Luke 22:15-16 - Jesus to eat Passover again?

[Guest]

This question originally appeared on the "gospels" forum in October 2004:

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.”

Hi Steve,

What does Jesus mean by saying, "I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God”? Does it mean that the Passover would be reinstituted again? Will Jesus eat of the Passover again?

As you probably know, a premillennial would understand Jesus to be speaking concerning a future (from that point) time when the Kingdom of God would come and He would once again literally "eat" of "this [literal] passover" feast. We would thus conclude that this prophecy will not be fulfilled until after His bodily return to the planet.
I'd be interested in hearing how amills/part-p's (or "full p's") take on this question. If it's been dealt with elsehwere, could someone post a link to the suitable thread.

Here's the passage in a fuller context:

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.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of 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 which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
Luke 22

Thanks
Ely

[Guest]

Benjamin Ho:

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.”

Hi Steve,

What does Jesus mean by saying, "I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God”? Does it mean that the Passover would be reinstituted again? Will Jesus eat of the Passover again?

Jesus preached, "Repent for the Kingdom of God has drawn near".

In a sense, it had already come, even before Jesus died and was raised.
He said to the Pharisees, "The Kingdom of God is among you". The King (Jesus) and his subjects (the disciples) were among them. A king and his subjects constitutes "a kingdom". Jesus also said, "But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Matthew 11:28.

But the Kingdom of God came in a fuller sense after Jesus suffered, died, and was raised from death. Jesus did not say "I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Rather He said, "I will not eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Though Tischendorf's edition of the Greek New Testament has "no longer", the older manuscripts don't. Jesus longed to eat the passover with them before He suffered, but He did not do so. He also said, "I will not eat from the fruit of the vine, at present, until the Kingdom of God comes". When He died, He drank that fruit. (The wine represented His blood). Also when He asked His disciples, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?"
He wasn't talking about physical wine, but the "cup of wrath". Similarily when He, Himself, was the passover lamb, He "ate of the passover" in the true sense, of which all other passover celebrations were but the picture.

Ely, I suppose you think this is odd, coming from a historic pre-millenialist.
But there is no doubt that the Kingdom of God came in the days of Jesus, and especially at His death and resurrection, and the "sure mercies of David" were fulfilled in David's seed, our Lord Jesus.

Nevertheless, the Kingdom of God did not come in its fulness, and still has not done so. It began as a mustard seed, but will grow into a great tree.
It began as a little bit of yeast, but continues until the whole of the dough is leavened. After Jesus comes again, the angels will gather out of His kingdom all causes of stumbling, and all evil doers. Notice the Kingdom will have been already present when the angels gather out if it all causes of stumbling. Jesus said:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Matthew 13:47-50

So when Jesus comes, and "the kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah" (Revelation 11:15), then the Kingdom will have reached it's ultimate stage of growth.

But that will not be the end of the Messiah's rule, for:

"...he shall reign for ages and ages." Rev 11:15

He shall reign until all enemies have been placed under His feet. Then He will turn the Kingdom over to the Father, that God may be everything to everyone.

[Guest]

Hi Paidion and thanks for your thoughts,

Ely, I suppose you think this is odd, coming from a historic pre-millenialist.
But there is no doubt that the Kingdom of God came in the days of Jesus, and especially at His death and resurrection, and the "sure mercies of David" were fulfilled in David's seed, our Lord Jesus.

I agree with that there is a "now and not yet" aspect of the Kingdom of God. I also see your reasoning behind understanding Jesus to be talking about His coming death when He spoke of eating this passover. Le me introduce something else for consideration.

The LORD showed Ezekiel a glimpse of a future time when a masssive temple would be built in Jerusalem and LORD Himself would come and dwell with His people. I understand that this will take place after the second coming of Christ. In the course of this revelation, Ezekiel writes:

18 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD... 21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And on that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. 23 On the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, daily for seven days, and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. 24 And he shall prepare a grain offering of one ephah for each bull and one ephah for each ram, together with a hin of oil for each ephah.
25 “In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall do likewise for seven days, according to the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.” Ezekiel 45

It seems to me that this is what Jesus was referring to in Luke 22. While I agree that He symbolically partook of the passover at His death, I think He was specifically referring to a time when He would actually partake of the passover feast.

