The Last Supper (Journey to the Cross): The night before his death on the cross, Jesus shared a Passover meal with his disciples. A new personal relationship with God was now possible. Jesus established the Lord’s Supper for us to remember and proclaim the cross until his return. Recorded on Mar 29, 2026, on Luke 22:7-23 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of our Journey to the Cross: Lenten Reflections from the Gospel According to Luke series. “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Lk 9:51). The cross of Christ wasn’t an embarrassing accident or tragic defeat. While his enemies opposed him and his disciples were confused about him, Jesus was very clear about his identity and intentional about his mission. He had come to seek and to save the lost through his death and resurrection — as had been foretold. This would become clear to anyone with spiritual eyes to see. But when you understand who Jesus is and the nature of his kingdom, it changes everything! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Sermon Transcript
So, we’re almost done with our Lenten sermon series, called Journey to the Cross, from the Gospel of Luke. And we’ve seen that Jesus had set his face toward the city of Jerusalem, and we’ve been following along as he made his history-shaping journey to the cross. Despite the many opinions and expectations of others, Jesus was crystal clear about who he was and what he had come to do. Though he was the Son of God, Messiah, and the King of the Kingdom of God, Jesus came for us—to seek and to save the lost. But how would he do this? Jesus had been teaching that something big was about to happen in Jerusalem (something about his death and resurrection?), though the disciples didn’t fully understand. Last week, we considered what is typically the Palm Sunday story and saw how Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The journey was almost at an end. But we saw that when Jesus shows up, it always forces a confrontation. How will people receive him? The disciples welcomed him as God’s King, while the religious leaders and others either resisted him or outright rejected him. Today, we’re skipping ahead in Luke’s gospel to our final stop on the journey, the upper room of the Last Supper, where Jesus made it clear that in all the big events of the next few days, God was doing something radically new. It would be similar to other acts of God’s saving grace, but would result in something new. This new work would be so big that his disciples could never forget its meaning. This is why, on the night before his death, Jesus established the Lord’s Supper for us to remember and proclaim the cross until his return. Now, I don’t know about you, but in our constantly distracting world, I sometimes (hourly) have a hard time keeping the main things the main things in my life. My sermon today is about three meals: 1) the Last Supper, from our text today, 2) the Lord’s Supper (communion), which we continue to practice, and 3) the Wedding Supper of the Lamb that will happen when Jesus returns. We have three square meals to consider. But my sermon is also about how to keep the main things the main things in your life. If you have your Bible/app, please open to Luke 22:7. Let’s jump in.
Luke 22:7–13 (NIV), “7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” 9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. 10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” 13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.” Again, just like last week, I love how mysterious-sounding this account is. (“Go to this place and talk to this stranger, give him the password, and he will show you our secret hideout.”) But to be fair, Jesus knew the authorities were looking to kill him, so all this cloak-and-dagger stuff was just good sense because Jesus had a few more things to do before his hour would come. We know from Acts 12 that the early church met at Mary, the mother of John Mark, who wrote the gospel of Mark. So did they have the Last Supper at their house? It’s very possible. Luke doesn’t say where this happened, but he does tell us when. It was the day when the Passover lambs were sacrificed, which would make this the Thursday evening of the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. This also means that Jesus would be dead by 3 pm the next day. But first, he wanted to share the Passover meal as his Last Supper, his final meal with his disciples. So Jesus sent Peter and John, two of his most trusted disciples, to make the arrangements, and they got everything set up. Again, Jesus is in complete control of the details here. Now, the Passover meal was an annual opportunity to remember when God saved his people from slavery in Egypt. Last year, we went through the whole Exodus story, and you can always go back and watch or listen to older series if you’d like. But we saw that the final of the ten plagues was a judgment against the firstborn sons of every family, no matter how great or small, from the Pharaoh on down. The Israelites were told to take shelter under the blood of a sacrificial lamb painted on the doorposts of their houses and to share a symbolic meal as a family. But if they believed God and obeyed, they would be spared from judgment — not because they deserved it (“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Ro 3:23) but by the sheer grace of God. So God saved his people by grace and led them out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, where he entered into a covenant relationship with them. God wanted his people to celebrate the Passover every year so they’d remember what the Lord had done for them. So, the first meal of the day, the Last Supper of Jesus, was a Passover meal, shared in the shadow of the cross. But would this be kind of a sentimental goodbye? Or would Jesus use this meal to do something more? Let’s find out.
