Luke 22:15

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

And {G2532} he said {G2036} unto {G4314} them {G846}, With desire {G1939} I have desired {G1937} to eat {G5315} this {G5124} passover {G3957} with {G3326} you {G5216} before {G4253} I {G3165} suffer {G3958}:

and he said to them, “I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I die!

And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering.

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

Luke 22:15 captures a deeply poignant moment as Jesus gathers with His disciples for the Passover meal, which would become known as the Last Supper. This verse reveals Jesus' profound personal longing to share this specific meal with His closest followers before enduring the immense suffering of the cross.

Context

This verse sets the stage for one of the most pivotal events in the Gospels: the institution of the Lord's Supper. It occurs on the eve of Jesus' crucifixion, marking His final hours of freedom before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Passover meal itself was an ancient Jewish tradition commemorating the Israelites' miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt, as detailed in Exodus 12. Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb, is about to imbue this traditional meal with a new, profound meaning, signaling the establishment of the New Covenant through His impending sacrifice.

Key Themes

  • Jesus' Intense Desire: The phrase "With desire I have desired" emphasizes Jesus' deep longing and intentionality. It wasn't a casual gathering but an earnestly desired moment of intimate fellowship before His ultimate sacrifice.
  • Anticipation of Suffering: The explicit mention "before I suffer" highlights Jesus' full awareness of the pain, humiliation, and death awaiting Him. Despite this, His focus is on the fellowship and the purpose of this final meal.
  • Significance of the Passover: Jesus transforms the traditional Passover, pointing it towards His body and blood as the ultimate sacrifice for sin. This meal bridges the Old Covenant's shadows with the New Covenant's reality.
  • Fellowship and Legacy: Jesus' desire to share this meal with His disciples underscores the importance of communal remembrance and the legacy He was establishing for His followers through the Lord's Supper.

Linguistic Insights

The phrase "With desire I have desired" is a classic Semitic idiom (Greek: epithymia epethymēsa), known as a cognate accusative. It's a powerful way to express the intensity or earnestness of an action. Instead of simply saying "I desired," Jesus uses this construction to convey "I have intensely desired" or "I have longed with great longing." This grammatical structure underscores the depth of Jesus' emotion and the profound significance He attached to this final Passover meal with His disciples.

Practical Application

Luke 22:15 invites believers to ponder the depth of Jesus' love and His intentionality in establishing the Lord's Supper. It reminds us that communion is not merely a ritual but a sacred remembrance of His sacrifice, born out of His deep desire for fellowship with humanity. When we partake in the Lord's Supper, we recall His suffering on the cross (Isaiah 53:5) and anticipate His glorious return (1 Corinthians 11:26). This verse encourages us to approach Christian fellowship and worship with similar earnestness and appreciation for the precious gift of His presence and sacrifice.

Note: Commentary was generated by an advanced AI, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

  • Luke 12:50

    But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

  • John 4:34

    Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

  • John 13:1

    ¶ Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

  • John 17:1

    ¶ These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
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