His Preparation for Burial

kind of riffing off of something that Rick mentioned about New Year's resolutions.

I know not everybody makes New Year's resolutions in our house.

We call them turning over new leaves.

And I am regularly mocked in my house for the amount of new leaves that I tend to turn over during the year.

And they usually have to do with eating, exercising, other things of that nature.

This morning, this first Sunday of 2018, I don't know if you've made New Year's resolutions.

I don't know if you've turned over new leaves.

But I want to call you to make a resolution.

It's not to get physically fit.

It's not to get financially healthy.

It's not to get vocationally positioned to grow in your time management or get right with other people.

Those are all good things.

But what I want to call you to do this morning is the thing of most importance.

It's what God in His Word says this is of first importance.

And I want to call you to make a resolution in light of that.

And to line your life up with it.

This past December, we took a break from the Gospel of Matthew.

And we spent the bulk of our Sunday mornings preaching on the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

God became a man and dwelt among us.

And this morning, we get back into the study of the Gospel of Matthew.

And we get back in in Matthew chapter 26.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

And what you need to know about Matthew 26 is,

it's the beginning of the passion of the Christ.

And when we talk about the passion of the King, the passion of Jesus,

we're talking about His suffering and His death that eventually leads to His resurrection.

What you need to know about the passion of Jesus Christ is that it's at the heart of the Gospel.

The heart of the Gospel is Jesus Christ making a sacrificial death on behalf of sinners.

Another way to talk about it is,

if Christ had not been crucified,

there would be no good news of salvation for anybody.

Everything rides on it.

And so this morning, I want to call you to make a life resolution.

Not just a year resolution,

but for the rest of your lives.

We never outgrow the need to be reminded of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We never outgrow the need to be reminded of what He did for us.

So it's good and right to start this new year focusing our Sunday mornings on the passion of the King.

His suffering and His death,

and eventually His resurrection.

And this morning, what I want you to see is that the sacrifice Jesus makes

is the greatest sacrifice,

resulting in the greatest deliverance for the greatest number of people.

And we're going to be looking specifically at a moment

where He's prepared for burial.

We're going to see an unnamed woman

lining up her life with the redemptive purposes of her King.

And though unnamed,

she is memorialized forever.

So this morning, I want to walk us through Matthew chapter 26.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

We're going to walk through 19 verses.

Verse 1 through 19, there are five sections in this passage.

I'm going to walk you through each passage,

and I'm going to show you how they relate to one another.

And after we do that, I'm going to say,

here's what it's all saying,

and then we're going to apply it to our lives.

So let's walk through this account.

It starts in Matthew 26, verses 1 through 1 and 2,

Matthew 26:1

in Jesus' final passion prediction.

Listen to what Matthew writes.

When Jesus had finished all these things,

He said to His disciples,

You know that after two days the Passover is coming,

and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.

When Matthew writes,

when Jesus had finished all these things,

He's referring to immediately what He's just got done talking about,

the Olivet Discourse,

Matthew 24 and 25,

when Jesus is talking about the end times,

final judgment.

But He's talking about also all of Jesus' public ministry.

It has come to an end.

From here on out,

when Jesus speaks,

it's going to be more in a private context.

But this is the fourth and final passion prediction that Jesus makes.

Predictions of His suffering and of His death.

And I just, in order to get you ready,

I want you to bring you back to the first passion prediction.

It's in Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Christ,

and then Matthew goes on and tells us what Jesus does in light of that.

In verse 21,

from that time,

Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem

and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,

and be killed,

and on the third day,

be raised.

So back in Matthew 16,

Jesus starts telling His disciples,

I'm going to Jerusalem.

I'm going to suffer, die, and be raised.

If you flip over to Matthew chapter 17,

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

we have the second passion prediction.

It's in verses 22 and 23.

And they were gathering in Galilee.

They're still up north.

Jesus said to them,

The Son of Man.

That's Jesus' favorite title of Himself.

It's messianic.

It's Christological.

It refers back to Daniel chapter 7,

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

when God gives this Son of Man the kingdom forever.

