The Final Passover

Mark 14:12-21

Introduction:
Adoniram Judson is considered the first Protestant missionary sent overseas from America. He was from Massachusetts, and he was sent by Baptist churches to Burma. He returned to America after spending nearly 40 years in Burma. In his first message upon returning, he didn’t talk about the graves of his wife and 4 children in Burma. He didn’t talk about his imprisonment while he was there. He didn’t talk about the number of Churches he started or the number of converts. But he preached on” JESUS, THE SACRIFICE FOR MAN.” After that service, a woman came up to him and said, “I was disappointed in your sermon. It was just ordinary; I expected more of a different message from across the world.” Judson replied, “Ordinary? Why, there is no message more thrilling than to tell of Jesus, our Sacrificial Lamb.”
Amazingly, we can become complacent about the Greatest Story ever Told because we are so familiar with it. In a similar way, the Jewish people have been observing Passover ever since they left Egypt. Despite that repetition, there is so much significance that has escaped so many.
The Jewish people are celebrating Passover right now. It began at sunset Monday and will continue throughout the next week. Passover commemorates the protection of the Jewish people from the 10th plague of the death of the firstborn as well as the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. What the Hebrew people do not realize is that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is pictured throughout the Passover. In fact, the final day of Passover is a celebration of the imminent coming of the Messiah. They just don’t realize He already came once.
Actually, the Passover lamb, the shedding and application of the blood, and the elements of the Passover Seder—they all portray Jesus. John declared Jesus as: “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29). There is no question that John was referencing Jesus as the paschal or Passover Lamb. In fact, Jesus’ death coincided with the sacrifice of the Passover lambs at the Temple which began at 3 PM, or the ninth hour. Paul also made the same connection between Jesus and the Passover in 1 Corinthians 5:7, where the Bible states: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:” Most compelling of all is the fact that Jesus Himself made that connection when He used the occasion of Passover to institute the Lord’s Supper to commemorate His death.
Of course, without the temple, there is no longer a sacrificial lamb for the Passover Seders. But still, there are pictures of Jesus. Because of the rush to leave Egypt, there was no time to put leaven in the bread, so the Passover meal is eaten with Unleavened Bread or Matzah. They use three pieces of matzah. The middle piece is broken and hidden and reappears at the end of the meal. What a perfect picture of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ!
Tonight, we want to notice the final Passover Jesus observed with His disciples.

I. PREPARATION-
This is similar to the story of the sending of the disciples to fetch the donkey for the Triumphant