Call to Remember

Then came the day of the unleavened bread 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.

As a good rabbi, he's going to lead his disciples in partaking of the Passover.

They said to him, where will you have us prepare it? He said to them, behold, when you 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 ahead and found it just as he told them, and they prepared the Passover.

To be very clear, I do not believe this text is assuming that Jesus called ahead and made reservations. Right? You're gonna see a guy with a water jar. That might be pretty common, but it's very specific. Go in the city, you'll see a man with a water jar. Go into the house that that man follows. All right, kind of odd, follow a dude into his house, but there, tell the master of the house, a teacher wants the room. He hasn't made reservations, this is all God sovereignly bringing together. And then that verse 13, they found it just as he told them. We just meditated a few weeks ago on Luke 21, 33. where Jesus said, his word will not pass away. The word of God that's trustworthy, perfect, even these small things are under his control. He's taking the opportunity for the Passover meal and we've gotta wrestle with what that is pointing back to because it's very important for what we're gonna get into. God called a man named Abraham, changed his name to Abraham, said, I will bless you, and you'll be the father of many nations, but my people specifically, and you'll have a son. And we're waiting for a son to be born of Abraham. And Abraham, after generations, after he had passed away, those people were brought into Egypt. Egypt was the great, powerful nation of the time. And the way they got there was God caused a famine. Israel went to Egypt originally to be protected, to be saved, to be given great land. But then they multiplied, which was God's intention. They multiplied, and a new pharaoh came who did not remember why they got there or how they got there, so he said, these people are too many, we're afraid of them. Let's enslave them, abuse them. And then God's people cried out, and God heard them. And then he set in motion his salvation, and his salvation wasn't instantaneous. His salvation had a plan, had a purpose. There were 10 plagues, each one attacking the greatness of Egypt and their gods. The last one, the death of the firstborn. And Israel was instructed, sacrifice a lamb, an unblemished lamb, and take the blood and put it over your doorpost. And on that night, when judgment passes over all of Egypt, those who have the blood on the doorpost, judgment will pass over them. And the Egyptians woke up the next day and said, get out. And Israel was able to leave. Sacrifice isn't new in scripture. There's a sacrifice in Genesis 3. Something had to die in order to cover the sins of Adam and Eve. Genesis 2, there was a command to sacrifice to Abraham of Isaac, and God provided a substitute. And Genesis 4, it was already assumed there was going to be a sacrifice that was acceptable from Abel, but not Cain. The sacrifice is important because of who Israel's becoming. This was the great salvation of the Old Testament. God bringing his people out of a slaver, someone who's abusing them, mistreating them. And it's not just out of slavery, but into his promised land. The exodus from Egypt is the defining salvation moment for Israel. And then, as we heard right earlier, as part of the instruction to make that sacrifice, he's also instructing, you're going to have a Passover to regularly remember it. to really teach the children. Here, Jesus is celebrating coming to the Passover. And I believe this is the last Passover, and this is one. There's many Jews who observe the Passover after this, the years after this, even today. But in God's great design, this is the last Passover because it's coming to be fulfilled. You see, the Passover was a meal that had two directions. It pointed back to remind people, God has given you a great salvation. The lamb would represent the blood that allows the judgment of God to pass over you. But it was pointing toward a day where there would be a sacrifice made, a once-for-all sacrifice that doesn't need to be repeated. A sacrifice that doesn't just cause the judgment of God to pass over you, but actually separates you so far from your sin and the judgment of God that it is as far as the east is from the west. You see, this is the last passover because Christ is coming to fulfill everything that it was looking forward to. He's the Lamb of God who has perfectly paid the penalty. Not just so God's judgment would pass over your sins, but he himself took the penalty and the judgment for us. That lamb and the blood that was put on the doorpost did not actually pay for the sins. God was not yet just. But in his forbearance, in the perfect timing of God, he sent his son to become born of a woman, born of the law, so that he would pay that penalty. I want us to see that because it's, I wanna help us directly to see how great God's plan of salvation has been. How prepared, how planned, and how Christ is coming to fulfill what God has already said. Well, many of our questions are gonna be around verses 14 to 20, so let's spend much of our time here. Christ came to have that Passover. That Passover has that significant Old Testament context in here. We're going to see him allude back to that over and over again as well. But the new reminder for the new covenant, that is this next section, a new reminder for the new covenant.