As they were gathering in Galilee,

Jesus said to them,

The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,

and they will kill Him,

and He will be raised on the third day.

And they were greatly distressed.

If you flip over to Matthew chapter 20,

Matthew 20:17

verses 17 and 19,

we have the third passion prediction.

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,

He took the 12 disciples aside,

and on the way,

He said to them,

See,

we are going up to Jerusalem,

and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes.

He's going to be betrayed.

And they will condemn Him to death,

and deliver Him over to the Gentiles,

to be mocked, and flogged, and crucified.

This is the first time Jesus tells what kind of death He's going to die,

by Roman crucifixion.

And He will be raised on the third day.

And then that leads us to Matthew 26,

Matthew 26:2

verse 2,

where here Jesus is saying,

for the fourth and final time,

You know that after two days,

the Passover is coming,

and the Son of Man will be delivered up,

to be crucified.

There's something unique about this passion prediction.

Did you notice the word Passover?

You know after two days,

the Passover is coming.

Here's what Jesus is doing.

He is making a connection between His death,

and the Passover.

He wants you to know that.

God wants you to think about Christ's death,

a certain way.

It's going to be a Roman crucifixion,

on the Jewish Passover.

That will be how He dies.

The Son of Man,

the Christ,

will die by crucifixion.

Now,

I don't want to assume you know what Passover is.

So let me just give you a little crash course in it.

Now,

Passover was one of three annual feasts

Jews would make a journey to go to Jerusalem to observe.

And Passover was a feast that spanned over eight days.

It started with Passover

and included the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

And one scholar estimates

that Jerusalem's normal population

would have been about 30,000 people

at kind of normal city life.

But when Passover came,

the city would swell to 180,000 people.

So six times the normal amount of people there.

Jews had to observe Passover in Jerusalem

because the temple was there.

And the temple was there.

And what would happen there

was they would sacrifice

these male, unblemished lambs at the altar.

Blood was shed.

Now,

I don't know how your mind works,

but when I think about 180,000 people

in a city that's normally 30,000

celebrating or observing

a ritual like Passover,

I start asking,

well, how many lambs are involved?

How many?

And so like,

if we just kind of include like

10 people to a family unit

and we divide that by 180,

I mean, we're talking 18,000 lambs per family.

Not per family, but all together.

Even if you just slice that in half,

9,000 lambs,

that's a lot of lambs in the city.

And that's a lot of blood.

Passover was a feast memorializing God's deliverance

of his people from captivity to Egypt.

And we see that in Exodus chapter 12.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

Remember Moses saying to Pharaoh,

let my people go.

Israel had been enslaved by Egypt.

And God heard their prayers.

He raised up Moses and says,

Moses, you go tell Pharaoh to let my people go.

And so Moses goes.

And Pharaoh wouldn't listen.

So God starts bringing plagues

after plagues after plagues.

And every time,

Moses is saying,

let my people go.

And Pharaoh would resist.

The plagues would get worse.

And eventually,

the plagues climax

in the tenth and final plague

in which God vows to send

the angel of death,

the destroyer,

to take the life

of every firstborn male in Egypt.

And at that time,

God makes this incredible provision

for his people.

He instructs his people

to kill a male lamb

because the firstborn males

would be struck by the destroyer.

He instructs his people

to take a male,

unblemished lamb

and kill it at twilight

on the night the destroyer comes.

And what they did

with the blood of that lamb

was they took the blood of that lamb

and they spread it over

the doorposts of their homes.

And so when the angel of the Lord

approached that house

and he saw the blood of the lamb,

he passed over the people

under the blood.

The blood of the sacrificed lamb

signaled the angel of death

that those in that house

were covered and protected

by the blood of the lamb.

The lamb was slain

to deliver the people

under the blood.

And so the blood

of the Passover lamb

rescued God's people

from sheer death

that led to their deliverance

from captivity to Egypt

and bring them out.

And this is the deliverance

that defined Israel

as God's people.

So God commanded

this Passover feast

to be observed

every year

for his people

to participate

in forever.

