What Jesus Truly, Earnestly, and Above All Else Desired

What Jesus Truly, Earnestly,

and Above All Else Desired

 

 

 

“When the hour came, Jesus took His place at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ And He took a cup, gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ And likewise, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. But behold, the hand of him who betrays Me is with Mine on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!’ And they began to question one another which of them it could be who was going to do this” (Luke 22:14–23).

 

 

 

(1)  First, when I read and meditated on today’s passage, Luke 22:14–23, in both the Korean Bible and the Greek Bible, I became particularly interested in two sentences:

 

             (a)  The first sentence is, “I have earnestly desired” [Ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα (epithymia epethymēsa)] (Lk. 22:15).

 

(i)       This expression is a Hebraism—a Hebrew-style expression—in which a noun and a verb form are used together [the meaning and purpose of a Hebraism: when Hebrew wants to emphasize an action or state to an extreme degree, it sometimes uses a verb and noun derived from the same root consecutively].

 

                                        Ἐπιθυμίᾳ (epithymia) is a noun meaning “desire,” “longing,” or “deep yearning.”

 

 ἐπεθύμησα (epethymēsa) is the past tense (aorist) of the verb ἐπιθυμέω  (epithymeō), meaning “desired” or “longed for.”

 

Literally, it can be rendered, “I desired with desire” or “I longed with longing.” In Greek usage, the repetition of a noun and verb from the same root conveys an intensified expression of desire.  In other words, it means, “I truly, earnestly, and with the utmost longing desired it” (Internet).

 

·         What Jesus truly, earnestly, and above all else desired here was “to eat this Passover” [τοῦτο τὸ πάσχα φαγεῖν (touto to pascha phagein)] with His disciples before He suffered (v. 15).  Why did He desire this so deeply?

 

1.  In order to bring the “true reality” itself and bring the shadow of the Old Testament to its fulfillment

 

For 1,500 years after the Exodus, the Passover observed by Israel was a “shadow” pointing to the Messiah who was to come.

 

The Old Testament Passover: The blood of an animal—the lamb—was placed on the doorposts, and the people were spared physical death and judgment.

 

This Passover—the Passover of Jesus: Jesus Himself became “the Lamb of God,” and through the blood He would shed, He would save humanity from eternal death and the judgment of sin.

 

Jesus longed to personally give and entrust to His disciples the beginning of the new Passover, in which the old Passover, which had been only a type or foreshadowing, would reach its fulfillment, and eternal salvation would be accomplished through His own flesh and blood.

 

2.    Because it was a betrothal meal that bound the disciples to Him as the “bride of Christ”

 

In Jewish marriage tradition, the bridegroom would go to the bride’s home, pay the bride-price, and share a cup of wine with the bride as he entered into a marriage covenant with her.  After this covenant meal was completed, the bridegroom would return to his father’s house, prepare a place where he and his bride would live, and then return for her.

 

At this final Passover meal, Jesus gave the disciples the cup and established “the new covenant in My blood” (Lk. 22:20).

 

In other words, this meal was a “spiritual betrothal ceremony” in which Jesus paid the most costly bride-price of all—His own life—and took the disciples, the Church, as His pure bride.

 

Before leaving to go toward the cross and resurrection in order to prepare a place (Jn. 14:3), Jesus earnestly desired to become one with His disciples through a sure covenant of love.

 

3.   In order to place in the hands of the disciples who would soon be left alone a “guarantee of the heavenly banquet”

 

Jesus would soon be arrested, and the disciples would be overcome with fear and scattered. Jesus knew the harsh world and spiritual battles they would face after He departed.

 

The Lord’s Supper He instituted at this meal would become a powerful visual and experiential testimony for the disciples, enabling them whenever they became discouraged to remember: “The Lord gave His body and shed His blood for me.”

At the same time, as He promised in verses 16 and 18, He wanted to give them spiritual nourishment and assurance by allowing them to taste in advance the coming fulfillment of the kingdom of God—the marriage supper of the Lamb—so that they could hold onto the hope of heaven and endure to the end even amid suffering.

 

In summary, the reason Jesus so earnestly desired this Passover was because of His inexpressible love for His disciples.  Even with the enormous suffering of the cross directly before Him, His thoughts were not centered on His own comfort or safety.  Rather, this one meal was filled with the desperate love of the Shepherd who wanted to take His disciples as His bride and safely lead them all the way to the eternal heavenly banquet.

