JESUS ON HOLY COMMUNION

Father, we come before you this morning to think about your word.

And we confess before you, Father, that what your son said about instituting the Lord's Supper,

Father, we confess that it has caused great division amongst your people.

And Father, we confess that even, Father, as some of us are waiting to get to that part in the scripture,

some of us are hoping that I will score points against other people.

They're worried, Father, that I'm going to end up saying something that they just think is really, really wrong.

And Father, we confess before you that that which your son instituted for our health and for our salvation,

for our wisdom, that we have turned it often, Father, into a very ugly thing,

a very ugly thing that we feel proud of rather than saddened.

So, Father, you know how hard and confused our heart is

and how blind we are to the confusion and the hardness of our heart.

So we ask that in your mercy you would do a great work amongst us this morning

and that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us,

pour out your Holy Spirit upon us,

so that we might hear your word,

that your word would come right to the center of who we are,

the control and command center of who we are,

and that your word would come there and do its mighty work in our midst,

all for your glory.

And this we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Nothing like insulting some of you before I even begin the sermon and the prayer.

I didn't mean to do that.

You know, some of you who track with how I do sermons,

it's often the case that however many talking points I have,

that I spend the longest time developing the first point,

and then it sort of often gets a bit quicker as it goes down.

I'm going to sort of mess with your heads today

because it's not going to be a 90-second sermon,

but I'm going to begin with the first point.

Andrew, I didn't warn even Andrew that I'm going to begin.

If you could put the first point up, that would be really, really helpful.

Here's the first point.

Why can human beings so easily plan evil and plan good

at the same time, all the while thinking that we are superior?

Why is that about us human beings?

I know, I was thinking afterwards, the grammar is not exactly perfect,

but you get the idea.

Why can human beings so easily plan evil things

and plan good things at the same time

and all the while think we're superior to other people?

Like, why is it that we can do this?

Why is it that whether or not you put this down on your to-do list,

it could very easily be on your to-do list,

find a birthday present for, you know, X,

pick up some food for the party,

make sure I spread gossip about why while I'm there,

have a good time.

Like, why is it that we can sort of have that in our to-do list

and not at all even be remotely bothered by it?

Why is it that maybe you've been in committee meetings like this

or, and I've been in committee meetings like this

where it's both been a secular crowd and a Christian crowd

where it seems as if, you know, in a Christian crowd

that on their to-do list was practice reading the Bible,

prepare to pray,

stab, you know, Fred and Bob in the back during the meeting

and make sure I take the credit from Erin

for all of the good things that she did.

And that's on their to-do list.

And that often we can have those things on our to-do list

and we have absolutely no sense of guilt or shame whatsoever.

And at the same time,

can often think that we're better than other people.

Like, why is it that human beings are like that?

Like, why is it?

See, I asked that from,

on one hand it sounds very small and petty,

but, you know, don't you think it's very, very possible

that after the ISIS terrorists beheaded those Ethiopian Christians,

don't you think that on the way home they thought,

oh yeah, I have to pick up a soccer ball for my son

because I want to have some fun playing soccer with my son.

Like, don't you think that that's not at all an inconceivable scenario?

And yet on the other hand,

I mean, that's like crazy evil, right?

A crazy evil.

Let's martyr a whole pile of Ethiopian Christians

and, oh yes, on the way home,

buy a new soccer ball so I can play soccer with my son.

Like, that's crazy evil.

But on the other hand,

if you think about it for a second,

it's just on a continuum

from, you know, buy a present,

you know, pick up some hors d'oeuvres,

make sure I spread gossip.

It's a continuum.

And why is it?

And why is it that many of us,

if I say this,

we all know that it's true,

but we can't actually,

we're fairly powerless about changing it.

Like, why is that?

What is it about us human beings

that that's in fact the case?

Like, I mention all of this

because if we're not aware,

it's very interesting,

the Bible brings this dynamic out

very, very clearly

in a very, very powerful way.

that the Bible confronts us

with what goes on in our hearts

in the context of confronting,

in a profound critique of religion,

a profound critique of spirituality,

it also brings out the dilemma

of the human heart

and all in the context

of Jesus instituting the Lord's Supper.

