THE LAST SUPPER - (Dining With Jesus)

Jesus and the Last Supper - The New Covenant

Shortly before Jesus was crucified, He ate one final Passover dinner with His disciples which we refer to as the Last Supper. Jesus said, "And he said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God'" (Luke 22:15). Jesus had often tried to talk to them about His death and the manner in which He would die. But now the time had come and this was their last feast together.

The famous painting here by Da Vinci depicts the very moment that Jesus has said to his disciples:

Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
--Matthew 26

(continued)
Luke's gospel records a dispute that took place at this dinner among a few of His disciples as to which of them was the greatest. Jesus had anticipated the biggest event ever was about to take place in history and His disciple had still not grasped the significance of His words. He had just told them that he was having a last meal with them before His death and they are arguing about who is going to be the greatest in His kingdom! So Jesus taught them a lesson on serving, "For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:27-30). Again with His words, He gave more than one major message: His kingdom was not going to be of this world and in order to be great in His kingdom, they needed to learn how to serve.

The last hours had come prior to Jesus death and still His disciples had not understood His message about His death or resurrection. But just a few days later they finally fully understood what Jesus had been trying to tell them. When Jesus was resurrected from the dead and appeared before them, it suddenly all made sense. Jews well understood the Old Covenant, the pure and spotless sacrificial lamb, and the blood shed necessary to pay the ransom for sin. Now they understood what Jesus had been trying to explain to them all of this time, He was that lamb. They could clearly see the evidence of His resurrected body. Finally this, too could be grasped. And as they watched Him ascend into Heaven, they realized what He meant in His statements about His kingdom. Then they remembered His words also about The Last Supper and His Kingdom in Heaven.

Commemoration of the Last Supper did not end with the death of the twelve disciples however. When Jesus said that He wanted them to do it to remember Him, it was a message to us also. Jesus desired that His followers continue to have a commemoration of the Lord's Supper to remind us of Christ's sacrificial death for our sins. It was given as a time to give thanks to God for sending Christ to die in our place. In Matthew 26:29 we read Jesus' words to us where He clearly included us in this remembrance command and He gave us a powerful promise for our future. "I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." Jesus promised that we can see Him in Heaven with God if we accepted His gift of forgiveness for our sins.

The Last Supper: An Introduction:
The Last Supper is one of several major events in the earthly life of Jesus Christ that are recorded in the Bible. The Last Supper is a description of the last meal Jesus Christ had with His disciples prior to His arrest and crucifixion on a roman cross about 2,000 years ago. The Last Supper contains many significant principles, and continues to be an important part of Christian lives throughout the world.

The Last Supper: The Significance
The Last Supper is described in three of the four New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Here are some of the life-changing highlights, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. First, Jesus predicts He will suffer soon after this meal and it will be His last meal prior to finishing His work on behalf of the kingdom of God (Luke 22:15-16). Second, Jesus gives His followers symbols of remembrance for His body and His blood sacrificed on behalf of all mankind. "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'" (Luke 22:19).

Third, Jesus provides a very important principle for living a Christian life: the greatest are those who serve others, not those who expect to be served (Luke 22:26). Finally, Jesus provides hope to his followers: "and I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29-30).

For the last two millennia, the Last Supper has inspired people to live by faith in Jesus Christ, by serving others instead of following the worldly influences of expecting to be served.

The Last Supper: The History of the Event
The Last Supper was held on the evening of preparation for the Jewish Passover, a very holy time for the Jewish nation in remembrance of when God spared the Jews from the plague of death on every firstborn child in Egypt. Jesus arranged the dinner purposely by instructing His disciples where to host it. His twelve disciples were with Him during and after the meal. It is here that Jesus makes the prediction that Peter will deny knowing Him three times before the rooster crows that morning, which became true. Jesus also predicts that one disciple, Judas Iscariot, will betray Him, which also became true. The Last Supper was a gathering for Christ to fellowship with His disciples one last time prior to His arrest and crucifixion.

The Last Supper: The Application
After the Last Supper, Jesus Christ willfully and obediently allowed himself to be brutally sacrificed on a wooden cross. He did this to reconcile each of us to God by paying the debt of our sins, which we could never do on our own power. In return, Jesus makes a simple request, remember this act of love He performed on our behalf. Jesus Christ did not have to die for us. He did, however, because He values every life on earth and wants to see each of us sitting at His dining table someday in heaven. Throughout the Bible, and throughout history, the truth of Christ's message has been established - that we can join Jesus in heaven by acknowledging His sacrifice and accepting Him into our life. In addition, we can apply the lessons Jesus taught at the Last Supper to live a faithful life while here on earth by serving others in love. The bread is a symbol of the body of Jesus, never to be forgotten as it was given to us. The cup represents the blood of Jesus, never to be forgotten as he poured out His life for us. Jesus Christ has offered everybody the gift of His life, death and resurrection. The Last Supper reminds us of Christ's sacrifice, and that by faith in Him, we can dine with Christ for all eternity.

Resurrection of Jesus: Why It’s Important!
The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he declares:

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.” (1 Corinthians 15:14-15).

“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17). As it turns out, no legitimate scholar or religion today denies that Jesus was a historical figure who walked the earth approximately 2,000 years ago, was a great teacher and miracle worker, and who died on a cross for the crime of blasphemy. Therefore, the only legitimate dispute is whether Jesus was the Son of God who was resurrected from the dead after His crucifixion.

Resurrection of Jesus: Eyewitness Testimonies
The resurrection of Jesus is challenged today on evidentiary grounds. Therefore, to be fair, the evidence should be judged like any other historical event. Based on standard rules of evidence, consistent eye-witness testimony from multiple credible witnesses would be considered the strongest form of evidence available to a litigant. Therefore, if we find such testimony present in credible accounts of the historical record of Christ’s resurrection, we have satisfied a major evidentiary challenge under traditional rules. In fact, we do have multiple eye-witness testimonies regarding the resurrection of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, Paul established the following:

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

Manuscript studies indicate that this was a very early creed of the Christian faith, written within a few years after the death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it’s dramatic that Paul ends the passage with “most of whom are still living.” Paul was inviting people to check out the facts. He wouldn’t have included a statement like that if he was trying to hide something like a conspiracy, hoax, myth or legend.

Resurrection of Jesus: More Eye-witness Accounts
The resurrection of Jesus was also declared in numerous other accounts, including the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18), to other women (Matthew 28:8-10), to Cleopas and his companion (Luke 24:13-32), to eleven disciples and others (Luke 24:33-49), to ten apostles and others (excluding Thomas) (John 20:19-23), to the apostles (including Thomas) (John 20:26-30), to seven apostles (John 21:1-14), to the disciples (Matthew 28:16-20), and to the apostles on the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:50-52 and Acts 1:4-9). The ultimate test of credibility for these eye-witnesses was that many of them faced martyrdom for their eye-witness testimony. This is dramatic! These witnesses knew the truth. What could they possibly gain by dying for a known lie? The evidence speaks for itself, these weren’t just religious faithful dying for a religious belief, these were followers of Jesus Christ dying for a historical event – His resurrection that established Him as the Son of God.

http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/