The Covenant in Blood and Betrayal Text: Luke 22:14-23
Introduction: The Supper of the King
We come this morning to one of the central moments in all of redemptive history. It is a moment of profound intimacy and yet, at the same time, a moment of profound and calculated treachery. In this upper room, the Lord Jesus institutes the central sacrament of the New Covenant, the meal that defines the Christian church. This is not a quaint memorial service for a dead teacher. This is a covenant renewal ceremony, established by a living King on the eve of His enthronement. And His enthronement was to be accomplished by means of His execution.
The modern evangelical world has, for the most part, tragically demoted this meal. We have turned it into a sentimental exercise in introspection, a quarterly add-on to the "real" service. We have substituted grape juice for wine and crackers for bread, and in doing so, we have substituted sentiment for potency. We have forgotten that this meal is a declaration of war. It is a political act. It is the King feeding His soldiers, His courtiers, His children, with the very life He is about to lay down and take up again. This is the meal that builds the church, that defines the new world, and that pronounces judgment on the old.
In this passage, Luke presents us with the institution of the Lord’s Supper, but he frames it in a particular way. He highlights the intense desire of the Lord, the transition from the old Passover to its fulfillment in the kingdom, the establishment of the new covenant in His blood, and the immediate, jarring presence of the betrayer at the very table where this new covenant is being inaugurated. This is not a sanitized, sterile ceremony. This is real history, with real bread, real wine, real loyalty, and real, soul-blackening treason, all present in the same room. And over all of it, the Lord Jesus presides in perfect, sovereign control.
The Text
And when the hour had come, He reclined 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 say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” And they began to argue among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.
(Luke 22:14-23 LSB)
The Longing of the Lord (v. 14-16)
We begin with the appointed hour and the stated desire of Christ.
"And when the hour had come, He reclined 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 say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'" (Luke 22:14-16)
The first thing to notice is the timing. "When the hour had come." This is not an accident. History is not a series of fortunate or unfortunate coincidences. History is a story, written by God, and it runs on His timetable. The hour for the final Passover lamb to be prepared for sacrifice had arrived. This was the hour toward which all the Passovers of the previous fifteen hundred years had been pointing.
And what is the disposition of our Lord as He faces this hour? He has "earnestly desired" to eat this meal. The Greek is emphatic; it is desire upon desire. This is not a grim resignation to a bitter duty. This is a holy, passionate, intense longing. But why? He is about to suffer unimaginable agony, physical and spiritual. Why would He earnestly desire this moment? He desires it because this meal marks the hinge of history. He desires it because this is the moment He formally gives His kingdom to His disciples. He desires it because through His suffering, He will purchase His bride, defeat His enemies, and establish a new creation. He desires the cross because He desires the joy set before Him, and that joy is you, His people, reconciled to God.
He then connects this final Passover to its ultimate fulfillment. He will not eat it again "until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." The Passover was a shadow. It looked back to the deliverance from Egypt, but it also looked forward to a greater deliverance from a greater slavery. Jesus is here declaring that He is the substance of that shadow. The Passover finds its ultimate meaning, its fulfillment, in the great wedding supper of the Lamb, which is inaugurated by His death and resurrection. This meal we share every Lord's Day is a foretaste of that final feast. We are in the "already," looking forward to the "not yet." The kingdom has come in Christ, and so we eat and drink. The kingdom is not yet consummated, and so we eat and drink in anticipation.
The Cups of Transition (v. 17-18, 20)
Luke's account is unique in that it mentions two cups. The first cup comes before the bread.
"And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, 'Take this and share it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.'" (Luke 22:17-18)
This first cup is likely one of the traditional cups of the Passover Seder. By sharing this cup, Jesus is concluding the old covenant ritual. He is bringing the age of shadows to its appointed end. His statement that He will not drink it again until the kingdom comes is a second declaration of fulfillment. The old wine is finished. The new wine of the kingdom is about to be poured out, but it will require a new wineskin, a new covenant.
After the bread, He takes the second cup mentioned by Luke.
"And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.'" (Luke 22:20)
This is the cup of the Lord's Supper. This is our cup. Notice the radical redefinition. This is not just wine. This cup is the new covenant. And what is the ink with which this covenant is signed? It is signed in His blood. A covenant is a solemn, binding agreement, a bond in blood. The old covenant was ratified with the blood of animals (Exodus 24:8). But that blood could only cover sin temporarily. It could never truly take it away. But this cup represents the blood of God Himself, the blood of the incarnate Son. This blood does not merely cover sin; it cleanses it. It purchases forgiveness, it reconciles enemies, it defeats death. When you drink this cup, you are not just remembering a fact. You are participating in a covenant. You are receiving the benefits of this bloody sacrifice and renewing your oath of allegiance to the King who shed it.
