“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)
“Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14:25)
“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.” (Luke 22:15–16)
“For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” (Luke 22:18)
On the night when Our Lord was to die on the cross, He shared the Passover meal with His disciples in the Upper Room. He instituted what is now celebrated in most Christian churches as the Lord’s Table or the Eucharist. During this time He made two statements that are of great significance but are often glossed over by casual reading.
First, while contemplating the cup of wine which represented His blood, He stated in each of the synoptic gospels (as noted above) that “I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”1
Second, only in Luke’s account, He expresses His personal aspiration of eating the Passover with them. And then He adds something that many commentators seem to overlook: “I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
What did Our Lord mean by these statements? An analysis of His statements will provide clarity by revealing an aspect of the Kingdom of God that is uniquely Jewish, having absolutely no relationship to the Church of Jesus Christ.
Kingdom of God
The mention of the ‘Kingdom of God’ alludes to the highly anticipated future restoration of David’s eternal kingdom it was promised to him in the Davidic Covenant:
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12–13)
And it was declared that Jesus Christ would sit on that throne:
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” (Luke 1:32–33)
One phase of this future Kingdom will last ‘a thousand years’ as it is mentioned 6 times in Revelation 20:1-7. Dr. Ryrie explains by utilizing Old Testament evidences:
Since the Latin equivalent for these words is “millennium,” this period of time is called the Millennium. It is the time when Christ shall reign on this earth (Isaiah 2:3; Daniel 7:14; Zechariah 14:9). Satan will not be free to work (here in v. 2), righteousness will flourish (Isaiah 11:3–5), peace will be universal (Isaiah 2:4), and the productivity of the earth will be greatly increased (Isaiah 35:1–2). At the conclusion of the time Satan will be loosed to make one final attempt to overthrow Christ, but without success (vv. 7–9).2
After the thousand years the Kingdom of God will be ruled by the King of Kings, Jesus Christ into the Eternal State (Revelation 21-22).
The Fruit of the Vine and The Passover in the Millennial Kingdom
Both Matthew and Mark record Our Lord stating that He would drink the fruit of the vine “new in the kingdom of God.” The word ‘new’ does not infer freshly-made or new in time but means new in quality.3 Kenneth Wuest ascertains that in the future Millennial Kingdom the quality of the wine will be spiritual and not material.4
We must not forget that the cup of the Last Supper symbolized the blood of Christ poured-out for the atonement of sin and that Israel in the Old Testament looked forward to His atoning work (Hebrews 10:1ff; John 8:56). While today, all mankind looks back to that event, but in the future Kingdom, there will be no looking back because Jesus Christ will be an ever present reality, a physical attestation of His accomplished atonement. It will signify the fulfillment of the “new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20)—the New Covenant as conveyed to the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
The truth that the Passover will be observed in the Kingdom is overlooked by many Bible scholars, but so will the Feast of Booths be observed.
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.” (Ezekiel 45:21)
“Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.” (Zechariah 14:16ff)
In fact the Sabbath Day, the new moon and daily sacrifices will be observed during the days of the Kingdom as well (Ezekiel 46).
“Fulfilled in the Kingdom”
So it should not surprise us to know that Our Lord will celebrate the Passover in the Kingdom of God. For when He states in Luke 22:16 “I shall never again eat it”, it refers to ‘Passover’ in the previous verse.
But what exactly is He implying by the cryptic statement which follows: “until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God”? The answer lies in the original meaning for the Passover celebration. When the children of Israel were still enslaved by the Egyptian Pharaoh (Exodus 1-12), God brought upon the Egyptians ten plagues intended to encourage Pharaoh to let His people go. The last plague was death to all the firstborn from the Pharaoh to the slave girl and even those of the cattle (Exodus 12:1-28). The Jews were to place the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels of the houses so that the destroyer would ‘pass over’ their houses and leave their firstborn untouched (Exodus 12:22-23; cf. Hebrews 11:28).
This was God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery, which is analogous to the redemptive work of Christ which frees mankind from the enslavement of sin that leads to eternal death (Galatians 5:1; Romans 6:22-23). But for Israel, the Passover signified deliverance from slavery, safety and settlement in the land as promised to Abraham “and to your descendants forever” (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17; 15:7, 18).
The Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10) confirms that in the Millennial Kingdom the Lord will gather the Jews “from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you” (Deuteronomy 30:3; cf. Psalm 147:2; Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 34:13). This will be the conclusive fulfillment of the Passover—the actualization of the everlasting promises made to Israel, of the blessing, the land and the Messianic Kingdom.
[1] Worded variously, yet the content and meaning is the same in all 3 instances.
[2] Ryrie, C. C. (1995). Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 update. Chicago: Moody Press, p. 2041 note.
[3] Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word Studies in the New Testament. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1.138-139.
[4] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1.262.
© 2024 David M. Rossi
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