Luke 22:14-26 When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. (The hour having come on the evening we commemorate as Maundy Thursday, a Latin word referring to the Lord's last commands, knowing that the time had come for Him to be betrayed and crucified, Jesus is sharing the Last Supper, the Passover, with His disciples.) And He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Jesus' deep longing, His highest desire and His intense yearning, was to share this Last Supper with His closest friends. He knew what lay ahead, but He was eager to share this present time of fellowship and teaching with the disciples, and He was eager to become the fulfillment as the ultimate Passover Lamb and in the subsequent Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus, the sinless and pure bread of life, Who was without the leaven of sin, fulfills the Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows Passover. On the Feast of First Fruits that comes the day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus' soon resurrection into life from death also becomes the embodiment of the first fruits of the first grain harvest in the spring of the year when the people celebrated the new provision that signified new life and plenty. Also a foreshadowing of the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, the Feasts of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits also show Jesus as the Bridegroom eager for His Bride who will only be available to Him after His work on earth is complete. Until that time, though, He still eagerly desires to lovingly share Himself with us today as He joins us in the everyday moments of our lives.) For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." (At which time, He as the Bridegroom will celebrate the heavenly Wedding Supper of the Lamb with us, His Bride, His Church.) After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. (After Jesus commands us to love each other, His second "Maundy" command is for us to take communion in remembrance of Him as He reveals to us here the astounding truth that God Himself has chosen to shed His Own blood and break His Own body on our behalf. This Last Supper is the fulfillment of all that the Feast of Passover had represented. As the Israelites were directed to eat the Passover lamb to remind them of their own escape from death, we now understand that His broken Body and shed Blood are the reason that God's judgment passes over us.) But the hand of him who is going to betray Me is with Mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays Him!" (Jesus had chosen His path and it was fixed before Him, but Judas' and our choices are based in the free will God has granted us. Such power makes it incumbent upon us to carefully weigh and be mindful of the attitudes we develop because they guide our next steps that can ultimately lead us into the path of life or the path of death.) They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves." (Because we are often focused on our own narrow and foolish desires of title and standing, how often we totally miss Jesus' real message right before us, when He tells us the greatest among us are those who serve. In our world today, part of that message in a very practical sense means we should esteem the waiters and waitresses, the trash collectors, the house cleaners, and others of like standing whom we often overlook and, instead, honor those who serve us as the greatest among us. His message is also a call for us to become "like the one who serves." Only as we are in right relationship with Jesus will we be in right relationship with others, and that means, according to Jesus' example, that we put others and others' interests before our own, that we don't seek our own agenda or compete to advance ourselves, but that we serve others in love and humility.)
