The Last Supper matters to Christians because we know we’re expected to commemorate it at the Lord’s Table (Communion).
What we’re going to see is that that last supper also meant a lot to Jesus. That means we really ought to understand the meaning and importance of the Last Supper.
It’s very much about you and God.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church, Wirral in October 2023. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
You are accountable for your sin (1-13)
Read Luke 22:1-2.
Strictly speaking, the feast of unleavened bread and the Passover were separate events, but the Passover happened at the start of the week-long feast of unleavened bread. There were a lot of people in Jerusalem for it each year. That year, lots of those people supported Jesus, so there was no possibility of arresting him with people around.
As it turns out, those who wanted to arrest Jesus found a man on the inside: Read Luke 22:3-6.
- Judas’s betrayal for silver is prophesied in Zechariah 11.
- The whole testimony of the Old Testament said that God would come to save his people from their sins.
- It was always understood that Jesus, the Messiah, would die for his people: That was the plan.
- Which also means that it was always God’s plan that wicked people would kill Jesus.
So did God make them do it? Or, if “Satan entered Judas”, did Satan make him do it?
Was Judas a helpless victim? When you sin against God, is it you, or does Satan make you do it? If your sin is in God’s plan (isn’t everything?), is it your fault?
Judas had been with Jesus around three years. He’d seen the miracles and heard more teaching than you have. But he didn’t believe, or he didn’t want to. Certainly, Satan took advantage of an unbelieving man; but Judas was already unbelieving and rejecting.
Read Luke 22:22. Woe to that man, because he will suffer for his own sin.
No deviation
Jesus wouldn’t be swayed from the last supper with his disciples because it was a crucial Passover meal. In v7-13 we see that Jesus has made preparations and arrangements, but he’s careful that they’re kept quiet (from Judas?) – nothing can interrupt his last evening.
It’s too important: Read Luke 22:7-13.
Judas was making his plans for evil. Jesus had much bigger plans for good.
The Bible holds these two things in parallel and provides no explanation:
- God is sovereignly in control of all events for his own purpose and glory.
- You are accountable to God for your actions as a morally independent human being.
You want moral autonomy, but it carries accountability with it. So you choose to sin. It’s on you. And you’re accountable.
You want justice in the universe? You already have it. No sin against God goes unpunished. Which includes yours.
But there’s good news, and Jesus himself wants you to know it:
Find forgiveness in Christ (14-20)
That evening, Jesus and the Twelve apostles were reclining at the table for their Passover meal. There was a set format, with various courses eaten and wine drunk between. The whole event was a commemoration of the very first Passover in the book of Exodus (2nd in the Bible).
- God’s people were in slavery in Egypt.
- God sent 9 plagues against Egypt to get them to let the Israelites go, but Pharaoh refused.
- So the 10th plague was a death of every firstborn son in Egypt.
- The Israelites were each to sacrifice a lamb, and put some of the lamb’s blood over the door of their house. (And eat the rest family by family.)
- When the destroyer passed through Egypt, God himself passed over (or covered over) each house where there was blood (Exodus 12:23):
- God protected them; the lamb protected them.
Interestingly, Israel were told to commemorate it from the start. When God gave instruction for the first Passover, he also included instruction for how they were to celebrate it every year, to remember God’s deliverance of his people. The night God gave a Passover lamb sacrifice to die instead of their sons. The Egyptians, with no Passover lamb, died under God’s judgment.
Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples
So, in Luke 22, Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples.
Read Luke 22:14-16.
He “fervently desired to eat this Passover” because of what it represented for him, for them, and for you. After eating the lamb of the Passover, they’d drink wine. Read Luke 22:17-18.
Wine would be a normal part of the meal. He’s clearly setting expectations that this is his last supper – for now. There’s a definite sense that there will be a greater feast at some point in the future. The time when “the kingdom of God comes” is the time when Jesus returns to the earth from heaven.
It’s what we’re waiting for today, and might even happen today!
But what Jesus did next is a history-defining, seismic act.
Jesus replaced the old Passover
Don’t miss this; it’s massive.
- He’s just served Passover lamb and wine to his disciples.
