Luke 22:7–23
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus1 sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it2 until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.3 21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
1 Greek he 2 Some manuscripts never eat it again 3 Some manuscripts omit, in whole or in part, verses 19b-20 (which is given . . . in my blood)
Section Overview
The theme of Passover and Unleavened Bread continues, as Jesus summons Peter and John to prepare the Passover. The instructions are not broadcast to all—if Judas knew the details, he could alert the authorities to arrest Jesus prior to the Passover meal. Peter and John are to meet a man carrying a jar of water, who will show them a room where they can prepare for the feast. Jesus reclines at table on this special occasion with the apostles. The feast points ahead to the messianic meal he will share with his disciples in the consummated kingdom. In an action symbolic of his death, Jesus takes bread and breaks it, saying that the bread represents his body, which will be given for them, and should be eaten in his remembrance. After the meal he also takes a cup, declaring that the cup represents his blood, which is shed for them in the new covenant. At this solemn moment Jesus reveals that his betrayer is present. Still, the treachery does not undermine God’s purposes but fulfills his plan, though the traitor himself will be the object of God’s punishment. Upon this pronouncement the disciples fall into a dispute over which one will betray Jesus.
Section Outline
V. Death and Resurrection in Jerusalem (19:28–24:53) . . .
D. Passover Events (22:1–38) . . .
2. Passover (22:7–23)
Response
One of the things that binds us together is remembering the past. Remembering the past can strengthen our love for one another in the present. It may strengthen our love for one another as families. We have photos and videos to remind us of days past. Some past events become part of the family tradition and are told over and over again because they are particularly significant or humorous. Passover was retold every year, and we retell Christ’s death every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, for remembering what Christ has done for us strengthens us for the present and the future.
We learn from this passage that the Lord’s Supper is a Passover meal. The Passover festival looked back and celebrated God’s liberation of Israel from Egypt. Every year the people of God gathered to recall the events of the Exodus when the Lord freed his people from bondage to Egypt. God destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, but the angel of the Lord passed over those who had blood on their doors. For Christians the Passover looks forward to the future, to the work of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. His death spells our liberation from the power of sin and death. His blood turns God’s wrath and anger away from us.
Second, the elements of the Lord’s Supper represent the very stuff of life, bread and wine. In Jewish culture wine was a common drink for everyday life. The Jews needed bread and wine to live. Without food and drink we will all die. Jesus does not commemorate his death with something extraordinary and unusual. He does not demand we use filet mignon and an expensive wine. We remember his death with the ordinary things of life, bread and the fruit of the vine. Just as we depend upon bread and the fruit of the vine to live, so too we live spiritually because of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we feed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us. Living things must die for us to live. Our life is sustained by the death of other living organisms. The natural world teaches us that life comes from the death of something else. So too, our spiritual life depends upon the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We live because he died in our place.
Third, we are commanded in communion to remember the death of the Lord Jesus. Remembering is not merely a mental recollection of Christ’s love for us. There is a kind of remembering that changes our lives, that makes us different people. There is a kind of remembering that summons us afresh to the truth that our whole lives depend upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Fourth, the Lord’s Supper is not just an individual meal. It is a church meal, involving fellowship with other believers, a family meal by which we are bound together to the Lord and to one another. This is why the Lord’s Supper should be celebrated in churches, not in seminaries or at dinner tables. The Lord’s Supper is not for Lone Ranger Christians but for Christians in a covenant relationship with other Christians.
Greek he
Some manuscripts never eat it again
Some manuscripts omit, in whole or in part, verses 19b-20 (which is given . . . in my blood)
22:7–13 We have already seen the close association between the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (cf. comment on 22:1–2). Strictly speaking, the day in view here is the Passover, since the reference is to the sacrifice of the Passover lambs, which were sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month (cf. Ex. 12:6; Lev. 23:5; Num. 9:5; 33:3; Josh. 5:10–11; 2 Chron. 35:1; Ezek. 45:21; cf. Jub. 49:10; 1 Esd. 1:1; 7:10). Jesus, in celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples, anticipates his own death. Peter and John are commissioned to make arrangements for the meal. They ask Jesus for guidance about the locale of the meal, and unusual instructions are given. Upon entering the city they will see a man carrying a jar of water. Such a state of affairs would be unusual, as jars of water were typically carried by women. Peter and John are to follow him to a house; when they meet the homeowner, they are to inquire about the room where Jesus may eat the Passover with his disciples. The homeowner will show them a large upstairs room prepared for the meal. Everything turns out just as Jesus says, and Peter and John make the necessary arrangements for the Passover.