Passover has to do

with death.

It's got to do

with blood.

It's got to do

with passing

over protection.

And Jesus

drops it

here in Matthew

Matthew 26:2

chapter 26

verse 2.

It's two days

from Passover.

He's connecting

the Passover

with his death.

Do you understand

the claim

that Jesus

is starting to make?

Jesus is starting

to make this claim

that his death

is the ultimate

Passover sacrifice.

It's a huge claim.

Jesus at this moment

is fully aware

that God has purposed

that he,

the Christ,

the Son of Man

is to be the ultimate

once for all

Passover sacrifice

for all sinners

everywhere

willing to

acknowledge him.

So what you have

going on here

33 AD in Jerusalem

is a seismic

shift in God's

plan of salvation.

Jesus is making

a claim on the

Passover.

So that's

the first section

of this passage.

Let's go to the

second.

Verses 3 through 5.

Caiaphas house.

Then the chief

priests and the

elders of the people

gathered in the

palace of the

high priest

whose name was

Caiaphas

and plotted together

in order to arrest

Jesus by stealth

and kill him.

But they said

not during the feast

lest there be an

uproar among the

people.

We move from

Jesus' final

passion prediction

in which he's

making a claim

on being the

Passover sacrifice

to Caiaphas house

where the chief

priests and

elders are plotting

the death of

Jesus.

These men are

not only aware

of Jesus but

they're seeing him

as a threat.

It's not good for

their political

position and power.

So they start

plotting to arrest

and kill him.

And what Matthew

lays out for us

is very interesting.

We've got one

plan laid out

the plan of the

Christ that his

death is going to

take place on the

Passover and now

we have another set

of plans by the

leaders of the

people and their

plan seems to be

saying let's not

kill him during

the feast.

Here's what I want

you to notice.

Notice where

they're meeting.

They're meeting

in Caiaphas

house.

a palace.

In verse 3.

Here's what I also

want you to notice.

That Caiaphas

is named.

It's not just

some guy.

It's Caiaphas.

He was a

unique high

priest in Israel

at this time.

He was able to

hold on to power

for about 16 years

which was quite

the political

accomplishment of

that time.

He was politically

savvy.

So they're meeting

in a palace in

Jerusalem.

Caiaphas house.

Prestigious.

It would have been a

nice place.

And notice the

plans.

Verse 5.

They're secretly

trying to arrest,

seeking how to

arrest and kill

Jesus.

But again,

not during the

feast.

I mean 180,000

people.

Surely some of

them are

Galileans.

Jesus has a

following.

If we try to

arrest him,

it's a political

tinderbox.

We could have a

riot on our

hands.

So they're going

to wait him

out.

But they're

looking for an

opportunity.

In this section,

what I want you

to see is that

we have important

people in high

positions plotting

the death of

Jesus in a

really nice

place.

A palace.

And their

plans seem to

be at odds

with the plans

of the Christ.

Christ.

Now we move

on to the

third section.

Verses 6

through 13.

The pouring

of oil on

Jesus by an

unnamed woman.

Let me read

that for you.

Now when Jesus

was at Bethany

in the house

of Simon the

leper, a woman

came up to him

with an alabaster

flask, a very

expensive ointment,

and she poured

it on his head

as he reclined

at table.

And when the

disciples saw it,

they were indignant

saying, why this

waste?

For this could

have been sold

for a

large sum

and given

to the poor.

But Jesus,

aware of this,

said to them,

why do you

trouble the

woman?

For she has

done a

beautiful thing

to me.

For you

always have

the poor

with you,

but you

will not

always have

me.

In pouring

this ointment

on my body,

she has done

it to prepare

me for burial.

Truly I

say to you,

wherever the

gospel is

proclaimed in

the whole

world, what

she has done

will also be

told in

memory of

her.

So here's

the shift

that takes

place.

We've just

been in

Caiaphas'

palace.

He's named.

A plot's

unfolding.

And then

Matthew brings

us from the

palace of

Caiaphas to

the house of

Simon the

leper.

From

palace to

a leper's

house?

