Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022

Luke 22:14—23:56

When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table with the apostles. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it again until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you that from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you,” etc.

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is summed up and explained in these few verses of the Scriptures.  The Lord “taking his place” with the Apostles is his coming down from heaven to live among us.  He has “eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you”, that is, according to the Greek, he has longed for with overwhelming desire to eat with them — to die for them.  “I tell you that from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  With these words he summarizes his preaching of the imminent coming of the kingdom, which can be understand both as the Church here and as heaven above.

“He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”  He took his Body, made in the same manner as ours, and broke it — that is, gave it up to be broken — and gave the life that came from its breaking to them.  “This is my Body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”  He does not say, This is like my Body, but This is my Body.  There, in his hands the bread, while retaining its form, becomes the substance of the Lord’s own Flesh.  He then breaks it to signify the Passion and Death he was about to undergo, and gives it to his Apostles.  He does not set it down on the table or consume it himself.  He gives it to them so that they might partake of it.  And in consuming it, they are consumed by him.  In receiving it, they are received by him.

“This cup is the new covenant in my Blood, which will be shed for you.”  Let us keep in mind here that the Apostles still harbor the notion that the Lord has come to reestablish the kingdom of Israel.  He has spent years teaching them that he is not the Messiah they had been taught to expect but something much greater, but their faith has grown slowly.  Here, he must have shocked them.  A covenant may be made between individuals, or between God and an individual or a people.  The Lord is clearly making a “new covenant” between himself and them, as representing all who believe and all who are to believe.  Jeremiah had spoken of this new covenant God would make with Israel: “Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31, 31).  This Scripture is fulfilled in their presence. Only God could make such a “new covenant”.  This covenant is not made in the blood of animals but in his own Blood, making it a living covenant that will always endure.  The Apostles drink this and thereby bind themselves to this new covenant.

“Do this in memory of me.”  The Lord does not call for a repetition of his action but for a continuation of it, until the end of time.  In this way the covenant between God and us is renewed and we may worship the Body and Blood poured out for our salvation.  In consuming these, he renew our commitment to the covenant as well as receive the grace necessary to live it out.  And in receiving him in this way, we are received by him.