Luke 22:14-20 (NRSV)
14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the
apostles with him. 15 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 [a] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this
and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on
I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God
comes." 19 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." 20 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.[b]
[a]: Other ancient authorities read [never eat it again]
[b]: Other ancient authorities lack, in whole or in part, verses
19b-20 ([which is given . . . in my blood])
we understand, in order to read a passage, we need to look at
the passage as a whole as well as in context.
Skibi is correct in that the Lord did says He will not eat it,
until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God (in verse 16)
now, lets see what does this 'it' refers to? and if it is fulfilled
(and how)?
looking at the preceding verses, we can see that verse 15 and 16
are supose to be read together. So, what is this 'it' in verse 16,
from verse 15, we can deduce that He is refering to the Passover
feast (not the communion), and have this Passover requirement been
fulfilled? Yes, it was fulfilled at the cross, when Christ as the
perfect lamb of God was sacrificed on the cross for the atonement
of our sins, and He declared "it is finished".
It is in verse 19-20 that the communion is given.
The communion is not really a feast thing, its an act of
remembrance to remind ourselves what the Lord had done for us, His
Ministries, His Life, His Death, His resurrection.
The only criteria that qualify a person to partake in the communion
is that he have to be in Christ.
btw ... Skibi,
I am puzzled, when the Lord says He is not going to take the
Passover feast till it is fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven, how
did you deduced that he is now fasting in heaven? afterall, not
feasting does not means fasting, right?
