SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The Practical arrangements (vs 13-15)
(2). The Passover arrangements (vs 16)
(3). The Passover meal (vs 17-21)
(4). The Passover transformed (vs 22-16)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Many years ago A.J. Gordon went to the World’s Fair.
• From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps.
• The water was pouring out and he said as he looked,
• “That man is really working hard at pumping water.”
• But when he got closer, he discovered that it was a wooden man;
• Connected to a pump that was powered by electricity.
• The man was not pumping the water,
• The water was pumping him.
Ask the average person regarding the latter part of the life of Jesus:
• They will probably tell you that he was an innocent victim of his times.
• That circumstances got the better of him,
• After all verse 1 of chapter 14 tells us that:
• “Chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him”.
• Also verse 10 tells us that: Judas had agreed to betray Jesus.
• The casual reader might assume that circumstances had gotten the better of him,
Yet to anyone who studies the Bible, and reads a bit more carefully:
• Will know that
• Circumstances were not driving Jesus, but Jesus was driving the circumstances!
• This passage yet again shows us that it is Jesus who is calling the shots;
• It is Jesus who is in ultimate control.
(1). The Practical arrangements
• At that time Jesus was on planet earth.
• The Jewish people had been celebrating Passover for over 1,500 years;
• Passover for the Jews was a huge occasion;
• As big a date in their diary as Christmas day is for us.
Ill:
Talking of Christmas.
• Years ago a sign was seen hanging in a shop window during the Christmas season.
• The message said: “Let’s make this the best Christmas ever.”
• Underneath, some perceptive person had scribbled the question:
• “How will we top the first one?”
Well for the Jewish people Passover was a huge occasion;
• As big a date in their diary as Christmas day is for us.
• And just like we have to make arrangements for Christmas;
• i.e. we decorate the house, buy a tree, buy a turkey etc.
• So the Jews made preparations for Passover;
• We prepare for Christmas motivated by our traditions.
• The Jewish people prepared for Passover;
• Because God in the Old Testament had commanded them to do so.
• Now Jesus was very efficient with his Passover arrangements:
• Again and again we see that he did not leave things until the last moment.
• Those preparations involved….
(a). A Person (vs 13):
“So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.”
• In answer to the disciples question (verse 12);
• Where they ask him; “Where they would eat the Passover?”
• Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with unusual instructions;
• Luke chapter 22 verse 8;
• Tells us it was Peter and John who were the two disciples sent.
• According to Passover regulations:
• Only two people were allowed to take the lamb into the temple to the sacrifice;
• Therefore only two were needed to go on ahead.
At Passover Jerusalem was full to overflowing:
• The experts say it swelled to almost 2 million people in size;
• That’s four times its usual size.
• And the disciples are concerned that they might night find their contact;
• The person Jesus wants them to meet.
• So in verse 13 Jesus gave the disciples an important clue.
• “A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.”
• Note: A man carrying a jar of water was a pre-arranged signal.
• To carry a water-pot was a woman’s duty. It was something a man never did.
• A man with a water-pot on his shoulder would stand out in any crowd;
• ill: Just like a man on a sunny day with his umbrella up.
• Verse 16 tells us that plan of Jesus worked (not really surprising!):
• They followed the man and found the upper room.
Question: Why the secrecy?
Answer:
• I think it is because the upper room would make a great place for Judas to betray Jesus.
• Matthew chapter 26 verse 16 tells us Judas was looking at every opportunity.
• As to when Jesus would be betrayed and handed over to the Romans.
• That would be decided by Jesus when the time was right,
• And not when Judas Iscariot wanted it to happen.
(b). A place (vs 14).
“Say to the owner of the house he enters, ’The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’”
• In the days before ‘late rooms.com’;
• Jesus did not leave things until the last minute or to chance.
• As I mentioned earlier Jerusalem at Passover was full to overflowing;
• With the population swelling from (600,000 to 2 million (x4)).
• If you were not well prepared then you may well miss out.
• ill: Like shopping for a turkey on Christmas eve – you have to take what’s available!
Ill:
• Talking of turkeys;
• I don’t know if you saw the story in the news.
• Apparently an industrious turkey farmer has managed to breed the perfect turkey.
• It has six legs – so there should be a leg for everyone.
• When the news reporter asked him; “how the six legged turkey tasted”.
• The farmer replied; "I don’t know we haven’t been able to catch it!"
Well, we are not told how or when:
• And it is obvious the disciples did not know either;
• But Jesus had arranged a meeting-place for himself and for his disciples,
• So that they could celebrate Passover.
Most of the larger Jewish houses in Jerusalem had upper rooms:
• These houses looked like someone had placed a smaller box on top of a bigger box.
• And the smaller box on top was called the upper room,
• And it was approached by an outside staircase,
• So it was independent, making it unnecessary to go through the main house.
Ill:
The upper room had many uses.
• It was a storeroom,
• It was a place for quiet and meditation,
• It was a guest-room for visitors.
• It was also a traditional place;
• Where a Rabbi would teach his chosen band of intimate disciples.