When the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him, and he had said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He took a cup, 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.

We'll pause there. We'll come back to those next texts and wrestle with them. But we see Jesus saying what his own desire is. We see a new declaration from Jesus. We see it's going to point to an immediate plan. Jesus is instituting what we call the Lord's Supper. Again, the elements are right before us. And it's such a significant sign. We call it an ordinance. It's been ordained by God in a unique way to be a unique blessing to us. The Lord's Supper, as he's walking through it now, it points back to the Passover and the Exodus and the promises that God has made. Notice the future that he's even pointing to. The kingdom fulfilled, the kingdom when it comes. It is pointing to the events that are about to happen in just the next few days. Christ will suffer, he will die. He will give his body up for them. And then it points also to what we're doing even today, the ongoing participation and practice of the Lord's Supper. Let's just hinge, let's meditate for a little while on verse 15. I have earnestly desired. If you underline things in your Bible, one of the most important things you wanna underline is anytime it talks about God's will or his desire. That's a significant revelation. God is telling you what his will is, what his desire is. Here, Jesus is saying, I've earnestly desired to have this Passover with you. Back in Luke 9.51, a big move, a big hinge in Luke. He turned his face towards Jerusalem. He's been marching there. He's been preparing them. He's desired this day to take the meal that points to his death and suffering. He's desired to participate and teach his disciples, to reflect upon and help them reflect upon this meal that has been promised his death and suffering. He's longed for this day. The day that he has to warn Peter, you're gonna deny me? Judas will betray him? And the rest of them just don't seem to get much. Most of all, the day ordained, that he's preparing immediately to die. We want to appreciate this. He's earnestly desired this. He loves us while we're sinners. His desire is to come and to save. He's come to seek and to save the lost. This is the mission of God. His desire is to come to us. And we come and think about how he fulfilled the Passover. We can just meditate upon a few things. He's the lamb who was slain, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

He will bear our sorrows and our griefs. He will be stricken, smitten, afflicted. He'll be wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. With his stripes, we're healed.

That's just a small picture from Isaiah 53, four to five, of how God has perfectly told us what's about to happen from the very beginning. As we think about his desire, he's desiring to come and be that lamb who's going to suffer, be afflicted, bear stripes, be wounded. Why? so that we might be healed. We don't partake of this Lord's Supper and think about the lamb in Egypt. That'd be like wanting to admire your wife's beauty by looking at her shadow. No, we're gonna meditate upon the cross where the perfect sacrifice was given. With his stripes, we are healed. If you want to know what you can think about as we're preparing for the Lord's Supper, as it's being distributed, and you're meditating, just that one simple declaration, with his stripes, we're healed. That's what the Passover was pointing to. That is what he's about to do. And then Jesus tells us, it also tells us about the immediate future. He's pointing beyond it, though. Notice,

for I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

There's something still to happen. It's a bit confusing. There's the exodus, the Passover, that's fulfilled in Christ, and now there's still something to be fulfilled. You're not living in paradise yet. We get that, right? We're still waiting for something. The marriage supper of the lamb that we started the service with. We're still waiting for the kingdom to be fully come, to be perfected. We meditated on this last week with Dr. Gentry in Isaiah 11, where the lamb will lie with the leopard and the infant with the adder. We just heard from Luke 21 a few weeks ago, him warning us, the temple be destroyed. There's be wars, rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, dangers, all kinds of things to be really afraid of. His work on the cross is complete. He's accomplished perfect salvation, but the kingdom is not yet perfected. We see these just glorious stages. There's the exodus and that salvation and the Passover, and there's Christ and the Passion and the Lord's Supper, and then there'll be the return of Christ, and we'll celebrate it with the marriage supper of the Lamb. He will return. The Lord's Supper is meant to remind us of this. And as we conclude our Lord's Supper, we're going to repeat the last prayer of scripture.

Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

We long for his salvation to be complete. Now, verses 17 to 20.

He took the cup and he gave him 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.

This appears to him preparing them and distributing the cup.

And he took the bread. When he gave him 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. And likewise, the cup, after they had eaten, saying, the cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Now, there's a handful of patterns that we just need to appreciate that are happening in the text. The patterns, the structures actually really inform what Jesus is saying. The first one is he took the bread and he took the cup, and notice in both ways he gave thanks. Verse 17, he took the cup and when he gave him thanks he distributed. When he took the bread he gave thanks. This is why many, and it's actually right to call it the Eucharist, That's just the Greek word behind give thanks. We're not thankful this morning, we're not doing it right. There's a way in which this is a thanks, a thanksgiving for what he has done. There's a way in which we shouldn't feel uncomfortable with it being called the Eucharist. That's taking the word right out of the text and it's good. First, verse 17, he takes a cup and it contains Welch's grape juice. That's anachronistic. You're welcome. It's fruit of the vine. It's fermented. He divides it amongst himself. He hands it out. And now we get to 19 and 20, thankfully to the most straightforward, never debated in the history of the church text. It's interesting. We really, we do believe and we believe it's true that the main things are the plain things. that the things we should be really holding on to are the things that are most clear and repeated in scripture, and at the same time, we can see how people have made all kinds of confusion out of what should be the plain things. So here, let's try to just make this as clear as possible from what's in the text. He takes the bread, verse 19.

When he gave him thanks, he broke it, he gave it to them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me.

Okay, so we have an element, we have some significance added to that element with the declaration, it is my body, it's given for you, and then a command, do this, so we're taking. Okay, but the question's running this, Is he saying that there was a substantive ontological change that just took place to that piece of bread? That is a pressing question. In what way is this bread directly related or indirectly related to his body? What kind of language is he using here? Is it that this bread truly did take a significant ontological change or is it symbolical? Is there symbolism used here? How is Jesus' body tied to the bread? Well, he's spoken symbolically before. Jesus said,

I'm the door. I'm the vine.

There's a way in which we clearly see this language used throughout scripture, but I think we could go a little bit further within the text itself. And here we're gonna do some work. We're gonna have to wrestle through and hopefully give a little lesson on how to read scripture as scripture presents itself. And I hope you see how good God is and how clear he makes things. Okay, I'll admit, we can say this. The symbol of the bread could go either way. This is my body. We could see how they could, we could get confused of, is the bread really the body or is that just symbolism? Well, let's ask, how does he talk about the cup? There's a way in which, because of the structure of this and the way these two things are necessarily related, the way he talks about the bread and the body really has to go parallel with the cup and the blood. These statements function together. What did he say about the cup?

This cup that is poured out for you, the cup is the new covenant.

