LS-03-The Last Passover

The Last Passover

He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.--Luke 22:15-16.

Here was the human Christ, His heart filled with loving affection for His friends, earnestly desiring a last communion with His loved ones, even as we do with ours.

Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end. He anticipated much from that experience at the passover table. Many things He wanted to say, tender lessons He wished to teach-loving counsels to prepare them for the difficult days to come.

We cannot measure the value to these disciples of the years they had spent with Him. They had been in training in the school of the Master. There was still much He must say to them, and for the telling no occasion would compare with the sacred hour they spent with Him before He suffered.

They had disappointed Him often. Even as they drew near to solemn meeting which was filled with such significance for Him, they were unseeing and hard of heart. They had that within them which rendered them oblivious to the cares which oppressed His tender spirit, and permitted them to contend for places of honor in the kingdom of heaven. His kingdom would have no place for such rivalries, but they did not understand.

Oh, there were so many things He needed to say to them, and they were so slow of heart to learn! Yet He could not leave them until He had impressed upon their hearts once more the lessons of humility and service, of love and loyalty, of hope and cheer. So He gathered them together. It was the passover feast of the Jews, looking back to a great deliverance in the long ago, but He made it a sacred communion that looked forward to a greater redemption, of which the passover itself was but a type and symbol. He was about to give His life for the world, and the bread and the fruit of the vine became the emblems of His sacrifice. It was to be His last passover with them. When next they met in communion with. Him, the age-long passover would have found its fulfilment in the kingdom of God. "Take this," He said, "and divide among yourselves. This is My body. This is the new testament of My blood." They were subdued and awed by His solemn words, and though they might afterwards sometimes fail Him, they would not forget. That solemn rite, then for the first time observed, became the trysting place where Jesus met His disciples in spiritual communion throughout the years, and where we to this day meet with Him and come within the spell of His gracious power.