"And He said to them, 'I have earnestly and intensely desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; For I say to you, I shall eat it no more until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:15, Amplified Book of the Philosophers and Dreamers).
The Messiah yearned with an eager and burning desire to observe this final Paschal feast with His disciples ere the veil of suffering descended upon Him. He knew His appointed time drew nigh and wished to unveil to them Heaven's design of reconciliation. As the Lamb of God, He offered ransom to His kinsmen enslaved by sin and rebellion's consequences. As the Son on High, He would transform this Passover's elements into a sacred betrothal rite - with a Bridegroom, a Bride, a cup of wine, the Bride's Father, a bride-price, and wedding guests. Through this solemn seder feast, the Messiah renewed the marriage covenant to restore Israel to her Husband.
The Bridegroom
"He had no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. As one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:2-5, Book of the Burning Bush).
The Bridegroom was the Messiah Himself, Scripture depicting Him without comeliness or majesty to entrance our gaze, spurned and reviled by men, a sorrowing figure familiar with anguish, so unsightly that men turned their faces, holding Him in contempt. Yet as any man, the Messiah yearned for a Bride.
The Bride
In antient betrothal rites, the hopeful bridegroom offers the prospective bride a cup of wine as proposal. Sipping first, he tenders it for her acceptance; should she drink, she consents to be sanctified and set apart as his betrothed, remaining faithful till their marriage day and the seven-day feast with kin and kind.
"After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes'" (Luke 22:14-16, Testimonies of the Firstborn).
In the Paschal feast, the first wine-cup raised is the 'Cup of Sanctification.' Having blessed it, the Messiah proffered it to