Ely

[Guest]

Ely, I have but a moment right now. Off the top of my head, I would guess that this "future time" to which Ezekiel refers may be a "past time" from our point of view.

It just doesn't make sense to me that God having abolished the old order of the law would reinstate it in the millenium. I think there are scriptures that indicate that its abolition is permanent.

Why would God reinstate the picture or "shadow" of the real thing to come, when the real thing is now present ---- namely Christ and His Kingdom?

[Guest]

Padion,

Remember that Jewish Christians (including Paul) continued to participate in sacrifices and offerings for forty odd years up to AD70. This shows that they didn't see them as being incompatible with being born again believers who had the subtsance in Christ. In fact, I suspect they could partake of these things with a greater understanding of what they symbolised.

When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are calling to rememberance, or "looking back" the sacrifice that He made for our sins. Likewise, Passover is (or was) a memorial, a "looking back" to what God had done in the Exodus. in like manner, the Passover will be celebrated in the next age to call to rememberance and "look back" to both the exodus and Christ's atonement.

[Guest]

When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are calling to rememberance, or "looking back" the sacrifice that He made for our sins. Likewise, Passover is (or was) a memorial, a "looking back" to what God had done in the Exodus. in like manner, the Passover will be celebrated in the next age to call to rememberance and "look back" to both the exodus and Christ's atonement.

Ely,
By use of the term "the Lord's Supper", I assume you mean communion.
Actually "the Lord's Supper" is actually the "love feast", a meal that the early Christians shared just prior to the observance of the communion.

Yes, we celebrate the communion (the sharing) in remembrance of our Lord and His supreme sacrifice on our behalf. But will it be continued after He comes, when He will be present in person? I think not.

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Does not the above statement suggest that we will celebrate the communion only until He comes? It will be unnecessary to remember Him when He is personally present!

Yes, the passover was eaten orginally to remember the escape from Egypt when the destroying angel passed over the Israelites. But was not the passover lamb also symbolic of our Lord's sacrifice? Thus, just as in the case of the communion, it will be unnecessary to remember Him in this way when He is personally present.

[Guest]

I understand your points Paidion. But just because the Lord Jesus will be inour midst doesn't mean we can no longer remember the mighty things He has done for us.

Yes, we celebrate the communion (the sharing) in remembrance of our Lord and His supreme sacrifice on our behalf. But will it be continued after He comes, when He will be present in person? I think not.

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Does not the above statement suggest that we will celebrate the communion only until He comes? It will be unnecessary to remember Him when He is personally present!

Maybe. But we also need to consider Matthew's account of Jesus' words at His last Passover:

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

This seems to imlpy that perhaps the bread and wine (communion) will continue to be partaken in the Kingdom.

Also, notice that Jesus specifically said that the He would not drink "this fruit of the vine" until he brings it anew with the dsiciples in the Father's Kingdom. Jesus' words seem to be saying that He was anticipating a time when He would drink the literal fruit of the vine with His disciples in the Kingdom of God.

[Guest]

Ely,
It also says:

John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Isn't this wine the fruit of the vine, literally? It would seem that Jesus did drink of the "fruit of the vine" again.

[Guest]

Ely,
It also says:

John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Isn't this wine the fruit of the vine, literally? It would seem that Jesus did drink of the "fruit of the vine" again.

Ah, selective literalism, what would we do without it

Check out Jesus' words carefully Sean: 29 But I say to you [disciples], I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you [disciples] in My Father’s kingdom.” If this was a literal fufilment of Jesus' prophecy, did the disciples literally drink of the sponge at that time too?

Also, the stuff that Jesus received on the cross was not what Jesus was referring to when He spoke of drinking the "fruit of the vine." It was "oxos." This, according to Vine's is "akin to oxus, "sharp," denotes "sour wine," the ordinary drink of laborers and common soldiers." (incidentally, the fact that Jesus drank it was evidently to fulfill Psalm 69:21 "for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." In the Septuagint, the same word "oxos" is used). http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/ ... -6132.html

In summary, this incident on the cross was not a literal fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy.

Ely