“Jesus and his disciples reclined at the table [the last supper]. And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’” - Luke 22:15
We’re not told why Jesus was 'eager', but the fact that he was about to suffer, surely means that there’s an extra significance to this Passover meal.
The Passover meal was an annual reminder that God’s anger was, once upon a time, divinely deflected by the blood of a lamb painted on the door posts of the people’s houses (Exodus 12:26-27).
It seems Jesus was eager to share this ceremonial passover meal, that had been recurring year after year ever since, because it had been anticipating a Passover event to surpass even the original one.
And now that event was at hand. Jesus was about to eat the last memorial Passover meal before the real sacrificial lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) would shed his sacrificial blood, and the everlasting anger of God, kindled against his disciples, would pass over them forever.
The fact that he wanted to share it with them, shows that he was ready to suffer for them. And, if for them, then for us too.
Jesus went to the cross eagerly to satisfy the just anger of God against us. He went as the spotless Lamb of God and painted his blood on those wooden cruciform posts, and by his grace alone, the angel of death passes over our lives too. Thanks be to God!
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