Since the disciples are to meet a man who has readied the room for Jesus and his disciples, it seems that a prior arrangement has been made so that the homeowner is ready to host Jesus and his disciples. It seems less likely, then, that this is an example of Jesus’ supernatural knowledge about circumstances in the city. As readers we might ask why we are given what at first glance seem to be trivial details. But by slowing down the narrative and telling us where the Passover will be held, Luke heightens our anticipation for the meal. We recognize as readers that the Passover meal of Jesus with his disciples is one of the most important events in the entire narrative. In other words, when we read this text in light of the narrative as a whole, in light of Jesus’ impending death and Judas’s betrayal, the authorial choices make sense. The place where the meal is to be held is not disclosed to the disciples, and thus Judas is prevented from disclosing Jesus’ location during the Passover meal (cf. Luke 19:29–35). Everything is taking place according to God’s plan.
22:14–18 The time for the Passover arrives, and Jesus reclines at table. This is a formal dinner setting; the disciples likely sit in a circle, supporting their heads on their hands, with their feet stretched out behind them. Such seating arrangements were reserved for special occasions. In any case we should not envision Leonardo’s famous picture of the apostles all sitting on one side of the table! Apparently the meal is reserved for the apostles (cf. 6:13), and even the homeowner does not participate. Jesus shares his last intimate meal with his disciples. He knows he is about to suffer. The special arrangements that keep the religious authorities from knowing where he is eating the Passover are not designed to prevent suffering altogether. Suffering is destined for Jesus, but before suffering he longs to eat the Passover with his disciples.
One could interpret verse 16 to mean that Jesus does not actually eat with the disciples, that he will eat with them only in the future kingdom, when all of God’s promises are realized. But it is more likely that we should understand this to say that Jesus will not eat the Passover again until he eats with them in the kingdom of God.
The Passover anticipates the eschatological banquet, the day in which all believers will feast in God’s kingdom (cf. 13:29; 22:30). Just as the Passover pointed forward to and anticipated the fulfillment of all of God’s promises, so too the Lord’s Supper has an eschatological element. As Paul writes, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). The greatest festival of all still awaits believers.
Four different cups are typically shared during a Passover meal, and Luke is the only Gospel writer to tell us of a cup shared before the meal. Jesus gives thanks for God’s provision, instructing the disciples to take the cup and share it among themselves. The first cup of the meal is probably in view here. Luke does not explain the significance of this act. Perhaps it symbolizes the joy and fellowship the disciples share with one another and with Jesus at the meal. They are partners in a great cause, friends and brothers in God’s kingdom (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16–17). The eschatological dimension of the festival is again noted. Jesus declares he will not drink the “fruit of the vine” until God’s kingdom comes. Again, we should not interpret this to mean that Jesus abstains from this meal. It means rather that, after this meal, the next time Jesus will drink wine is at the great messianic banquet to come (cf. Luke 14:15).
22:19–20 Scholars dispute whether verses 19b–20 are original, since some textual witnesses omit them. But the longer text should be accepted, because the external evidence for its inclusion is strong, and the reference to the second cup makes it the more difficult reading, which could account for scribes’ omitting it. We now come to some of the most famous and controversial verses in the Gospels. Jesus takes the bread and gives thanks to God. He breaks the bread and gives it to his disciples. He then interprets the significance of the breaking of the bread. He says, “This is my body, which is given for you.” Unfortunately, Christians do not agree about what Jesus means. Roman Catholics espouse transubstantiation, which holds that the bread becomes the body of Christ, though not in a way evident to the senses. We also think of the dispute between Luther and Zwingli, including Luther’s sharp parting from Zwingli over the meaning of the word “is.” Luther’s passion for the truth was commendable, but his divisive spirit is to be regretted. We recognize that genuine believers have different conceptions of the meaning of these words.
Jesus does not posit transformation or identity between the bread and his body. The word “is” here means “represents.” The broken bread represents Jesus’ broken body, which is given for the sake of his disciples. When he says “This is my body,” he is right in front of them physically. They would understand him to mean that the bread and wine represent his body and his blood. The disciples are to celebrate regularly the broken bread in remembrance of Jesus’ self-giving love. The broken bread in the tradition typically refers to Jesus’ sacrificial death for the sake of his disciples (24:30; Acts 2:42; but cf. Acts 27:35). Remembering is not merely a mental recollection but brings into the present what the Lord has accomplished for his people. The memory lives again in the lives of disciples and reorients their way of being in the world.