 

-        As I meditated here on the Shepherd’s desperate love, which sought to make His disciples His bride and safely lead them all the way to the eternal heavenly banquet, I was reminded of John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”  What connection is there between these passages?

 

n   Luke 22’s Passover meal and John 17’s “High Priestly Prayer” are, in different ways, a perfect pair of passages revealing the one deepest desire within Jesus’ heart.  There are three central connections running through Jesus’ cry, “I have earnestly desired” at the Passover meal and His prayer, “I desire that they also … may be with Me” immediately before the cross (Internet).

 

1.    Both passages express Jesus’ “dying wish”

 

Both events took place only a few hours before Jesus would suffer the cross.  When a person is facing death, he expresses what is most essential and most deeply sincere in his heart.

 

In Luke 22:15, Jesus expressed His desire through an action—the Lord’s Supper—as He shared His final meal with His disciples.

 

In John 17:24, He poured out that same desire through words—a prayer—as He offered His final prayer to God the Father.

 

In other words, the focus of both Jesus’ final action and His final prayer was completely fixed on His love for “those whom the Father had given Him”—His disciples and the Church.

 

2.   “That they also may be with Me” (John 17:24) is the final destination of the “marriage supper of the Lamb”

 

In John 17:24, Jesus prays that they may “be with Me where I am” and see His glory.

 

This is precisely the purpose of the Bridegroom preparing a place for His bride and then returning to take her to Himself (Jn. 14:3): that His people would never again be separated from Him, but would be perfectly united with Him and remain with Him forever.

 

This is the very reality portrayed in Revelation 19 as the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” and it corresponds to the moment spoken of in Luke 22:16 when “this Passover is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

 

As Jesus prepared the Passover table, He was already looking ahead to the day when the answer to this prayer would be fulfilled—the day when He would be face-to-face with His disciples at the eternal heavenly banquet.

 

3.   It is the “assurance of hope” that enables them to overcome suffering

 

In Luke 22, Jesus knew that His disciples would soon face betrayal, scattering, persecution, and suffering, and He gave them the Lord’s Supper as an assurance.

 

The prayer of John 17 is the same. The disciples would experience tribulation in the world, but Jesus assures them that no suffering could ultimately destroy them by inviting them into the glorious love of the triune God—the love that existed before the foundation of the world.

 

A solemn declaration flows through both the meal in Luke 22 and the prayer in John 17: “You will suffer for a little while on this earth, but in the end, you will be with Me where I am and will see My glory.”

 

In summary:

If “I have earnestly desired” in Luke 22:15 is the desperate embrace of the Bridegroom’s love for His bride, then the prayer of John 17:24 is the Bridegroom’s formal pledge that He will take responsibility for His bride to the very end and bring her safely into the glorious house of the Father.  If we remember this prayer of John 17 when participating in the Lord’s Supper, the bread and cup we receive can touch our hearts even more profoundly as the vast and eternal confirmation of Christ’s love for us.

 

(a)    The second sentence is, “until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” [ἕως ὅτου πληρωθῇ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ (heōs hotou plērōthē en tē basileia tou theou)] (Lk. 22:16), and “until the kingdom of God comes” [ἕως οὗ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἔλθῃ (heōs hou hē basileia tou theou elthē)] (v. 18).

 

(i)        Immediately after Jesus says in verse 15 that He earnestly desired to eat this Passover, He declares in verses 16 and 18, “I will not eat/drink again until …”  These two passages contain very important eschatological meanings in the history of redemption (the history of salvation) (Internet).

 

             1.    The End of the Old Age and the Beginning of the New Age

 

Jesus was declaring that this would be the last Passover meal He would eat physically with His disciples on earth.  The Old Testament Passover sacrifice, which had continued for thousands of years after the Exodus under Moses and was centered on the “blood of animals,” comes to an end at this moment.  Now, through Jesus’ death on the cross—the reality to which the Passover lamb pointed—a “new age of the kingdom of God,” in which forgiveness of sins is obtained, would be inaugurated.

 

2.    Eschatological Fulfillment: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

 

The expression “until it is fulfilled” in verse 16 refers to the moment when the true meaning of the Passover—salvation and deliverance—is brought to complete fulfillment.

