A PASSOVER MEAL WITH THE LAMB

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 29, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: December 29, 2021 from Luke 21:37-22:23

Theme: Jesus—with full sovereignty over the situation—offered Himself as our Passover Lamb.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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So far, much that we have considered in our study of the Gospel of Luke has been about how Jesus had prepared Himself to be offered for us. From Chapters 13 to 19, we read the story of His journey toward Jerusalem; where He said repeatedly that He would be betrayed, arrested, and crucified. In Chapter 19, we read the story of how He entered the city to present Himself as the long-awaited King of the Jews. And in Chapter 20, we read of how—in rejection of Him—the religious leaders opposed Him and challenged Him. Finally, in Chapter 21, we read of how He sat upon the Mount of Olives and told His disciples of the judgment that would come upon the city—but also of the glories of His second coming.

And now—at the end of Chapter 21 and beginning in Chapter 22—we read the story of His last day with His disciples, and of the Passover meal that He spent with them, and finally of how He was betrayed into the hands of evil men.

Humanly speaking, it would have seemed like a dark and sad Passover. But as we read the story, we find that He was in complete control of all that happened. We see that He was willingly giving Himself for us on that night as our Passover Lamb. It would be the very last Passover meal of the old covenant era; because He would fulfill the substance of it. And He was spending it with His disciples as none other than the true Lamb of God Himself.

The story picks up at the end of our Lord’s Olivet Discourse with His disciples—where He taught them about end-times events. Luke tells us—in Luke 21:37 to 22:23;

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?” And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.” So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing (Luke 21:37-22:23).

Do you notice that our Lord said He looked forward to having this meal with His disciples ‘before He suffered’? As we read this story as a whole, we discover a glorious truth. Our Lord’s death on the cross for us was not some terrible, tragic accident. It was the fulfillment of the plan of God for our redemption—a plan over which He exercised complete control—a plan that was illustrated from ancient times in the Passover Meal.

This passage shows us that Jesus—with full sovereignty over the situation—offered Himself willingly and lovingly for us as our Passover Lamb.

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Now; as He came to this important moment, notice how willing He was to face it. We grow to appreciate this by looking at the story of what was going on—as it were—in the background. A plot was being formed to kill Him; and yet …

1. HE DID NOT HIDE FROM THE PLOT AGAINST HIM (21:37-22:6).

The reason that this plot was being formed is suggested to us in the last two verses of Chapter 21; where we read,

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him (Luke 21:37-38).

He had been openly teaching in the temple during the day, and then staying on the Mount of Olives at night. It may be that He had camped in the open on the mountain, or that He stayed with friends in the nearby town. But in the morning, the crowds would once again gather to Him in the temple to hear Him teach.

The religious leaders were not only jealous of the way the crowds would gather to Him in the temple, but they were also afraid of attempting to do anything to stop Him because of the crowd itself. In Matthew 26:4-5, we’re told that the religious leaders

plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people” (Matthew 26:4-5).

But their plans to wait until after the feast was suddenly changed by a visit from one of the Lord’s own disciples. Luke tells us that Satan had entered Judas; and he went his way and conferred with the religious and civil leaders how he might betray Jesus to them. They were glad to hear this news; and agreed to pay Judas to betray the Lord. And we’re told in verse 6, “So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.”

It was clear that the Lord Jesus knew all this, though. In fact, we find from the Gospel of John that Judas was not even able to go and betray Jesus until our Lord said to Him, “What you do, do quickly” (John 13:27). And yet, at no point did our Lord seek to hide Himself from what was to come. He didn’t seek to thwart the plot that was being formed, or expose what was being planned in secret. He continued to teach openly in the temple and receive the crowds that came to Him. He continued to live out in the open. This teaches us that He willingly submitted Himself to the will of the Father in order to be sacrificed on our behalf.

As He once declared;

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17-18).

Not only did He not seek to hide Himself from the plots against Him, but, as this passage from Luke goes on to show us …

2. HE WAS IN SOVEREIGN CONTROL OF ALL THAT HAPPENED (22:7-13).

We see this in the remarkable way that the Passover Meal was prepared. We’re told that on the day when “the Day of Unleavened Bread” came (which was a name for the larger feast during which the Passover occurred)—when, as Luke tells us, “the Passover must be killed”—Jesus, the Passover Lamb Himself, proved that He was already orchestrating the details.

He had told Peter and John to go and prepare the Passover. It was a major meal; and many details needed to be taken care of. They had asked where it was that they should prepare it; and He told them,

“Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready” (vv. 10-12).

The sight of a man carrying a pitcher of water would have been an unusual one; because, as Bible historians tell us, it would not have been men who ordinarily did so. But they would see just such a man upon entering the city. And it wouldn’t even be the pitcher-bearer himself that they needed to talk to. They were just to follow him and speak to the head of the house he entered. He would have a furnished room all ready. And when the disciples did as the Lord commanded, they found everything just as He said—and they then prepared for the meal.

Some have suggested that things went the way they did because the Lord had already made previous arrangements with the head of the house. And this may be. But there were many aspects of the events that lead up to it that were clearly guided by a sovereign and invisible hand. One way of the Lord’s working doesn’t necessarily exclude the other. And together, it shows us that the events of this important evening meal—and ultimately of His betrayal and sacrifice for us—were all under our Lord’s complete control.

And then came that important meal itself; when …

3. HE WILLINGLY PRESENTED HIMSELF AS THE PASSOVER LAMB (22:14-23).

This sacred meal had its beginnings in the time when God had delivered His people from bondage in Egypt. Exodus 12 tells us that, on the tenth day of the month Nisan (which occurs during March and April of our calendar) they were to select a lamb—a male, a year old, and without blemish—and keep it until the 14th day;

“Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover” (Exodus 12:6-11).

This commemorated the night when the Lord saw the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the house of the Jewish people, and ‘passed-over’ them in judgment. And in 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle Paul told us;

For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).

What a remarkable thing! The true Passover Lamb—of whom all the lambs of all the Passover meals that ever came before were symbolic—was now eating this meal with His disciples before He was slain for them. He told them;

“With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (vv. 15-16).

Because He—the true Passover Lamb—was about to be slain for them, this was the last Passover Meal of the old covenant. We’re told;

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” (vv. 17-18).

These were acts that He performed as a part of the Passover Meal. But it was then—after the meal—that He initiated something completely new. We’re told,

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (vv. 19-20).

Thus, the old covenant was brought to a close, and the new covenant was begun—one in which God would transform people by His grace and write His law upon their hearts and minds. Because of this, we as His followers observe the remembrance of His sacrifice for us in the Lord’s supper. In observing this meal, we don’t observe the Passover, but something completely new for which the Passover was a symbol. We don’t celebrate a covering and a protection against God’s wrath; but rather the Lamb of God who has already and completely taken that wrath for us upon Himself on the cross.

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Now; as if to remind us that our Lord knew all that was happening—and that He willingly submitted Himself to it—He declared,

“But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” (vv. 21-22).

It may have been that Satan had entered Judas and prompted Him to do this; but Judas was responsible and guilty. He didn’t resist the devil; but became his willing instrument. The disciples all wondered who would do such a thing; but our Lord knew.

But we also, by this, know that our Lord willingly permitted it all—and even sovereignly orchestrated it—in order to present Himself as our Lamb. Just think of how great His love is for us! As He Himself said;

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

Thanks be to our Passover Lamb!