Jesus Has Sacrifice on His Mind

Well, good morning everyone. Are we well? Excellent. Thank you so much to everyone who's participated so far in the service. What a week.

It's a week, I don't know about you, but if anyone saw that video, it's a week where I learnt that I can fully trust the Lothian bus drivers to get me wherever I'm trying to go on time and safely.

Did anyone see that video? Quite remarkable, wasn't it?

Love this week. Also, my funniest thing of this week was the ski centre down in Kent that had to close because of excess snow.

Loved that headline then when I saw that one.

But what a week. But we turn to God's Word, God's never-changing inspired Word, which I hope he's going to do just that to us this morning as God by his Spirit works amongst us.

So why don't we pray, let's just pause and let's still our hearts as we come to this passage in Luke 22.

Psalm 119 verse 105.

Psalms 119:105

Psalm 119 verse 105.

Psalms 119:105

Let me pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

So just to kick us off this morning, I wonder if anyone's seen this film?

Some of us.

The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

If you've not seen it, it's all right.

Not going to go right home about it.

But we watched this recently, Alex and I, The Bucket List on Amazon Prime because we had nothing else to do one evening.

So we chucked on The Bucket List.

And essentially it's a film about two terminally ill men who meet each other in hospital and who set about coming up with a list of things that they want to do before they die.

Okay.

And I think they call it The Bucket List because it's the things they want to do because before they hit the bucket, that's where they get the name from.

So they call it The Bucket List.

The things that they want to do before they die.

So here's what I want to do this morning just to get us thinking and trying to get us into this passage.

Turn to your neighbor for 30 seconds.

What are the things that would be on your bucket list?

Okay.

30 seconds just to get a bit of volume in the room and then we'll kick on.

Okay.

What would be the things in your bucket list?

Okay.

Excellent.

Well, here are the top five entries on the website.

I believe there is a website called this bucketlist.net.

Okay.

Here are the top five things that the people in our world want to do before they die.

Here's number one.

See if anyone had this one.

Northern Lights.

Somebody has probably actually seen it.

Chris, have you seen it?

Brilliant.

There you go.

Northern Lights.

Number two.

Go skydiving?

No?

Some of us.

Okay.

Here's the third one.

Get a tattoo.

Number four.

Now, I was surprised at this one.

We'll see because I think that's a great idea.

Go on a cruise.

Stage of life I'm at.

I would love a cruise.

There we go.

Number five.

Swim with dolphins.

So there we go.

The things that people in our world would want to do with the lights before they die.

And here's what we're going to do this morning.

We're going to spend some time with a man who's in the final days of his life.

And here is Jesus in the final days of his life.

And he's got sacrifice on his mind.

And he's got sacrifice on his mind because the cross, the place as we journey through Luke's gospel,

the place that he's repeatedly told his disciples where he is going, the place where his life is going,

the cross is no longer just a point on the horizon.

The cross is imminent.

Let me just help us see the rough timeline of events here.

Very rough timeline as Luke requires them just so we can see where we are in the story.

So Jesus entered Jerusalem at chapter 9 verse 28 on the Sunday.

On the Monday, chapter 19 of verse 45, roughly, he's in the temple.

And he's in the temple.

He's driving out those who had turned God's house into a marketplace.

On the Tuesday, chapters 20 and 21, roughly, he's back in the temple.

And he's challenging the religious leaders.

He's clarifying the future of this whole temple business.

And so here we are today, chapter 22, looking at the Wednesday and the Thursday before it all kicks off on Good Friday.

So here we are today, and Jesus, in the final few days of his life, with a cross just around the corner,

has got sacrifice on his mind.

But I wonder if you've ever asked yourself why.

Why does Jesus have sacrifice on his mind?

Why?

It's my three-year-old daughter's favorite question at the minute.

And it starts off cute.

Why?

Why does Jesus have sacrifice on his mind?

Canadian novelist and artist Douglas Copeland was asked recently in an interview what his greatest fear was in life.

I wonder how you'd answer that question.

What is your greatest fear in life?

He said that his greatest fear in life is that God exists, but he doesn't care much for human beings.

Now, if that's true, that is a legitimate fear.

That God doesn't care.

That God created this world, and then off he went.

God doesn't care much for human beings.

And perhaps you're here this morning, and that's where you are on this whole God thing.

Does God care about my life?

How do I know that God cares about my life?

It's a great question to be asking yourself.

Well, as we see Jesus here, let me invite you, as we see God's Son, as we see God in the flesh in action here, ask yourself,

what does this tell us?