 

The expression “until it comes” in verse 18 refers to the time when God’s reign is visibly and completely established throughout the entire universe.

 

In other words, these two statements point to the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9) in which all the redeemed saints will participate at the end of history.  Rather than simply bringing the earthly Passover meal to an end, Jesus was looking forward to the day when He would meet His disciples again in glory at the heavenly banquet that is to come and drink with them there.

 

3.    Hope and Assurance for Overcoming the Suffering of the Cross

 

Jesus was only a few hours away from the terrible death He was destined to suffer on the cross.  Yet Jesus’ gaze did not remain fixed on the tomb. Instead, He was looking beyond His suffering toward the ultimate victory of the kingdom of God, the resurrection, and the eternal heavenly banquet.  These words give the disciples powerful comfort and hope: “I am going to die now, but this is not the end.  When the kingdom of God is fulfilled, I will celebrate a joyful banquet with you again.”

 

·         Here, I would like to meditate more specifically on the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9), the “eternal heavenly banquet.”  In particular, I believe that every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we should long for and hope for the marriage supper of the Lamb all the more.

 

-      The Lord’s Supper that we celebrate does not merely remain an act of remembering a past event—the cross. It is also a place of hope where we taste in advance and long for the future glory—the marriage supper of the Lamb. To help us with this deeper meditation, I would like to share more specifically three theological and spiritual dimensions of the connection between the Lord’s Supper and the marriage supper of the Lamb (Internet).

 

1.    The Lord’s Supper is a “preview” (a foretaste) of the heavenly banquet

 

The Lord’s Supper in which we share bread and the cup here on earth is an eschatological rehearsal of the marriage supper of the Lamb that is to come.

 

Theologically, this is called the mystery of the “Already but Not Yet.” Through the Lord’s Supper, we already taste the joy of the kingdom of God here on earth, but the fullness of that joy will be realized at the heavenly banquet that has not yet come.

 

Therefore, every time we put the bread of the Lord’s Supper into our mouths and drink the wine, we should confess: “Lord, I do not long for the dim joy that I see as though through a mirror in this earthly life, but for the true and eternal banquet that I will enjoy on that day, when I will see Your face face-to-face.”

 

2.     A change of status from the “Passover meal” to the “wedding banquet”

 

The Passover meal of the Old Testament was a meal commemorating how the people of Israel, who had been slaves, were spared from judgment by God’s grace and became a “saved people.”  But the banquet completed by Jesus through the cross and opened in Revelation 19 goes beyond being a meal for God’s people—it is the “banquet of the bride.”

 

The Lord’s Supper is a place where we confirm that we have been invited not merely as forgiven sinners—as God’s people—but as the pure bride of Christ (the Church as the Bride).

 

On the day when Jesus, the Bridegroom, returns and receives the Church, His bride, we will finally experience perfect union with Him.  Every time we come to the Lord’s Supper, we should recover the anticipation and purity of a bride waiting for her Bridegroom.

 

3.   A proclamation of hope that continues “until the Lord comes”

 

The Apostle Paul explicitly states the purpose of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:26: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

 

The Lord’s Supper is not simply a ritual within the church. It is a powerful proclamation that the suffering and sorrow of this world are not the end.  Through the Lord’s Supper, we confirm with our entire body and heart the hope that on the day the Lord returns, the eternal marriage supper of the Lamb will begin—a banquet where there will be no more tears, pain, or separation.

 

Therefore, the Lord’s Supper is not only a place of deep repentance; it is also the most hope-filled place from which we cry out: “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!”

 

(1)    Second, I became interested in the fact that before Jesus shared the cup and bread with His disciples, He offered a “prayer of thanksgiving” [εὐχαριστήσας (eucharistēsas)] (Lk. 22:17, 19).  What exactly does this mean?

(a)   The “prayer of thanksgiving” (eucharistēsas) that Jesus offered with the suffering of the cross immediately before Him contains three profound spiritual meanings that we must recover whenever we approach the Lord’s Supper (Internet).

 

1.   The paradoxical thanksgiving Jesus offered in the face of suffering and death

 

We must pay attention to the timing of Jesus’ thanksgiving. He was only hours away from the most painful death imaginable, when His flesh would be torn and His blood poured out.

