I Have Earnestly Desired This Supper
December 5, 2021 · 1:37:40 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
This communion service is built on Luke 22, where Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare the Passover and tells them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." The preacher lingers on that key word - prepare - and reminds the church that simply sharing the meal among ourselves is not enough, because in the bread and the cup Christ himself is present, to be received by faith as from his own hand.
The message moves through three thoughts. The cross is the day of the slain Lamb, where Jesus cried "It is finished" and won the decisive victory over the powers of darkness. Preparing the supper required obedience, and obedience is born only of humility: Christ humbled himself and was obedient even to death on a cross, so God lifted him above all. The Last Supper was the founding of the New Covenant - a covenant that never grows old but stays forever new, reaching from that upper room all the way into the kingdom of heaven.
Above all this is a word about thanksgiving and unity. Jesus gave thanks over the cup even while knowing that betrayal, mockery, and suffering were only hours away; so too we are called to thank God for the harder cups of our own lives instead of grumbling. Like grain ground and baked into one loaf, or grapes pressed into one cup, believers from many different fields are made one body in Christ. So we examine ourselves, make peace with one another, and come to the table prepared.
Key Points
- The bread and cup are not empty symbols; by faith we receive the living Christ present among us.
- Jesus did not merely wish but earnestly desired to share this Passover with his own.
- On the cross Jesus declared "It is finished" - the mission was complete and the victory won.
- Obedience is impossible without humility; Christ humbled himself to death, and God exalted him.
- The New Covenant never grows old; it stays forever new and continues into the kingdom of heaven.
- Give thanks even for the difficult cup, as Jesus gave thanks before his suffering.
- Examine and prepare yourself; many separate grains are baked into one loaf, one body.
Devotional
Before you ever reach for the bread and the cup, let the Lord search your heart. Christ earnestly desired this table with you, and he asks you to come not casually but prepared - free of the old leaven of malice, at peace with your brother, leaning fully on his finished work. Remember that the same fire and press that once felt so hard are what made you one loaf with his people. Then receive him with thanksgiving, knowing that the One who paid everything is truly present.
I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
In the bread and the cup, receive Christ himself, as from his own hand.
The New Covenant never grows old - it stays forever new.
