Luke 22:15-16 NASB
[15] And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
John 1:18 NASB
[18] No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Jesus came to explain the truth about the Father, and He did that, not just by the words that he spoke, but by the life he lived. I love that verse in Luke 22 because it gives us such insight into the heart of Christ, and therefore the heart of the Father. Jesus said to them that he earnestly desired to eat the Passover meal with them, which amazes me when you get a broad picture in this scene of what kind of guys he was talking about. Think about it for second; in this upper room scene, on holy Thursday, Jesus tells them that someone is sitting at the table who will betray him, and having said that they began to argue with each other as to who it might be. As a matter-of-fact, inthe gospel of John they each asked Jesus the question as to whether they were the one. it doesn’t represent that they had a lot of confidence in their own spirituality, or that they had a lot of trust in each other. In the Luke account, right in the middle of discussing among themselves, and accusing each other as to who might be the one who would betray Jesus, they start arguing among themselves as to who was going to be regarded as the greatest among them. In the midst of all this, in the Matthew account Jesus says, “You will all fall away because of me this night.” Jesus also in the upper room told Peter that he would deny Christ three times, and when they left the upper room to go to Gethsemane Jesus asked them to wait for him and pray, as he went aside to seek the Father, and he found them sleeping each time he came back from his time of agonizing before the presence of the Father, and then when the soldiers finally showed up to take Jesus captive, Peter cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest, with Jesus has to put it back on.
In light of these guys imperfections, and even unfaithfulness, it amazes me how Jesus felt about them, when He said “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you.” Jesus loved them, and loved being in their presence, and enjoying their fellowship regardless of their weakness and imperfection. I’m so grateful that Christ doesn’t wait for me to grow up into perfection before he enjoys me. He enjoys me even in my weakness, and manifest immaturity. When they were arguing with each other about who was gonna be the greatest in the kingdom Jesus teaches the lesson about being a servant, because the servant is the one who is the greatest, and instead of rebuking them for their pride and carnal competitive spirit he says this in verse 28; “And you are those who stood by Me in my trials, and just as My father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.” Instead of rebuking them, he affirmed them, and in doing so was calling them forth to their true destiny. When revealing to Peter that Peter was going to deny him, he said “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again strengthen your brothers.” Jesus did not say, “if you turn again,” but he said “WHEN you turn again.” Jesus proclaimed his confidence and trust in Peter, even though he had just told him that he would deny his Lord three times. This is the heart of Christ, and the heart of our heavenly Father. He is patient with us, and affirms us. He believes in us, and is always calling us forth to our destiny in Christ. He loves to be with us even in light of our imperfection and immaturity. He actually enjoys us, though we rae not yet perfect. I want to show you one more thing. I believe Jesus saw something in them in spite of all the spiritual failure revealed and manifested by his disciples in the upper room, and at Gethsemane. It says in verse 45 “and when He rose from prayer, He came to his disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow.” They may not have understood everything that Jesus was about to go through, but they did understand that he was talking about going through suffering, and that his heart was agonizing. They went to sleep because their hearts were heavy with sorrow. What does that say? It says that even though they were imperfect, and at times unfaithful and immature, they loved Jesus, and Jesus saw that in them even in the midst of their imperfections. He sees your heart for him, and he knows your affection for him, and even when you fail, what he sees in your heart he counts as true love. Never let the enemy lie to you in the midst of your failures that your love for Jesus is hypocritical, and false; that somehow you are a hypocrite. Your longing to be obedient, your heart affections, and your awkward steps in walking with him are all counted as true love by him. This is who your God is. This is the true heart of Him who so loved you that he gave his only son for you. He earnestly, and passionately, loves and enjoys you.