So if you get your Bibles

and open them up to Luke 22,

let's look and see how it is

that unless we think about

this question up here,

unless this question

has gripped our heart,

we won't understand

the dynamics of the text.

We won't even see

that the text is trying to make us

ask this question about ourselves

because many of us,

even when we read the text,

and even if George says,

oh, it's a profound critique of religion,

we go, yes,

it's a profound critique of religion.

And then we point our fingers

and our memories

to those brethren elders

or those Pentecostal pastors

or those Roman Catholics

or those Orthodox

or that bar manager

or Stephen Harper

or Thomas Moclair,

and we point our finger at him

or her or whatever,

and at the same time

not realize that there's three fingers

pointing back at our hearts.

Because you can never point your finger,

unless you're missing some fingers,

you can never point your finger

at somebody without having

a whole pile of fingers,

more fingers pointing back at yourself.

And so the Bible brings this to the fore

as part of the lead up.

In a sense,

it's wanting us to realize

we really need a Savior.

I really need a Savior.

Thomas Moclair needs a Savior,

and so does Harper,

but I need one.

I have three fingers pointing back at me.

Let's listen to Luke 22.

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread

drew near,

which is called the Passover,

and the chief priests

and the scribes

were seeking how to put him to death,

for they feared the people.

This is a very powerful verse.

Just a few verses,

and I have to confess

the first few times

I've read through it

and many other times before

in just my devotional reading

when I've read through it,

it's like you skip through this part

to get to the good stuff, okay?

But this is actually,

you know,

this is really,

this is human life.

This is describing me and you.

The chief priests and the Pharisees,

they had two things

on their to-do list,

or three things on their to-do list.

Don't forget to pick up the lamb.

Make sure I pick up

the matzo bread made by Moishi

because my kids really like it,

and they don't like the stuff

made by Aaron.

And attend a meeting

on how to kill Jesus.

That was their to-do list.

And that's what it says.

Now, the Feast of Unleavened Bread

drew near,

which is called the Passover,

and the chief priests.

It's very religious.

Scribes could have been religious,

could also just been

professional people,

the hipsters of the day.

I don't know,

like the spiritual,

not religious people.

We're not as much

into the ceremonies,

but we really know the Bible.

We're really into words,

and we're really into

the meaning of words,

and they're spiritual people,

and they're seeking

how to put Jesus to death.

Why are they seeking

to put Jesus to death?

Because they feared the people.

You see,

what do they fear?

The people?

They fear the people

because they think

the people will do it,

get it wrong about Jesus.

And so why do they fear the people?

They feel that they're worried,

they're afraid,

that the people are all stupid.

They're smart.

The people are stupid.

And the bigger the gap

between how smart you think you are

and how dumb you think other people are

is the size of your worry

as you go through life

for a whole pile of things.

That doesn't happen

to any of you at all.

None of you are worried

about different political things.

Like, none of you are worried

that Montclair will get elected.

None of you are worried

that Harper will get re-elected.

Like, none of you.

None.

I'm sure that I'm...

We're talking about Americans

or something like that

in the next election.

We're not talking about Canadians.

We're not talking about people

who come to church.

We're not talking about people

in the bars

and people doing yoga,

you know, right now

or in the coffee shops.

Folks,

this is how human life works.

And we're not even often aware of it.

The more that we think

that we've got it right

and that we're wise and smart

and the more we think

that people got it wrong

and we're at the same time

completely and utterly blind

of the fact

that that's...

We think that somehow or another

out of all the people

on the planet,

God has anointed me

or you

with this special knowledge.

And there's all this herd

of independent minds

and we worry

and we're afraid.

Gosh, it's too bad

the Bible doesn't talk

about real life, eh?

Too bad it doesn't address

our hearts.

That it's just boring.

You see,

we're so blind

of what goes on

in most of our lives

that we don't even recognize

ourselves here in the text.

But that's exactly

what's going on.

