30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
lUKE 22 14-20 PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER 02 Luke 22 14-16 The immensity of the Lord’s supper
📖 Luke 22:14-20
*FRIEND OF GOD*
Sat17Jul2021 - *The immensity of the Lord’s supper* - _Luke 22:14-20_ – PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER (02) – Bible reading: _John 13:31-32_
The Lord longs to reveal to us the pain and concerns of His heart. He longs for us to be in tune with Him and be one with Him in His purposes.
We do not wait to understand the pain of His heart, we are more concerned for our own needs to be met. We want God to answer our prayers.
The Lord is patient with us and He hears and answers our prayers but He is waiting to see when we would lay all our concerns down and just be in tune with His pain and His burdens.
We need to ask the Lord to change us so that we will not be those who come to God only for our needs to be met but we will come to Him to take upon ourselves the matters of God’s concerns.
We now get into the meat of the understanding of the Lord’s supper.
_Luke 22:14-16 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."_
The Lord’s supper is exclusively for those who are in an intimate relationship with Him for it is here that God unburdens His concerns to us. Those who are not in a relationship with Jesus, do not have any place in this meal for this is the time when the Lord shares with us His concerns and longings.
This was the last meal or the last supper that He was having with His disciples before He went to the cross.
When we come to the Lord’s supper, we must come with an expectant heart, not so much as to what we will benefit from the Lord but to be ready to be one with Him in His thoughts.
He is longing to see if there is anyone among us who is ready to receive the anguish of His heart into our soul. Often, He is disappointed with us for our hearts are not in tune with Him.
After the last supper, He shared with His disciples the great teaching which is known as the *‘The Last Discourse’*. These are the chapters of _John 13-16_, which is then followed with His ‘High Priestly Prayer, which is _John 17_.
The substance of these five chapters of John is happening here, at this meal, that our Lord was having with His disciples. We can therefore imagine *the immense atmosphere that would have been prevalent at this time* when Jesus says, _"With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer …”_
Every time we approach the Lord’s table, we must see the anguish of His heart that He shared with His disciples. We cannot come to the Lord’s table in a casual attitude. That would be dreadful.
_John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end._
He shares His burdens with us because of the great love that He has for us. He cannot share His burdens with someone who is not in a love relationship with Him.
_John 17:1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,_
The suffering of Jesus coincided with Him being glorified. The suffering of Jesus on the cross and the glory of Jesus is the same. The suffering of Jesus on the cross was the height of His glory.
When we go through times of agony or suffering, let us be conscious that those difficult times in our life are also the times of our greatest glory. It is at those points of highest suffering that our greatest growth and expansion, for His kingdom and glory, are being established.
_John 13:31-32 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "*Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him*. (32) If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately._
The crucifixion of Jesus was about to take place. Judas had left to betray Jesus.
The suffering, which was to take place, was the place where the Son of Man was being glorified. When Jesus was glorified, God the Father was glorified in Jesus. When God the Father was glorified, He, the Father, glorified Jesus in Himself.
What was to happen to Jesus was what was in the heart of the Father. This moment was so vast and the disciples had to grasp what the Lord was beginning to share with them.
When we come to Lord’s table, we must see the immensity of what the Lord’s supper is all about.
*Thought to ponder*
```Will we ever be those who wait to share with Him in His concerns or will our relationship with Him only be for that which concerns us?```