The Body Given For You (v. 19)
Between the two cups, Jesus takes the bread.
"And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'" (Luke 22:19)
When Jesus says, "This is My body," He is not teaching the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. He was physically present with them, holding the bread in His own physical hands. His body was right there. This is sacramental language. The sign is identified with the thing signified. The bread is His body in the same way a picture of your wife is your wife. It represents her, it communicates her presence to you, it is a point of connection with her. This bread is a visible, taste-able, tangible Word. It preaches the incarnation and the atonement to us through our mouths.
And this body is "given for you." His life was not taken from Him against His will. He gave it. It was a voluntary, substitutionary sacrifice. He stood in our place, as our representative, and took the judgment we deserved. The breaking of the bread signifies the breaking of His body on the cross. And He commands us to "do this." This is not a suggestion. It is a royal command, establishing a perpetual ordinance for His church. And we are to do it "in remembrance of Me." This is not a bare mental recollection, like trying to remember a historical fact for a test. This is the Hebrew concept of remembrance, an anamnesis. It is to re-present the past event in such a way that its power is active and present with us now. When we eat this bread, we are proclaiming the Lord's death, and receiving afresh all the benefits that His death secured for us.
Sovereignty and Treachery at the Table (v. 21-23)
The tone shifts dramatically and immediately. From the heights of covenantal glory, we are plunged into the depths of human depravity.
"But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" (Luke 22:21-22)
This is a staggering juxtaposition. The hand that will count out thirty pieces of silver is on the same table as the bread and the cup. Judas, the betrayer, is a communicant. Jesus serves him. This demonstrates the objectivity of the covenant. The sacrament is administered to all who are members of the visible covenant community, and it has an effect on all of them. For the believer, it is a means of grace, a savor of life unto life. For the unbeliever, like Judas, who partakes in hypocrisy and rebellion, it is a means of judgment, a savor of death unto death.
And here we have one of the clearest statements in all of Scripture on the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The Son of Man is going to the cross "as it has been determined." This was God's plan from before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23). The cross was not a tragic accident that God had to clean up. It was the centerpiece of His eternal decree. Yet, in the very same breath, Jesus says, "but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" God's determination does not, in any way, remove Judas's culpability. Judas acts freely, according to his own greedy and wicked desires. He is not a puppet. He makes a real choice, and he is fully responsible for that choice. God's sovereignty does not cancel out human responsibility; it establishes it. God ordains all things, including the free and wicked choices of men, and He does so in such a way that the guilt for those wicked choices remains entirely with them. We are not called to reconcile these two truths in our finite minds, as though they were two enemies. We are called to believe them both, because the Word of God teaches them both.
The disciples' reaction is telling.
"And they began to argue among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing." (Luke 22:23)
Their first reaction is not, "It must be Judas!" It is, "Lord, is it I?" They begin to question one another, and themselves. This reveals a measure of self-awareness. They knew their own weakness. They knew that, apart from grace, any one of them was capable of such a thing. And this is the proper posture for us as we approach the Lord's Table. We do not come because we are worthy. We come because He is worthy, and because we are unworthy sinners in desperate need of the grace He offers in this meal. We come examining ourselves, confessing our sins, and looking away from ourselves to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Conclusion: Eat and Drink the Kingdom
This meal is the center of our worship because the cross is the center of our faith. In this meal, Jesus Christ gives Himself to us. He feeds us with His life. He renews His covenant promises to us. He reminds us that His kingdom was established through suffering and blood, and that our participation in that kingdom will involve the same.
But He also reminds us that the story does not end with suffering. It ends with fulfillment. It ends with the great feast in the kingdom of God. Every time we come to this Table, we are rehearsing for that final banquet. We are tasting the appetizers of glory. We are declaring to a rebellious world that Jesus is King, that His covenant is a covenant of blood, and that He has made a way for traitors and betrayers to be forgiven, cleansed, and welcomed to His table.
So when you come to this table, you are not simply remembering a sad story. You are participating in a victory parade. You are eating and drinking the spoils of Christ’s conquest. He has defeated sin, death, and the devil. And He invites you, His beloved, to share in His triumph. So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.