Jesus : Suffering Servant to Glorious Eternal King

Preparation of the Passover meal:

The time to prepare to celebrate the Passover meal arrived and in Luke 22: 10-12 we find Jesus instructing His disciples to prepare for the Passover meal which would become known throughout the Christian churches as The Last Supper (the reason being that it was to be the last meal that Jesus was to have with His disciples before His death on the cross ): “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, the Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples? He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there”. Peter and John then went into the city and to their surprise found everything just as Jesus had predicted and started preparations for the Passover meal. This meal is to this day commemorated in Christian churches as a reminder that Jesus died, paying the price in our place for our sins, on the cross. It also reminds us that Jesus was raised to life by God on the third day after He had died and ascended into heaven where He is seated at God’s right hand where He intercedes for us before God our almighty Father in heaven.

Jesus washes the feet of His disciples (John 13: 1-20):

The scene: Jesus with His disciples in the upper room, reclining at the table, ready to partake of the Passover meal ( the Last Supper ).Now Jesus did something that nobody, least of all His disciples, expected Him to do. He got up from the table and started to wash the feet of His disciples. This was certainly not something that the host of a meal would do. This task was even considered by Jewish slaves to be beneath them and was usually performed by Gentile slaves. In the time of Jesus, travellers in Palestine wore sandals which caused their feet becoming dirty while travelling on the dirt roads of Palestine. Therefore when guests arrived at the house of their host for a meal a slave would be ready to wash their feet before the meal.

The disciples were, to say the least, astonished when Jesus, their Teacher and Lord, performed this menial task that was reserved for Gentile slaves. By washing the feet of His disciples Jesus demonstrated humility and servant hood, two attributes that is a necessity for every follower of Jesus Christ. Without these two attributes Christians cannot serve Jesus effectively. Jesus, our eternal King and Saviour, Himself said: “I came not to be served, but to serve. “(Matthew 20: 28).As Christians we need to follow this example that Jesus set by being prepared to help and support one another with an attitude of humbleness and love.

During the washing of the feet of His disciples there was an incident involving Jesus and Peter. When it was the turn of Peter’s feet to be washed Peter refused to let Jesus wash His feet. In answer to this refusal Jesus said: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me. “(John 13: 8). Peter’s response was: “Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well. “(John 13: 9). This response is a clear indication of Peter’s desire to have a close relationship with Jesus and being fully devoted to Him.

This act of Jesus can be seen as symbolic of us being cleansed from our sin and unrighteousness by the blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, which He shed on the cross as atonement for our sins. What remains for you and me is to embrace Jesus” sacrifice of His life on the cross so that we can receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour (John 3: 16). Don’t delay, Jesus is waiting, with open arms, for you to come to Him just as you are in your brokenness, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and in return to make you whole and give you a new and everlasting life in Him. Allow Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to make you a new creation in Him, filling you with the presence of His Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit will empower you to start your new life as a powerful ambassador for Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour of the world. There is no greater gift in the world than this than this gift of salvation which Jesus offers to all those who choose to follow Him..

The Last Supper (Matthew 26: 20-30; Mark 14: 17-26; Luke 22: 14-30 and John 13: 21-30):

The first area I want to explore about the Last Supper took place when they were about to partake of the Passover meal and can be found in Luke 22: 14 “When the hour came Jesus and His disciples reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”. Here Jesus revealed the fact that He knew He was about to endure suffering. Being man and God Jesus knew exactly what kind of suffering He was about to endure and the excruciating death on the cross He was about to face. Jesus was about to experience tremendous and horrifying physical suffering and death but I believe that what troubled Jesus the most was the spiritual agony He would have to face at that moment on the cross when He would take the sins of the world upon Himself. That was the moment that He knew His Father in heaven would turn away from Him because God the Father in His very nature, being holy, cannot look upon or tolerate sin. Because, on the cross there would come a point that Jesus would take all the sins of the world upon Him and while He was bearing all the sins of the world God had to turn away from His only Son, Jesus, while He was covered by the sins of the world.

We need to examine how the Passover meal and Jesus” death on the cross relates to one another. The Passover was celebrated to commemorate Israel’s release from oppression and slavery in Egypt. God commanded the Israelites on the eve of their release from slavery in Egypt to paint the blood of a lamb without blemish on their doorframes to save their firstborn from death. God send an angel to bring death to all the firstborn, both man and beast, throughout Egypt. Because of the blood of the lamb painted on the doorframes of the houses of the Israelites their firstborn were spared this fate. Just as the Passover is a celebration of Israel’s deliverance from oppression and slavery from Egypt, so is the celebration of the Last Supper for Christians a celebration of their deliverance from the oppression of the slavery of sin through the precious blood that Jesus shed on the cross. He became for us the Lamb without blemish because in Him there was no sin. By the blood of Jesus we will be made righteous in the sight of God. Secondly I want to look at the symbolic significance of the bread and the wine in the celebration of the Last Supper. When Jesus broke the bread and gave it to His disciples He said” Take and eat, this is My body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me”. (Luke 22: 20) After supper Jesus took the cup and said” This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. (Matthew 26: 28). At the celebration of the Last Supper the bread and the wine are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus. The bread and the wine is a symbolic reminder that Jesus gave His life and shed His precious blood to gain for us forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life. Therefore the celebration of the holy Eucharist (the Great Thanksgiving or Holy Communion) becomes vitally important in the life of the church. Likewise it is of vital importance for believers to participate in this celebration because in participating believers give thanks for and remember what Jesus did on the cross for them ; bringing them salvation by giving His life on the cross as an atonement, once and for all, for our sins.

Furthermore by participating in the celebration of the Eucharist believers also renew their commitment to serve Jesus. The celebration of the Eucharist is also a reminder to us of the promise that one day Jesus will return in glory. Participation in the celebration of the Eucharist must never become habit because then it will lose its significance for us. For all these reasons it becomes quite evident that the celebration of the holy Eucharist is a celebration of vital importance in the life of the Christian church.

Lastly in John’s account of the Last Supper it is mentioned that Jesus was troubled in His Spirit because He knew that one of the Twelve was going to betray Him. How sad and deeply hurt Jesus must have felt to know that one of the group that He called and that was with Him throughout His ministry on earth was going to betray Him for money. How tragic that the religious leaders of the day was prepared to bribe Judas Iscariot to betray the Messiah, the Son of God, in their eagerness to have Jesus killed. Jesus said the following about Judas” The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born!” (Matthew 26: 24 and Mark 14: 21). What a terrible fate for Judas Iscariot. Later when Judas felt remorse over his betrayal of Jesus he tried to return the money to the chief priests. When they refused to take back the money Judas threw down the money, left and hanged himself.