Hello Blueblades,
At Luke Chapter 22, verse 14, Jesus is sitting down at the Last Supper with the twelve apostles and He is saying unto them, "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not anymore 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" (verses 14-18).
Here Jesus states that the Kingdom is coming and that certain events will take place when the Kingdom has arrived. Jesus says he will not eat or drink anymore until the Kingdom comes. Now let's search the scriptures to see if Jesus ever does eat or drink again with the apostles.
Go to Acts, Chapter 10, verses 39-41. We are going to be looking at a "flashback." In these verses the apostles are talking about an earlier event, after Jesus rose from the dead, but before He ascended into the clouds. Peter says:
"And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead."
Here we see Jesus' prediction at the Last Supper being fulfilled. Jesus said that the kingdom will come when He eats and drinks again with His apostles (Luke 22:16,18). Now at Acts Chapter 10, the apostles are bearing witness that they did eat and drink with Jesus.
From these events, it is clear that Jesus conferred the Kingdom upon the apostles and that they bore witness that the Kingdom truly arrived.
Let's look again at what Jesus was actually doing. The first event is Jesus telling the apostles at the Last Supper, "The Kingdom is right around the corner. I'm going to go die, and after I am raised up, the Kingdom will be fulfilled. Today I'm eating this Last Supper with you. When I eat and drink with you again, the Kingdom will be fulfilled" (Luke 22:16,18).
Then Christ explains the character of His government and bestows His Father's Kingdom upon them (Luke 22:29). Finally, the apostles testify that they did indeed eat and drink with Jesus after He rose from the dead. This event fulfills Christ's prediction that when He eats and drinks again it will be when the kingdom of God is fulfilled (Acts 10:39-41).
This is the Good News. The evidence is in. These are not parables. This is clear speech. The Kingdom is here. We have that same Kingdom and it is everlasting. If it happened 2,000 years ago, it has to be here now, too. It has never vanished.
Just some thoughts, What do you think? I find these texts very interesting.
Peace
Acadian
