Greetings of peace,
We ought to give thanks to the Lord for by His sacrifice we are enabled to come closer to Him either in onsite or online service. By listening to His voice our lives will be sanctified day by day to be worthy to become His people who will welcome His return as the Heavenly Bridegroom.
What sanctification are we receiving through His Word in Luke 22:7-23? As Passover is around the corner, the Lord wants us to celebrate it with new insight: it is not merely yearly celebration to fulfill the liturgy.
Talking about feast, it surely needs a serious preparation. In the light of that, the Bible writes the word “prepare” four times (vv. 8, 9, 12, 13).
At that time, Jesus was having a desire to eat the Passover together with His disciples, so He asked them to make the preparation. During the Passover feast, Jesus poured His heart out to the disciples about the day when He will eat together with them in His Father’s Kingdom (Matthew 26:29). The climax of commemorating the Passover with new insight is that the sacrifice of Jesus will one day bring us to eat together with Him in the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7).
We need an elaborate preparation to be admissible to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Such as Ruth who meticulously prepared herself by having a wash, wearing perfume and her best dress to meet Boaz to seek for protection (Ruth 3:1-3). The same holds for us today. As we have been betrothed to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2), we should prepare ourselves well to welcome His coming.
Jesus made good use of a large and completely furnished upper room for the Passover feast (Luke 22:12). The two disciples who were told to get that room were Peter and John.
The Word of God says that a disciple must learn, investigate and search on the Word of God faithfully and earnestly (Acts 11:23, 26). In his writing, Peter confirmed that we were called by the power of glorious God and through knowing Him we were given all things to live our godliness. Therefore we must seriously make an effort to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, diligence, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love for everyone (2 Peter 1:3, 5).
Application: To know the Lord deeper, we need to be earnest in our hearts and diligent. For example: Zacchaeus was of short stature, and his unfortunate condition made him difficult to see Jesus among the crowd. However, he could manage to overcome the obstacle by climbing up a fig tree. His intense earnestness made Jesus pay attention on him, leading to his and his family’s salvation (Luke 19:1-10).
Peter’s writings were focusing on life of hope while James’ were talking about faith and John’s were talking about love. Peter and John were chosen from the chosen ones (other disciples) to prepare Passover feast. It was clear that faith must become a strong foundation but it should be enhanced to hope and love. Be cautious of those who refuse to enhance his faith as it is the same as not honoring or forgetting His sacrifice. On the first Passover, wasn’t it the blood of the slain lamb put on both sides and tops of the doorpost as the sign of the Israelites being saved from the plague of death so that they could exit the land of Egypt and serve the Lord? God commanded Moses to make the tabernacle so that He could dwell in the midst of them (Exodus 25:8).
Application: We should commemorate the Passover with a new spirit that leads us to the final destination that is the wedding feast of the Lamb.
While Peter was talking about hope, John was talking about love not merely in words but also in deeds (1 John 3:18). Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8). There is no hatred in love and the sacrifice of Christ stimulates us to love Him and others.
What was needed in welcoming the Passover feast? A large and completely furnished room. Illustration: In a feast there is a large table completed with bowls, spoons and forks, ready to receive the dishes.
Application: If the Passover lamb was able to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, the sacrifice of Christ is able to deliver us from the darkness. Therefore, we are asked to open our hearts widely to receive the Person of Jesus to dwell in our midst (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:11-18). He will defend (Romans 8:31) and keep us (1 Peter 5:7) as long as we are willing to be sanctified for His purpose.
Jesus and His disciples were sitting to eat together before the celebration of the Passover (Luke 22:14). The wedding day of the Lamb (climax of Passover feast) has arrived and the bride was ready (Revelation 19:6-9). So, the feast was ready, the day has come and the bride was also ready. This is the climax of the true Word of God started with the truth that Christ came to the world to save sinners and Paul who confessed himself as the worst sinners (1 Timothy 1:14-15). Paul who was previously called Saul was a fierce person who hated, caught and even killed the followers of Jesus, but then he received grace from the Lord. After encountering Jesus, Saul repented and was chosen as His instrument (Acts 9:15, 20). He honored the sacrifice of Christ, proven by his transformed and sanctified life.
We really need the sacrifice of Christ to experience the forgiveness of sin (Matthew 26:28). That was why Jesus came to the world to die for sinners. When He died, the veil of the Temple of God that separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was torn into two (Matthew 27:51). That way, we got an access to enter the Most Holy Place. It is His sacrifice that forgives our sins and separates us from the idolatry of the world (Egypt) to serve Him, to be guided and renewed before His coming.
Do we realize that we are already betrothed to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2)? Because of this condition, we need to grow our faith to love. To grow healthily, our souls need to be given fertilizer and showered with the Word of God. A plant must not be often moved, lest it would not grow well. For example: We should not move from church to church just because we have a problem with our fellow minister. On the other hand, we should be faithful to investigate on the Word of God accurately, not to be easily drifted by the current (Hebrews 2:1).
Jesus said further, “woe to that man who betrays Him”. To whom did Jesus say this? Judas Iscariot who was going to betray Jesus. Actually Judas had been one of the chosen ones; sadly, before Passover he began to love money more. Why Peter disowned Jesus? In the beginning, he was always close and together with His Teacher. But when he saw Jesus suffering terrible afflictions before being crucified, he stayed away from Him and chose to sit by the fire (Luke 22:54-55).
Be cautious, do not go near “the fire of the world” through the social media because it might burn our lusts that cause us to be away from the Lord and disown Him. And even worse, it can possibly provoke us to become an anti-Christ who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:18, 22).
Let us commemorate the Passover with new insight: we honor the sacrifice of Christ to experience sin forgiveness and life renewal continued by growing our faith to hope and love that one time, in a blink of an eye, we will be transformed to welcome the coming of the Lord for the second time to live with Him eternally. Amen.