He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." After supper, he took another cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you." Luke 22:19-20
This week, we are talking about instruction found in Ephesians 5, "husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church" (verse 25). In light of this teaching in Ephesians 5, all week, we will explore what it looks like to love others, particularly our spouses and those closest to us, in this way. Although this instruction found in Ephesians 5 is particularly for husbands, every single one of us would do well to model Christ's sacrificial love to everyone we encounter. To talk about loving others in the way that Christ loved the church, we must first answer this question: "How exactly did Christ love the church?" We are going to answer this question today by looking at Luke 22.
In Luke 22, Jesus sat down to have one last meal with His disciples before His death. As He sat down with His disciples, He handed them bread to eat. Then, He said, "this is my body, which is given for you" (verse 19). He said this to symbolize what was about to happen to Him. He was about to die a brutal death on a cross. He was literally going to give up His physical body in order to pay the price demanded for the sin of the world. Next, Jesus passed around a cup of wine to His disciples. "This cup is the new covenant between God and His people," He said, "—an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you" (verse 20). In saying this, Jesus was letting His disciples know that He was about to sacrifice His life for our sins, represented by His blood. Let's pause here for a second because sometimes we become so familiar with the story of Jesus' death that we forget all that He sacrificed for us. Jesus left His family, closest friends, and life that He had been living for over thirty years so that He could die for our sins and offer us the opportunity to have a restored relationship with God. He endured excruciating pain and humiliation. He sacrificed His very life. He gave everything He could to save us. There was nothing He would not do to rescue humanity from our sins.
Before we can really love someone with the sacrificial love of Jesus, we have to fully understand and appreciate His own sacrificial love toward us. My friend, He stopped at nothing to save you when you were lost in your sin and separated from Him. He gave His very life. He endured the worst possible pain so that you would never have to endure it yourself. Oh, how much love He has for you!
Your assignment today is simple but very important. Take some time to think about just how much Christ loves you. Think about the sacrifices He made so that you could know and have a relationship with Him. Then, spend time praying, thanking God for His extravagant love.
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
“Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
“But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me. For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.” The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.
“You have stayed with me in my time of trial. And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