- Next he deliberately parallels that with bread and wine that represents himself.
- Read Luke 22:19-20.
Back in Exodus, after God rescued his people, he gathered them together as a single nation properly for the first time, Exodus 19. In Exodus 20 he gave the 10 Commandments, with other laws up to Exodus 23.
Exodus 20-23 is sometimes known as the ‘book of the covenant’. In Exodus 24, two important things happened:
- Moses sprinkled blood on the people, calling it the ‘blood of the covenant’ – a one-off moment.
- Then, Moses and 72 leaders of Israel went up Mount Sinai to see God; they had a meal in his presence.
- It was all very celebratory: God had sealed a covenant with his people, sealed in blood, celebrated with a meal.
Jesus is compressing all this Exodus stuff into a moment.
The ‘old Passover’ is being replaced by a new one. The Old Covenant (Testament) is being replaced by a new one. All this is because the old system of sacrifice and temple is being replaced.
Jesus is your Passover lamb
You have sinned just as surely as any pagan in ancient Egypt.
Before God, your sins deserve punishment: Death.
- In grace, God the Son left eternal glory to become human.
- Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.
- He saves you by dying for you.
- Jesus didn’t sin, so didn’t deserve death. So his death can be applied to you.
- You can be forgiven by God and God still be just – no sin goes unpunished, and God chose to take the punishment of the sins of many on himself.
That’s why Jesus had to make sure there would be no interruptions at this supper!
That’s also why he so fervently desired to eat that Passover with his disciples – it’s a key moment as we move from the old covenant to the new. He is the Passover lamb; his death and blood cover over you.
More, his blood is the blood of the new covenant – a covenant where God will grant eternal life in his presence to all who call on his name in repentance and faith! So we come to the Lord’s Table twice each month to remember Christ’s sacrifice.
There’s confession of sin, of course. But there’s also participation with Christ – it’s his table, and we join with him as host as we come each time. And there’s participation with his people – we never come alone; we always come to the Lord’s Table as his people. But we also share with him in his anticipation! We proclaim his death until he comes again, because then we’ll share the ultimate feast in his presence!
The Lord’s Table isn’t magical. Nothing happens to the bread or the wine. The Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation is a manmade lie that robs Christ’s death of power and glory.
You’re not called to religion. Jesus – risen and very much alive today – calls you himself to go to him in repentance of your sin to ask for forgiveness. He will grant you life.
Find forgiveness in Christ. And then, over and over:
Find grace in Christ (21-30)
Read Luke 22:21-24.
It’s quite a leap to go from verse 23 to verse 24. One minute they’re wondering who’ll betray Jesus, the next they’re arguing about who’s the greatest? Presumably, one follows the other: “I’m not the betrayer. I couldn’t be. It’s obvious that I’m his greatest, most important, most devoted disciple!”
To which comes the reply, “No, I am!” It’s achingly out of place.
Jesus is working through a massive moment in the history of God’s dealings with humanity, and they’re just trying to big themselves up. He’s hours away from crucifixion, and they’re so self-centred they care only for themselves and their own glory.
So Jesus has teaching for you: Read Luke 22.25-27.
- Benefactors are the kind of rich people who end up with streets and buildings named after them. It’s usually not good.
- Jesus came not to be served but to serve.
Now we all fail. But with Jesus there’s always grace.
There’s always grace
What did he say to those self-centred, big-me-up disciples at a time when they should have been focussed on him? Did he write them off? Does he write you off when you let him down? Read Luke 22:28-30.
They might be a useless lot, but they belong to Jesus and he won’t let them go or write them off.
Nor will he ever let you go. You will always find grace in Christ. That’s one of the reasons we’re to remember him at his table. He was gracious to save you, and he will graciously keep you.
Lord, have mercy on us all – we need it.
You are accountable for your sin. But every single one of us can find forgiveness with Christ. You call out to him, and he will forgive every repentant heart.
And when you try to live for him, but fail day after day, you find a saviour who will pick you up again.
And one who will take you to glory – to an eternity with him forever, at the great feast of celebration at the end of time, the beginning of days without end.