Remembering Christ’s sacrifice through the Last Supper. This is a Bible study teaching for “Remembered” on Luke 22:7-20 from the “Explore the Bible” series from Lifeway.
Today’s Bible study is on Luke 22, verses 7-20, which is Luke’s account of the Last Supper. In verse 7,
7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
So, I’m going to stop here and we’re going to talk about the Festival of Unleavened Bread and Passover. The Festival of Unleavened Bread is one of the “Feasts of the Lord,” it is proscribed by God in Exodus 12 and it marks the remembrance of the Jews deliverance from Egypt.
But it isn’t only a “marking,” it was given to the Jews as God was preparing the way for them out of their bondage. It was their participation in the first Passover meal that kept them safe as destruction swept over Egypt.
If you remember the story of the Exodus, Moses had been petitioning Pharaoh to let the Jews leave the land to worship God. He would not let them go. Moses gave warning that judgment would come if Pharaoh did not let them go, but Pharaoh refused to listen. Calamity after calamity hit Egypt … sometimes it would open up a dialogue with Pharaoh and he would seem to give a little, but then he would go back to his same stubborn mindset. All of those plagues were warnings, God was giving Pharaoh and the Egyptian people opportunities to humble themselves before that final plague, the death of the firstborn came. But they refused.
This past year has often reminded me of the plagues of Egypt. When anyone says they can’t believe everything that happened in the Bible account, just say “Do you remember 2020?” All of these calamities, hit after hit. The question is, have we learned the lesson God has been trying to tell us?
So there had been nine plagues, Pharoah still isn’t budging, and God tells Moses, “Tell the people to get ready.” He tells them to kill a lamb and place it over the doorpost. And he instructs them in the meal they are to have: a roasted lamb and unleavened bread. They are to eat with their shoes on and be ready to go.
I’ve been doing Bible study videos on YouTube for the last two years and I have Bible studies going into more detail on the significance of Passover as well as other videos on what leaven represents, I’m not going to go into that today, but you can watch those if you want more detail.
But these instructions came to prepare them for what was to come. Death was coming to Egypt. The firstborn of every household that didn’t have the blood on the doorpost was killed. I think it’s important to remember that this was an open invitation, it wasn’t just for the Israelites. If an Egyptian household was covered by the blood of the lamb, they would be saved too. If an Israelite wasn’t covered by the blood of the lamb, death would come.
So night came. And there was wailing through the land. Think about it, everyone lost a family member. It was only then that Pharaoh agreed to allow the Israelites to go.
I think this is important to remember, that sometimes things need to be different. Why the stubbornness on the part of Pharoah? I think part of it was pride, who was this hillbilly (because that is what Moses was at that point) coming to tell him what to do? Who was this God coming to challenge the power of Egypt? That was probably one thing.
But I think the other thing is business. Having their workforce of 2 million people take off for a few days would disrupt things. It would cause a hickup in output. It would hurt revenues and the building projects. So Pharoah ignored everything around him, all the warnings, even though he had personally experience them, and bull-headedly kept going.
Until the Angel of Death came.
It took mass death for Pharaoh to listen to God. And I think that is something we need to remember, we don’t want to be like Pharaoh and ignore the warnings he gives us. When calamity after calamity hits, maybe we should stop and ask God, “Is there something you’re trying to tell me? Do I need to be doing something different.”
So that was the first Passover. And when the Israelites were led out of Egypt, they were given instructions to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread beginning with the Passover celebration in remembrance of what God had done for them.
They were given the first Passover to prepare them for what was to come. They still celebrate to remember. And this is what Jesus was observing with his disciples.
Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder?
Which brings us to a little bit of a controversy about Passover and the Last Supper. You might have heard or come across people who will say that the Last Supper couldn’t have been Passover because Jesus was crucified on Nissan 14, the day the Passover lamb was killed and the Last Supper was the night before.
There is debate about this, but I think the answer to this is that the Last Supper was “a” Passover, just not the Passover that the majority of the Jews, particularly the ones who had control over the Temple worship observed.
We have many different denominations in Christianity with different traditions. There are even some traditions that observe different dates for Easter and Christmas. For example our Easter was April 4th this year while the Eastern Orthodox church is celebrating Easter on May 2nd. That is because we use the Gregorian calendar while the Eastern Orthodox church uses the Julian calendar. Different calendars.
The same was true of the Jews at the time of Jesus. The majority of the Jews used a lunar calendar with months of 29 or 30 days. They would call the new month by observing the phase of the moon.
However, the sect of the Essenes, whose community is what we found in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, didn’t follow the same calendar. They used a 364 day solar calendar and calculated Passover from the vernal equinox, which happens to be the same way the Christian church now calculates the date of Easter since the Council of Nicea.
There were two calendars, two different schedules of observances. I came across a resource that calculated the Essene calendar and the year Jesus was crucified, Nissan 14 on the Essene calendar fell the day before the standard Jewish calendar.
Back to the Last Supper.
9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
10 He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 13 They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
This isn’t in our assigned reading today, but Jesus’s words caused a lot of controversy among his disciples. Luke doesn’t touch on it, because, remember, Luke was probably written to and for Gentile believers. But for Jews, this instruction was heretical, because the Law said that they were not to eat or drink blood.
13 “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. 14 The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.
And here is Jesus saying that they are to drink his.53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
So I think most of us understand that when we take communion we are doing it in remembrance of Jesus’s sacrifice for us. We are proclaiming his death until he comes again. We are saying that we put our trust in him and he is our salvation.
And I think it’s also important to remember that this has been the plan of salvation from the very beginning, putting our trust in God and following him.
Genesis 15:6: And Abram believed God and his faith was credited as righteousness.
Abraham went forward and acted because he believed God would do what he said. The Israelites took action because they believed God would do what he said. And during the long period between when God delivered the Israelites from Egypt and when Jesus came to bring salvation, at every sacrifice … there was bread and wine. Even though they didn’t know what it represented, the Israelites were proclaiming the very same thing that we do when we take communion.
Leviticus 23:13 13 With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering
But I think it’s important to remember that God didn’t deliver the Israelites from Egypt so they could still be slaves. He delivered them so they could be his people, so they could be a witness of justice and righteousness. They were to be a free people that were different and set apart from the way the cultures around them operated.
And that’s what we are supposed to be too. Jesus didn’t die to leave us as we were. He died and rose again so we could be free. Free from the bondage of sin. But just like the Israelites, we have to choose that freedom. We have to choose to submit to him and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he reminds them of this. He reminds them of Jesus’s sacrifice and how precious it is. I’m going to read this chapter.
I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed[d] and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.
6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.
12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
This Bible lesson was originally taught by Carla Alvarez on April 25, 2021 in the Kingdom Citizen Bible study Class at the Second Baptist North campus in Kingwood, Texas.