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Worship Focus

A plate of matzoth (for this was the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread) and a chalice.

A Litany For The Eighth Meal

Leader: Gracious God, we gather in remembrance of the Passover Jesus shared with his disciples.

People: We remember that night.

Leader: We remember that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as a sign of his love for them.

People: We remember the many signs of his love for us.

Leader: We thank you for the broken bread, the symbol of Jesus' body, broken for us.

People: We remember him in the broken bread.

Leader: We thank you for the cup, the symbol of Jesus' sacrifice for us.

People: We remember him in the cup.

Leader: We are humbled, loving God, as we remember Jesus' prayer in the garden, his arrest, his trial, and his suffering.

People: We remember that his suffering was for our redemption.

All: We remember this night, and we praise you, O God, for the life of Jesus and his presence with us now. Amen.

Supper Of Desire
Luke 22:7-20

Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ''Go and prepare the Passover meal for us so that we may eat it.'' They asked him, ''Where do you want us to make preparations for it?'' ''Listen,'' he said to them, ''When you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, 'The teacher asks you, ''Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'' ' He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.'' So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.


When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 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 is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'' Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ''Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.'' Then he took a loaf of 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.'' And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ''This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.''

Jesus' words express unusual emphasis,

doubling the word for desire;

they might be translated,

''With desire have I desired


to eat this passover with you.''
This is the central supper,

found in all four Gospels;

it is a supper for which Jesus

had a definite purpose.

The Gospel of Luke shows Jesus at supper

with all sorts of people:

outcasts like Levi and Zacchaeus,

honored Pharisees and learned scribes,

women of the streets,

neighbors who crowd in to listen,

the highest and lowest of society,

those who come to adore him


and those who set a trap to entangle him.

Now we come to a different supper.

This is the supper Jesus desired,

and it gives meaning to all of the others.
Jesus makes the transition from guest to host.

He is not with strangers who invited him

or who dropped in from the streets.

He has planned the place and the time;

he has invited his closest followers.

Then he tells his disciples,

''With desire I have desired to eat this


Passover with you before I suffer.''

It was no accident

that Jesus chose the Passover as his setting.

The Passover meal was, and still is,

a family event.


Large families gather

for feasting and celebration.

There is a ritual in which a young child asks,

''Why is this night different


from all other nights?''

and the oldest man responds


with the story of the first Passover,



God's deliverance of the people of Israel



from Egypt.

Jesus' last Passover supper was different.

Jesus was not with his blood-relatives



in Nazareth.

He was with his faith-relatives


in Jerusalem,

a new family


whom he had called to this table.

He had two purposes:

to celebrate with them the Passover


that pointed backward to God's


deliverance of Israel from bondage


in Egypt and forward to God's


promise of future deliverance;

then to institute the Communion


that would declare deliverance


from spiritual bondage



through the person and work



of Jesus Christ.

This supper is a transition.
He whom we have seen so often as a guest

now takes his place as host.
He deliberately shatters the traditional ritual.

He passes the bread,


perhaps with the usual blessings,

but then he adds words never heard before.


''This is my body, which is given for you.''


What could he mean?

He takes the cup,

and again he adds shocking words,


''This cup that is poured out for you


is the new covenant in my blood.''

The disciples are puzzled, upset.

What can he mean by 'suffer,''


''body,''


''blood''?

They will not be able to understand


until the Lord teaches them



after the resurrection.

This is the transition

from the last Passover supper


to the first Lord's Supper.

The first Passover left behind


the bondage in Egypt;

ahead of it stretched the road to Canaan,


the land of promise.

This last supper leaves behind


the bondage of sin;

it leads to the glory of God's new promises:


redemption,



salvation,



eternal life.

The supper marks the transition

from Jesus' bodily presence

to the spiritual presence


of the risen and ascended Lord.

From now on his presence will be made real,

not in his physical body,


but in a new communion:


in the proclamation of the word,


in the breaking of bread,


in remembrance of one who said,



''With desire have I desired



to eat this supper with you.''