When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before My suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Then He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.” After supper He took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray Me. For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays Him.” The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
Luke 22:14-23
This is such a familiar passage to us. Well maybe not so much Luke’s version of it but an early version of Paul’s. Do you recognize this passage?
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
1 Cor 11:23-26
Did it leap to mind? It should do. You have heard it at least once a month from the time you were saved and started going to church.
But notice that Luke’s version here contains some differences for us. I have shown you throughout Gems that when we take the time to compare the accounts from the gospel writers, it reveals in greater depth their purpose in writing. Taking note of the differences and similarities in something so familiar to as this passage sheds more light on the path for us. You have the gospels in four different accounts for a reason. Use them. In this case this is the first time we have five different accounts to compare. We can add Paul’s as well. So I need to add a new category to our schema for colouring this segment. See our new schema below.
I came up with the idea for the title for this Gem “Taking a look from a new Vantage Point” from the movie Vantage Point. This is a movie which analyses an event from various viewpoints or vantage point in order to put together the full story. A similar task facing us here. Use all that you know and are familiar with in order to dig deeper.
We all start from a position of ignorance about the Bible; just make sure you don’t stay in that position. The answer is in your hands. The Bible. Get to know it.
Ian Vail
The main difference between those who are successful + others, is not lack of strength, nor lack of knowledge, but lack of will!
Rick Godwin
Sometimes attaining the deepest familiarity with a question is our best substitute for actually having the answer.
Brian Greene
Familiarity breeds contempt – and children.
Mark Twain
Don’t let your familiarity with this passage, or at least Paul’s version of it, keep you from finding more. There’s always more to find.
Ian Vail