What does this tell you about God?

And what does this tell you about you?

Jesus has got sacrifice on his mind.

And sacrifice, as we just quickly, briefly follow through these verses,

sacrifice is going to mean three things for Jesus.

Here's the first thing, verses 1 to 6 of chapter 22.

It's sacrifice for Jesus will mean surrendering.

So here we are on the Wednesday of Easter week.

Jesus is about 33 years of age.

He's been in the public eye now for about two or three years.

And he is becoming, and we've seen this over the last few weeks,

extraordinarily popular with the people.

They love Jesus.

But as time has gone on, and particularly now that Jesus is on the temple turf, so to speak,

the religious leaders in Jerusalem have had about enough of him.

Because they resent his popularity, they are suspicious of his motives,

and they fear the power that he has.

And so all of this is added up to mean simply, pure and simply, in their minds,

that Jesus has to go.

Jesus has to be crushed.

Jesus has to be exterminated.

And so we pick it up here, verses 1 and 2.

The only question in the minds of the chief priests and the teachers of the law

is how are we going to do it?

How are we going to do it?

The people are not on their side,

and the calendar is not on their side either.

Because you see it, detail in the text, it's Passover.

One of the great moments of the Jewish religious year.

It's a festival with both national and religious elements to it.

I guess it's something akin to what we do as we do Christmas,

and as we do Remembrance Day.

It's that kind of thing.

National tones, religious tones to the Passover.

And Passover means that Jerusalem is rammed full of people.

And so if they were to try and arrest Jesus,

then that is way too risky.

So something needs to give.

So here they are, verses 1 and 2.

They're scratching their heads.

How are we going to do it?

And they could not have imagined,

in all their wildest dreams,

that it would get as good as it was about to get.

Now here it is.

This is what my gran, my grandpa,

one of the two, maybe the two,

they used to call it a never-look-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth moment.

Judas walks in.

And when you think about it,

Judas is the perfect solution to their problem.

Because Judas isn't just a follower of Jesus.

Judas is one of the twelve.

Now no one is suspicious of Judas at this point.

It's not like some of the TV crime dramas that we watch.

And there's a mole in the ranks,

and everybody knows that there's a mole in the ranks.

Nobody is suspicious of Judas here.

Judas is trusted.

And Judas knows where Jesus hangs out.

And to top it all off,

it's not like they tapped him up.

It's not like they sent him a private message on Facebook

and offered him a bit of money

if he would only come and talk to them.

Judas, of his own accord, goes to them.

Now exactly when and why Judas' heart towards Jesus changed,

we can't be sure.

But Luke wants us to know,

in the text,

that there are two factors in play here.

Now firstly,

Satan.

Don't miss the importance of that.

That the one who,

from the very beginning of the Bible story,

is set on thwarting God's purposes.

In Luke's gospel,

we last read of Satan,

back in chapter 4, verse 13,

when he tempted Jesus during his 40 days in the wilderness.

And after it had become clear that Jesus would not succumb,

Luke tells us, rather,

that Satan disappeared until an opportune time.

Well, here is his opportune time.

Judas is his opportune time.

So Satan's at play here.

Second factor,

money's at play here.

Verse 4,

they agreed to give him money.

I think we're meant to understand that Judas went to them,

and he asked for money.

So there they are.

They're here.

They're plotting.

They're meeting.

Ideas as to how to catch Jesus are being shared.

Before Judas returns to Jesus and the other 11 disciples,

and he waits to make his move.

Now, for all intents and purposes,

it looks like forces are conspiring here,

behind Jesus' back,

to ensure that the wheels are about to well and truly come off the Jesus bandwagon.

The religious leaders are in on it.

Judas is in on it.

Satan is in on it.

The question is,

who's in control here?

Who's in control?

Well, it might not look like it,

but Jesus is in control.

He's in full control here.

He's been telling his disciples that this will happen all the way through the gospel.

This gospel,

if you want to check it out,

chapter 18,

verse 32.

This is the most recent one we have of this.

He said,

plainly,

that he was about to be delivered over to the religious leaders,

and ultimately to the Gentiles.

This is what he said all the way along in this gospel.

This is going to happen.

And so these background events,

these dodgy deals,

which we'll see Jesus eventually handed over to be crucified,

they're all part of God's plan.

All part of God's plan.

Jesus is one completely in control.

It was about this time last year where I first learned to play chess.

Never learned to play chess before.

Upstairs in Basics Bank,

it's the only time I've ever played chess.

