Written By Pastor Victor Tafoya A Night to Remember Pt 1
Devotion In motion
Luke 22:1-13
As we get to Chapter 22, it’s already Wednesday. The disciples are preparing for the Passover Seder they’ll eat that night. “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.” At the time of Jesus, Passover was already an ancient custom. It began 1500 years prior to Jesus on the night of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. And today, 2000 years after Jesus, Jews still keep Passover… But on that night, Jesus gave the ancient ritual a new meaning. Afterward His disciples never looked at Passover the same way.
“And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.” Jerusalem was packed with people at Passover. Its normal population was a couple hundred thousand, but at Passover season, the city swelled to two million. And if these masses caught wind of the chief priests’ plot to kill Jesus, it would set off a riot. So, the Jewish leaders kept looking for an opening to do their diabolical deed. They found one in an unusual source. “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.” Satan was at work, in a man named “Judas” – one of Jesus’ own disciples. “So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.”
We don’t really know what was in the mind of Judas when he betrayed Jesus, but my hunch is that he became disenchanted. He expected Messiah to have political aspirations, but Jesus had none. He was angry with Jesus for not meeting up to his own expectations. And this is the reason whenever Jesus is betrayed. We disobey Him whenever His will doesn’t match up with our plans. We bristle up, rather than bow down. This is what Judas did. Perhaps He was trying to force Jesus to be more political or aggressive. Did he think his actions would cause Jesus to defend Himself? At some point, a dialogue began between Judas and the Jews. They offered him money. We learn elsewhere, thirty pieces of silver. You’d think his motive wouldn’t be just money, but he took the coins. And “he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.” With an informant on the inside, the Jews now knew Jesus’ schedule and movements, and they’d be able to catch Him while He was away from the crowds.
Verse 7, “Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.” On this day, every Jewish family chose a lamb for their Passover meal. “And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” At this point, Jesus must’ve known that Judas was a satanic snitch. For He sends Peter and John on an elaborate adventure. It’s almost like a game of clue where they discover the location of the meal. If Jesus had just told them, Judas could’ve eavesdropped, and Jesus’ arrest might’ve taken place in the upper room. “So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?” And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.” Understand, in the first century, a man toting a jar of water on his head wouldn’t be hard to spot. At the time, this was a task usually done by women. Jesus continues, “Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’
Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.” Church tradition says this house belonged to the family of John Mark – a friend of Peter – who later wrote the second Gospel. This house was not only the site of the Passover meal, but it played a strategic role for weeks to come. It was the disciples’ hideout after the crucifixion… It was where the risen Christ revealed Himself…Then on the Feast of Pentecost, the upper room was transformed – from a hideout to a headquarters. In the room where He said good-bye, Jesus returned to His disciples in the form of another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. In this room, the Spirit took over where Jesus left off! There’s never been a more vital house! Verse 13, “So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.” And what was included in those preparations? They purchased a lamb, wine, bitter herbs, and cinnamon paste – the symbols used in the Seder to remind the Jews of their bondage, and subsequent freedom. “When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.”
The Passover is a family time, and Jesus’ twelve followers had been His family. “Then He said to them, “With fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” As a law-abiding Jew, Jesus had celebrated the Passover Seder for each of His 30-plus years on earth, but this would be His last observance. The Passover was a picture of our salvation, and there was work still to do! Not eating Passover until our salvation is complete, is like putting the champagne on ice.
Jesus holds off declaring victory until the work has been finished. The cross is before Him now, and He won’t pop the cork until He’s with us in His kingdom! “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” The Jews actually drink four cups during a Passover Seder. This may’ve been the first cup, the Cup of Dedication. Three cups followed… “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
This was a radical reinterpretation. For 1500 years prior, the Passover matzoh represented the Hebrews’ faith and haste. They exited Egypt before the bread could rise. But now, Jesus gives this ancient ritual a brand new meaning. “This is My body which is given for you…” When your teeth bite and chew the communion wafer think of the cat-o-nine-tails that bit into Jesus’ back, and the torturers who chewed up His flesh. Actually, to look at a sheet of Passover matzoh is to see Jesus. It’s the only portrait God gave us of Him. He was unleavened or without sin. The bumps are His bruises. The holes are the pierced marks in His hands, feet, brow. The stripes speak of His scourging. In the Seder meal, the lamb is followed by a piece of unleavened bread called the “Afikomen.” It’s broken, wrapped in linen hidden, then discovered – just like the body of Jesus. And the “Afikomen” was the dessert!
For Jesus not only nourishes us, but He delights. In a single serving of Jesus, you get moral fiber, spiritual vitamins, protein boldness, and He satisfies our sweet tooth! With a diet and nutrition, at times we feel like everything that’s healthy tastes like cardboard. But with Jesus, you don’t have to choose between what’s good for you and what tastes good. He’s both! “Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” This was the third cup of the Seder – the cup of Redemption.
It symbolized the blood of the Passover lamb – the blood the Hebrews in Egypt had spread on the doorposts and thresholds of their house. Remember how it worked… If the blood was applied, the plague of death passed-over that house. Salvation that night had nothing to do with the moral status of the people in the house. It all boiled down to the blood. This is how our salvation works. Put your faith in Jesus. Ask His Spirit to apply His blood to your heart. It’s all in the blood. As the old hymn puts it, What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Commentator, J Vernon McGee makes an interesting observation at this point. “The Lord used two of the most frail elements in the world as symbols of His body and blood. Bread and wine – both will spoil in a few days. When He raised a monument, it was not made of brass or marble, but of two frail elements that perish.” God’s most significant creations consist of the most simple, common, and ordinary ingredients. God uses the foolish things to confound the wise.
In fact, author Bruce Larson goes as far as to put it this way, “We have romanticized the bread and wine as we have the cross. I am convinced that if Jesus came today He might even use coffee and doughnuts.” Jesus took everyday stuff and gave it profound, spiritual implications. And this is what He does to all of life when we surrender to Him. Suddenly work, leisure, friends, family, even encounters with strangers take on an eternal significance. Jesus sanctifies the mundane and infuses meaning into everything we do in this life. Amen
Victor Tafoya
Have a Blessed Easter
