of your house, and your whole family is safe. Not only that, Pharaoh has said, “Go, get out of here!” And so now you’ve got to pack up and leave. You have been protected and saved and given your freedom. 

Now, fast forward to Jesus’ time, as the whole nation of Israel remembers and celebrates that rescue. And Jesus is there celebrating with his disciples. He had arranged everything to be in Jerusalem at Passover. 

Jesus says that he’s been “earnestly desiring to celebrate Passover” with them. He’s excited. He’s like a parent who’s been preparing a great surprise for his kids, and he finally gets to tell them what that surprise is. 

He starts by talking about the kingdom of God. That’s another phrase that’s repeated in this passage. He says he’s not going to eat the Passover again “until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God,” and he’s not gonna drink wine again “until the kingdom of God comes.” 

These mentions of the “kingdom” probably sparked some images in the disciples’ minds. These images likely included conquering the Romans, kicking out the foreign occupying nation and establishing their own government. This is the freedom they think they need. 

But Jesus continues.He takes some bread. He gives thanks for it. He breaks it and gives it to them. But he doesn’t say the normal Passover script that goes with handing out the bread. That script talks about the bread of affliction. Instead, Jesus says, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Then after supper, he takes the cup and says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” 

Now, there are a lot of, “Wait! What?” Moments going on in these statements–a lot of things that would give the disciples pause. 

First of all, like we said, Jesus is breaking from the traditional Passover script. It’s supposed to be called the “bread of affliction,” but here Jesus calls it his body.

And he says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” But “in remembrance” is what you say when somebody has died. Jesus is right there with them.

Jesus calls the wine his blood, and he says, “It’s poured out for you.” 

Notice too, that Jesus says nothing about a lamb. That’s the main course of the Passover meal, but Jesus makes no reference to it.

Finally, Jesus talks about the new covenant. This is a reference to Jeremiah 31:31-34. Listen to what it says. 

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, know the Lord. For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Notice how the description of the New Covenant references the Passover, references when God took his people by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. It also talks about how the Old Covenant was broken by the people of Israel. They broke it, they could not hold up their end of the bargain.

They needed a new covenant, not a new earthly government, but a new relationship with God that would give them freedom. Not from other nations, but from the sin in their own hearts. 

Jesus is not talking about an earthly kingdom. This is about a new relationship with the king. And how does it begin? It’s made possible by the body and the blood, not of a lamb, but of Jesus himself.

Did you notice all the times in this passage where Jesus talks about giving? He gives them the cup to divide among themselves. He breaks the bread and gives it to them. It’s his body given for them. The cup is his blood poured out for them. Over and over again, Jesus is saying, “Me for you, I am given for you. This is not a new covenant worked out by you, but given for you.” 

This is why Jesus doesn’t mention the lamb as he’s hosting the Passover meal. He’s saying that he himself is that lamb. He is the sacrifice that gives them freedom.

And that is our key truth for today: Jesus is the sacrifice that gives us freedom. 

Just like the Israelites were stuck in slavery in Egypt, unable to save themselves, we are stuck in sin, unable to save ourselves. Good works won’t do it because we end up breaking the covenant, just like the Israelites did. We need Jesus to do it for us, to give himself for us. Only Jesus is capable of setting us free.

Jesus reminds us of the Passover so that we can get this image in our mind of a lamb sacrificing itself to save the people, because that is what he has done. He does not conquer through might or force or military or sword. He conquers through his death and his sacrifice for us.