 

Jesus did not complain about the terrible tragedy that was about to come upon Him. Instead, He gave thanks to God the Father.  This was a “redemptive-historical thanksgiving” made possible because He already saw that His death would not be a failure or destruction, but the completion of salvation that would give life to all humanity—the death of the grain of wheat that produces life.

 

2.   The elevation of the traditional Passover thanksgiving (Berakah)

 

At that time, during the Passover meal, Jews would take the bread and the cup and offer a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving (Berakah), saying: “Baruch Atah Adonai…”  “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Sovereign of heaven and earth, who brings forth bread from the earth and gives the fruit of the vine.”

 

Jesus went beyond merely giving thanks for the provision of physical food.  He offered the supreme spiritual thanksgiving while proclaiming that He Himself would now become “the true bread of life that came down from heaven,” giving eternal life to all humanity.

 

3.    The essence of the Eucharist: a celebration of thanksgiving

 

The believers of the early Church took this very word and called the Lord’s Supper the “Eucharist.”

 

The Lord’s Supper is not a time merely to remain in sorrow and mourning as we remember the Lord’s death.  Rather, because of the overwhelming grace that through His willingly broken body and shed blood we have received eternal life and have been granted participation in the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” the Lord’s Supper is fundamentally a “supreme celebration of thanksgiving and praise.”

 

Connecting the meditation:

Even in the midst of the extreme suffering of the cross, Jesus first offered “eucharistēsas” (thanksgiving) as He looked toward the joy of giving us life.

 

When we receive the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper, and when we face suffering in our own lives, may we long for the same confession of “eucharistēsas” (thanksgiving) to burst forth from our own lips as we look toward the glory of the kingdom of God that is to come.

 

(i)         As I meditate on Jesus’ prayer of thanksgiving, I am reminded of the passage where Jesus “looked up toward heaven and gave thanks” [“offered a prayer of thanksgiving” (Common Translation/Easy-to-Read Bible)] before feeding 5,000 men with two fish and five barley loaves (Mt. 14:19; Mk. 6:41; Lk. 9:16; Jn. 6:11).  I am also reminded of the passage in which, standing before Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus “looked up toward heaven and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me’” (Jn. 11:41).  What connection is there between these passages?

 

               1.   Thanksgiving offered in the face of the “human limitations” of scarcity and death

 

All three scenes were moments in which, from a human perspective, there seemed to  be only despair, lack, or impossibility.

 

The feeding of the five thousand: There was nothing to eat in the wilderness, and all that was available was merely one child’s small lunch—a situation of extreme scarcity.

 

Lazarus’ tomb: A man had already died, his body had begun to decay and smell, and he was enclosed within a stone tomb—a situation of complete despair and death.

 

The final Passover: Jesus was only hours away from the crucifixion, when His body would be torn and His blood shed in death.

Jesus did not give thanks because circumstances had improved or because abundant results were already visible before His eyes.  In the very midst of the deepest scarcity and the power of death that human beings can encounter, He first proclaimed thanksgiving by trusting God the Father, who could work beyond the circumstances.

 

2.   Thanksgiving with a transcendent gaze, “looking up toward heaven”

 

When Jesus fed the five thousand, He “looked up toward heaven” (Lk. 9:16) and gave thanks.  Before Lazarus, He likewise “lifted up His eyes and looked toward heaven” (Jn. 11:41) and gave thanks.

 

This shows that instead of looking down in discouragement at problems confined to the earth—the insufficient bread, the decaying corpse, and the approaching cross—He fixed His gaze upon God the Father, the Provider of all life and the Sovereign over all things.

 

Jesus’ thanksgiving was not thanksgiving squeezed out of earthly circumstances. It was the “pump-primer of faith” that drew the resources of heaven and the power of resurrection into the earth.

 

3.   The “door of heaven” that brings about miracles and transforms death into life

 

When Jesus offered thanksgiving toward heaven, redemptive-historical miracles and works of life beyond human understanding took place on earth.

 

After the thanksgiving at the feeding of the five thousand: The bread multiplied, and there was an abundant supply of life-giving food—enough for 5,000 people to eat, with food left over.

 

After the thanksgiving at Lazarus’ tomb: The dead man walked out of the tomb—physical resurrection and the victory of life over death.