There's one guy called John who taught me how to play chess,

and he's literally taught me everything I know about the game.

And he taught me one thing when I started.

He said,

Graham,

a good chess player doesn't just think one move ahead.

A good chess player thinks five moves ahead.

And I have no idea if that's true or not.

As I say,

I've learned everything from him.

But a good chess player thinks five moves ahead.

Here's what we need to understand about Jesus.

He's not thinking one move ahead.

You're not just thinking five moves ahead.

Actually,

what's going on down here

is the plan

since before the foundation of the world.

And it's going down exactly

as God ordains it to go down.

God's master plan of redemption,

the grand weaver of history,

here he is,

his plan to rescue his people

by sending his son to die in their place.

Now that is a wonderful truth about the God of the Bible

that's so sovereign

and so in control is he

that even the world's worst

turns out to be nothing other than a plan

that plays into his best.

This is the kind of God that we're dealing with here.

Here is a Christ who is in control.

And here is a Christ

who is choosing the cross.

You see,

in the final days of his life,

here is Jesus.

What has he got in his mind?

He's got sacrifice on his mind.

And sacrifice means surrendering.

Here's the second thing it means,

verses 7 to 23.

Sacrifice means suffering.

Luke tells us that the day

that the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed

is here,

which means that it's now Thursday of Passion Week.

And Jesus wants to eagerly eat

the Passover meal with his disciples.

Notice that word eagerly there.

He's been waiting for this.

This is it.

This is the climax.

You'll see that Luke mentions the Passover there

five times in those seven verses,

I think.

Five times.

He wants us to see the connection

between what is going on here

with Jesus and the Passover.

Again, see how Jesus is in control.

I love how Luke records this.

Peter and John ask where?

Jesus doesn't just give them the where.

He gives them the where,

the who,

the how,

and the what.

Follow with me.

They're to go into the city.

They'll meet a man carrying a jar of water.

They have to follow him to a furnished house.

And there,

they are to make preparations for the meal.

Verse 13,

it happened just as Jesus said.

Here is a Christ who is in control.

Verse 14,

eating the Passover meal together.

It was a meal of celebration,

looking back the way

to the time when God delivered

their forefathers from Egypt.

But it was also a meal

that looked forward,

that had anticipation to it,

looking forward to the day

when God would ultimately

win freedom for his people.

And the centerpiece of this meal

was a lamb.

As the people remembered

how God had spoken

to these people,

their ancestors,

who were slaves in Egypt

and who had told them

to take a lamb

and to kill it.

And to put its blood

on the doorframe

of their houses

so that the angel of the Lord

would not kill

the firstborn of the family.

To get it in their minds

that they lived this.

That the lamb died

in their place.

And its blood

was the thing

that stood

between them and death.

The lamb died

so that they didn't have to.

And God provided

these lambs.

And so at this Passover meal,

each family's Passover lamb

was killed the night before

and eaten at this meal

as the people,

the nation,

came together,

looked back,

looked forward,

took this meal

and declared together

that this is our God.

This is our God.

So this meal

that Jesus and his disciples

are eating together,

just like every other Passover meal,

except

Jesus takes

everything that it symbolized

and he gives it

not just a new meaning,

but he gives it

its full meaning.

Jesus takes the bread,

verse 19,

what does he say?

This represents

my body

which will be broken

for you.

Jesus then takes

the cup,

verse 20,

and says,

this represents

my blood

which will be poured

out for you.

Interesting to note

that Luke

and the other

gospel writers,

as you read them,

record this,

they mention nothing

about there being

a Passover lamb

on the table.

Nothing about there being

a Passover lamb

on the table.

Surely the connection

that we readers

are meant to realize,

is that the focus

isn't meant to be

on the Passover lamb

on the table.

Our focus is to be

on the Passover lamb

who is seated

at the table.

Jesus was about

to stand in

and be the real,

the true,

the promised Passover lamb

whose body would be broken

and whose blood

would stand

in the defense

of his people.

And what does Jesus say

at the end of verse 19?

Do this

in remembrance

of me.

Do this

in remembrance

of me.

That word remembrance

is an active word.

Remembering,

bringing something

to mind.

So there's something

about this meal

that as the disciples

take it from now on

and as the church

down the ages

has taken it together

and as we

as a body

of believers

this morning

take communion

together this morning,

something about this meal

is supposed

to help

God's people

remember.

I don't know

how you are

at remembering things.

I'm terrible

at remembering things.

I've got a diary,

I've got an app

and I've got an iPhone

and I still forget things.