Luke 22:14-20 (NIV), “14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.” This is God’s word. So, in those days, a banquet table would’ve been low to the ground, with people reclining, as Luke says, on pillows or cushions. But you can feel the emotion of Jesus when he said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you [When?] before I suffer.” There’s the shadow again. But this is significant: Jesus reveals that there will be something of a gap for him in celebrating the Passover going forward. In v. 16, he said, “I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” And then v. 17 says he won’t drink the fruit of the vine again until the arrival of the kingdom. I’m sure the disciples wondered what all this might mean. How might the Passover meal, a celebration of God’s saving grace, be fulfilled in the arrival of the kingdom? Let’s come back to that. For now, Jesus established a new meal for his followers in v. 19. Did you notice that? It should sound very familiar, because we read either it (or a passage like it) whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (communion). So first, we had the Last Supper of Jesus, a Passover meal shared in the shadow of the cross. Second, we have Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper, another special meal that followers of Jesus are commanded to do, to remember what the Lord has done for us. “…do this in remembrance of me.” And we do! But what did Jesus mean by saying “This is my body…this is…my blood”? Well, we have some work to do here because over the last 2,000 years of church history, there have been different beliefs about how literal or figurative Jesus was. When Jesus says that the bread “is my body given for you” and the cup “is the new covenant in my blood,” “…poured out” as Matthew says, “for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:28) does Jesus mean that the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper literally becomes his body and blood that we consume? It’s true that some early pagans actually accused Christians of being cannibals because they heard something about eating somebody’s body and drinking their blood. Justin Martyr, who became a Christian only a hundred years after the Last Supper, partially wrote his First Apology to clear up this confusion. (Justin Martyr. “The First Apology of Justin.” The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, edited by Alexander Roberts et al., vol. 1, Christian Literature Company, 1885, p. 185.) Now, in case it needs to be said, Christians aren’t cannibals. However, it’s hard to understand how the bread and cup might literally turn into flesh and blood when the elements have no discernible change in nature. Now, perhaps, the bread and cup miraculously turn into the body and blood of Jesus in some mystical/spiritual sense during the Lord’s Supper. But again, without any discernible change in nature, it’s hard to understand how this is different than seeing the elements as simply symbols of the body and blood of Jesus. As a church, we believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively about the elements of the Last Supper. The bread and cup represent the body and blood of Jesus, which we must consume by faith, like manna from heaven, to grant us everlasting life in communion with God and one another. I think God cares more about how we treat one another than how we celebrate communion. If I were dying of cancer, and I asked my kids to share a meal in my honor, it would matter way more to me how they were treating one another than what they had for dinner. Nevertheless, we take our practice of the Lord’s Supper very seriously, as seriously as if we were receiving Christ himself. Our practice is to do this on the first Sunday of the month, while other churches do it weekly. Jesus doesn’t specify how often we are to do this, just “do this in remembrance of me.” “For [as the Apostle Paul says] whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Co 11:26). This means we still share the meal of the Lord’s Supper in the shadow of the cross. We proclaim his death until when? Until the return of Christ, that great future homecoming that Jesus taught in the Parable of the Ten Minas. One day, the King will return, the dead will be raised and judged, and our current age will be done. So we’ll continue practicing the Lord’s Supper until his return. But also, this revised Passover Meal represented a new kind of relationship. Again, God was doing a new thing. And what did Jesus say? v. 20 says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” New covenant? Like at Mount Sinai with the giving of the Law and all that? Yes. God was establishing a new kind of relationship with human beings, not through lambs sacrificed every year, but through the one perfect