See, that's why

we have to ask ourselves

the question,

why can human beings

so easily plan

an evil thing

and plan a good thing

at the same time

all the while thinking

we are superior

like they're doing?

Because they're afraid

of the people.

They think the people

are stupid.

And really,

is why can George

so easily plan

an evil thing

and plan a good thing

at the same time

all the while thinking

that he is superior?

Like, why can George

do that?

I don't know why

George can do that.

And I'm not saying

this just to

dump a load

on you folks.

I mean,

this is human life, folks.

This is what Buddhism

has to deal with,

Hinduism,

Marxism,

spirituality,

atheism,

agnosticism.

If these systems

of thought

can't actually

articulate

real human dilemmas

and real human problems

and have something

to address them,

then why do we

follow them?

So the question is,

can Christianity

actually both unveil

this issue

and actually speak

into it,

both confronting

us to humble us,

but at the same time

promising some type

of realistic hope?

Now, the Bible

doesn't,

the Bible goes

something which is

a little bit deeper.

This is all the context

of Jesus setting up

the Lord's Supper

and the Bible's

going to keep

going deeper

because here's the thing.

This is actually

a really, really,

really significant

passage

and for a lot of us

more reformed

evangelical types

who sort of get

worried about

charismatic types

being a little bit

kooky sometimes,

I'm sure there's not

a single person here

that that describes

and this very next thing

is going to actually

sort of kick us

in the behind

and make us realize

that we need to get

a lot more charismatic

because look what it says

in verse 3.

So back up.

The chief priests,

the religious

and the spiritual people,

the cultural leaders,

the academics,

the influence makers,

the people who write

op-ed pieces

in the National Post,

the Globe and Mail,

and the Ottawa Citizen,

they all want

to kill Jesus.

The president of Ottawa U,

the president of Carleton,

head of the National Research Council,

they all want to kill Jesus.

They have a problem.

And then guess who helps

them solve the problem?

The devil.

That's what the text says.

The devil solves their problem

to move the action forward.

Verse 3,

then Satan entered into Judas

called Iscariot

who was of the number

of the twelve.

That means he's one

of Jesus' apostles.

And Judas went away.

He left the twelve

and conferred with the chief priests

and the officers.

That's the guys

who have like swords

and shields

and daggers

and clubs

and whips

and have the power

to use them.

How he might betray

Jesus to them.

And the religious

and spiritual people

in the academics

and the political leaders

were really happy.

and they agreed

to give Judas money.

So once he heard

that they were going

to give him money,

because you can see here

that all these people

who talk about

how great a rebel Judas was,

that they're all like

really bang on, right?

But once he realizes

that they're going

to give him money,

he consents

and sought an opportunity

to betray Jesus

to them

in the absence

of a crowd.

So here's a second point.

And if you could put it up,

Satan is real,

invisible,

hostile,

and active

in human affairs.

And I will not

take him lightly

or ignore him

or fear him

or be preoccupied

with him.

Now the fact of the matter

is that I do

all those things.

Right?

I mean,

I don't think

I ever fear him.

I've been too well taught

in the Bible

to fear him, right?

Although the one time,

the first time

I ever actually dealt

with somebody

that I believe

was probably demon-possessed,

it was a very intense

emotional experience

and I did feel a lot of,

I felt some fear

of my physical safety,

not my spiritual safety,

but I actually felt

some fear

of my physical safety

when I confronted him.

He was a con man

working in evangelical

and charismatic groups

in Ottawa

to rip them off

and so huge discord.

And I came,

I happened to go

to another Bible study,

small group thing,

and after we had sort of

figured out

what was going on

with this guy

and he was there.

And when he saw me

come in the room,

the daggers

and the anger

and the hatred

that went from him

to me was like almost,

it almost hit me

like a blow.

And when there was

the first opportunity

I told people

about what he was doing

in the city

and he called me out

to go outside

and I was worried

about my physical safety.

But generally,

when I put the point

in things like this,

I don't do it,

you know,

I put it as I

because if you write it down

in your notes,

it's something that

I hope you can say.

