Antipas Christadelphians: Introduction To Supper

Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. (Matt. 26:20).

And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. (Mark 14:17).

And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. (Luke 22:14-18).

Though we often speak of the feast of communion as the Lord's supper, it should be clearly understood that the act of remembrance initiated by the Lord took place after supper. Supper was the heaviest meal of the day for the Jews, and it was "after supper" that the Lord presented them with the bread and wine which typified his sacrifice (Luke 22:20). The Apostles' therefore, met in the room, partook of supper, and then followed with the feast of communion.

The Reason For The Gathering

Peter and John had been sent first to the guestchamber to make all necessary arrangements, and perhaps to prepare the supper of which the Apostles later partook.

At the due time,* the Lord arrived with the rest of the Apostles, and the 13 men relaxed around the table.

*At the due time, the Lord arrived with the rest of the Apostles, and Matthew says: "When even was come" (Matt. 26:20). The word in the Greek, "Opsia" signifies late; after sundown.

Luke records that "he sat down, and the 12 apostles with him" (Ch. 22:14).

The Diaglott renders this as "he reclined." It was the normal thing then for people to recline on couches when partaking of a meal, and that is what the little company did on that occasion.

It is obvious, therefore, that they were not celebrating the regular Passover. There are several reasons for concluding this. Firstly, the Passover was not to be eaten until the 15th of the month, and this was only the l4th. Secondly, later that evening, the Apostles imagined that Judas had left to purchase some goods in view of the impending feast (John 13:29), which would be incomprehensible if they had already partaken of it. Thirdly, the Passover instructions required that it should be eaten in haste, with the members of the family standing up as though about to leave (Exod. 12:11). True, it had become the custom of Jews to recline when eating the Passover, but surely the Lord would not have done so, but would have celebrated it as instructed by his Father.

The Lord's Introductory Comment

In the upper room in Jerusalem, therefore, the Lord and the Apostles first ate their normal supper, which was, for them, the largest meal of the day.

During the course of the meal, Jesus suddenly addressed the Apostles, to prepare their minds for what he was about to do. He declared:

"I have heartily desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."

He was referring to the meal they were then eating, but was preparing their minds for the institution of the bread and wine "after supper" (Luke 22:20) as a memorial of his death.

They did not understand what he meant, They probably thought that he was referring to the Jewish Passover that would be celebrated on the day following. As to suffering, if they thought upon this at all, they probably connected it with the opposition which he was then experiencing from the Jews, but which the disciples imagined would be successfully overcome in order to immediately set up the Kingdom of God.

It is important, in order to properly understand the incidents that took place at this tragic time, to view the circumstances from the standpoint of the Apostles, who confidently anticipated that the Kingdom of God would be then set up (Luke 19:11). They were convinced that Jesus would shortly proclaim himself as King, and bring to pass all the predictions of power and glory spoken of by the prophets. They could not understand the reality of those things which we know now constituted his sufferings.

Even though the Lord had delivered to them the parable of the nobleman who had to go into a far country to receive his kingdom, and to return (Luke 19:11-27), and even though he had outlined to them the Olivet prophecy, they failed to understand. John recorded:

"These things understood not his disciples at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him" (John 12:16).

Luke stated:

And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. (Luke 18:34).

Jesus told the Apostles:

"The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).

At first the Apostles misunderstood the purpose of God, and this led them into serious mistakes. If we recognise that, we will be able to view their attitude with more sympathetic understanding, and better interpret the incidents that took place.

It was shattering to their concept of God's purpose to witness the arrest of Jesus; and more so, to see him hang lifeless upon the cross, a public spectacle to all mankind that the curse of God rests upon flesh (Gal. 3:13). To them, as to all Jews who did not properly understand the principles of the atonement, that completely disqualified him as Messiah. For did not the Psalmist prophetically state concerning the Messiah: "He shall give His angels charge concerning thee; to keep thee in all thy ways; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone" (Matt. 4:6; Ps. 91:11-12)?

That being the case, how would it be possible for Yahweh to permit His Messiah to suffer a death which brought the curse of the Law upon him!

Therefore, though Jesus spake of suffering in his discourse in the upper room, they had no idea what was involved in the term. They probably aligned it with the opposition he was then receiving, but concluded that as he had escaped unscathed on other occasions, so he would on this.

They looked for his triumph at Jerusalem; not the tragedy of the nation.

Meanwhile, supper was almost over. At the conclusion of such meals, it was customary to serve wine. Jesus, presiding over the table, now did this, and added some words which must have aroused the curiosity of the Apostles, and caused them the greatest excitement. He declared:

"I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come!"

To the Apostles, this must have sounded wonderful, exciting ! They knew that under normal circumstances, the Lord would be drinking wine to celebrate the Passover on the very next evening: the 15th Abib. Surely his statement must mean that there would be some tremendous public statement, or divine manifestation, that would bring him prominently before the people as the King-Messiah!

It did not enter their heads that soon he would be hanging lifeless from a stake of shame. They had no conception that he must first go to heaven and return again before the Kingdom of God would come.

Therefore, they would probably interpret his statement as an indication that the next 24 hours would witness the consummation of all their hopes!

Doubtless this colored all their thoughts and conversation during the next few hours, as they disputed who would be greatest in that kingdom, and boasted that they would never let the Lord down!