THE LAST SUPPER

 

Jesus the bread of Life

 Image (c) Lost seed

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Luke 22:7 - 20

The Last supper is a celebration of Passover by our Lord Jesus with His disciples. It was the last meal He had together with them before His crucifixion. It provides the scriptural foundation for Holy Communion. It was during this meal that He predicted that one of them would betray Him. He also predicted that Peter would deny knowing him.

When the day of unleavened bread had arrived, the day when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and instructed them to go and prepare the Passover meal so that they could eat and dine together in love. They asked, “Where do you want us to go to prepare it?”  He told them to go to the city, where they would find a man carrying a jar of water and follow him to whichever house he entered. He instructed them to tell the owner of the house “The teacher asks, where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover with my disciples?” The man showed them a large room, well furnished; prepared and ready for their meal, just as Jesus had predicted. 

When the time arrived, Jesus and His disciples sat at the table, He said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the kingdom of God”

Jesus took a cup of wine and raised it up and gave thanks to God and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the kingdom of God has come”. Then, He took bread and gave God thanks. He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this to remember me”.  

Later on after they had eaten 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 sacrificed for you”.

What is the significance of the Last supper?

The Last supper or the Lord’s Supper is regarded as the institution of the NEW COVENANT in the Christian World. It is one of the ordinances of the church established by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 1 Corinthians 11:17-33 gives a detailed account of how it should be celebrated. Each time we take communion, it is a spiritual sharing and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus. By having his last meal with his disciples He was displaying an example of how believers should share and eat together.  We should give ourselves (time, money, talents etc.) sacrificially for the kingdom of God and for one another.