And what this text

is telling us,

and I'm going to go on

from this,

it's not a big thing

in the sermon,

but I would not serve you

well as your pastor

if I didn't point it out.

That Satan is real,

invisible,

hostile

to God,

to anything godly,

to life.

Satan hates life.

Satan hates life.

One of the things

which is so powerful

about the Lord of the Rings

is in that,

those three books,

you get it more

in the books

than the movie,

although you see it

in the movie,

is that the world

in a sense

that's completely

given over to evil

is a world

of barrenness

and pollution

where you can't

drink the water

and nothing grows

and the air is foul.

And where evil

does not rule,

most preeminently

in places like the Shire,

there's crops,

there's families,

there's babies.

And it's a very,

at a very,

very fundamental level,

he draws the two paths

in a powerful,

epic story.

Satan is real,

invisible,

hostile,

and active

in human affairs.

And I will not

take him lightly

or ignore him

or fear him

or be preoccupied

with him.

You know,

I was thinking about this

when I was coming here.

First of all,

I just shared with somebody

as I was coming in,

like,

I'm so dumb,

like I really am.

I'm really stupid

lots of times.

And I knew very early on,

first on Monday

when I looked at this text,

I was going to mention

something about the devil

and I've had a rough week.

And I should have realized

that whenever I'm going

to do a sermon,

I'm going to mention the devil

and I'm going to have

a rough week.

He's going to make

my life miserable.

And you know,

one of the things,

miserable was too strong a word,

but he made my life hard.

And one of the things

that's really interesting,

when I was writing

this point down,

I kept wanting

to capitalize the hymn

referring to the devil

because that's what he wants.

And I said,

no, no, no, no,

small h.

Only one guy

gets the big H

in my notes,

right?

Or, you know,

the Father,

the Son,

the Holy Spirit,

God.

But nothing else

gets the big H

or the big Y

when it's talking

about yours.

And I'm just leaving that,

you know,

and so here it is.

This is what's so amazing

about this text.

You know,

I titled the sermon series,

Luke,

Jesus for Pagans

and Skeptics.

You can see here

how Luke goes

right to the heart

with what's going on

with human life.

And you know,

the fact of the matter is,

is that in Buddhist cultures,

Muslim cultures,

Hindu cultures,

secular cultures like ours,

there's always a powerful belief

in devils and demons.

You go to chapters.

We live in a post-post-Christendom culture,

all sorts of opinion makers

that are far, far, far removed

from a Christian worldview.

And just look at the number

of books in a normal chapters

that talk about occult matters.

Just, you know,

and so the Bible provides wisdom

and clarity about the whole thing

and a message that ultimately

that Satan's completely

and utterly defeated.

You see, what we have to see

with this,

because if you look at

all the Gospels,

you'll see that the cross

is a power encounter

not only against sin,

but also against the devil

and hell itself

and all hostile spiritual powers.

And that in the cross,

when Jesus dies,

when the devil and the world

thinks,

and our flesh thinks

that it is finally defeated,

that irksome guy from Nazareth

named Jesus,

probably born illegitimately,

and we think we've had

our greatest triumph,

that that's actually

the moment of defeat

for hell and sin

and death and Satan

and all hostile spiritual powers.

And it's on one hand

a profound moment of defeat.

And for that part of us

that longs to be redeemed

and be made one with God,

it's also the moment

of our profound salvation

and victory.

So it's in this context

that Jesus is going to institute

the Lord's Supper.

It's part of the reason

why we understand

why we often find in,

that we often find

parts of church service

and even communion itself,

why it's often so divisive

and why we often find

things so boring.

Because Jesus,

even as he's instituting

the Lord's Supper,

helps to reveal to us

our human heart

and the spiritual dynamic

and power encounter

that we're involved in

when we gather

in a few minutes

to remember that Jesus

died on the cross for us,

that he conquered sin and death,

that he is the power of God

for salvation

for all who believe,

that he has defeated

sin, death, hell,

all hostile spiritual powers,

that he has done this for you,

that you by faith in him,

by repentance and faith in him,

can share in his victory.

