S1 E33: The Last Passover

As we prepare to go to the Lord's Supper table this morning, would you take out your copy of God's Word and join me in the Gospel of Mark once again?

Mark chapter 14 this morning.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

We're going to be on page 912, if you don't have a Bible with you in that Pew Bible.

912 in the Pew Bible.

Mark chapter 14.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

What a joy it has been today to celebrate the ordinances of the church.

Ordinances are those things which God has commanded the church, and there's not a long list of them.

There's not seven, there's not ten, there's not twelve, there's only two.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Both of these ordinances point to something beyond themselves.

They do not confer salvation on anyone.

Being dunked in a pool of water does not make somebody right with God.

Eating a cracker and drinking a cup of juice does not make one righteous before a holy God.

Only Christ's finished work can do those things.

And salvation comes by grace through faith, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

And yet Christ has told us to be baptized, and Christ has told us to eat this meal in remembrance of him.

Because both of these ordinances point us to Jesus Christ.

They point us to his finished work.

In baptism, we are united with Christ in baptism, which is a picture of his death, his burial, and his resurrection, and it is a picture of a human being uniting with Christ in faith, dying to that old sin self, being buried and resurrected, as we say from Romans chapter 6, to walk in newness of life.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

Baptism points to somebody uniting with Christ for salvation and unapologetically living for him.

The Lord's table, as we come to it, we're going to eat a cracker, a piece of bread, and we're going to drink some juice.

The bread represents his body, which was the substitute for us.

His blood represents the blood of the covenant, which takes away our sin.

Each of these are a symbol.

Much like I have a wedding band on my ring, on my finger.

I've worn this wedding band for over 30 plus years now.

This wedding band does not make me married.

This wedding band reminds me that I am married.

What makes me married is a covenant that I made with my wife before God.

That we would honor each other, that we would love each other, that we would serve each other.

Every time I feel this ring, every time I bump this ring, every time anybody sees this ring, it should be a reminder that I have made a promise to someone.

Just as this ring is a reminder, so too is baptism, and so too is the Lord's Supper, that we have made a promise to somebody who has made a covenant with us and has done so in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

As we come back to Mark chapter 14 this morning, we come to a pivotal time in that last week in Jesus' life, where he is about to observe the Passover meal with his disciples.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

And as Jesus observes this ancient meal with his disciples, a meal that had been celebrated for 1,500 years at that point, Jesus takes that ancient meal and he turns it in to this observance of remembrance that we now understand it to be.

The central truth of the Passover was simply this: it was the Passover pointed to a greater sacrifice that was going to come.

A substitute who would take our place and forgive our sin.

The Passover pointed to that sacrifice.

The Lord's Supper points back to the one who fulfilled the picture that was painted in the Passover.

And so as we prepare our hearts for the Lord's Supper table this morning, I pray that we, just as we read these words together, just for a few moments, that we would remember what Christ has done for us.

That we would examine our own lives to see if we are right with God, and if we're not, repent of our sin and trust in Him.

And if we are right with God and yet we have unconfessed sin in our lives, that today, before we go to this table, we would examine ourselves and we would ask God to reveal to us any sin that we are hiding, that we might profess it, and that we might come to this table rejoicing, that we are right with a holy God, not because of what we've done, but because of what He's done on our behalf.

If you're willing and able, would you stand with me as we read from Mark chapter 14?

Mark 14 · chapter mention

We're going to begin in verse 12 and read through verse 26 this morning.

On the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, Jesus' disciples said to him, Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?

And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water.

Follow him.

And wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, The teacher says, Where is my guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.

Prepare for us there.

The disciples went out and came into the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve.

As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.

They began to be grieved and say to him one by one, Surely not I.

And he said to them, It is one of the twelve, one who dips with me in the bowl.

For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.

While they were eating, he took some bread, and after a blessing he broke it and gave it to them, and said, Take it, this is my body.

And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

And he said to them, This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.

