The Lord’s Supper: Sealed with Blood (Luke 22:14-30)
The Lord’s Supper - Sealed with the Blood of Christ
Luke 22:14-30
INTRODUCTION:
Joseph Duckworth’s dad was 77 years old and was not long for this world. But he had one last request for his son. Duckworth’s dad was a World War II veteran of the South Pacific, having been stationed on the USS Bunker Hill, CV-17. His request… to have a flag on his coffin that had flown over an aircraft carrier.
Being the loving son that he was, Joseph first called the Navy recruiter’s office to get some direction. The recruiter recommended he call his congressman. The congressman sent him to a Navy admiral’s office. The admiral answered the phone with a gravelly voice:
“Now you listen to me, young man! Those brave people who served in World War II kept us free! This is one admiral in the United States Navy who intends to see to it that those old sailors receive the honor and gratitude of our country! I’ll give you the name and telephone number of a captain here at Norfolk Naval Base. You call him and tell him I said to get you an aircraft carrier flag in the mail today!” Then the admiral asked Joseph on which aircraft carrier he served: USS Bunker Hill, CV-17.
There was brief silence on the phone. The admiral then commented: “Kamaikazes. Two of them. It was bad. I am telling you, your dad’s flag will be on the way to you today.” Mr. Joseph thanked the admiral but the admiral responded: “No, Son, thank you! You’ve given me the opportunity to thank that old sailor and provide him with the flag of our country. He deserves it, and I intend for him to have his flag.”
Mr. Joseph Duckworth got his flag two days later. His dad had a flag from an aircraft carrier draped over his coffin when he died July 4, 1995. (Reader’s Digest, November 2024, pages 28-31)
Jesus had a special memorial in His heart when He was on His “death bed.” He wanted you and me to assemble around His table every Lord’s Day and remember His sacrifice for us. And to be grateful that you and I are members of His kingdom. Let’s study the institution of the Lord’s Supper as Luke presents it in Luke 22.
This chapter begins the fateful events of Jesus’ last few days before His crucifixion. Judas makes an agreement with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus (22:1-6). Jesus prepares the eat the Passover with His apostles (22:7-13) and then institutes the Lord’s Supper (22:14-23). His disciples get involved in a controversy over who is the greatest (22:24-30) when Jesus reminds them that He has made a covenant with them to give them all a kingdom, over which the entire apostleship will sit on thrones.
When God wanted to make His plan, His agreement to bless the world through the seed of Abraham, God used a word from man’s international diplomacy to convey that plan. In Hebrew, it is the word “berit.” The word is used 284 times in the OT. The English word is “covenant.” Our modern English equivalent is the word “treaty.” The U. S. signs something like 200 treaties every year. God made a covenant with Noah and his family in Genesis 6 & 9. God has made several treaties / covenants in the OT; the two most important are the treaties God made with Abraham, recorded primarily in Genesis 12 and 17 and the treaty with King David in 2 Samuel 7.
Jeremiah, when Israel was being seized by Babylon, predicted a new covenant between God and His people which would provide the forgiveness of sins which precipitated the exile: Jeremiah 31:31-34. See Matthew 26:28; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:14-39; 2 Cor 3 & 4; Heb. 8-10.
The Greek word “covenant” is used 33 times in the NT, only twice in the Gospel of Luke. In 1:72, the father of John the baptizer says that God is accomplishing redemption for His people by remembering the covenant He made with Abraham, in sending Jesus into the world (1:72).
THE NEW COVENANT IS MEMORIALIZED IN THE LORD’S SUPPER - 22:14-23:
First, Jesus tells His apostles (ver. 14) that He has “earnestly desired” to eat the Passover with them before He suffers. Not only is Jesus anxious to get the crucifixion behind Him, but He is also anxious to establish the Kingdom so His disciples can really start preaching the blessings of that kingdom.
Jesus tells them He will not eat it anymore at all (ver. 16) until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom. Jesus refers to the Lord’s Supper, which is communion with Jesus (1 Cor. 10:16-17). It will also be “fulfilled” in heaven when Jesus sits at the table with His bride - the church of Christ composed of both Jews and Gentiles - which is pictured in Revelation 19:7-9.
First, Jesus takes a cup of the juice from the grape (ver. 17) and thanks God for the events which the Passover meal memorialized - the redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt (probably), and then He shares that cup with the apostles. To celebrate the Passover during the time of Jesus, family or friends would meet together in a home. They would recline around a table and then a blessing would be said. One cup would be drank and then the father (or master of the ceremony, in this case, Jesus perhaps) would tell the story of the exodus and the first Passover. Then they would sing psalms (113-114), after which they would drink a second cup. The lamb itself would then be eaten with its bitter herbs and a third cup would be drank. Next, a thanksgiving would be said followed by a fourth cup and then the group or family would sing psalms (115-118).
We do not know which one of the four cups drank at the Passover meal this one was. Jesus reemphasizes that this is His last Passover meal with them; He will not drink the cup (the “fruit of the vine” which was juice from the grape vine) again at all until the Kingdom of God comes (ver. 18). We know the Kingdom was established on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, so that Jesus could celebrate the Supper with Christians (see Acts 2:42).