And that's what we gather

in the presence of Jesus

and the power of the Holy Spirit

to remember.

That's what we do.

Now, before we get this,

there's something evil

that's been in the world

for several millennium,

and it's a growing evil

in our culture.

And it's something

that I need to mention

at this point in time

because we need to be aware of it

because it can rob us

of our witness

and rob us of our courage,

and we don't realize

that we need to pray into it.

There's been many things

in recent months

about the growing rise

of anti-Semitism in France.

Maybe you haven't been noticing it,

but there's been many things

in certain media outlets

that there is a significant exodus

of Jewish people from France

because of the violent anti-Semitism

which is growing in that country.

And you cannot be in Canada

without realizing

that there's increasing

anti-Semitism in our country.

And often universities

are one of the centers of it,

by the way.

I don't mean to offend you

if you're here as a professor.

I mean, it's just the case

that there's growing anti-Semitism

in our country.

And so it makes it

very, very hard sometimes

when you come to parts of the Bible,

even the New Testament,

how do you bear witness

to the Jewishness of Jesus

in a culture

which is anti-Semitic?

How do you witness

to somebody who's anti-Semitic

about Jesus

given that Jesus is just so Jewish?

And we're about to see

the Jewishness of Jesus.

I mean, he's Jewish.

Everything that we're about to see

in the story

that leads up to the institution

of the Lord's Supper

shows that Jesus is a pious Jew.

And that even as he institutes

this thing,

which has become

one of the two main things

that Christians are to do,

baptism is the other one

and the Lord's Supper

is the other one.

It's to mark us as Christians.

We are to do it

for our soul's health,

for our communal health,

to bear witness to Jesus,

to proclaim Jesus.

We are to do Holy Communion

and Jesus institutes it

in the context

of a Jewish festival and feast.

And it's very interesting.

Some of you,

when you were listening to me

read Luke chapter 22,

Luke 22 · chapter mention

you might have thought,

one moment,

there's not two cups.

There's only one cup in communion.

Jesus gets it wrong.

Cup, bread, cup.

No, no, no.

That's not how it works.

It's actually very interesting.

In this,

which is the most pagan

of the Gospels

in terms of it's most

clearly written for pagans,

Luke,

of all of the writers

who bears witness

to the institution

of the Lord's Supper,

is the one that draws out

the Jewishness

and the connection

to Passover

of the Lord's Supper.

So let's listen to it.

And at first,

by the way,

this next little part,

verse seven,

it sounds like a spy novel.

It's really interesting.

I was reading some commentators

and they get all,

you know,

they all get,

you know,

they get their,

you know,

their knickers in a knot,

you know,

all about,

you know,

what's going on.

Did Jesus arrange this,

et cetera?

It sounds like a spy novel.

You know,

go to the corner

of here and here,

light a cigarette,

you know,

look down,

you know,

a tall,

dark stranger

will come and talk to you

and then you go to a bar

and you'll meet a,

anyway,

you know what,

it sounds just like a spy novel.

Here's how it goes.

Verse seven,

then came the day

of unleavened bread.

I'll talk about this

in a moment

on which the Passover lamb

had to be sacrificed.

So Jesus sent Peter and John

saying,

go and prepare the Passover

for us

that we may eat it.

So Jesus gives Peter

and John this command.

So they say to him,

where will you have us prepare it?

Like they might've even

been a little bit frustrated.

Historians believe

that the population,

the year round population

of Jerusalem around this time

was probably about 30,000 people.

And for Passover,

the estimate of the number

of pilgrims

that would swell

the city of Jerusalem,

that they estimate

that it's somewhere

between 85 to 125,000 pilgrims

would come to Jerusalem

for the Passover.

And of course,

many Jewish people,

they would also have,

I mean,

in that culture,

it would be a profound

hospitality culture

and also a culture

for making money.

Nothing wrong with that.

That's not,

nothing disparaging about that.

So they would have rooms

and stuff like that.

But the disciples

were probably really worried

about where are we going

to celebrate the Passover?