After the meal Jesus takes the cup and says, “This cup . . . is the new covenant” (Luke 22:20). Paul uses the same expression and is probably dependent on Lukan tradition. We have impressive evidence here that the word “is” means “represents” in both instances. Certainly Jesus is not equating the new covenant with the cup of wine; he must mean that the cup and what is contained in the cup represent the new covenant. Jesus’ blood inaugurates the new covenant, just as blood inaugurated the first covenant, for Israel could not enter the covenant with the Lord apart from the shedding of blood (Ex. 24:8). The new covenant alludes to Jeremiah 31:31–34, where the Lord promises to enact a new covenant with his people, a covenant in which the law is written on the heart (cf. Jer. 32:40; Ezek. 11:18–19; 36:25–27). In this new covenant, forgiveness of sins is secured (cf. Heb. 8:7–13; 10:15–18), and Luke sees this forgiveness as secured by Jesus’ blood. Blood refers to Jesus’ sacrificial death (Lev. 17:11), as the blood of sacrifices are shed to procure forgiveness of sins (Lev. 1:4; 16:1–34). The cup also harks back to OT texts in which the cup stands for the wrath of God, poured out on those who have rebelled and sinned against him (Pss. 11:6; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15, 17, 28; 49:12; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:31–33; Hab. 2:16). Jesus takes upon himself the wrath his people deserve for their sin so that they can be spared on judgment day.
Some have said that Luke does not have an atonement theology, but we see here that Jesus’ death is for the sake of his disciples. Just as the blood of the Passover was smeared on the doorposts and lintels so that Israel could be delivered from God’s judgment (Ex. 12:7, 12–13, 23–24, 27, 30), so also Jesus’ broken body and shed blood procure redemption for his people. Zechariah speaks of prisoners’ being delivered “because of the blood of my covenant” (Zech. 9:11), which NT believers almost certainly see fulfilled in Jesus, the King coming on the humble colt of Zechariah 9:9. Jesus’ blood secures “liberty to the captives” (Luke 4:18). This is also a likely allusion to the suffering servant of Isaiah. The servant bears the punishment Israel deserves; he suffers in their place (Isa. 53:4–6). The servant will triumph (Isa. 53:10), and “make many to be accounted righteous,” for “he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11; cf. v. 12). The promise of many “offspring” (Isa. 53:10) will become a reality through this servant.
22:21–23 Jesus has emphasized how his death will bring forgiveness to his disciples, but the narrative returns again (cf. Luke 22:1–6) to the means by which he will be put to death. Suddenly, Jesus exclaims that the one who will hand him over to death is eating at the table with them. The other Gospel writers linger longer over what will happen (Matt. 26:21–25; Mark 14:18–21; John 13:21–26). Jesus is not plunged into despair, as if circumstances were spinning beyond his control. The death of the Son of Man has been determined and destined by God. Jesus has emphasized his death throughout the Gospel, and the whole travel narrative concludes with his death and resurrection in Jerusalem (Luke 9:22, 31, 44; 12:49–50; 13:33; 17:25; 18:32–33; 22:37; 24:7; cf. also Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:23). Elsewhere Luke emphasizes God’s sovereign rule over all that happens: Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). And,
God’s plan is being realized; Scripture is in the process of coming to fulfillment. Jesus cannot die before his time (cf. Luke 4:30).
Still, the predestination of Jesus’ death does not remove Judas’s responsibility or guilt, for Jesus pronounces a woe upon him (cf. Acts 1:16–20). Predestination and the authenticity of human choices are not seen as contradictory by biblical writers. They affirm both truths. God is in control over all things, even where the dice lands (Prov. 16:33), but human decisions are not a charade. Humans are not puppets in God’s play (Prov. 16:1, 9). “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Prov. 19:21).
Jesus’ words about a betrayer plunge the disciples into a discussion about which one of them will do so. Luke does not go into the kind of detail we find in John’s Gospel (John 13:21–30), but it is striking that the apostles do not immediately recognize it to be Judas. They are all fallible and weak, and it is not apparent even after they have been together for some years who will fall and succumb to evil. As is often the case, the identity of the betrayer is clearer retrospectively.