Hunger Strike

Refusing to eat food until a particular action is fulfilled is called a “hunger strike.” When Paul was imprisoned, nearly forty people had taken a wow not to eat or drink until they had killed him (Acts 23:21). King David, not wanting his child with Bathsheba to die, didn’t eat for five days while pleading with God for his child’s life (2 Sam 12:16). Fasting or hunger strikes, they play the same role—a stance for or against an event, action, or principle.

After Peter and John had prepared the Passover meal, Jesus and the twelve apostles sat to eat their meal (Luke 22:14). Unlike DaVinci’s The Last Supper, they reclined on pillows, most likely in the shame of “C” with Jesus, the chief guest, at one corner and Peter, “the primary host” in the other end, while John “the secondary host” next to Jesus, the guest. While Peter would have ensured everyone at the meal had plenty to eat, John would have ensured the chief guest had plenty to eat. This was why Peter couldn’t hear Jesus’s conversation with John (John 13:24).

As they were eating, Jesus said to them,

“I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffered. I tell you: I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in God’s kingdom.” (22:15–16)

Scholars have debated this verse extensively, especially with two primary questions. First, what does “it” refer to? Some have argued it refers to the Passover, meaning Jesus would not celebrate another Passover until God’s kingdom came, while others have argued it refers to the Lord’s Supper. Second, when has or will God’s kingdom come? Some say it has come with Jesus’s resurrection; others have argued it will come when he returns in glory, his second coming. Perhaps the answer is in the context.

Taking the cup and blessing it, he said: ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves. I tell you: I will not drink from now until it—the product of the vine—until God’s kingdom comes.’ (22:17–18).

The “it” is clearly the cup, “the product of the vine,” as Jesus declared. He would not drink wine until God’s kingdom came. Having said that, he hinted at the timing of God’s rule by an action, which we call the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion or Eucharist).

Taking the bread and blessing it, he gave it to them, saying: ‘This is my body given to you. This you do for my remembrance.’ Likewise, after they ate, taking the cup, he said: ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’ (22:19–20)

The key to the timing is the phrase “the new covenant.” God had promised to the Hebrews through prophets Jeremiah (31:31–34) and Ezekiel (36:24–28) that he would once again visit them, be their God, forgive their sins, and put his Spirit in them, turning their hearts of rock into hearts of flesh. By saying the bread and cup were symbols of the new covenant and every time they ate and drank it, they did it for his remembrance, the Lord was saying a new era had begun, Israel’s God was once again living with them, and their sins were forgiven.

In summary, the Lord said he wouldn’t have to celebrate Passover again as the new covenant had been established, and the old covenant and its celebrations, including Passover, were ending. As such, whenever we eat and drink the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim a new era of forgiveness and God’s presence.