In

Bethany?

We go

from the

capital to

some potent

place on

the outskirts.

It's quite a

contrast.

We're not

given the

back story on

Simon the

leper.

I'd love to

know it,

but in order

for Jesus and

other Jews to

be meeting

there, it

must have been

cleansed.

And so one of

the theories is

Simon the

leper was

healed by

Jesus.

That's how

they could

meet there.

Otherwise, it

would have been

unclean and

unallowed for

any Jew to

meet in.

So the

where is in

contrast to

Caiaphas'

palace.

It's a

questionable

place.

A leper's

house?

In

Bethany?

And now,

the who.

verse 7,

a woman came

up to him

with an

alabaster.

She's

unnamed.

If you look

at the rest

of the

section, she

goes nameless.

Verse 10,

why do you

trouble the

woman?

For she

has done a

beautiful thing.

Verse 12,

on my body,

she has done

it.

Verse 13,

what she has

done will

also be told

in memory.

She's never

named.

Caiaphas gets

named.

This woman

doesn't.

It's an

interesting

contrast.

Matthew is

wanting to

draw our

attention to

something.

Now, we

actually know

who this

is.

John 12

spills the

beans.

This is

Mary, the

sister of

Martha and

Lazarus.

Matthew

intentionally

keeps her

anonymous.

We'll come

back to it

in a second.

But this

Mary would

have been

the Mary

in John

11 who

witnessed

Jesus raise

her brother,

dead brother,

up from the

grave.

That's who

this is.

This is the

same Mary in

Luke 10 who

is commended

by Jesus

himself for

sitting at

his feet and

listening to

every word that

came off his

lips as her

sister Martha

is crazily,

busily trying to

facilitate stuff.

this is that

Mary.

But Matthew

intentionally keeps

her anonymous in

order to contrast

her with the

big wig Caiaphas

who's been

named.

Caiaphas is

plotting Christ's

death.

This unnamed

woman is not

plotting his

death.

She's preparing

him to give

his life as a

ransom for many.

she's lining up

with the

Christ's

purposes.

And what we

read is she

comes to Jesus

with an alabaster

flask, a very

expensive ointment

and we learn

from Mark that

this is not just

your everyday oil

that during the

day you put on

somebody as just

kind of a token

welcome.

In our time

this would have

been about 35,

40 grand

of perfume.

That's the value.

It was worth a

year's wage of a

laborer.

35 to 40 grand

of perfume

this unnamed

woman pours out

on the head

of Jesus

in this

leper's house

outside of

the political

capital.

Quite a

contrast.

when you see

a pouring out

of this sort

in the Bible

it's called

an anointing.

And as you

read your

Old Testament

you see a

pouring out

of oil

on somebody's

head.

Typically

it's the

anointing

of a

king.

It's

associated

with kingship.

In 1

Samuel 16

Samuel

anoints

David

by pouring

oil over

his head.

But the

thing is

we're not

told why.

Matthew

doesn't tell

us why

this unnamed

woman pours

this oil

out on

Jesus'

head.

We don't

learn it

from the

other gospel

writers

either.

But you

know what

it's safe

to say?

It's safe

to say that

this pouring

out of

this 35,

40 grand

of perfume

oil,

it was a

lavish

demonstration

of this

unnamed

woman's

devotion

to her

king

Jesus.

And it

stands in

sharp

contrast

to the

plotting

Caiaphas.

It also

stands in

contrast

to the

disciples.

In verses

8 and

9,

they throw

a hissy

fit.

They're

angry.

They go

pragmatic.

They see

her pouring

out a

year's

wage on

this,

on his

head,

and they're

like,

why the

waste?

What are

you doing?

We could

have used

it for

the poor.

I really

think I

would have

done that.

But Jesus

does something

phenomenal.

This is like

my favorite

part.

Jesus,

Jesus goes

to her

defense.

He goes

to bat

for her.

He says,

this is no

waste.

Verse 10,

for she has

done a

beautiful thing

to me.

Opposed to

Caiaphas and

what we'll

read in a

second about

Judas.