 

After the thanksgiving at the Passover meal: Jesus would break His own body, forgive humanity’s eternal sin, and open the way to “eternal salvation and spiritual resurrection,” leading His people to the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”

 

Conclusion of the meditation:

 

The thanksgiving Jesus offered when He broke the bread at the feeding of the five thousand and the thanksgiving He offered when He broke the bread at the Passover meal correspond exactly.  If the feeding of the five thousand was a miracle that satisfied physical hunger, then the thanksgiving at the Passover was a prayer of thanksgiving that would bring about the enormous miracle of salvation through which Jesus would break His own body and eternally satisfy the hunger of the human soul.

 

The Jesus who stood before Lazarus’ tomb and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me,” must likewise have taken the cup and bread at the Passover meal with the heart that said: “I give thanks because I believe that this death on the cross is not the end, but that through it countless souls will be given life and led to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

 

When we participate in the Lord’s Supper, and when we encounter the seemingly hopeless “wilderness” or “tomb-like” situations of our own lives, may we have the faith to lift our eyes toward heaven, just as Jesus did, and proclaim “eucharisteō” (thanksgiving) (Internet).

 

(2)    Third, I would like to think about the similarities and differences between the Last Supper described in the Synoptic Gospels (Lk. 22:14–23; Mt. 26:26–30; Mk. 14:22–26) and the Last Supper described by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23–25.

 

(a)  Interestingly, the period when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians (around A.D. 55) was before the Synoptic Gospels were written, so 1 Corinthians 11 contains the earliest Eucharistic tradition recorded in Scripture.  The remarkable agreement (commonalities) between these two Gospel accounts and Paul’s epistle, as well as the distinctive differences (differences) emphasized by each writer, have been summarized by artificial intelligence into three points each (internet):

 

1.   Commonalities (Similarities)

 

All four passages share the same core theology within the historical context of Jesus’ final night.

 

              ① Agreement in the four stages of the action

 

All four passages record exactly the same four essential actions Jesus performed when He instituted the Lord’s Supper: “He took the bread ➔ gave thanks (blessed it) ➔ broke it ➔ gave it to them, saying…”

 

This shows that the early church, regardless of region, established and celebrated the Lord’s Supper according to this same basic pattern.

 

② Substitutionary death and covenant blood

 

The central confession is the same: the bread is Jesus’ “body,” and the cup is His “blood” poured out for our sins and is the “new covenant.” This clearly establishes that the death of the Passover Lamb was a substitutionary death on our behalf.

 

③ Eschatological hope

 

The Synoptic Gospels express hope for the heavenly banquet by saying, “I will not drink again until the kingdom of God comes” (Lk 22:18), while Paul declares, “you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). Both traditions leave the focus of the Lord’s Supper open toward “the Lord’s return and the consummation of the kingdom of God.”

 

2.   Differences (Distinctive Features)

 

There are interesting differences in wording and emphasis according to the circumstances in which each account was written and its intended recipients.

 

① The distinctive feature of Paul’s epistle and Luke: “Do this in remembrance of me” (remembrance and re-presentation)

 

Paul (1 Cor. 11:24, 25) and Luke (Lk. 22:19) explicitly include the command: “Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

Matthew and Mark omit this statement.

 

Meaning: Paul and Luke strongly emphasize that, after Jesus’ departure, the Lord’s Supper was to continue to be celebrated as the “communal practice and worship of the church” left on earth.  Here, “remembrance” (anamnesis) does not simply mean recalling the past. Rather, it signifies a powerful spiritual re-presentation that makes the efficacy of the cross present in this place and in the present moment.

 

② The distinctive feature of Matthew: “for the forgiveness of sins” (the purpose of the covenant)

 

Matthew (Matthew 26:28): “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

 

In the other passages, the purpose of “forgiveness of sins” is not explicitly mentioned in connection with the cup.

 

Meaning: Matthew, whose primary audience was Jewish, clearly declares from a Jewish perspective that the sacrificial system of the Old Testament has been fulfilled once and for all, completely, through Jesus’ blood, and that true forgiveness of sins has now come.

