He eagerly desired to be the Passover

Luke 22:14-34 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶ for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; ¹⁸ for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁰ And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood. ²¹ But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. ²² For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” ²³ And they began to debate among themselves which one of them it was who was going to do this.

²⁴ And a dispute also developed among them as to which one of them was regarded as being the greatest. ²⁵ And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles domineer over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ ²⁶ But it is not this way for you; rather, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. ²⁷ For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸ “You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials; ²⁹ and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹ “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; ³² but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” ³³ But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!” ³⁴ But He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

In today’s text it says: When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” The Passover is the feast in remembrance of the time that the angel of death passed over the homes of the Israelites while death visited the Egyptians. Exodus 12:1-13 says: Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; in proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”  So it was and not only were the Israelites spared from death, but they were also freed from the bondage of Egypt.

In today’s text it says:   When He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.” when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.” Jesus Himself is the fulfillment of the Passover. Just as the Israelites who marked their doors with the blood of the lamb were passed over by the angel and death and then were freed from the bondage of Egypt, so we who are covered by the blood of the lamb, Jesus, are redeemed from death and freed from the bondage of sin. Jesus eagerly desired to eat the Passover with His disciples. He willingly became our Passover on the cross.  Just as they celebrated the Passover feast in remembrance of their deliverance, so we should never forget what Jesus eagerly and willingly did for us.

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Amen.