It's a

beautiful thing,

not wasteful.

And then

verse 11,

he says,

for you will

always have

the poor

with you,

but you

will not

always have

me.

Jesus is

recognizing

this unique

moment in

salvation

history.

Jesus is

not dismissing

the help

of the poor.

He advocated

it.

What he

is acknowledging

is a very

appropriate

display of

devotion at

a unique

moment in

salvation

history.

He's the

son of

man.

He's the

Christ,

God incarnate,

and he's

coming up

on his

Passover

sacrifice,

and this

woman does

a really

beautiful thing

to him.

In

verse 12,

Jesus declares

that what

she's done

is a beautiful

thing.

it's

preparing

him for

burial.

Here's what

you need

to know

about this.

Jesus

knows he's

going to

die on

a Roman

cross,

and what

you need

to know

about

crucifixion

is when

you get

crucified,

you forego

all burial

rites,

okay?

Here's what

would typically

happen.

You get

crucified,

and either

the body

rots and

disintegrates

on the

cross,

or it

gets cut

down,

falls down,

and scavenged

by animals.

There's no

burial proceedings.

It was a

display of

power by

Rome.

Jesus knows

this.

And so,

this act

of devotion,

and we're not

clear if this

woman knew

that she was

anointing his

body for burial,

we're not told.

But what Jesus

says is,

oh,

this is what

you have

done.

You've

anointed my

body for

burial.

You've

shown me

a kindness

that all

other crucified

bodies typically

don't receive.

A

perfumed

body.

What we see

here is that

Jesus is

thinking about

his crucifixion.

And in

verse 13,

he says,

truly,

I say to

you,

wherever this

gospel is

proclaimed in

the whole

world,

what she has

done will

also be told

in memory of

her.

She is

commended for

her service

in his

great redemptive

act for the

world.

Did you notice

the words,

this gospel?

Look at

verse 13.

I say to

you,

wherever this

gospel is

proclaimed in

the whole

world,

Jesus

already knows

that his

coming death

is going to

be good

news for

the world.

And what

this woman

has done

has lined

up with

his

redemptive

purposes,

his

sacrificial

death.

She has

anointed

his body

for burial

after

crucifixion

on the

Passover.

Passover.

Quite a

contrast to

Caiaphas,

and it's

quite a

contrast to

Judas.

And this

is the

fourth section

of this

passage.

In verses

14 through

16,

then one

of the

twelve,

whose name

was Judas

Iscariot,

went to

the chief

priest and

said,

what will

you give

me if I

deliver him

over to

you?

And they

paid him

thirty

pieces of

silver,

and from

that moment

he sought

an opportunity

to betray

him.

We've got

another

contrast.

This

unnamed

woman is

now contrasted

with another

named man,

Judas

Iscariot.

Now this

is the

one who

would have

walked with

Jesus for

a long

time.

He would

have seen

first hand

what Jesus

has done.

He would

have heard

with his

own ears

the teaching

that Jesus

taught to

the astonishment

of the

crowds.

He would

have handled

the baskets

of the

leftover bread

of the

feeding of

the five

thousand and

four thousand.

He was

there.

He was

in the

boat when

Jesus calmed

the raging

seas.

He was

there.

He saw

first hand

people raised

from the

dead.

He was

there.

He saw

demons

exercised.

He saw

the blind

see.

He saw

the lame

walk,

the sick

healed.

Of all

people,

why

Judas?

Judas.

We're not

really told.

But what we

know is like

Caiaphas,

he opposed

Jesus.

You know

what's safe

to say?

Jesus is

not

Judas'

Lord.

If you

want to flip

back with me

to the

Sermon on

the Mount,

here's some

sobering

words.

could you

imagine if

Judas was

there,

what he

was thinking

and what

Jesus would

have been

thinking?

Matthew

Matthew 7:21

chapter 7

verse 21,

not everyone

who says to

me,

Lord,

Lord,

will enter

the kingdom

of heaven,

but the

one who

does the

will of

my father

who is

in heaven.

