Luke 22:15 "And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:"
What a great blessing we have in this verse of Scripture. We observe the
Lord's Supper in remembrance of the atonement that was accomplished through the
broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Paul reminded the Church at
Corinth that they were to have proper thoughts of heart and mind when observing
this service. He wrote to them the words of our Lord, "And when he had
given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is
broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he
took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my
blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." (1
Corinthians 11:24-25) The key phrase in those passages are that we are to
observe the Lord's Supper, "in remembrance" of Him.
But I would like to think about another phrase that was spoken by Jesus on that
night. "... With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with
you..." There was something quite different about "this
Passover" that was unlike any other. For centuries since the
deliverance from Egypt's bondage, they had observed Passover every year. It was
a remembrance of that time when God delivered them in such a mighty way. But
"THIS PASSOVER" was the true Passover when the Lamb of God would
deliver His people. The angel said to Joseph before Jesus was born, "And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall
save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) He shall save
(deliver) His people... not from the hands of the Egyptians... not from the
hands of the Romans.... But He delivered us from our own wicked hands. He
delivered us from our sins by being that perfect, sinless Lamb of God. In
whatever manner and at whatever time you observe the Lord's supper, do it
"in remembrance" of that great accomplishment that required His
death!