The Last Supper

Second in the Series: Meals With Jesus

The Last Supper

Why “Meals with Jesus”?
a. Premise: a meal is a metaphor for fellowship; the sort of sustaining fellowship that nourishes the soul.

Rev. 3:20 Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me.
Your personal spiritual growth is contingent upon fellowship with Jesus.

“…all human beings eat, and when they do most of them seek companionship with one another and with their god.” ROBERT F. O’TOOLE, ABD

Questions: How am I growing? How is my fellowship with Jesus? What might I do now to ‘have a meal’ with him? What am I willing to commit to in your presence?

b. The culmination of all things in Christ is summarized by the Marriage Feast of the Lamb
Rev. 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
19:9 Then the angel said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Questions: What do I anticipate most about the future? Am I prepared for this meal?

c. The six feasts and the fast of Yom Kippur are the expressions of fellowship with God in Israel, and the hope of blessing in the future.

Questions: What are those feasts and that fast? Cf. Exodus 23 and 34; Deut. 31. Why were they important to Israel? Why do you think God invested so much attention in such festivals? What does their layout through the year tell you about their meaning? Any implications for us and our ways of ‘celebrating’ or ‘resting’?

d. The Gospels are replete with such meals.

Questions: How many can you identify? Why so many? What does that tell us about Jesus’ lifestyle? What does that tell us about the Gospel writers’ evaluation of those meals?

II. Which meal is the Last Supper?
a. The Gospels tell us that the Last Supper occurred during Passover.
i. The Passover commemorated the defining moment in Israel’s history. Exodus 11-13.

ii. Mark 14:12–16; par. Luke 22:15

b. Several elements of the meal are Passover-connected.
1. Prayers, Washings, Songs
2. Cups of Wine
3. Bread
4. Retelling the story of deliverance
During the Passover meal someone, usually the youngest son, was designated to ask the question “Why is this night different from other nights?” At this point the host would retell the story of Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt and the meaning of the various elements of the meal. As the host of the Last Supper, Jesus would have been the one who retold the story. Dict of Jesus & the Gospels

c. The management of the meal follows Passover custom.
i. Led by the head of a household.
ii. Proceeding through a set order (seder; cf. Thursday’s demonstration).
iii. Consisting of prescribed elements.
The Passover Elements. The meal consisted mainly of six elements.
1. The most significant was the Passover lamb, which had to be roasted over a fire. All the lamb had to be eaten that night. Nothing could be saved. The lamb of course reminded the participants of the first Passover in which the angel of death was kept from visiting the first-born of Israel because they were protected by the blood of the lamb.
2. The unleavened bread reminded them of the swiftness of God’s deliverance. His salvation was so swift that the people of Israel did not have time to bake bread.
3. The bowl of salt water reminded them of the tears shed in their captivity and the crossing of the Red Sea.
4. The bitter herbs recalled the bitterness of their slavery.
5. A fruit puree called Charosheth reminded them of the clay which they used to make bricks in their captivity in Egypt.
6. Finally, there were four cups of wine, mixed three parts water to one part wine, which reminded them of the promises of Exodus 6:6-7. The third cup of blessing was probably the one Jesus used in the Last Supper (Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 10:16; 11:25). The fourth cup was followed by a benediction and singing. IVP Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels, R. H. Stein

The Passover The Last Supper
God remembered his covenant A new covenant is enacted
Slavery in Egypt [Slavery to sin?]
Deliverance from Egypt Forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28)
Blood of Passover Lamb Blood of Christ (our Passover, 1 Cor 5:7; the lamb of God, Jn 1:29, 35)
Interpretation of elements Interpretation of elements
Call for continual celebration Call for continual celebration
IVP Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels, R. H. Stein

III. What is the meaning of this meal?
a. There are echoes of Jesus’ previous activity in this meal.
i. John 6:31-35; 48-58

ii. The cleansing of the Temple belongs here. John 2:15

b. There are variants in this meal from the Passover pattern.
i. He passed a single cup.
ii. He explained his own prophetic role through this meal.
iii. He presented bread to them, rather than lamb.

c. Jesus is offering himself as the fulfillment of Passover.
i. That night in Egypt, death was all-pervasive: every home had either a dead son or a dead lamb.
1. Death of a lamb did NOT exempt the household from judgment.
2. That death looked forward to the appropriate sacrifice of an ideal human and an eternal being.
ii. He is the bread of life.
1. No mention of lamb in this narrative of the Passover meal?
2. Keller: The lamb wasn’t on the table; he was AT the table.
3. John the Baptist introduced him: BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!
4. Substitutionary redemption.
iii. He offers his blood as a new covenant.

Thus: JESUS SHOWED HIMSELF AS A NEW AND GREATER EXODUS from slavery and a means to RETURN to the dwelling-place of God.

IV. What might happen if we were to share this meal in faith?
a. By faith…that Jesus was and is the Lamb of God.
Jesus now claims to be the “new and greater” manna sent by the father from heaven!

Questions: How is it that we ‘proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’ by taking this meal? What does that mean? Why is it essential that we take the meal in faith? In what sense is this an expression of faith?

b. With Jesus…at the table.
Tim Keller: among all the religious founders of world history, only Jesus died alone, naked, abandoned by all friends. Who would have found that compelling? And yet, his life and his followers have changed the course of history. His death proved to be a transforming power in their lives and can be in yours.

c. With one another…in unity.

The sacrifice of the animal atones for the sin of the people, the blood sprinkled on the doorframes purifies those within, and the eating of the sacrificial meat sanctifies those who consume it. By participating in the Passover ritual the people consecrate themselves as a nation holy to God (cf. Ex 19:6).

d. Regularly…as if our very lives depended upon it.
e. Hopefully…

Questions: How have these passages from the Bible impacted your understanding of the Lord’s Supper/Communion? How is one qualified to take this meal? Are you prepared to enjoy this meal with Jesus/of Jesus?







Apr 5th Good Friday: Barabbas Adam Brown

Apr 8th Meals: Breakfast on the Beach Lane Fusilier
[resurrection required!]