*A DESIRE TO DESIRE*
Die Daily Footstool Devotional
Luke 22:13-16 KJVS
And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. [14] And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. [15] And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: [16] For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
JESUS' DESIRE TO EAT THAT PASSOVER. " And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat..." It is one thing to eat a meal that is set before you just because it has to be eaten. It is an entirely different thing to have an earnest desire to eat a meal. The longing and desire that is attached to consuming a meal has the advantage of making you enjoy the food while it's being eaten, as well as giving you the energy to consume everything you may have in the cup or plate set before you. Eating something with a desire is more powerful than eating something that you do not actually long for.
Jesus desired with a desire to eat the Passover with his disciples before his sufferings began. The Greek word translated as "desire" is " epithumia". " Epithumia" means a longing, a lust for, a craving for something that is forbidden, a concupiscence. Why would Jesus use such a word as "lust as if for something that is forbidden" to express His desire to eat with His disciples? We would expect words that will mean something like "Agape love or Christian brotherly love or so", wouldn't we? But Jesus used the expression that meant a longing and craving for something that is forbidden!
EVE' S DESIRE TO EAT THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT. We know that it was a lust or craving or longing for what was forbidden that led Eve to eat the fruit that the serpent advertised to her. Without the desire, Eve might never have eaten the fruit.
Genesis 3:6, 7 KJVS
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant c to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
JESUS' DESIRE VERSUS EVE' S DESIRE. Genesis 3 : 6, 7 and Luke 22:13-16 reveal a similar progression of a desire to eat a sacred or forbidden thing and to share it with others before the beginnings of sufferings. The process that led to sin and death is the same process that Jesus replicated by eating the Passover desirously with His disciples before the beginning of his sufferings.
THE POWER OF EATING THE COMMUNION. Eating the communion with Jesus is a powerful cancellation of the old lustful desires that lead us to sin and evil sufferings and eventually death. Eating the communion desirously with Jesus is a powerful introducer into a new longing for the sacred truths of God, an initiation into a life of power- releasing acts of sufferings and self denials and losses.
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: Luke 2 2 : 1 5.
Dining with Jesus holds power to change your desires. Eating the Holy meal of God has a supernatural effect to neutralising your od desires that tend you towards sin and death. Sometimes, we don't even understand why we want what we want, but we find that we are consumed with a desire to go after something. If you will sin and go to hell, it will come from the desires that rule your heart. If you will live righteous and go to heaven, it will also stem from the desires that rule your heart. Desire is a very powerful thing. Eat often with Jesus. But don't just eat the Holy meal. Eat it with a desire to desire more of Him.
Anastasia Bruce
Footstool Colour
