Luke 22:16-18 - Exposition

For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. There was yet one other reason for the Master's special desire once more to eat the solemn Passover with his chosen disciples. He would, by some significant action and word, show that the great Jewish feast, for so many centuries the central act of the ritual observances under the Mosaic Law, from henceforth would be superseded by a new and a yet more solemn religious rite. The Jewish Passover was to give place to the Christian sacrament. He, their Master, would with them share in the Passover meal that evening for the last time. The next time that he would partake would be still with them, but it would be in the kingdom of God, that is to say, in the Church of God, which was to be founded after his resurrection. The kingdom of God commenced with the resurrection of Jesus. The constant celebration of the Holy Eucharist commenced from that time; it is more than probable that our Lord partook of it, after his resurrection, with his own (see Luke 24:30 ; Acts 10:41 ). I will not any more eat thereof, until … I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until , etc. These statements, which speak of a final partaking (eating and drinking), are closely parallel to the command contained in Luke 22:19 , Luke 22:20 . The first statement seems solemnly to close the celebration of the Passover Feast; the second, to institute with equal solemnity a new feast in its place—

" With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer " ( Luke 22:15 ); for—

The Passover Feast is solemnly put an end to.

"I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" ( Luke 22:16 ).

"I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come" ( Luke 22:18 ).

The Holy Eucharist is solemnly instituted.

"He took bread, … and brake it, and gave unto them: … This do in remembrance of me" ( Luke 22:19 ).

"Likewise also the cup after Supper" ( Luke 22:20 ).

It was in the course of the great ritual Supper on some of the occasions when the cup was passed round, and the unleavened bread formally broken or dipped in one of the Passover dishes, that the Lord found his opportunity solemnly to announce the formal abrogation of the old Paschal Supper and the institution of the new communion feast. The above literal interpretation of the Lord's mystic words, "until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" ( Matthew 26:29 ), or, as St. Luke reports them, "I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come "—which literal interpretation in the main is that preferred by Dean Mansel (Commentary on Matthew 26:29 ); see, too, St. Chrysostom in Matthew Hom. 72., who adopts the same literal interpretation—does not exclude a yet deeper and more spiritual meaning which lies beneath the surface, and which speaks of another and spiritual banquet in the heavenly realm, which not only the Redeemer, but also his redeemed, will partake of. Heaven-life under the form of a banquet was imagery well known and often painted by the Jewish masters in the old rabbinic schools before and contemporary with the earthly life of Christ. The New Testament writers in several places have adopted the similar imagery, notably in Matthew 8:11 ; Luke 22:30 ; Revelation 19:9 . How widespread and well loved was this Jewish representation of the heaven-life under the form of a banquet is clear from the three above-quoted references taken from SS . Matthew, Paul (Luke), and John.