Truly I say to you, I will never drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Heavenly Father, we pray that as we prepare to go to the Lord's table this morning, that you would prepare us, that we would come with open hearts and open minds, open hands, that we would examine our lives to see if there's anything that would cause us to come to this table in an unworthy manner.

Father, I pray for those that have never trusted in you alone for their salvation, that today would be the day that they would recognize I am a sinner in need of a savior, and Jesus is that savior.

I surrender my life to you, Lord.

Lord, I pray that there'd be others who would examine their lives and say, I am a follower of Christ, but I have not been following as I should.

There are habits in my life, there are sins in my life, there are things in my life that are not honoring to God, and I need to confess them today before I celebrate the fact that Christ died for my sins.

Lord, there might be some who are holding a grudge, who have bitterness against a brother or a sister.

And I pray, Lord, that they would go and seek reconciliation even before they observe this supper together.

And so, Lord, open our hearts, open our minds.

Help us to be faithful to what you lead us to do.

Through your word, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you.

Just as we go back through Mark's gospel this morning, I want us to see three things.

I want us to see that God had an eternal plan.

God has always had a plan to provide a sacrifice, a necessary sacrifice to cover our sin.

But even as we see God's eternal plan, we're going to see the sinful betrayer, and we're going to see the propensity of man's heart towards sin.

And then finally, we'll see the new covenant, where God provides that sacrifice that he promised so long ago.

So that's where we're headed.

God's eternal plan, man's sinful betrayal, and God's new covenant.

You will remember that as Jesus went into Jerusalem that final week of his life, he did not go as a victim.

He did not go unwittingly, he did not go and wander into a trap.

He did not go in and find himself above himself and above his head in a firestorm.

Jesus was not a victim when he went into Jerusalem.

He was not a victim when they crucified him on a cross.

Everything that Jesus did pointed towards the day that he would be crucified.

In fact, he went and he pushed and he prodded the religious leaders of the day who had already determined that they wanted to destroy him.

They just didn't want to do it this particular week because the city was so crowded with people and they were afraid that the people would rise up and support Jesus and turn against them and a riot would come place.

So they did not want to crucify Jesus at this time, but this was God's precise timing.

There are some who would want us to think that Jesus was just, he just pushed his plan too far and it got out of control and they took him and they killed him without his consent.

He didn't mean for it to happen, like as he was some kind of unwitting victim, like he was unwilling to do this, but Jesus was not a tragic figure in man's plan to destroy him.

Jesus was the central figure in God's plan to save man.

All of this, all of this is about Jesus laying his life down.

1 Peter chapter 1, verses 18 through 20 teach us that we are ransomed not with things of this world like silver or gold.

1 Peter 1:18–20

But we have been ransomed, we have been purchased, we have been bought with a price, and that price is the precious blood of Jesus Christ, known before the foundation of the world.

As we come to this table, we do not come to this table celebrating somebody who was a victim.

We come to this table celebrating our substitute who laid himself down, who sacrificed himself on our behalf.

Mark notes that it's the day of unleavened bread.

It's the beginning of the Passover.

This is the day on which they would begin to prepare the meal.

This is the day on which they would begin to observe the Passover together.

They had been doing so for 1,500 years, as I already mentioned.

And each time they did so, they were fulfilling a requirement of God of the Jewish nation.

They were looking back in history and remembering how God had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt, and how he had provided for them when the death angel came to take the firstborn.

They slaughtered a lamb, they sacrificed a lamb and took the blood and spread it over the doorposts of their homes, so that when the death angel came, he would see the blood covering them and it would pass them over.

And God commanded the nation to remember what he had done for them.

To remember that they had had a sacrifice in their place.

A substitute took their place.

And every year they practiced this meal.

They gathered together and they would have bitter herbs and salt water.

They would have four cups of wine together, remembering God's promises that he had made, and then they would take a lamb and they would sacrifice that lamb.