Still forget things.

But you see,

Jesus is talking

about a different

kind of remembering here.

So this meal

is not

supposed to get them

to remember

that the cross

just happened.

It's supposed

to help us

remember

what the cross

means.

Looking back

the way

that the Lamb

took the hit

that I deserve

for my sin

so that I can

go free.

I remember

going to see

a preacher

called

Rico Tice

down in London

a few years ago

and he walked

up to the stage

and he said,

let me tell you

what happened

to me this week

and he was holding

a smashed up

bike helmet

and everyone's

thinking,

has he lost

the plot here?

What's going on?

Walks onto stage

with a smashed up

bike helmet

and he puts it

next to him

and he said,

I was riding

my bike this week

at speed

and a bus

ever so slightly,

he was sent

to London,

a bus ever so slightly

knocked me off balance

and down I went

and I'm sitting there

as I'm falling

in my mind

thinking this is it,

this is it,

I think at the time

he was just newly

married as well

thinking this is it

and down he went

and he said,

I fell

and the helmet

took the hit

so that I can

have life.

The helmet

took the hit

so that I can

go free.

The helmet

died

so that I don't

have to.

The helmet

got death,

I got life.

That's what

Jesus has done

on the cross.

For those of us

here this morning

and maybe this is

what I was feeling

as I was praying

through this passage

this week,

for those of us

here this morning

feeling weighed

down and beaten

up by our guilt

and our sin

and what a wonderful

morning to stop

as a family

and that is all

of us isn't it,

feeling weighed

down by our sin

to stop and to

remember what the

lamb has done

for us and to

allow that to

sink in.

I've never seen

so much snow

in my life

as I have this

week.

Never seen so

much snow.

When I was

walking to work

on Thursday

traipsing through,

love that word

traipsing,

traipsing through

the snow and I

come to the

meadows and I'm

walking across

the meadows and

I'm looking at it

it's about half

eight in the

morning,

nobody's touched

the meadows and

I look at it

pristine,

untouched,

pearly white snow

and do you

know what song

is in my

head?

Let it snow,

let it snow,

no it wasn't

that one.

It was Jesus

paid it all and

all to him I

owe.

Sin had left a

crimson stain but

he washed it white

as snow.

This is the

gospel, the meal

that helps us

communion, look

back the way and

the meal that

helps us look

forward to the

day when the

slain lamb

returns and he

will return as a

victorious king

and we will

eat this meal

together with

him in his

kingdom.

So we come

together this

morning as one

family and we

declare that this

is our God,

this is our God,

this is what he's

done for us,

this is the

gospel and this

truly is good

news.

And from that

high, Jesus

proceeds to drop

the bombshell at

verse 21.

that one of

them at this

table will

betray him.

So Jesus has

done all this in

serving and

remember who else

is at the table.

Judas is at the

table here.

What must be

going through his

mind here?

You can imagine,

can't you, the

disciples looking at

each other at this

point, giving each

other ugly, squinting

their eyes at each

other, trying not to

swallow in case that

makes them look

guilty.

Which one of

them would do

such a thing to

Jesus?

Which one of

them would have

the audacity to

do this, having

seen him all these

couple of years do

all these wonderful

things?

Of course, it's not

news to Jesus, is

it?

Here is a Christ who

is in control and

here is a Christ who

is choosing the

cross.

In the final days of

his life, Jesus has

got sacrifice on his

mind.

sacrifice will mean

suffering, sacrifice

will mean surrendering,

sacrifice will mean

suffering, and

thirdly, verses 24 to

39, sacrifice will

mean serving.

It's not difficult to

imagine, is it, how

the disciples get from

talking about how

great their faith is.

Do you see it?

Who is the greatest

there?

How it would never be

them who would betray

Jesus, to talking about

verse 24, which to

them is the greatest.

And Jesus, he hears

this bickering going

on and he breaks in

with a timely word

about the life and

the soul of his

kingdom.

He says to his

disciples that you're

thinking, you're

thinking how the world

thinks.

You're thinking about

position, you're

thinking about promotion,

you're thinking about

how others can serve

you.

But if you want to

follow me, do you

see at the end of

verse 27, you need to

start thinking service.

You see, here is

Jesus saying that his

people are to be

marked by a radical

other people

centeredness.

That their lives are

to be about not being

served, but serving.

I was so encouraged

this week to read the

reports of people,

Christians, out on the

streets helping this

week.

Bethany, food banks,

care vans, you name it,

the rest of it, helping.

It's wonderful to see.