Do you see the significance here? Bread is my body, okay, but the cup isn't my blood. The cup is the new covenant. Here it's, by definition, it has to be symbolic. The cup is representing what he's going to accomplish with his blood because he's going to put an end to all the Old Testament sacrifices of the old covenant. Paul repeats this in 1 Corinthians 11. I'm gonna go out on a big limb here and say, when he speaks of the cup, it's obviously symbolic. And by definition, I'm going to then go back and read the statement about the bread symbolically. Let me try to explain this another way. When you enter marriage, it's a covenant. A covenant is a committed, loyal relationship built on promises and expectations. All covenants have elements that aren't the covenant, but are necessary to the covenant or that are good for the covenant. There's things that are part of the covenant that are so, so important, but they're not the covenant. For instance, covenants have witnesses, but the witnesses aren't the covenant. The covenant is built upon the promises and the relationship. So marriage is typically a sign with a ring, right? This was just a clump of gold until somebody fashioned a ring At the ceremony, when Lisa put it on my finger, then it became a significant symbol. The ring is important to me, but only because it signifies a significant relationship. The ring is not my covenant. I could maybe take the ring off and I'd still be married. This ring could be thrown into the depths of Mordor, and I'm still married. The key here, we understand. We can have significant signs. Significant signs. They're only significant because of what they point us to. For instance, God making promises. The father sending his son to be like us, to die for us, to rise again. That's the covenant. The promises in the word of God that must be fulfilled, that's the covenant. And then praise God, he's given us these signs that are so significant because of what Christ has tied them to. Referring to the bread, Jesus says, this is my body. And his body that he's taken on, it's gonna be beaten, spat upon. It's gonna be nailed to a cross. It's gonna suffocate. He came to give that body for us. The bread points us back to how he gave us his body by his stripes. were healed. Significant. This is getting a little more in depth, but Jesus's body is just like every human body. It's only in one place at one time. His living body is only in one place at one time. It was in the upper room. It was on the cross. It was resurrected. It appeared. Now where is the body of Jesus? right here to the father. And when he leaves that place, the kingdom come. The body doesn't transform or or find a new location in the bread. OK, maybe you're still not satisfied. If you go back and actually look at the language of what the Passover says, and this isn't from scripture, but this is from we know from tradition, which is helpful. When the father would break the bread, this is what he would say.

This is the bread of the affliction of my people in the wilderness.

Already designed into the Passover meal is the idea that the bread is already representing something, but instead of representing the affliction of Israel in the wilderness, it's representing the affliction of God's own Son in the flesh on the cross. Hope that leads to all kinds of great questions. Jesus then commands, do this. We're supposed to be doers. Christian, if you don't have a concept of duty in your Christianity, it's missing something. We're doers. By grace, we believe and we do. Do this. Partake. Receive the grace through this action. It's an action of faith. remembering that Christ has died, that he's given us this meal to partake together, to not only think of him and what he's done for me, but for us. It's a declaration of unity. There's two things we cannot deny. Jesus made this sign significant, and our faith is necessary for it to have the proper significant work. Now, something else I just wanna make sure we're clear about. I believe it's designed to teach us, to help us remember, that's the word Jesus uses. I believe there's a way in which it's a symbol and it's representative, but I want to assert very clearly that Jesus is present in the church's partaking of the supper. Jesus is present in the church's partaking of this Eucharist. Why? The most basic element of the gospel, of the covenant of God, is God with us. That's one of the names of Jesus, Emmanuel. He's not a distant God, he's a God who's with us. He's a God who's bound himself to us. There's a way in which God has promised always to be with us. If we just take the words of Jesus from Matthew 28,

I am with you always, even to the ends of the earth.

Speaking of the kingdom of God in Matthew 18,

where two or three are gathered,

like will be denied in the members meeting,

I am among you.

There's a way in which Jesus identifies in clear presence with his people. And that's encouraging to us. It doesn't mean he's here bodily, he's here by his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ coming to indwell us and empower what we're doing. We need to just meditate upon how significant that makes the supper we're about to partake together according to Christ. It's not mere memorialism or symbolism. He's with us. There's a way in which the Holy Spirit is using everything we do from reading His Word, to singing His Word, to proclaiming His Word, to meditating on His Word, to participating in what He's instructed, to leaving here to be witnesses. He's present. It's too far to say the bread changes physical nature. It's way too far to say that you need a priest who makes that bread do something that it's not supposed to do, and that is improve your salvation somehow. But it's not saying enough to say it's a mere memorial. It's not saying enough that if we go through the motions, then it'll have some kind of effect. No, we come receiving this by faith, in obedience, trusting Christ is going to build our faith up. Believer. I want you to see how serious it is that we come together and do the things that Christ commanded because he's present with us. When we skip church, you're not missing a gathering, you're missing Jesus. Christ is uniquely present with his people. There's a way in which He is moving and acting among His people as we gather to do the things He's commanded us to do that you're missing. And it's dangerous. That's why Hebrews says,

do not forsake the gathering.

