XXXII. Our Lord’s Farewell to the World.

MATT. xxvi. 29. “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of
the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My
Father’s kingdom.”
I. OUR Lord here expresses His renunciation from that
moment of all the joys and comforts of life. It was
because now He had other work to do, and His love of
man constrained Him.
II. Our Lord here takes farewell of earth. He does
not repine; He does not withdraw from the world as an
ascetic. He puts away the cup with as cheerful an air as
He took it.
III. Our Lord’s words contained His dying anticipation.
He expected brighter days, fairer banquets, fresher wine.
We learn, too, that the joys of heaven are social.
Our Lord’s description of heaven represents Himself as
happy, and happy with His people. Perhaps He referred
to His second coming, to the establishment of the kingdom
of God, when the glorious wine-cup of the New Jerusalem’s
best wine shall be passed from lip to lip.
Charles H. Spurgeon