sacrifice of the great Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. God had promised to do this through the OT prophets. Let’s look at just one passage. Jeremiah 31:31–34 (NIV), “31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” At the Last Supper, Jesus revealed that the new covenant was being fulfilled in their midst. Sins would be forgiven. And people would have God’s law written on their hearts by the Spirit in a personal relationship with him. And, friends, this is what God is still offering today: A personal relationship with the creator, our loving Father in heaven. How? Through communion with God’s only Son, Jesus. All who confess faith in Jesus will be saved and are welcome at the table of the Lord’s Supper. Until when? Until the return of our King. But then, do you know what joys await us? Jesus was so eager to eat the Last Supper because he wouldn’t eat or drink in communion with his disciples until the fulfillment and arrival of the Kingdom of God, until his return in glory. So, the Last Supper was first a special Passover meal shared in the shadow of the cross. Second, Jesus used this opportunity to establish the Lord’s Supper, an ordinance for his followers to practice until his return—to remember the cross with thanksgiving and praise, “in remembrance of me,” says Jesus. But third, all this points forward to a future feast in the halls of heaven, the great wedding supper of the Lamb. When Jesus will be finally united to his bride, his people, saved by grace and through faith. And we will recline at the table, or enjoy whatever furniture is like in the new heaven and earth, and eat and drink in perfect communion with one another and with our Lord. The Last Supper teaches how Jesus would seek and save the lost, through his sacrifice on the cross, to make a way for God to have a personal and everlasting relationship with us, his people—the ultimate Passover and yet another act of God’s saving grace. But it also teaches the point of our practice of the Lord’s Supper, that we continue to faithfully proclaim the gospel until the return of our King and the gloriously joyful feast we’ll share on that Day. But until that Day, how might we apply this to our lives today? Well, I’ll leave you today with a gentle warning because we live in a very distracted age: be careful not to forget. Jesus established the Lord’s Supper for us to remember and proclaim the cross until his return. So be careful, don’t forget! Forget? How could we forget something so important?? Well, if you’re anything like me, you’re getting bombarded with attempts to capture your attention. Email/text/social media notifications, Slack/spam messages, calendar reminders, breaking news alerts, and more. It’s really bad. And all these app-makers know that we are easily distracted creatures, and they can make billions off our distracted engagement. But being so distracted, it can be all too easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees. Meaning, in our distraction, it can be hard to keep the main things the main things, especially as we wait for Jesus to return. As we wait, we might be tempted to make other things the main thing in our lives rather than regularly remembering and proclaiming the cross of Christ. Other things might creep into being the main things of our lives. Maybe things like our work, wealth, relationships, politics, looks, mental health, school, or hobbies. And don’t get me wrong, most of these things are good things. They’re just not bigger or better than the cross of Christ and the good news of the gospel. The gospel can become boring if we’re not careful. Our faith can be so fragile sometimes. And waiting is hard. But friends, the gospel is still good news. And Jesus still saves. The body of Christ was broken, and his blood poured out, which means the cross still provides the forgiveness of sins we still so desperately need. Through faith in the person and work of Christ, we can still have a personal relationship with God that will go on forever and ever. So, if we must continue to wait, then wait we will, together, praising God and busy doing good works as faithful stewards—with hearts full of the faith and gratitude that come from our commitment to remember and proclaim the cross until the return of our Lord. If you are able, we will next celebrate the Lord’s Supper this Friday at our Good Friday service. We’d love for you to join us in person. (For those of you watching online, if you’re not able to join us in person, please let us know if you’d like us to bring the Lord’s Supper to you. Just fill out a Connect Card, and we’ll make it happen.) And, my friends, we won’t stop this practice until it is fulfilled at the return of the King. But then, we will feast with him, and what a day that will be. Let us pray.
