"Meaning" & "Fulfillment"

In Luke 22, Jesus says to His friends: “I shall not eat the Passover again until all that it means is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

So, hearing that, we might ask ourselves: What does it mean? 

Well, think of Isaac asking his father, Abraham: “Behold, the fire and the wood, father, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen. 22)

Or, think of the Levitical instructions: “The … lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, an … offering to the Lord.” (Ex. 29)

Or, think of the exiles returning where: “the priests and the Levites had purified themselves… So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.’ (Ez. 6)

Or, think of the prophets saying: “he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Is. 53)

My friends, the “fulfillment” of the Past-Present-Future “meaning” Jesus is pointing to, on that Thursday night, is none other than the reality of Himself!

He is the “lamb” the Father will offer… so that Isaac… so that you and I… need not die!

He is the “lamb,” commemorated with grain and with drink… who, on our behalf, brings pleasure to the heart of God!

He is the “lamb” who, by His “slaughtering,” welcomes back the exiles: we sheep who had wandered away from our Shepherd!

He is the “lamb” who “opened not his mouth”; who bore the entirety of our separation in silence: who freed us forever!

Let us enter into this week, following our Good Shepherd, who is also, by the way, the incarnate Lamb of God!