An example of how

Jesus has been serving

these disciples.

Do you see how Jesus

has been spending

himself praying for

Peter?

We read often in Luke

how Jesus would

retreat to quiet

places to spend time

praying.

And amazingly,

amongst other things,

he's been praying for

Peter.

Peter's probably even

seen him do it.

What a wonderful thing

for Peter to know that

Jesus is a saviour who

is spending himself

praying for him.

Of course, Jesus is

doing exactly the same

thing now for us.

Except he's not doing

it on earth, he's doing

it at the right hand of

the Father in heaven,

interceding for his

people, praying for his

sheep.

This is the kind of

saviour that we have.

What do we sing?

Before the throne of

God above, I have a

strong, a perfect

pre, a great high

priest whose name is

love, who ever lives

and pleads for me.

What a wonderful

truth for some of us

to comprehend, all of

us to comprehend this

morning.

You know, it was

Scottish minister

Robert Murray McShane

who used to say,

if I could hear Christ

praying for me in the

next room, I would

fear not a million

enemies.

Yet distance makes no

difference.

Christ is praying for

me.

But what has Jesus

been praying for

Peter?

Verse 31.

that his faith would

not fail.

And not only does

Jesus know that Peter

will fail, but he's

even talking about the

love and the welcoming

grace that he will

show Peter when Peter

comes back to Jesus.

Peter understandably

responds that he would

never do such a thing,

but Jesus knows.

Here is a Christ who is

in control.

Before the cock crows

three times, three times

you will deny knowing

me, Peter.

Love it.

Peter's song in these

verses here must have

been, how great is my

faith.

Give it a few days

later.

He will not be singing

that.

Give it a few days after

that, when he comes back

to Jesus, he will be

singing, how great is my

God.

How great is my God.

Is it not a wonderful

thought, friends, that

Jesus is not like a

baseball umpire?

This is not strike one,

strike two, strike three,

and you're out of here.

Praise God that that's

true.

None of us would stand,

even for a week, would

we?

He is not like a baseball

umpire, but Jesus,

failures like Peter and

failures like me, when we

come to him and fall at his

feet, confessing our sin,

we are met with abundant

forgiveness, with mountains

of mercy, and with the

depths of the storehouses of

grace and restoration.

This is the kind of Jesus

that we're dealing with

here.

And if life following

Jesus has been rosy up to

now for the disciples,

because of their

association with Jesus,

they've been met with

people's affection, they've

been met with people's

attention, well now Jesus

is symbolically telling them

that life following him is

about to get really hard.

The way of the master is

going to be the way of the

servant, that Jesus is about

to suffer, and it means that

they can expect to suffer

too.

But what a comfort to know.

Luke wants us to know that

here is a Christ who is in

control, and here is a

Christ who is choosing the

cross, and in the final few

days of his life, Jesus has

got sacrifice on his mind.

You know, just as we close

this morning, I remember my

gran used to take me and my

brother on walks to Victoria

Park in Glasgow.

She used to take us there as we

went fishing for minnows, a

dying art.

But as we would walk across

the fields going there, now

and again she would stop and

she'd pick up a daisy.

And after putting it under a

chin to see if we like butter

or not, she proceeded to pick

off its petals.

Maybe you did this when you

were a child, I don't know.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

Friends, in the final few days

of his life here, as we see

Jesus choosing the cross with

one thing in his mind, one

thing on his bucket list.

Choosing the cross, intent on

going there to die for our sin,

to deal with our biggest

problem.

That should leave us in no

doubt at all that Jesus loves

us.

Let me finish with these words

from 1 John chapter 4.

1 John 4 · chapter mention

This is how God showed his love

among us.

He sent his one and only son

into the world that we might

live through him.

This is love.

Not that we loved God, but that

he loved us and sent his son as

an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

This is our God.

Let's pray together.

And maybe just in the quietness

of your own heart this morning,

maybe as God's word has been

doing its work in your life this

morning, especially when it comes

to forgiveness and coming back

to Jesus and experiencing and

knowing his grace.

And maybe now is the time to offer

your prayer to him.

And so, Father God, we thank you

so much for this morning.

And we pray that you would help

us all to have a fresh appreciation

and a fresh affection for your son,

Jesus.

Thank you so much for your word,

Father God, that has spoken to us

this morning.

And thank you this morning that we

have the opportunity to take

communion together.

And so, Lord, would it come with a

real freshness this morning, we ask.

Thank you that you are our great God.

And we pray all these things in

Jesus' wonderful name.

Amen.