1. Urgent remembrance requires the first cup of preparing
2. Urgent remembrance requires the second cup of purging
3. Urgent remembrance requires the third cup of partaking
4. Urgent remembrance recalls the fourth cup of promising
I am tremendously blessed. And one of the ways I am blessed is that I have known and been close to each of my grandparents. I have one grandmother that’s still alive. And nearly every Sunday after church, we get to go over to her house and have lunch. We get to share her favorite meal with her—Little Caesar’s Hot-and-Ready pizza. One of the wonderful things that happens sometimes during those lunches is when she tells us stories. Sometimes she’ll tell stories about how things were when she was growing up. She’ll tell us about her sisters. She’ll tell us about her Mother and Father. I remember going to visit her mother when I was little. The only thing I remember about the visit was it was in one big room. I remember that there wasn’t anything in it except wood benches and a pot-bellied stove in the middle of the floor. And I remember I had to be quiet for some reason. I think that was when my cousin and I were introduced to the quiet game. That’s the way memories are, aren’t they? They fade over time. They are forgotten with age. They pass with each passing generation. Of course I remember each of my grandparents that I’ve lost. I have special memories of sitting on Pawpaw Stanley’s porch playing with his dogs. And I have special memories of sitting on my Papaw Drake’s lap as he sang “Daddy sang bass” to me. And how Mamaw Drake would feed me corn on the cob till I was sick. Like the song says, those are precious memories. Precious memories, how they linger. How they ever flood my soul. In the stillness of the midnight. Precious, sacred scenes unfold. But do you know what? Most of the time those kinds of precious memories only last a generation or two. I’m sad to say that all I remember of my great-grandparents is the pot-bellied stove and playing the quiet game with one of them. The only other thing I remember is how another great-grandmother spit her tobacco. I don’t remember exactly how I came across it, but a few months ago, I was able to get a genealogy record back through my Mamaw Drake’s side of the family. It went all the way back to 1745. Back to a man named Jacob Starcher from Harrison County, VA. It was interesting. But not really. Because it was really no more than a list of names. There were no stories or memories attached to them. There were no precious memories because there was no remembrance. Names and dates on paper do nothing to spark the kind of emotion that comes from true remembrance. In our passage this morning, Jesus tells the disciples to remember Him. But not in some sort of sentimental, nostalgic way. He wants them to truly remember who He is and what He was about to do for them. And in doing so, He tells us the same thing. He tells us to truly remember Him. Remember who He is. And remember what He’s done for each and every one of us. Jesus is not just a forgotten name in a Book. He is God. God who took on our flesh. He took on our flesh, just so He could suffer and die in it. So He could suffer the penalty of sin in our stead. And He told us to remember. So that’s what we’re going to do this morning. We’re going to urgently remember. Not with the taking of the Lord’s Supper. But with the preaching of the Lord’s Last Supper. As we do, we’re going to look at the four cups of the Lord’s Last Supper. The first cup was the cup of preparing. Look with me at verses 17-19:
MATTHEW 26:17-19
Urgent remembrance requires the first cup of preparing. The Jewish calendar was full of feast days and celebrations. They had the feast of Purim, the feast of tabernacles, the Day of Atonement, the feast of Pentecost, the feast of Trumpets. But the most important feast of all was the feast of unleavened bread. The feast of unleavened bread was so important to the Jews, that it was one of only three feasts where they were required to go to Jerusalem to celebrate. The feast of unleavened bread is kind of a broad title though. It’s a broad title because it included three feasts that kind of got rolled into one. First was Passover. Then Passover rolled right into the actual feast of unleavened bread. That lasted 7 days. Then they wrapped up the whole thing with the feast of Firstfruits. All three of those put together came to be known as the feast of unleavened bread. But the key event was clearly the one that kicked it off. The key event was the Passover. The Passover was a time when every Jewish family remembered the time when God delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. This is the feast that Jesus was celebrating with the disciples. And they were doing exactly what God had commanded the Jews to do. They were remembering God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel. They were engaged in a ceremony to remember the Lord’s saving work on their behalf. Even though the ceremony was simple, it did require preparation. Since the Jews were required to take the Passover in Jerusalem, there were more than a million more of them in town at this time. That made finding a place to hold the ceremony a chore. But it’s obvious from our passage, that Jesus had already taken care of that. Apparently, He had already picked