Sermon: Why Is This Night Different? (Luke 22:14-23)

Why Is This Night Different?

Luke 22:14-23

Introduction

Last week we saw together that Jesus was God’s Passover Lamb.  We saw that Jesus knew this truth, the Apostle Paul knew the truth and John and all the other NT writers knew this truth.

1 Cor. 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

It is now the 14^th of Nisan.  The disciples are seated with Jesus and they begin to share the Passover Meal together.   During this meal, Jesus makes some very important comments.  He knows within just a few short hours, He will be crucified, dead and buried.  Let’s listen in and discover together some of the most profound claims in all of Scripture.

This text is full of amazing truths and here are a few things I want you to notice:

Jesus stresses the Substitutionary nature of His death.  His body is broken for us and His blood poured out for us.  Jesus is the Wrath-bearer and the Curse-bearer and Sin-bearer.

Even in the midst of His death being a few hours away, Jesus has a great desire to celebrate the Passover with His disciples.  He knows that this celebration will, in fact, move redemptive history further down the divine time line which leads to His suffering and death, and His still greatly desires to share the meal with those He loves.

Notice also, Jesus will not eat any more Passover Meals until He shares it again with all the redeemed throughout the centuries.  Jesus is currently waiting for the last person to be saved and then He will share with all His people the great Banquet feast.

Primary Claim

This night would forever change the course of redemptive history from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Human Condition

The Lord’s Supper is our covenant meal until we eat with Christ in heaven.  We have the great need to remember the sacrifice our Lord made for us and to never take the cross for granted.  Do you love Jesus today???

Luke 22:14-23

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

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

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

17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

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

19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

1.  The Passover Fulfilled (Luke 22:14-18)

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

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

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

17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

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

This final meal that our Lord eats on earth, often called the Last Supper, is a very special time He shares with His disciples.  This is the Passover Feast He’s been longing for and looking forward to.

We notice that verse 15 says, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

epithemai epithemasa- I have desired with a great desire…

With the original language in mind, can you see just how much Jesus desired to eat this meal with His disciples?  Far outweighing the intensity of His soon to come suffering and death is His burning desire to eat this last Passover Meal with His disciples.

Jesus is so passionate about His mission and His beloved followers, that His

Passover Meal

1. A blessing is said over the first of four cups of wine.
The first cup of wine is called the cup of sanctification. It is to commemorate the promise: “I will bring you out.”
The seder starts with the first cup of wine – the cup of sanctification: “I will bring you out”. God brings us out of Egypt – out of the world and out of spiritual slavery to sin and the fear of death. Jesus drank this cup of wine with the disciples.
17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