All pointing to a promise that God had made.

That he would provide a substitute.

That he would provide the one who would take their sin away.

When you're driving down a road, you see a signpost that says the name or the direction to a town.

That signpost isn't the town.

It's just pointing you to where you need to go.

Thus is the Passover meal.

It was a signpost, pointing them to their need for a substitute.

It started with a ram caught in the thicket when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, and God held his hand and said, I will provide the sacrifice.

That picture began to be painted more vividly when under the law God gave them the sacrificial system and told them to offer sacrifices to cover their sin.

It continued even more in the new covenant when Jesus came and said, This is the blood of the new covenant given for you.

I am the Lamb of God.

I am the one who would be sacrificed.

Mark mentions that Jesus has made preparations for this day.

Even the preparations for this are important for us to note.

Every detail was carried out.

Two of his disciples came to him and said, Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?

And he said, Go towards the city.

You're going to find a man there carrying a jug of water on his head.

Highly unusual for a man to be doing that.

He said, Follow that man, whatever house he goes into, go into that house, tell the owner of that house.

The master wants to know where his place is for his dinner for he and his disciples.

He will tell you where to prepare.

I imagine the disciples left Jesus somewhat wondering if this was actually going to happen, and yet Mark records that that's exactly what happened.

They found the man with the water jug, they followed him to the house.

The master of the house said, Here is the room.

They prepared the meal for Jesus.

Nothing was out of God's sovereign plan.

Jesus was going to be sacrificed on the Passover when the lambs were sacrificed because he is the Lamb of God.

And yet, even as we see the sovereign hand of God in this, we also begin to see the sinful heart of man.

For just as Jesus was willingly going to the cross, we see a betrayer pulling up to the table.

God has always had a plan, and he's always needed a plan, because man's heart is sinful.

Jesus and the disciples waited until after dark to go into the city.

They did so because Jesus knew that one of his disciples was going to betray him.

He knew that that betrayal was at hand.

And yet he desperately wanted to have this one last Passover meal with his disciples.

And so they went in under the cover of darkness, not because Jesus was hiding.

He knew where he was going, but because he wanted to have this Passover meal with his disciples.

He wanted to institute this.

He wanted to move from the past to the present.

He wanted to move from the old to the new.

And so they went in under the cover of darkness.

And while they were in that Passover room, Jesus began to reveal to them what was going to take place.

Jesus knew that one of those men around the table would be the one who would betray him.

Jesus said, I need you to know I'm going to be betrayed.

And it's going to be by one of you who eats meals with me.

Psalm 41, 9 reveals that dark tragedy of a friend who comes close to the Christ and betrays him.

Jesus reveals this truth, and the disciples reel back from this revelation.

They have a hard time accepting that there's somebody in their midst that would betray Jesus.

But notice the question that they asked.

They don't immediately point to Judas and go, it's got to be that guy.

He's the one.

Notice the question they ask.

It's not I, is it?

They are more suspicious of themselves than they are of someone else.

They're more suspicious that they might fall and betray Jesus than they were of Judas falling and betraying Judas.

In a rare moment of self-realization, they begin to examine themselves and say, you know what, I might actually be capable of doing this.

It's not me, is it?

It's not a bad attitude to come to the Lord's Supper table with.

Because as we come to the Lord's Supper table, the time now is not to look at everybody else around the room and say, Are you right with God?

As we come to the Lord's Supper table, it's time to look at ourselves and say, Am I right with God?

It's not time for me to look at somebody else and say, Oh, they're capable of this.

It's time for me to look in my own heart and say, I'm completely capable of sinning against my God.

Jesus revealed that one would, the disciples reeled.

Notice that Judas ran.

While some of the disciples were probably trying to turn from sin and repent, he ran.

He took off at this point.

He goes to fulfill the sin that he'd already put in his heart to fulfill.

He wasn't repentant.

It's the danger of hardening your heart.

Judas had spent three years with Jesus.

