Meditations on the Last Passover and First Communion Celebration

As I've been drawn to meditate on the final Passover which Jesus the Lamb had with those who were closest to him, these reflections from MacLaren's Exposition of St. Luke has been helpful.

[Jesus] discloses His earnest desire for that last hour of calm before He went out to face the storm, and reveals His vision of the future feast in the perfect kingdom. That desire touchingly shows His brotherhood in all our shrinking from parting with dear ones, and in our treasuring of the last sweet, sad moments of being together. That was a true human heart, 'fashioned alike' with ours, which longed and planned for one quiet hour before the end, and found some bracing for Gethsemane and Calvary in the sanctities of the Upper Room.

...

"It is sufficient to note that in [the elements] He gives what He does not taste, and that, in giving, His thoughts travel beyond all the sorrow and death to reunion and perfected festal joys. These anticipations solaced His heart in that supreme hour. 'For the joy that was set before Him' He 'endured the Cross,' and this was the crown of His joy, that all His friends should share it with Him, and sit at His table in His kingdom."

Maclaren, Alexander (2005-05-01). Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke (Kindle Locations 7119-7123, 7127-7130). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.