The Upper Room

The Upper Room

Luke 22:14-23

One of the last things Jesus did with His inner circle was to institute the Lord's Supper. Jesus made a choice that would change the destiny of mankind forever! The choice Jesus made has will force us to make a choice concerning Him.

SLIDE #1

Introduction

• Here we are, on the cusp of Easter.

• The message for today takes place hours before the events of what we call Easter unfold.

• The week had been busy, it began with Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem the previous Sunday, but on Friday, the ministry of Jesus would seemingly come to an end with His crucifixion; until Sunday, which we will talk about next week.

• The events we will examine together take place on Thursday evening, just hours before the arrest of Jesus at about 1 am on Friday, which would lead to the six trials before His crucifixion that would take place around 9 am on Friday.

• For the unsuspecting disciples, this was going to be a joyful evening sharing the Passover with their leader Jesus.

• Life was good for these men. They were following Jesus; they were able to spend time with Jesus.

• Sure, Jesus talked about this fatalistic death stuff before, but these men just kind of ignored it, because as a man, if you ignore something, that something does not happen.

• These men received a lot more than they bargained for before the night was through.

• I think we all have an idea of getting a lot more than we bargained for with this virus that we are all trying to avoid catching.

• This evening was an eventful one, as well as a confusing one for those in the Upper Room.

• During this evening, the Apostles would have their feet washed by Jesus.

• They would find out one of them was going to betray Jesus, they were going to be warned about some of the things that were about to happen, and they were going to be a part of a new celebration that Jesus would establish with them.

• Let’s open the Word to Luke 22; we will be in verses 14-23. We will begin with verses 14-18.

• As we examine our text today, we will see that one of the last things Jesus did with His inner circle was to institute the Lord’s Supper. Jesus made a choice that would change the destiny of humanity forever!

• The choice Jesus made will force us to make a choice concerning Him.

SLIDE#2

Bible Verse

Luke 22:14-18 (CSB)

14When the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him.

15Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

16For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

17Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.

18For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

SLIDE #3

1. I. A chosen promise.

Explanation

• They were reclining around the table, getting ready to eat the Passover meal with Jesus.

• The Passover meal was supposed to be eaten in Jerusalem after sunset and finished before midnight.

• The disciples and Jesus took their places on the reclining couches around the table.

• During such an important meal as the Passover, everyone would recline at the table, symbolizing the freedom the people had gained after the very first Passover and their subsequent release from slavery in Egypt. (Life Application Commentary, Luke)

• The Passover had been celebrated since that fateful night in Eygpt when the angel of death passed over the homes whose doorposts were covered by the blood of the lamb.

• Jesus tells the disciples that He fervently desires to eat this Passover with them.

• Jesus knows what ts about to happen to Him, yet he sees this a critical time in His ministry.

• If you knew you only had hours to live, what is it that you would see as important enough to do during those final hours of life?

• Jesus once again tells the disciples that He is about to suffer, yet we do not hear the disciples asking Jesus how He is going to suffer; they seem to brush that statement under the table.

• This evening would be special to Jesus for many reasons, but the chief reason would that because of the choice He made to follow through with God’s will, Jesus would be able to fulfill a promise to ALL of His followers.

• Jesus will take the most sacred meal in Judaism, a meal that reminded the Jewish people of God’s greatest act of redemption to date for them and changes it to represent the greatest act of redemption ever, the redemption of all of humanity!