Okay?

So whether Jesus

just does this

through,

you know,

whether it's a God thing

or whether Jesus,

that doesn't matter.

But what's going to happen now

is it's going to sound

like a spy novel, right?

Verse 10.

Jesus said to them,

behold,

when you enter the city,

a man carrying a jar of water

will meet you.

Pause here for a second.

This is a really hard thing.

Until I looked at commentaries,

I didn't know this.

The reason this is a significant,

you see,

if you said in Ottawa,

okay,

walk down to the canal

and when you see a man

carrying a water bottle,

follow him.

You'd see so many men

carrying water bottles,

you'd go,

how do I,

what do I do?

Okay,

in this culture,

carrying a water,

carrying a water jar

is woman's work.

The man would have stuck out.

The man would have stuck out.

And so back to verse 10.

He said to them,

behold,

when you enter the city,

have entered the city,

a man carrying a jar of water

will meet you.

Follow him into the house

that he enters

and tell the master of the house.

The teacher says to you,

where is the guest room

where I may eat the Passover

with my disciples?

And he will show you

a large upper room furnished,

prepare it there.

And they went and found it

just as he had told them

and they prepared the Passover.

And when the hour came,

he reclined a table

and the apostles with him.

And he said to them,

I have earnestly desired

to eat this Passover with you

before I suffer.

And earnestly desired sounds,

it's a good translation,

but it's like a,

this is a profound

emotional experience for him.

The original language

communicates that this is

a profound emotional experience,

a deeply emotional experience

for Jesus to celebrate

the Passover

with his disciples

one final time.

And, you know,

and by the way,

what we have to do

when we read the text

in a culture

which is increasingly

becoming anti-Semitic,

we don't hide

the Jewishness of Jesus.

Jesus.

And we just need to pray

that God knew

what he was doing

when he had a text

like this written.

And we just have to pray

that God will touch hearts.

That God will touch hearts.

That maybe he will use this text

to make a person aware

of prejudice.

Because as you and I know,

for those of us

who have prejudices,

prejudices are a very,

very, very deeply persistent sin

that we are blind to

in ourselves.

It's deeply human.

It's not a white problem

or an Asian problem

or an African problem.

It is a human problem

to have prejudice.

And it is almost always

hard for us

to recognize it

in ourselves.

And maybe that's

why there is a text

like this.

And maybe it will be

something like that

that will touch our heart

to make us realize

that we need a Savior.

And so we just need

to trust God

and pray

and have courage.

Anyway, back to the text.

I have,

with deep emotion,

he tells them,

and the disciples

would have known

that Jesus was

deeply emotional.

I have desire

to eat this Passover

with you

before I suffer.

Once again,

they don't know

he's about to die.

Judas knows

he's about to come

to a really bad end

sometime really soon.

He's got the dough,

got the promise

of the money,

but they don't know.

And yet again,

Jesus is telling them

he's going to die.

In fact,

he'll be dead

within 24 hours

of this,

of him saying this.

For I tell you,

I will not eat it

again.

See that?

He's telling him

he's going to die.

He's also telling them

he's going to rise

from the dead

until it is fulfilled

in the kingdom of God.

In fact,

he's telling them

that everything

that's going on

is all part

of God's plan.

It's all part

of God's plan

to bring a kingdom

that comes out

of every people group.

It's going to come

from Africa.

It's going to come

from Asia.

It's going to come

from First Nations people.

It's going to come

from the Inuit.

It's going to come

to Europeans

and North Americans.

It's going to come

to Australians

and New Zealand

and it is going

to come to the whole planet.

It's going to be offered

for everybody.

This is a planet-wide plan

that God has had,

a big plan

for a long time

and it's all coming

to be fulfilled

and my death

is a big part of it

and I'm going to explain

what's going to happen

in a moment

but it's going to happen

and it's all

of the scriptures

in the Old Testament

we're pointing

towards this time

and pointing towards

the time

when I come again

and it's all fulfilled.

And here's now

Jesus entering

into the Passover meal

and scholars debate

whether in the time

of Jesus

whether there were

three cups

in the Passover meal

or whether there were

four cups.