There's a way in which we need to be regularly reminded by one another. It's dangerous to forsake the gathering of Christ because of what He is doing through us by His Spirit. When we gather tonight for the members meeting, this is especially, it's not a simple business meeting. We're actually adding and removing members according to what Christ has actually commanded in Matthew 18. By faith, baptism is your public entrance into the church. The Lord's Supper is your regular reminder and a privilege of what it means to be the church. We do not come assuming we're worthy. We come to remember he loved us while we're sinners. But we come to remember it by his stripes, we are healed. We come knowing that he is working in and through our obedience to bless us. These last few verses, I want to make sure we consider in light of, it's a bookend. Two to six, we see Satan entering into Judas and now Jesus, he ends with betrayal. He's aware of this. We hear a final warning, a final warning. Verse 21,

but behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the son of man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.

And the disciples,

then they began to question one another which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Luke uses the word behold to capture our attention. That's one of his kind of key literary tools. There's some significant theological packing to happen to do here, but verse 21, Jesus has desired to have this Passover meal with the guy that he knows is going to betray him. His sovereign purpose is not in any way deterred by any fear of evil and even knowledge of the evil. It's incredible to see how in control Jesus is here with his betrayer, with the governing authorities, with his false accusers, even on the cross. Let me tell you why that's so significant. Look at verse 22. There's a whole theological unpacking to have some fun with here, and yes, that's fun. Notice these two statements. The Son of Man, goes as it has been determined, that is, he will be betrayed. The Son of Man, it has been determined. Well, who determined it? It's not some impersonal faith. No, it's been determined by God. This has been declared, determined. The Son of Man will go forth in betrayal to die on the cross. God's sovereignty, get it? But woe to that man by whom he's betrayed. That's human responsibility. And it sounds faintly, even though determined, even though entered by Satan, even though predestined before. It sounds like a warning, doesn't it? From Jesus, the master. Woe to him who does the betraying. This, among many other passages, just helps us step back in the midst of chaos, trouble. Here we have God with us, giving us his definite plan of salvation as planned, as fulfilled, as we're still waiting. And here, the Son of Man must go as determined. It's set. But woe to him who is the betrayer. There's other passages that capture this just so clearly as well. In Genesis 50, we read

what man intended for evil, God used for good.

Acts 2.23,

Jesus was delivered according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,

whom you, he speaks, crucified and killed. We have to have a proper tension here. You don't have to wrap your head around this. You have to hold both these truths together. God is perfectly sovereign over all evil. And at the same time, we're going to be held perfectly responsible for that evil. As we think about what's happening here, as Christ is coming to the cross, as he's earnestly desired, he's putting himself in the danger that he's intended all along as determined. Our God is sovereign and perfectly bringing about our salvation. Evil is scary. But it's not the absolute power. As we conclude, a few applications. One, I hope that we leave this service with just a marvel of God and his power and his goodness. I hope we can just come back and see what an incredibly big God who sovereignly ordained these things even though we were sinners, who sovereignly committed himself to desire salvation even though we're sinners, who sovereignly orchestrated all of these events and these meals to help us remind ourselves and be reminded and remind each other how great he is and how great is the salvation he secured for us. We must marvel and be amazed. Second, we must repent. We must repent because as we think about Christ and his need to go to the cross because he promised salvation, as we think about Christ and his betrayal and even Peter's denial, repent of our unfaithfulness, our fickleness. Rejoice. God loves you. And as we prepare to participate, as we prepare to think about the Savior, it's not a lamb who just has the judgment pass over us. It's the lamb who paid the price once for all. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your salvation. We thank you that we can see throughout time, throughout your word, in history, that you have planned such a great salvation. Because we so easily have confused what you said, you've given us these events, these meals, so that we would know and have clarity and assurance. Lord, I pray that as we come and participate in these, the physical elements and partake of the bread and the cup, Lord, I pray we would be overwhelmed with your love towards us, with your power to save us, with your commitment to us. Help us, Lord, to remember you as the covenant God who has claimed us and saved us. Help us, Lord, to be thankful. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us stand and sing our song of response.