• By finding an upper room;
• Jesus was following the custom that many other Jewish Rabbi had followed.
(2). The Passover arrangements.
• Verse 13 & 16:
• “He sent two of his disciples ahead” & “So they prepared the Passover.”
Ill:
For us Christmas etiquette is a celebration based on traditions:
• i.e. Should the tree be real or artificial?
• i.e. Should tree lights twinkle or stay constant?
• i.e. Should the tree be topped with an angel or a star?
• i.e. Should you fling or hang tinsel?
• i.e. Cranberry sauce or horseradish with the turkey?
• i.e. Cream or custard on your Christmas pudding?
• i.e. Should you watch the Queens speech live or the highlights later on the news?
• i.e. Do you open gifts on Christmas morning or after Christmas dinner?
• For us we can celebrate Christmas with a variety of styles and interpretations;
• But the Jewish people were not so flexible.
• They had to celebrate Passover in a prescribed way;
• Their scriptures and their traditions demanded this;
• And they were not open to interpretation.
Question: What were the preparations?
Answer: Let me mention three of them:
• Certain things were necessary that Peter and John;
• Had to get ready for the others to celebrate the Passover correctly.
(1). There was the lamb,
• Passover lambs were sacrificed on the afternoon before the Passover evening,
• They were slaughtered with-in a two hour period (between 3pm-5pm);
• In the Temple the worshippers lamb was killed:
• The lamb’s throat was slit and the blood was caught in a bowl,
• A priest would then throw it upon the altar.
• The carcase of the dead lamb was then flayed,
• The entrails and the fat extracted and kept;
• Because they were all part of the necessary sacrifice,
• Then the carcase of the lamb was then handed back to the worshipper.
• Who carried it home to be roasted, it must not be boiled.
• It had to be roasted over an open fire on a spit made of pomegranate wood.
The lamb was needed:
• To remind the Jews of how their families & houses had been protected
• By the sprinkling of blood on the doorposts and the lintel of the house;
• Which protected them when the angel of death passed through Egypt.
(2). The disciples also needed some unleavened bread;
• This was to remind them of the bread;
• They had eaten in haste when they escaped from slavery.
• Unleavened bread was used;
• Because it can be baked much more quickly than a loaf baked with leaven,
(3). They needed a bowl of salt water,
• This was to remind them of the tears they shed in slavery;
• And also the parting of the Red Sea.
(4). They needed a collection of bitter herbs:
• Horse radish, chicory, endive, lettuce, horehound
• This was to remind them of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
(5). They needed a paste called Charosheth (Cha-ro-sheth),
• This was a mixture of crushed apples, dates, pomegranates and nuts,
• And was to remind them of the clay of which they had made bricks in Egypt.
• Through it were placed sticks of cinnamon;
• A reminder of the straw with which the bricks had been made.
• It was into this sauce that they dipped the bread during the meal.
• i.e. this was the sop that Jesus gave Judas (verse ).
(6). They needed four cups of wine.
• The wine was diluted:
• Three parts of wine were mixed with two parts of water.
• These four cups, would be drunk at different stages of the meal,
• It was to remind them of the four promises of God made in the book of Exodus.
Quote: Exodus chapter 6 verses 6-7:
"Therefore, say to the Israelites (1) ’I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
(2) I will free you from being slaves to them,
and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
(3) 7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
8And (4) I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’ "
So the disciples went on ahead to make preparations:
• To get things ready;
• To comply with correct ‘order’ of things.
(3). The Passover meal (vs 17-21):
Verse 17:
“When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve”.
• THE new day began around about 6 p.m., and when the Passover evening had come,
• Jesus sat down with the Twelve.
• This was the only one change in the old ritual;
• Which had been observed 1,500 years earlier in Egypt.
• At the first Passover Feast in Egypt, the meal had been eaten standing (Exodus 12: 11).
• But that had been a sign of haste, a sign that they were slaves escaping from slavery.
• In the time of Jesus the regulation was that the meal should be eaten reclining,
• For that was the sign of a free man, with a home and a country of his own.
Note:
• All the time they were relaxing:
• A verse from the Old Testament was running through the mind of Jesus.
• Psalm 41 verse 9: “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread,
• Has lifted up his heel against me”.
So in Mark chapter 14 verse 18-21 we read:
“While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me (literally: will deliver me up) - one who is eating with me.
19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, Surely not I?
20 It is one of the Twelve, he replied, one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
• When anyone shared a meal with another person in that part of the world;
• And at that time in history, he was identifying himself as a friend;
• The idea of eating a meal with someone;
• And then turning him over to his executioners was unthinkable.
• This was a shocking announcement that must have shaken the disciples;
• Because they knew one of them would do it because Jesus had said so.
THIS VERSE IS ONCE AGAIN A REMINDER THAT:
(a). Jesus knew what was going to happen to him.
• His betrayal, arrest & execution would not be a ‘bolt out of the blue’;
• Quote: “There were no accidents in the life of Jesus, only appointments”.
