June 18 2025

Wednesday June 18

Luke 22:14-16

The Last Passover Fulfilled with Jesus

14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

Welcome to Pastor's Chat. Today, we're looking at Luke chapter 22, the events that took place on Thursday, the week of Passover. Jesus, the Passover Lamb, knew the hour had come that He would be sacrificed. He would be led as a lamb to the slaughter and give His life as a ransom for our sins. These are special verses as we look at them here in the Gospel of Luke.

Today, we're focusing on verses 14–16, which say, "When the hour had come, He, Jesus, sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 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.'" Most Bible scholars believe that the following verses 17–20, which describe the institution of the Lord’s Supper, take place at the end of the supper, so we'll come back to those verses.

To get the full glimpse of what is taking place we remember that that it is Thursday evening, which would have been the Jewish Friday, because sundown begins the next day for the Jewish people. We also believe these events took place in the upper room in the city of Jerusalem. Whenever I have visited Israel we always go to this location I Jerusalem, not the same building, but an upper room where we take the Lord’s Supper with our tour group.

We believe that’s what takes place in verses 17–20. But before Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, the Lord has the Jewish Passover supper with His disciples. Remember that Jesus sent Peter and John ahead to prepare for this supper. The lamb has been slaughtered and roasted. Some tell us that the lamb was roasted with a pomegranate stick stuck through the middle and another crossway through the lamb, then roasted over the fire for the Passover meal—a picture of the cross of Christ, suffering on a cross, crucified for our sins and your sins.

In verse 14, it says, "When the hour had come," and we’ve talked about the hour that Jesus knew would be on that day, an hour that He would go to a cross and suffer. During this time, the Passover supper takes place in this upper room. If you want to read the details of what was said in the upper room, go to John chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, and possibly even chapter 17, where Jesus prays His High Priestly Prayer. We know that prayer could have taken place in the upper room or on the way to Gethsemane when He left, because John 18:1 says, “When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.”

Something else to notice in John chapter 13: the first thing Jesus did when they entered the room, as the host of the Passover dinner, was kiss each of the disciples, which means He would have kissed Judas, whom He knew would betray Him. Some believe Judas sat on His left and John on His right, as described in John 12:23. In the upper room, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet giving them an example of humility. Which apparently the disciples didn’t learn from it. Because later, after the Passover meal, the disciples argue over who’s going to be greatest in the kingdom (Luke 22:24-30).

In John 14, Jesus tells the disciples not to let their hearts be troubled and gives them the promise of heaven, the promise that He will come again, and the promise of the Holy Spirit. In John 15, Jesus gives the message of abiding in Him—He is the vine, and we are the branches. In John 16, He goes into detail about the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who will come and be with them.

Jesus knows the hour has come and says, “I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." (v. 16). Jesus no doubt said this because He knew this Passover time would fulfill all the Old Testament scriptures of the Passover Lamb. Jesus, that Passover Lamb, is the last Passover. In verses 17–20, we see the institution of the Lord’s Supper, which is now left for us, the church.

These are very interesting scriptures. I trust you will get a glimpse into the suffering of our Lord and understand what He did for you and me in a special and unique way.

God bless!