Who is submitting to whom?

Luke 22:15-20

"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. 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide [it] among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup [is] the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. “

Jesus says that He will not eat of the unleavened Passover bread until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God- The question then is what is the “it” being referred to here? The “it “is the spiritual Passover. We see that Jesus consumes no bread until the end of the Gospel of John when He eats bread and fish for breakfast by the sea of Galilee after His resurrection with the disciples. This meal follows the spiritual Passover. The spiritual Passover is complete because at that time, the Passover lamb was already chosen, slain, and the blood poured out on the mercy seat. 

    Furthermore, we see that Jesus states that He will not drink of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. Jesus consumes no wine after this event save when He is on the cross, cries out for thirst and is given sour gall. 

    He therefore fulfills His word but what is very interesting about this passage is that there are two instances during this meal that Jesus points out the bread and the wine. First is here as I have highlighted and second is when He designates the bread as His body and the wine as the blood of the New Covenant. There might have been more than one loaf and more than one bottle but basically it was all the same bread and wine. This is profound because the bread and wine were not “special” bread and wine - they were comprised of what already existed in the lives of the disciples at that moment. The first consumption of bread and wine was the fulfillment of Passover, the second instituted a new covenantal relationship with God through Christ. In effect, the second replaced the first so that the original method of Passover observation no longer need be practiced by believers in Christ Jesus. 

    As well, God used what was already available in the lives of the people to make covenants and pacts with them. We see Him do this throughout scripture. The God that created the universe subjects Himself to the traditions and laws of man so that we, His creation can comprehend the gravity of His actions. What I mean is that He is God and He doesn’t need to “make a covenant” using objects- He chooses to so that we can understand what a big deal it is. It would be like God coming visit you in bodily form in your house tonight and saying that He promises not to leave or forsake you and to prove it to you, He hands you a wedding ring for you to wear. The ring is just a ring and God doesn’t need to give a ring to prove that He meant what He said- He would simply give the ring to you so that your mind could comprehend how profound his promise is. This is the nature of God- He gets right down on our level and uses our “traditions” to speak to our understanding. In this way, God restricts Himself to man- this is love because it is not necessary for Him to do it.