On

that day

many will

say to

me,

Lord,

Lord,

did we

not

prophesy

in your

name and

cast out

demons

in your

name and

do many

mighty

works in

your

name?

And

then will

I

declare to

them,

I never

knew you.

depart from

me,

you

workers

of

lawlessness.

You want

to see

what Jesus

is going

to say

to Judas?

We're

going to

talk about

this next

week,

but if you

look at

chapter 26

verse 24,

this is what

Jesus has

to say to

Judas.

The son

of man

goes and

is written

of him,

but woe

to the

man by

whom the

son of

man is

betrayed.

It would

have been

better for

that man

Judas if

he had

not been

born.

what this

man does

here is

the complete

opposite of

this beautiful

devotion by

an unnamed

woman.

It is a

diabolical act

of betrayal

by a named

man.

And if you

notice where

he goes,

he goes to

the chief

priests in

verse 14,

he goes to

them,

and he

goes to

them asking,

what will

you give

me if I

deliver him

over to

you?

If Matthew

gives us

anything as

far as

motive,

it's money.

The

team

Caiaphas

now has

an inside

man,

and that

inside man

is going

to get

paid to

show them

an opportunity

when Jesus

is away

from the

crowds,

Gethsemane.

And

Judas does

it for

30 pieces

of silver.

That might

sound like,

whoa,

30 pieces

of silver,

wow,

that's

impressive.

It's not.

30 pieces

of silver

in our

day was

about

$7,500.

$7,500.

It was a

paltry sum

of money

to hand

over God

incarnate

to die.

But it was

all according

to plan.

It's quite a

contrast.

The name

Judas,

the unnamed

woman,

the delivering

over to

death,

but for a

paltry sum,

and then

the preparing

for burial

at great

cost.

Judas,

the name

remembered as

a perpetual

evil.

Have you ever

been called

a Judas?

And this

unnamed

woman remembered

always for

good.

The final

section is

in verses

17 through

19.

We read,

now on the

first day of

unleavened bread,

the disciples

came to Jesus

saying,

where will you

have us

prepare for you

to eat the

Passover?

He said,

go into the

city to a

certain man

and say to

him,

the teacher

says,

my time

is at

hand.

I will

keep the

Passover

at your

house with

my disciples.

And the

disciples did

as Jesus

had directed

them,

and they

prepared the

Passover.

What Matthew

does here is

he bookends

this passage

with Passover

talk.

He wants

you to be

thinking about

Christ's death

in terms of

Passover.

And I'm not

sure if you

noticed this,

but in

verse 18,

when Jesus

says,

my time

is at

hand,

he's speaking

of his

death.

The Passover

has arrived.

It's two days

later now.

The Passover

has come.

They need to

start preparing

the meal.

I'll elaborate

that next week.

But what Jesus

is saying,

with the coming

of the Passover

is the coming

of his time

to die.

my time

is at

hand.

This passage

begins and

ends with the

bookends of

Passover.

And the way

that Jesus

talks about

it, it

sounds like

he's in

total control.

It's going to

happen in two

days.

My time is

at hand.

And it's

true.

This is

God-ordained,

all of it

from beginning

to end.

Let me try

to summarize

these five

sections in a

slightly different

way.

This passage,

these five

seconds, the

first section

and the

fifth section

are Passover

fulfillment spoken

by Jesus.

It's about

him.

He's the

ultimate

Passover

sacrifice.

And then

section two

and four,

these are

sections about

treachery.

And then the

middle section,

the third

section, is

this unnamed

woman who

does this

beautiful thing

preparing Jesus

for his

burial.

It's all

surrounded by

God's

sovereignty.

Here's the

point of it

all.

God wants

us to

think about

Christ's

death in

terms of

Passover.

He wants

us to be

thinking about

what Christ

did as

sacrifice.

And he

orchestrated it

all by his

sovereignty, both

the good, the

indifferent, and

the really ugly.

It was all under

God's sovereignty

to bring about

the greatest

sacrifice ever

made for all

people.

So we

must see

Christ's

death as

the ultimate

Passover

sacrifice.