It doesn't matter

whether there were

three or four

and it's not entirely clear

whether this is

the first cup,

the second cup,

the third cup

or if there was

a fourth cup

that Jesus is about

to partake.

It's not clear

from the text

whether the second cup

which is going to come

in verse 20

is one of the Passover cups

or what's going on.

It's not clear

what's going on.

That's fine

but what Luke does here

to his pagan audience

is he brings it home

that Jesus partakes

of the Passover meal

and the Passover meal

is the remembrance

for the Jewish people.

Exodus 12

it's in the going deeper notes

I give you the reference

and it's the promise

that God has said

that he would deliver

his people

out of bondage

and slavery

and Egypt

and bring and win

a people for himself

and he does not pick

the smartest people

the wisest people

the most virtuous people

it's an act of grace

and that's why

ordinary people

like you and me

can be called

to belong to Jesus

if you're worried

that you're not smart enough

spiritual enough

unspiritual enough

rich enough

together enough

that's entirely good.

God has never used

those criteria.

He calls people

because he's love

not because of

our excellencies.

He calls us

because he's love

and so

God calls

Israel

out of slavery

and bondage

in Egypt

and he says

to Pharaoh

he even tells

Pharaoh

what he's about

to do

that the firstborn

will die

and nobody

takes any action

and the people

of Israel

they gather

into the house

and before they

gather into the house

they kill a lamb

the lamb dies

in their stead

and they take

the blood of the lamb

and they put

the blood of the lamb

on the entrance way

into the house

and they enter

into the house

eating unleavened bread

and the lamb

that has died

on their behalf

and God

comes in wrath

and judgment

against all slaveholders

all who keep people

in bondage

all who oppress

others

all who are people

exactly like us

and God comes

in judgment

and kills the firstborn

and when he sees

a house

which is covered

by the blood

of the lamb

his wrath

passes over them

because

the lamb

has borne

the judgment

that the people

deserve

and God's judgment

does not deliver

does not fall

on them

John's gospel

is introduced

by John the Baptist

telling his disciples

behold the lamb

of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

behold the lamb

of God

who takes away

the sin

of the world

the true

and greater

lamb

of Exodus 12

enters into

human history

and ministry

with the words

of John the Baptist

the true

and greater

lamb

of Exodus 12

walks among us

the true

and greater

lamb

will die

upon the cross

and it is

that true

and greater

lamb

that remembers

those lesser

lambs

which are slain

some

14 or 1500

years earlier

as a picture

and a prophecy

and a promise

that God

would send

the true

and greater

lamb

to bear

the sins

of all the people

Jewish and pagan

alike

to inaugurate

and create

a new

and greater

covenant

that would be

without geography

would be without race

would be without

color

would be without

ethnicity

would be without

social class

would be without

sex

that would be

for all people

who put their

faith and trust

in the lamb

that God

provides

to deal with

people

who cannot

address

and change

a human heart

whereby they

will have

on their

to-do list

today I will

slaughter

Ethiopian

Christians

and then I

will buy

a soccer ball

for my son

so I may play

with him

on the way

home

he dies

for us

who cannot

change our

human heart

he dies

for you

and me

who cannot

change

our human

heart

and so

he takes

the cup

for the

Passover meal

in verse 17

and when he

had given

thanks he

said

take this

and divide

it among

yourselves

for I

tell you

that from

now on

I will

not drink

of the

fruit of

the vine

until the

kingdom

of God

comes

and now

whether that

was the

third or

fourth cup

in the

Passover meal

or the

first or

the second

the text

doesn't make

it clear

it doesn't

really matter

which one

of them

it is

Jesus now

institutes

the Lord's

Supper

Holy Communion

the Eucharist

if you could

put up the

third point

Andrew

third point

just before I

read the

words of

the institution

of the

Lord's

Supper

here's what

we have to

understand

in love

Jesus

died for

me

he died

for you

I always

put these

remember I

put these