• We also see the courage of Jesus;
• He could have easily escaped, yet he courageously chose to go on.
(b). Jesus could see into the heart of Judas.
• The amazing thing to me is that none of the other disciples;
• Seemed to have had any suspicions about Judas.
• If they had known what Judas was engaged on,
• It is certain that they would have stopped him and probably by using violence.
(3). In this passage we see Jesus offering Judas a last warning.
• He is telling him in advance of the consequences of the thing that it is in his heart to do.
• Without a doubt Jesus could have stopped Judas.
• All he had to do was tell the other eleven what Judas was planning,
• And Judas would never have left that room alive.
Quote:
“We have here in miniature an insight into how God deals with people;
God has given us wills that are free.
His love appeals to us. His truth warns us.
But there is no compulsion.
It is the awful responsibility of man that he can spurn the appeal of God’s love;
And disregard the warning of his voice.
In the end there is no one but ourselves responsible for our sins”.
THE Passover transformed (vs 22-26):
22While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
23Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
24"This is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. 25"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
26When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
• None of the gospel writers give us the ‘Seder’,
• That is the exact order of events that would take place at a Passover meal.
• If you are interested in the 17 different elements steps of a Passover meal;
• Then you can look them up on the internet.
• Mark as you might expect if you know his style of writing cuts to the chase;
• In verse 22 he goes straight to step 13 and 14 of that ‘Seder’ (order).
Ill:
• That should not surprise us about Mark;
• His writing style is brief and to the point:
• If Mark was describing a sunset & sunrise in all its glory;
• He would probably write; “The sun set and the sun rose”.
In finishing I want us to see three things:
(1). The directives (verse 22-23):
Are straight forward and need no explanation:
(a).
• Sharing the bread (verse 22):
• “While they were eating, Jesus took bread”
(b).
• Sharing the cup (verse 23):
• “Then he took the cup”
(2). The doctrine (verse 26c & 28).
• The doctrine or the meaning of Jesus’ familiar actions;
• Are about to change in meaning,
• Not just for these 11 disciples but for all who would follow after them.
(A). OF THE BREAD
• Of the bread Jesus said in verse 26:
• “This is my body”.
• In verse 26 Jesus was giving the bread a brand new meaning,
• He is introducing a brand new concept:
• Up to know whenever these 11 disciples celebrated Passover;
• Bread had always stood for ‘leaving Egypt’.
Ill:
• ‘Leaven’ had spoken to them of a past life;
• Unleavened bread was a way of saying;
• “We are starting anew. Our old life will not influence us”.
• But from now on bread was to symbolise Christ’s body:
• Luke in his gospel tells us Jesus’ full statement:
• Luke chapter 22 verse 19:
• “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me”.
• Note: The word that Jesus used ‘given’.
• Jesus will offer up his life as a sacrifice,
• He was not martyred and his life was certainly not taken from him!
• ill: On the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit”
(B). OF THE BLOOD (VERSE 24):
• Of the blood:
• “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many”.
• Many scholars believe that Jesus is quoting from the Old Testament:
• From the book of Exodus chapter 24 verse 8:
“Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said; “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words”.
• ill: When God made covenants with Noah (Genesis chapter 8 verse 20);
• ill: Abraham (Genesis chapter 15 verse 10);
• ill: And Moses (Exodus chapter 24 verse 8);
• The blood of an animal sacrifice was always shed!
• God required shedding of blood in making covenants with men.
• The price of reconciliation was always costly!
• Blood was shed – a life was given!
• In fact the simple death of an animal was never enough;
• God demanded that the blood be shed.
• Quote: The writer of the book of Hebrews (chapter 9 verse 22) tells us:
• “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”
This graphic and painful demonstration of the loss of life:
• All pointed forward to the death of Christ;
• Who would be the final sacrifice for reconciliation between God and mankind.
• Verse 24 Jesus tells us that his blood would be;
• ‘Poured out’ or ‘gush out’ or ‘spill out’
• We know that literally happened through the wounds in his hands,
• Feet, side and lacerated back as well as the crown of thorns upon his head.
• Verse 24: tells us his blood was shed “For many”.
• It literally means “For the benefit of many”.
• Question: Who are the many?
• Answer: All who believe, both Jew & Gentile!
• Matthew adds in his account (chapter 26 verse 28):
• “Poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”
• The substitutional death of Christ brought forgiveness;
• That is why he came!
(3). Duration (Verses 25):
• Tell us the duration;
• How long are we to celebrate the Lord’s Supper?
“I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God”
• Once again Matthew gives us a fuller statement:
• “Until that day when I drink it anew WITH YOU in my Father’s kingdom”
• Although Jesus was talking about his death;
• He made his disciples a promise.
• That he would come back one day and drink the cup with them in the kingdom.
• Verse 25 is a reaffirmation of his coming kingdom!
• Verse 26: They sang a hymn.
• This was almost certainly the Psalms 117-118.
• Praising God was the last thing they did;
• Before going to the Mount of Olives.