He's the

greatest

sacrifice.

It's who he

is.

He's God in

the flesh.

His blood

shed and

God's wrath

passes over.

And he

accomplished the

greatest

deliverance.

Deliverance

from the

captivity to

sin.

Deliverance

from the

fear of

death.

Deliverance

from the

domain of

the devil.

And he

establishes

through this

death a

whole new

people, the

church.

We need to

be thinking

about Christ's

death as

the ultimate

Passover

sacrifice that

has launched

a whole new

season of

salvation on

earth.

I want to

help apply

this in

three ways.

First, I

want you to

realize that

this sacrifice

that Jesus

speaks of,

he's your

sacrifice.

In

Matthew,

Matthew

begins in

Matthew 1

with this

Emmanuel who

is going to

be named

Jesus.

The Lord

saves.

He will

deliver his

people from

their sins.

And then for

the rest of

Matthew, you

have these

passion

predictions of

how God

will save

his people.

And it's

finally realized

here, Matthew

26 and

27.

He is

the sacrifice.

He is

the one

who would

sacrifice himself

for his

people as

a ransom.

So it

fulfills

Matthew's

purpose.

This one

who would

save, saves

by being a

Passover

sacrifice.

But it's

just not

Matthew.

There's this

whole Old

Testament story

of Passover

beginning in

Exodus chapter

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

12.

God delivers

his people and

it was a real

deliverance.

But God

also had

that aimed

at being

ultimately

fulfilled in

the ultimate

Passover

sacrifice,

Jesus.

A greater

sacrifice to

accomplish a

greater deliverance

for a greater

number of

people.

Do you

remember John

the Baptist

when he lays

eyes on Jesus

in John 1?

Behold, the

Lamb of God

who comes to

take away the

sins of the

world.

sacrifice.

Ultimate

Passover.

In 1 Corinthians

5, 7, the

Apostle Paul, he's

writing to a

primarily Gentile

church.

He says to

them, for

Christ, our

Passover

Lamb has

been sacrificed.

He's paid

it.

It's done.

This morning, I

want you to

realize if you're

a believer in

this room, the

sacrifice has

been made.

It's over.

He's delivered

you.

God's wrath has

passed over you.

He's called you

out and delivered

you from captivity

to sin.

And he's brought

you into the

sweetness of being

in relationship with

him amongst the

new people of the

church.

church.

If you're in this

room and you

have not received

Christ as your

Savior and King,

you need to

realize God is

offering you today

this sacrifice.

It's available

and effectual.

It will change

you.

This sacrifice

is your sacrifice.

His Passover

sacrifice is

for you.

And it's God's

eternal plan that

he sovereignly

accomplished.

The second thing

I want you to

see is by way

of resolution.

Caiaphas,

Judas,

they betrayed

Jesus.

They were

opposed to him.

The disciples,

they were at

best indifferent.

And what we're

going to see in

the rest of this

story is that

these disciples are

going to fall

away in cowardice.

And it's not

until after the

resurrection with

an outpouring of

the Holy Spirit,

these cowardly

disciples are made

courageous

proclaimers.

But it's this

woman that we

must resolve to

be like, to line

up with Christ's

purposes.

Her heart was

one of a humble

worship of her

Christ.

She was giving

him the best

she could at

the time.

And man, she

got criticized

for it.

But Jesus

defended her.

I don't know

where you are

in the room.

I don't know

what you're

thinking about in

terms of giving

to Jesus your

best.

But let me

urge you, give

him everything.

Give him your

entire life.

Live for him.

And if you get

criticized for

being too loud or

too lavish, do you

know what?

Jesus will take

care of you.

Leave it to your

Lord.

Here's a New Year's

resolution.

Here's a life

resolution.

just like this

unnamed woman

who did a

beautiful thing

to Jesus.

Would you line

up your life

with him?

Line it up

with his

purposes.

And he will

take what you

give him and

he will use it

for his glory.

The last piece

of application

is

encouragement.

all throughout

this particular

section, you

see Team

Caiaphas and