2. The host washes his hands.
3. The middle one of three matzah – that is, unleavened bread – is broken in two.  4.One of the broken halves is hidden until after the meal.
The three matzot – the unleavened bread – remind us of the Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Significantly, in the seder, the middle matzah is taken out and broken in two. Jesus’ body was ‘broken’ for us.
Half is eaten then and half is hidden until later. Understanding God’s promise of salvation for the remnant of Israel, we see a picture of the harvest of Jews who first came to faith and those who will find salvation in a time to come. The broken half is hidden during the seder and has to be found, later, by a child.
5. The Passover story is told.
6. A second cup of wine.
The second cup is called the cup of plagues – the plagues that came upon Egypt – and it relates to the second promise: “I will free you from being slaves.”
7. Everyone washes their hands.
8. Bitter herbs are eaten. In Exodus 12:8 the Jews were told to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. In Hebrew the bitter herbs are called ‘maror’. They are usually grated horseradish.
The second cup of wine is not mentioned in the gospels. It is the cup of plagues, drunk after the Passover story is told but before the meal.
At the point where bitter herbs are eaten, Jesus revealed that He would be betrayed by Judas: “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me” [Matthew 26:20-25].
When the half matzah is found it is broken into pieces, distributed and eaten by everyone. Jesus said, at this point: “Take and eat; this is My body” [Matthew 26:26].
9. The main meal. The main course is roasted lamb.
10. A blessing is said after the meal.
11. The broken half of matzah, which had been hidden, is brought back to the table. 12. It has to be found by a child. The matzah is broken into pieces and distributed. 13. Everyone eats of the bread.
14. A third cup of wine.
The third cup is called the cup of redemption, where God says: “I will redeem you.”
The third cup of wine is the cup of redemption. This is where Jesus announced the new covenant, for the forgiveness of sins [Luke 22:20, Matthew 26:27-28]. He did not drink the fourth cup of wine – the cup of completion. He said that He will drink that cup with us in heaven [Matthew 26:29] at the marriage supper of the Lamb. They sang the hallel (or praise) psalms, ending with Psalms 118 [Matthew 26:30].
15. A child opens the door to see if Elijah is there. The Bible says that Elijah would come and precede the Messiah.
16. Psalms 113 to 118 – the ‘hallel’, the praise psalms – are sung.
17. A fourth cup of wine.
The fourth cup is called the cup of completion, where God says: “I will take you as my own people.”[1]
16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Jesus will not eat any more Passover Meals until He eats the great Passover Meal with all His followers at the Great Banquet Feast of the Lamb.
We have a picture of this meal given to us by The Apostle John in the Book of Revelation…
Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”– for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Our Lord is waiting for that day when He feasts again with all His followers at the wedding banquet.
Jesus will not feast in heaven until we are all present with Him and He will not drink the fruit of the vine until we are all with Him.   In a sense, Jesus is fasting and waiting for the day when the Wedding Feast will take place.
2.  The Passover Transformed (Luke 22:19-20)
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Jesus picks up the sedar or unleavened bread, the one in the middle and breaks it as was the custom.  Now, the meaning is clear.  For 3500years, the Jews have been breaking the middle piece of unleavened bread.  Jesus explains that this represents His body that is just about to be broken for His followers.
Traditionally, it was this third cup that the father of the household would intentionally spill a portion onto the white place mat or napkin giving the appearance of the blood shed by the lamb at Passover.  Jesus, as He spills a few drops says, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Jesus very clearly tells His followers and us that His body is broken for them and His blood poured out for them.

Always remember, salvation has always come through the blood of the Lamb.  In Egypt during the exile, the Hebrews experienced the Exodus from Egypt through the blood of the Passover Lamb.  For us, we experience an Exodus as well through the blood of the Lamb.  Our Exodus is not out of Egypt but out of sin.  Through the cross and the blood of our Lamb Jesus Christ, He brings us out of sin and into the Promised Land of God’s reconciliation.  Our Joshua brings us into the Promised Land.

The broken body and shed blood of Jesus was for us…this is called the Atonement.

Jesus voluntarily took our punishment.  We were the sinners, not Him.  We were the ones who had broken all the commandments and the covenant of God, not Him.  We were the ones who had earned the death penalty, not Him.

-Jesus bore our pain…

-He bore our sin

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

-Jesus bore our Abandonment

Because of our sin, we were to experience separation from God in eternal darkness.

Jesus was left alone to die.  All His disciples fled…

Matthew 26:56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Because of our sin, Jesus would also suffer the worst pain He would ever endure.  The sweet fellowship with His Father was severed while He bore our sin…

Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus face the weight of bearing untold millions of sins all alone so that we would never have to pay the penalty of being abandoned for all eternity to outer darkness.

-Jesus bore the wrath of God

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Romans 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

3. The Passover Predetermined (Luke 22:21-23)

21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Please notice that God predetermined all the events surrounding the death of Jesus.  From before the first Passover, from before the death angel, from before all these events, God had determined to send His Son to bear the sins of His people.

Why is this night different?  The Son of God, the Lamb of God, would take away the sins of the world.  This night is very different.

Primary claim refocused

This night would forever change the course of redemptive history from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Today, we are scheduled to partake of the Lord’s Supper…