out the lamb and the place. All that was required for preparation now was the sacrifice and the actual preparation of the meal. This took several hours, as all those people crowded into the temple. Tradition wouldn’t allow any more than two men to bring each lamb to the temple for sacrifice. Then after one of the over 600 priests carried out the sacrifice, the lamb was immediately taken home and the meat was roasted. This was all part of the preparation for the meal. And as Jesus and the disciples gathered there in the upper room, they made the final preparations. After the sacrifice had been made. While the meat was still cooking. Jesus made the final preparations. He made the final preparation by pouring the first cup. See, the Passover meal was structured around the sharing of four cups of wine. The host would pour those four cups at different intervals throughout the ceremony. The actual Passover meal began when the host poured and blessed the first cup. This signified that all the preparations had been made and the meal was now to begin. In Luke’s account of this event, he records that Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” The reason that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper is because Jesus commanded us to. He didn’t tell us how often we are to do it, but He did say that as often as we do, we are to do it in remembrance of Him. Even though we usually celebrate the Lord’s Supper once every two or three months… urgent remembrance requires that our preparation be continual. Just like He did with the disciples, Jesus has provided the place. He has provided the Lamb. He has provided the blood sacrifice. But we have to be prepared by willingly entering into His fellowship. By regularly gathering together with each other. By continually partaking of what He’s graciously prepared for us. In order to urgently remember what Jesus has done for you, you have to be prepared. Be prepared by knowing Him. By being an active part of His body—the church. And by accepting the gracious gift of salvation He’s provided for you. Then, you can share the first cup with Him—the cup of preparing. After we’ve shared the first cup of preparing with Him, then comes the second cup. The cup of purging. Look with me in verses 20-25:
MATTHEW 26:20-25
Urgent remembrance requires the second cup of purging. Once Jesus shared the first cup with the disciples, bitter herbs were introduced to the meal. The bitter herbs represented the bitter bondage that Israel experienced while they were slaves in Egypt. Remember back to that time. Pharaoh was intimidated by the growth of Israel within his country. So, because he was intimidated by them, he decided to oppress them. And he did a good job of it. He made life miserable for them. To the point that they cried out to the God they had nearly forgotten about. Their captivity was hard. It was a struggle. It was constant, and persistent, and unrelenting. And there was no way they could resist. They couldn’t arm themselves. And even if they could, they were shepherds. They weren’t warriors. Egypt was the most powerful military of the day. How could a bunch of simple shepherds stand up against that? They couldn’t. They were in bondage and couldn’t do anything about it. They had no hope. Utter, complete, bitter hopelessness. And if you find yourself here this morning without having trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior… that is how you are right now. Every one of us is born with a sin nature. We are all born with a natural bent toward sin and rebellion against God. And as soon as we get the opportunity, we sin against a holy God. We are born into bondage. And the more we sin, the deeper into bondage we become. And the worst part is that we can’t do anything about it. We’re just not equipped. And even if we were equipped, we couldn’t handle it. In bondage to our sin nature, there is no hope. It is utter, complete, bitter hopelessness. But then comes the second cup. After the second cup, the host of the Passover would break bread and dip it in the bitter herbs. Because the bread was unleavened, it represented sinlessness and purity. Sinlessness and purity took on the bitterness of sin and bondage. As the Lord sat down with His disciples, there was sin in their midst. In Luke’s account, Satan literally possessed Judas prior to the meal when he agreed with the chief priests and scribes to betray Him. And Jesus would not continue with the meal until He had purged the sin in their midst. So what did He do? First, He exposed it. He identified His betrayer. He exposed the sin in their midst. And then He got rid of it. In John’s account, Jesus then told Judas, “That thou doest, do quickly.” He told him to leave. He exposed sin and bitterness in their midst and He got rid of it. In the same way, urgent remembrance requires you to expose the sin that binds you. Expose it. See it for what it is. Quit making excuses for it. Quit trying to rationalize it. Quit comparing it to other people. Expose it by confessing it. Confessing simple means seeing it the same way that God does. And He sees sin as an affront to His holiness. Dark, disgusting, evil, inexcusable, and worthy of death. And then the Lamb is served. And with the Lamb comes the third cup. The cup of partaking. Look with me at verses 29-30:
MATTHEW 26:29-30