 

①      The difference in the description of the cup: “my blood” vs. “the new covenant”

 

Matthew and Mark: “This is my blood of the covenant.” (Emphasis on the blood)

 

Paul and Luke: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” (Emphasis on the nature of the covenant)

Meaning: Paul and Luke emphasize that the prophecy of the “New Covenant” in Jeremiah 31:31 has been fulfilled through the blood of Christ, and they describe the cup as the legal confirmation of the new identity and relationship established between God and the saints.

 

Summary for Meditation:

The reason Paul reminded the Corinthian church of the Last Supper was that the believers in Corinth were breaking the unity of the community while celebrating the Lord’s Supper (the love feast): the rich were eating until they were full while the poor were being left hungry.

 

Paul took the tradition of Jesus’ Last Supper, with its desperate and profound love as conveyed in the Synoptic Gospels, and exhorted them in this way: “This bread and cup are the table of the new covenant, which the Lord established by giving His body for you.  Therefore, until the Lord comes again, accept one another in that love, become one body, and hope for the heavenly banquet.”

 

Whenever we approach the Lord’s Supper, I believe our celebration will become more complete when we meditate simultaneously on the historical awe and emotion conveyed by the Gospels and on the unity of the church and the obligation of remembrance emphasized by Paul.

 

(3)    Fourth and last, I would like to meditate on the meaning of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: “But behold, the hand of the one who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed” (Lk. 22:21–22).

 

(a)  This passage, in which the mystery of the cross intersects with human betrayal, contains the following three profound spiritual meanings (internet):

 

 1.  “The hand of the one who betrays me is with me on the table” (The height of betrayal and the pain of the Shepherd)

 

In Eastern and Jewish cultures, sharing food at the same table signifies more than simply having a meal; it represents the most intimate covenantal relationship and trust, in which people share their lives with one another.

Jesus exposes the fact that the hand of Judas Iscariot, who would betray Him, was now together with Him on the table of grace, where they were breaking bread and sharing the cup.

 

This fulfills the prophecy of Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”

 

Even though Jesus already knew about Judas’ betrayal, He washed his feet and allowed him to participate in the Lord’s Supper until the end.  Therefore, these words are not so much an expression of anger toward a betrayer as they are the deep sorrow and pain of the Shepherd who is betrayed by His closest disciple.

 

2.  “The Son of Man goes as it has been determined” — The absolute sovereignty of God

 

Jesus’ death on the cross was not an “unavoidable failure” in which He happened to be overwhelmed by Judas’ conspiracy or by the power of Rome.

 

The expression “as it has been determined” demonstrates that this entire redemptive event was proceeding without the slightest deviation within God’s sovereign decree and providence, which had been planned from before the foundation of the world.

 

Even Judas’ evil actions would be used as an instrument within God’s vast redemptive history to save humanity.  Jesus was declaring that He was not being captured helplessly. Rather, He was deliberately walking the appointed path in order to fulfill the Father’s will.

 

3. “But woe to that man” (Human responsibility and a warning)

 

The fact that something occurs within God’s sovereignty does not mean that the responsibility of the human being who commits the sin is removed.

 

Theologically, this passage is a representative example of how “God’s absolute sovereignty” and “human free will and responsibility” coexist.  Judas did not hand Jesus over because he was forced to do so by Rome or threatened by the chief priests. He handed Jesus over according to his own greed and his own will.

 

Here, “woe to that man” is not merely condemnation or a curse.  Rather, it is Jesus’ final tearful warning and expression of sorrow toward a soul that refuses to turn back to the very end. It is also the voice of the Lord’s desperate love, giving Judas an opportunity to repent even until the moment the meal comes to an end.

 

Meditation in Connection with the Lord’s Supper:

When we participate in the Lord’s Supper, this passage causes us to examine ourselves and ask whether we, too, are approaching the bread and cup with “the hand of the one who betrays the Lord,” like Judas Iscariot.

 

With our lips, we confess that we love the Lord and place our hands upon the table of the Lord’s Supper, yet the moment we walk out the door, our weakness may resemble Judas’—denying the Lord and effectively selling Him out for the benefits and desires of the world.  And yet, even though the Lord knew that the hand of the betrayer was there on the table, He willingly broke the bread and gave it to him.

 

Through this passage, we are reminded once again that the Lord’s Supper is not a place to which we are invited because of our perfection.  Rather, it is the place of the Lord’s immense forgiveness, where even our betrayal and weakness are covered by the blood of the cross.