words down

that if you

want to make

your notes

that is

personal

it's not

just that in

love Jesus

died for

for John

or Frida

or you

know Louise

or you

know Harold

but that

Jesus died

for me

in love

Jesus died

for me

in love

he explained

the meaning

of his

death

before it

happens

and in

love

he calls

ordinary

people

to be

his

and to

meet

together

and to

remember

who he

is

and what

he

accomplished

for us

that's what

Jesus is

doing

this is

all love

you see

what

just a

week ago

a couple

of weeks

ago

I flew

into

Newark

New Jersey

for the

first time

and I

actually

happened to

be in

aisle seat

and it

actually

happened to

be that

the plane

was coming

in so

that I

could see

Manhattan

spread out

through the

window

and I

could see

the

Empire State

Building

I can

see all

the buildings

it's such

an iconic

image

you know

so many

movies

superhero movies

and others

you know

you see

the city

and you see

the

Statue of

Liberty

and it was

really neat

you know

I was

moved by it

I know it's

silly

but I was

moved by it

and what

Jesus is about

to do right

now is

he's giving

the disciples

a 10,000

feet in the

air view

of the

chaos

confusion

and evil

that's about

to engulf

them

and what's

going to

engulf

them over

the next

24 hours

in particular

and then

after that

on the

Easter Sunday

there's going

to be

ears cut

off

there's going

to be

kisses

of betrayal

there's going

to be

people told

that they're

not going

to actually

stand up

for Jesus

there's

going to be

fear

there's going

to be

men running

away

naked

there's

going

to be

whips

there's

going

to be

complete

and utter

chaos

and there's

going to be

shame

and there's

going to be

all this

things going

on

and Jesus

very calmly

and in a

very very

shocking way

he gives

them

from a

10,000

feet above

the scenes

that it

might

it's going

to look

chaotic

it's going

to look

evil

it's going

to look

like the

most crazy

horrible

terrifying

thing

that any

of you

have been

through

up until

now

but I

want you

to understand

what's

going on

I want

you to

understand

that my

body has

been broken

for you

and that

my blood's

being shed

for you

and that

I am

inaugurating

a new

covenant

for you

and I'm

doing all

this because

I love

you

because God

loves you

and because

God has

seen you

with the

problem of

your human

heart

and he

wants to

deal with

what you

cannot deal

with

he's

going

to

deal

with

it

on

your

behalf

verse 19

and 20

and Jesus

took bread

and when he

had given

thanks he

broke it

and gave

it to

them saying

this is my

body which

is given

for you

do this

in remembrance

of me

he did

it out

of love

he's

letting

them know

this

look at

it again

this is

my body

he breaks

the body

the only

way we

can receive

Jesus

is by

him

crucified

he's not

an example

I mean he

is an

example

but he's

way more

than an

example

he didn't

break his

body to

be an

example

although

breaking

of his

body

grounds

us

understanding

taking

so many

risks

and being

willing

to sacrifice

for others

as the

gospel

grips us

it starts

to model

for us

and shape

for us

a way

that we

are to

understand

how to

make

marriages

work

and families

work

and churches

work

and life

work

that there

needs to be

sacrifice

somebody has

to be the

one to turn

the other

cheek

someone has

to be

the one

who will

just bear

in themselves

some of

the pain

and actually

be able to

forgive

and what

Jesus is

about to do

is to be

a profound

thing

which grips

us

and as it

grips us

it starts

to nudge

us in

certain

directions

of behaving

it starts

to draw

us

in certain

directions

it grounds

us to

understand

why it's

worth it

to maybe

do such

things

and it

starts to

shape us

but beyond

all of that

it's a power

of God

for salvation

that he

does

if there's

no salvation

there's no

point of a

model

there's

no salvation

the last

thing we

need

is more

advice

it's

salvation

first and

foremost

and he

took the

bread

and when he

had given

thanks

he broke

it

and he

offers to

them

the broken

bread

and he

says

this

broken

bread

is my

body

and it's

given

for you

I

break

my

body

for you

and the

original

language

it's

language

of

sacrifice

it's

the

language