Urgent remembrance requires the third cup of partaking. After the sin was exposed and rejected came the Lamb. Back when Israel was helplessly in bitter bondage in Egypt, they had no way of escape. Pharaoh seemed to hold all the cards. He seemed to hold the power of life and death in his hands. But he really didn’t. It was all just a clever illusion. Because God is the only One who holds the power of life and death. And He showed that in a mighty way—both to Pharaoh and to Israel. When Pharaoh refused to submit to God and free His children from their bondage, God sent plagues. Each plague was worse and worse. And with each plague, Pharaoh became more and more stubborn. He willfully set his face against God and became harder and harder and harder. Until God broke him. God sent one final plague. With that plague, He promised to kill every firstborn son in Egypt. But even as He made that promise of judgment, He tempered it with grace. He promised that each household’s children would be saved if they provided a substitute. As the death angel was passing from house to house. If he saw the blood of an innocent lamb on the doorpost of the house, he would pass over. If the blood was not present, the firstborn would die. If the blood was present, he would pass over and the child would live. As you know, Pharaoh’s son died. But the Israelite children were saved. All who applied the blood were saved. Each child that was saved was saved by the blood of a lamb. As Jesus and the disciples were there in the upper room eating their lamb, they were doing so in remembrance of that time. But Jesus was also showing them that this was their final Passover. As they moved from eating the flesh of the Passover lamb, He pointed them to Himself as the ultimate Passover lamb. As he did, He instituted the ordinance we still practice today. The ordinance we partake of in remembrance of Him. The ordinance you participate in every time you partake of the Lord’s Supper. The ordinance you take in remembrance of His body that was broken for you. In remembrance of His blood that was shed for you. In remembrance of His blood that, when applied to the doorpost of your heart—will cause the death angel to pass over. In remembrance of His blood that will break the bonds of sin in your life and make you free forever. That is what we remember when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. And as Jesus instituted it with His disciples, He sealed it with the third cup. The cup that would represent His shed blood. The blood that He would shed the very next day on the cross of Calvary. The blood that He would use to seal the New Covenant. The covenant that instituted the church. The covenant that provided for your salvation and mine. That cup would represent His blood that He would shed to cover my sins and yours—forever. But that was only three cups. Remember I said that the Passover meal was structured around four cups. Jesus had served the cup of preparing, the cup of purging and the cup of partaking. But there was one more cup. And that was the cup of promise. Look with me in verses 29-30
MATTHEW 26:29-30
Urgent remembrance recalls the fourth cup of promise. Jesus had just finished implementing the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. The ordinance we still practice today. And then what did He say? He said, “That’s it. There will be no more cups. I know you’re expecting the fourth cup, but we’re not going to have it.” Now why did He say that? Why did He break with tradition and stop after the third cup? Because the Jews took the fourth cup as a celebration of the coming kingdom. And what did Jesus say? He said, “We’re not going to have this fourth cup now. We’ll share this fourth cup in the Kingdom.” Heaven’s not now—we’ve got work to do first. Of course we know the work that Christ had to do. The cross awaited Him. Within just a few hours, He was hanging on a cross. He was dying on a cross with a sign over His head that mockingly proclaimed His title to the world. King of the Jews. It may have been hung there mockingly, but it was true. As the provision of our salvation hung there, He was sealing the promise of the Kingdom. John records the comforting words Jesus gave His disciples there in the upper room before they sang their hymn and left for the Mount of Olives. Those words are recorded in John 14. In verses 1-3, He said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Why do we remember? Because Jesus told us to. Why do we urgently remember? Because Jesus is coming back. And He is coming back soon. He is preparing a place for you. Are you ready to receive it? Are you urgently preparing your life every day for His return? Are you urgently purging your sin every day, ready for His return? Are you urgently partaking of His grace every day, looking for His return? And are you urgently looking for the promise of His return every day? In just a few weeks on Good Friday, we will be partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Will you be prepared to remember Jesus? Don’t wait until that time when the elements are passed out. That is what Jesus has given us today for. You need to prepare today. You need to purge sin today. You need to partake of grace today. You need to hope for the promise today. Don’t wait. Drink the cups that Jesus has prepared for you today.
