Jesus Passion for His Final Passover
In today’s message I want to key in on a couple of things Jesus really wanted. Do you know there were a couple of things that Jesus was absolutely driven to have happen? A lot of people today are talking about their, "bucket list," - things they would like to do before they die. A bucket list is things you hope to do, things you would like to do, things you are not sure you can do. What I want to talk about today is a little bit different, I want to talk about something that Jesus passionately wanted to do, and was absolutely going to do.
We will start in the book of Luke:
Lu 22:14 And when the hour had come He reclined [at the table,] and the apostles with Him.
Lu 22:15 And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
Lu 22:16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
Here is Luke 22:16 in the Message version.
Lu 22:15 and said, "You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. (MSG)
Jesus says that He was intensely desirous of eating the Passover with them. This verse opens for us a window into His soul. Often we read of Jesus knowing the thoughts of others, this is one of the occasions that we are told of His thoughts, of what was precious to Him, of what He greatly longed for.
One of the Rabbinic blessings is, "May you be covered with the dust of your Rabbi." Meaning may you walk so close to him that the dust that is kicked up by his walking falls on you. Also included is the idea that you will walk in the same path He is walking in. Since this passage gives us an insight to what drove Jesus, and what was at the top of the pyramid of His hearts desire, we who want to be like Him should consider well what His passion was, and pray that it is also instilled in us.
This was the fourth Passover Jesus had with the disciples, but it is the only one He speaks of His emotions about it. What made Jesus so greatly desirous of this one? What was He so passionate about in this Passover.
First we notice that:
1. He was passionate about being with them.
"I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover WITH YOU...
Jesus could think of nothing better to do, than be with His closest friends.
As a pastor I run into people who tell me they can be a Christian and not go to church. Jesus loved to be around His people, how can you say you are Christ like but don’t want to be around His people? Yes Jesus spent time with the people in the world, but He enjoyed it much more when He was around His disciples.
In John’s gospel we read:
John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast [day], many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all [men],
John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
Did you notice the part where it says He did not commit Himself unto them? Matthew Poole in his commentary says this about that phrase: Christ did not take all these seeming believers into his bosom, nor call them after him, nor maintain any familiar fellowship and communion with them; but made haste again into Galilee, till his time was come, knowing that in so public a place of danger they were not to be trusted; for being God blessed for ever, he had knowledge of the hearts of all men.
Sometimes people complain that there are cliques in the church. Truth of the matter is that Jesus had a clique. He treated his disciples different than the crowd, and of His disciples He was especially close to Peter, James, and John, and of those three He was closest to John. Cliques can be bad if they are snobbish or exclusive, or uppity. But to associate by similarities of age, and likes and hobbies is perfectly fine. Jesus did not desire to be with the crowds preaching to them before He died, He wanted to be with His closest friends.
Those who say they can be Christian without going to church have no idea of all the blessings they are missing out on.
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Jesus reserved some of His communications for those who were closest to Him. There is a spiritual truth that to those who have will more be given. The hymn of old says it best, "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear..." Church attendance may not be essential for salvation, but it sure does bring a lot of benefits.
One of the great lessons of the tabernacle in the wilderness is found in the fact that the Jewish people were divided into four major groups, one for each of the four sides of the tent. The lesson is this, God loves to be surrounded by His people. If we are going to be like Him, we also will love to be surrounded by His people, and be as close to Him as we possible can. Sometimes I can’t understand what it is that He sees in us, Him having dinner with the disciples is like us having dinner with an ant, in terms of intellectual capacity and understanding of the vastness of all that is around us.
Though I can’t understand it, I still take great pleasure in hearing Him say that with great desire He desired to spend time with His disciples, I am included in that thought because He goes on to say that He would not eat the Passover again until He ate it in with them in heaven. I take that to be a reference to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and by God’s grace I will be there! God likes to be around His people and if you love Him you like to be around Him, and to be around His people also.
2ndly we notice that it was connected in someway to helping Him through the suffering that was ahead.
..."with you BEFORE I SUFFER;"
I am not sure how that helped, because they all bailed on Him in the hour of need. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the love He had for them, reminded Him of why He was going through what was just ahead for Him, and that reminder was a powerful incentive to keep on keeping on. When we talk about what Jesus really wanted and was passionate for we remember that God so loved the world... He really does love us.
3. Thirdly I think He was genuinely excited about explaining to them the meaning of the Passover meal and how it was to become the communion memorial.
For thousands of years the Jews had celebrated Passover, and as part of that celebration they broke a piece of bread, hid some of it, and then later in the meal they would bring out the part that had been hidden away. I believe that is was at this very point in the Passover meal that Jesus says:
"This is MY BODY which is broken for you" It wouldn’t be till later they would understand the full significance of what He was saying. There is so much wrapped up in the communion service. He was the bread which came down from heaven. His body was broken for us. Three days later He would rise from the dead (the broken piece reappears). The gospel was there all the time, they never understood it, but He was finally at the place where the pieces of the puzzle could be put together. Paul speaks of the veil that blinds their eyes, but it is removed in Christ. Jesus was bursting at the seems to explain it all, and this was the first greatest crack in that door.
4. Finally, I think He was excited that Passover was finally going to be fulfilled and the door of salvation would be blown wide open, and the Holy Spirit could be poured out on all flesh. All that Calvary would procure was about to be released.
Mt 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mt 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Sins power would be crushed. Captives would be set free, the floodgates of grace would swing wide open. The veil would be ripped in two, an anchor sure and steadfast into the Holy Place would be provided. The wall of enmity would be torn down, God’s righteous demands would be met and sinners would be accepted.
Hebrews is a book that speaks of the "better." Better promises, better covenant, better high priest, better blood, better mediator.... I think Jesus may have had this thought in mind when He spoke of how He greatly desired to have that time with them and explain the things He explained:
Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ appeared [as] a high priest of the good things to come, [He entered] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
Hebrews 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
It was time to end the old and bring in the new, and Jesus greatly desired for that to happen. It was time to discard the ritual and get with the reality. It was time to put the Old Covenant to rest and to bring in the better New Covenant. I am so grateful that I have come up under the New Covenant, that there is a blood available that washes away all my sins, that the Holy Spirit has been poured out, that Gentiles are now accepted in Christ, and that the way into the Holy Place has been revealed.
That is why Jesus was passionate about His last Passover.
As we close this service and prepare our hearts for communion I want to ask you are you living more like the inner circle or the fringe followers. Jesus has so much more for you....