Secondly, Jesus takes the unleavened bread (ver. 19) and after He gives thanks again, He breaks the bread and gives it to the apostles. He tells them the bread “is” His body. Jesus assuredly uses the bread (and “cup”) as a metaphor for His body; the Law of Moses forbid eating blood and cannibalism (Lev. 3:17; 7:26-27; 17:14; Deut. 12:16, 23-25; 15:23). Jesus is “Light” (John 8:32) and a “Door” (John 10:7), so the bread “is” His body and the cup “is” His blood. They are metaphors symbolizing the sacrifice of Jesus for man’s sins. Jesus offered His body on the cross from His head to His feet. The disciples (and Christians) are to eat the bread as a “memory” of Him (see also 1 Cor. 11:26).
Then Jesus takes another cup after they had eaten the meal itself, and He told them the cup was the “New Covenant” - the New Testament of Jesus Christ - which was confirmed and inaugurated by His blood which will be poured out (ver. 20). The apostles do not grasp the fact that Jesus is predicting His death at this point.
The reference to the “blood of the covenant” alludes to Exodus 24:8 where it denotes the idea that the Mosaic covenant was inaugurated by the blood of animals. The New Covenant will be inaugurated by the blood of the holy Son of God (Heb. 9:18-28). See also Matthew 26:28. There is also an important theological principle linking blood with forgiveness in Leviticus 17:11. “Being given” and “being shed” (ver. 19 and 20) are both present tense participles, suggesting that Jesus is in the process of giving His life and shedding His blood. The present tense makes the offering very vivid.
Clearly Judas is still a part of the group, engaging in the Lord’s Supper and Passover meal with Jesus and the other eleven (ver. 21). Jesus identifies him as the betrayer; yet, it appears that the others did not understand what Jesus was saying. Having Judas in mind (ver. 22), Jesus laments the choice Judas is making. The fact that the “Son of Man” must “go,” that is be put to death, has been “determined” in the mind of God, indeed, since Genesis 3:15 (see also Acts 2:23; Luke 9:44; 22:21-22). But “woe” to Judas because he has made the choice to allow Satan to influence him to betray Jesus. The other apostles began to argue with themselves relative to whom Jesus was talking about (ver. 23). It is interesting: 1) They did not grasp the significance of Jesus’ statement that his hand was on the table with Him; 2) nor did they automatically assume the culprit was Judas.
The Lord’s Supper, with its unleavened bread and fruit juice from the grape vine, is one of the central acts of worship for Christians. It is identified as the “Lord’s” in 1 Corinthians 11:20, an adjective (in Greek) which is only used again at Revelation 1:10 relative to the “Lord’s day,” Sunday. This closely ties the “Lord’s Supper” with the “Lord’s day.” The time when the Christians took the Lord’s Supper, under the guidance and teaching of the apostles was every Sunday: 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Acts 20:7. Paul gives further instructions about the attitude with which Christians should take the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
THE NEW COVENANT IS MEDIATED BY THE TWELVE APOSTLES ON THE THRONES - 22:24-30:
The apostles had apparently frequent arguments as to who was the most important to Jesus: Matthew 18:1-5; 20:24-28; Mark 9:33-37; 10:41-45; Luke 9:46-48. It was perhaps after this argument that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet (John 13). The apostles argue, just after celebrating God’s redemption of Israel from slavery, over who is the greatest in the Kingdom of their Savior (ver. 24). Jesus gives them a statement that describes the attitude of leaders among the nations (non-Christians; ver. 25): kings rule over others and those having authority are called “benefactors.” Typically in that society, rulers “bought” the support of the people by giving out gifts. He became their “benefactor.”
In contrast to the Gentiles, Jesus’ disciples will be a different type of leader (ver. 26). In verse 26, the “you” is emphatic. If one wants to be great, he or she should be like the youngest within a group and the one who desires to “govern” should be the one who serves. Generally speaking, mankind respects and follows those who are humble over those who are arrogant. Jesus asks a rhetorical question in verse 27: Who is greater? The one reclining at the table, or the one serving? It is not the one reclining at the table. It is, in fact, the one serving and Jesus came among them as One who serves (see Mark 10:45).
Jesus praises His apostles, despite their argument, because they had continued with Jesus throughout His “temptations,” the highs and lows of His ministry (ver. 28). Consequently, Jesus was giving them all positions of responsibility in His kingdom (ver. 29; see Matt. 19:27-30). Not one apostle will be above another (see Eph. 2:19-22). Jesus is giving them the kingdom in order for them to judge “Israel” (the church of Christ) on twelve thrones, with each of them exercising equal authority. The verb “to grant” (NASV) is the verbal form of the noun “covenant.” It is used only 7 times in the NT and four of those are in the letter of Hebrews. So the kingdom is a part of this covenant that Jesus established with mankind and it is sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ (ver. 20).
It is false to believe that Peter, or any other apostle, was given more authority among the twelve and this text among many shows that. The church of Christ is the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) since the resurrection of Christ and the apostles, guided as they were by the Holy Spirit, taught and preached the message from God so that mankind would know what God expected and continues to expect from them (Eph. 2:19-22). Consequently, the world and the church have to listen to the apostles and prophets speak through their written word (1 Cor. 14:37) just as surely as if the men were alive today.
Take home message: The Lord's Supper is a beautiful reminder of God's covenant with us - a covenant sealed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Let His faithfulness fill you with hope and joy!