Luke 22:7-8, 15-20 – The Beginning – Bible study

Luke 22:7-8, 15-20 The Beginning As we prepare for the Lords Supper, lets go back to the beginning. Lets start by reviewing what took place the last hours of Jesus earthly life. 1. Jesus ate the Passover. a. The Passover lambs are slain during the day of the Passover. b. The meal is prepared and the people sit down to dine as the sun is setting. c. The Jewish new day starts at sundown so as they people are eating, a new Jewish day begins. 2. Jesus exposes Judas who leaves. 3. Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden. 4. Jesus betrays Jesus, Jesus is arrested. 5. Jesus is tried and held by the Sanhedrin that night. 6. At day break, Jesus is turned over to Pilate, then to Herod, then back to Pilate. 7. \#Mark 15:25\ At the 3rd hour (9AM), Jesus is crucified. 8. \#Mt 27:46\ At the 9th hour (3PM), Jesus dies. 9. The family has from 3 PM to dark to bury Jesus for \#Lk 23:54\ says the next day was a Sabbath Day. I find it interesting that virtually all the prophecies of the Suffering Savior were fulfilled in one 24 hour period (dusk the day Jesus eats with the disciples until dusk the next day when He was buried). I find it even more interesting that for the Jews, that 24 hour period was one full day (sunset to sunset). I. The First Communion was the Last Passover A. Luke tells us that Jesus and the disciples were to eat the Passover together. 1. It may not mean anything but I noticed that not a single gospel account gives us any details of the Passover being eaten; however, they do give us the details of the first communion. 2. I am sure the men ate the Passover for that is the stated reason they dined. 3. However, I wonder if the Passover is not detailed because the dinner was not the real Passover that year. I wonder if the real Passover Sacrifice would be the One who offered on the cross in just a few hours. B. \#John 13:1-2\ Notice that John is also detailing the same meal. Now notice: 1. The religious leaders had not eaten the Passover the NEXT DAY after Jesus and the disciples had. Joh 18:28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. Joh 18:39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 2. Indeed, the Bible says it was the PREPARATION for the Passover. Joh 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! C. How can this be? 1. I believe Jesus ate the Passover meal with the disciples one day early. a. The men should have eaten it with their families not friends. b. We have many "Christmas" meals. Most of them before Christmas. 2. I believe that Jesus was dying on the cross as the Passover lambs were being slain. 3. As the Passover lambs were being eaten, Jesus was being laid in the grave. D. Jesus died on the Passover because He is the Passover Lamb! 1. From this point forward, the Jews Passover was a celebration of the Jewish rebellion and rejection of Jesus. 2. In short, it was not acceptable to God any longer. 3. 37 years later, God stopped the Jews from celebrating it by allowing General Titus to destroy both Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. 4. There has not been a single legitimist Passover celebration since. E. Hence, the first communion was the last Passover. II. The First Communion was established with two pictures. A. The picture of the broken bread. 1. In John 6, Jesus had told the people that He was the Bread of Life and that the people must eat His flesh. 2. The thought of cannibalism was so repugnant to the people that from that point, many turned back and followed Jesus no longer. 3. And while Jesus did make it sound like that was what He meant, He was really associating the loaf of bread with His body. 4. And Jesus body was broken. We understand something of that. a. We remember that ropes that held Him. Were they a picture of the sin that binds us? Do we remember how easily Samson broke his robes. How easily Jesus could have broken His but He willingly allowed sin to hold Him that day! b. We remember that handsboth Jewish and Romanthat slapped and beat Him. Do they not picture the worlds reaction to God? the worlds rejection and rebellion of Him? c. We remember the thorns, the very curse placed upon this earthy by God when man sinned. Do the thorns picture Jesus taking the curse upon Himself? d. They were shaped into a crown. They could have been shaped into a square or a triangle but no, the thrones and the robe were both to mock Jesus kingship. To make certain the image was seen, the soldiers also gave Him a reed for scepter. e. The nails and the hammer. Very crude but still they might represent mans intellect, craftsmanship, and technology. All of the things we create and then attempt to use to prove that God does not existto rebel against God. f. And we remember the cross, the device used to hang Jesus between heaven and earth. (1) Could the cross represent the two natures of Jesus, the earth that it was planted within and the heavens it spiraled toward? (2) And perhaps the cross also pictured that fact that at the moment, Jesus was rejected by both the world and heaven. 5. But notice that Jesus did not pass the loaf of bread to Peter or John or Matthew to break it. He broke the loaf himself, a reminder that man did not take Jesus life, Jesus freely gave. At Isaiah wrote, "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him." 6. And again, lets not forget that Jesus suffering started long before the cross. a. "God is a spirit" Jesus said and Jesus is God. b. Yet to be incarnated, Jesus gave up His eternal form and His eternal rights: omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. c. Oh what a price that Jesus paid before His body was ever nailed to the cross. B. The picture of the juice. 1. As much suffering as the body of Jesus endured, it was not what was done to the body that bought our salvation. It was the shedding of the blood. 2. Somehow, God gathered the blood of Jesus. I suspect God gathered it all. a. That which was spewed from the lip that was busted when slapped. b. That which dripped from the cheeks when struck. c. That which collected and dropped at the whipping post and along the trail of His path. d. That which gathered at the foot of the cross. 3. All was taken to the heavenly altar and there poured out for the Bible says, "Without shedding of blood is no remission." 4. I do not know if you and I will ever be allowed to the most holy heavenly altar but perhaps God will leave the door cracked enough one day so that we peer inside to see that precious blood! 5. The juice is a picture of that blood. III. The First Communion had a command given. A. \#19\ The command is to remember; remember who Jesus is; remember what Jesus endured; remember was Jesus has done. B. By \#Acts 2:42\, the church was breaking bread together. That is not a term to just mean that they were eating together. The disciples taught the church what Jesus had taught them, the importance of remembering Jesus. C. So today, we remember.