And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Luke 22:15

            Jesus’ desire to share the Last Supper with His disciples speaks of His passion to worship the Father with those who come to the Father through Him. Jesus’ life was all about worshipping the Father. His consistent obedience and love for all people was an act of worship. 

            From the Old Testament times, the Passover meal was one of the great unifying feasts of Israel. It reminded the people of their common past and the love of God that miraculously delivered them from their Egyptian captors. It was a meal of remembrance and worship as they applied the lessons of Old Testament to their present relationship with God.

            Jesus understood how He was the fulfillment of the greater deliverance pictured in the Passover. He earnestly desired that, during this time of worship, the disciples would see that He was about to give Himself to set them free from the bondage of sin and death. He longed for them to see that He was the Lamb of God who would take away their sins. Though they didn’t know it yet, his act of service in washing their feet was going to be followed by the greatest act of humility – that of giving Himself as the Passover lamb for all who would partake of Him. The Old Covenant was about to come to an end. History was about to meet its turning point. Death was about to die.

            What do we earnestly desire? Jesus’ passion for the glory of the Father and the coming of the Kingdom sets before us the greatest longing. Every other desire should be a distant second. Our desires reveal our spiritual maturity.

            May the Lord, give us His own passion to glorify the Father. Let us become most passionate for what is eternal and keep the things of the world in its proper place. Allow the Lord to order our priorities in life according to what is really of value.

            O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made my thirsty for more.  I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.  I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still.  Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed.  Begin, in mercy, a new work of love within me.  Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”  Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

            (A prayer by A.W. Tozer, “The Pursuit of God”)