He'd seen his mercy, he'd seen his grace, he'd seen his power, he'd seen all of it, but he darkened his heart, and the longer you darken or harden your heart, the longer you resist God's grace, the easier it is to walk into darkness.

Judas teaches us that proximity is not the answer.

Being near the things of God does not mean you've surrendered to the things of God.

You can sit under biblical teaching week after week.

You can attend worship and sing songs week after week.

You can listen to Christian music on your radio.

You can do all kinds of things and be near it and never surrender yourself to Christ.

It's not proximity that matters.

And so as we come to this table, the question for each one of us today, not to ask somebody else, but to ask ourselves, is Am I just near this?

Or am I surrendered to it?

Am I just near Jesus?

Or have I truly surrendered myself to him?

Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9.

Jeremiah 17:9

It says, the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked.

Who?

Who can know it?

You can go to a doctor's office.

You can receive a medical evaluation.

You can receive a diagnosis and a prescription.

But it doesn't mean you're going to take the medicine.

As we come to this table, you should ask us.

I've heard the diagnosis, I'm a sinner.

I've heard the prescription.

It's salvation by grace through faith.

The question is, have you taken it?

Have you received it?

And we see that God had an eternal plan to send the one who would be sacrificed.

We see that man has a sinful heart.

And we should all examine ourselves.

And finally, we see that there is a new covenant.

That Jesus is the provision for that perfect substitute.

And that he prevails.

After Judas left the room, Jesus then instituted what we now call the Lord's Supper.

He had observed the Passover meal and all the traditions of the Passover meal with his disciples.

He'd washed their feet, including the feet of the one who would betray him.

They'd eaten the meal together.

And then Jesus took some of the elements of that meal after the betrayer was gone, and he turned what was the final Passover into the Lord's supper.

He took one of the pieces of bread and he said, This bread now represents my body, which will be broken for you.

He said, My body will be the substitute for yours.

And then he took a cup of wine, and he said, This cup now represents my blood, which will be poured out for the remission of your sin.

God has always had covenants with man.

He had a covenant with Noah, he had a covenant with Abraham, he had a covenant with Moses, he had a covenant with David, and he has a covenant with us.

And that which instituted each one of those covenants was blood.

Hebrews chapter says, chapter 8 says, without the remission of, without blood, there is no remission of sin.

God has always required blood to institute a covenant.

And Jesus says, I am the new covenant.

A new covenant which says God will take his word and he'll write it on our hearts.

A new covenant that says, I will take you who are sinners and make you saints.

But the only way for that to happen is for my body to be broken and for my blood to be shed.

The Passover anticipated the substitute.

The Lord's Supper points us back to the one who was the perfect substitute, who left heaven, lived a perfect life, fulfilled the law, never sinned.

And then God took our sin and he put it on his shoulders.

And God punished him in our place.

He was separated from the Father so that we would never have to.

This is a visible reminder of what Christ has done for us.

And so Mark chapter 14 isn't here so that we can approach a text and understand a passage of Scripture.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 14 is here so that we might properly approach this table.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

That he commands us to do, but he does so and commands us to do so appropriately.

By faith.

Faith in the finished work of Christ.

With grief, grief over our own sin.

With gratitude for the grace that covers that sin and takes it away and with joy for the new covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ that makes us right with Him.

And so before we go to this table this morning, I just want us to spend a moment just in quiet prayer, quiet reflection, searching our own hearts.

This is not a time to come to this table with presumption or pretense or pretending.

This is a time to come to this table with open minds and open hearts and open lives before a heavenly Father.

It's amazing to me.

Jesus knew the hearts of all of his twelve disciples.

He knew which one would betray him.

And Jesus knows our hearts as well.

We can fool each other and we might even deceive ourselves, but we cannot fool God.

And so as we come to the Lord's Supper table, would you just join me in a few moments of prayer as we prepare our hearts and our lives to remember what Christ has done?