Passover to The Lord's Supper - Mark 14:12-25

8:24So, he just decided to destroy them through hard labor and, in the process, get a couple of choice cities out of the deal. So, that's his plan. That's what he's doing. But God's blessings were upon Israel, and they became greater and mightier. In verse 12, but the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. Now, listen, there's a lot of people out there that would say that the Exodus was not very many people. No, the Exodus was somewhere over a couple of million people, and only a large number. Number of people would put the fear and dread in a nation such as the Egyptians. We're not talking about 70 or 100 or a couple of thousand people. We're talking a very substantial number of people that are growing mighty, that has the superpower of the day very afraid of them. And so the Egyptians, in verse 13, compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously, and they made their lives bitter with hard labor, in mortar, and bricks, and all kinds of labor in the field. All their labors which they rigorously imposed upon them. Life became bitter. And death is a natural consequence of such oppression. This is what happens when you serve a cruel taskmaster that doesn't give a rip about your life. And so this is what the people experienced: bitterness. And death was a natural consequence. And then you see this in verse 22 as the people became more and more mighty, that Pharaoh gave the command, you take the boys that are born and you throw them into the Nile. See, this is life under the harsh, cruel taskmaster. So that's the backdrop for the Passover. But the backdrop for the Lord's Supper is, again, this sin, this need for deliverance. As you come to the New Testament and even in the passage that we're dealing with, the grip of sin and vice are the backdrop. And this fallen human condition is the backdrop in which we celebrate the Lord's Supper and the need for man to be delivered again from another enemy. This one, not an external political one, but an internal spiritual enemy. And you can see this. You can see this in the sin and vice of those involved in the murderous conspiracy. There's a conspiracy to bring Christ down, and there's their religious authorities. They are slaves to themselves, they're slaves to their false religion, they're slaves to their evil thoughts. And then there's Judas. You see Judas in the same context. Slavery to his evil thoughts, his evil ambitions. This is a tragic bondage and the condition of fallen humanity. In fact, in Mark 7, we're talking about unwashed hands, and Jesus starts talking about what truly defiles a man. And he says in Mark 7:20, he says this, that which proceeds out of the mouth, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, the fornications, the thefts, the murders, the adulteries. All this stuff comes from within. The deeds of coveting and wickedness, deceit. This comes out of the heart of man. Sensuality, evil, slander, pride, the foolishness, all these things. Proceed from within and defile the man. You see, man is enslaved through this pollution of sin. It's not just merely pollution, it's a bondage of pollution. It has got him trapped on all sides so that man's condition is one of pollution and bondage to a cruel taskmaster that sets him at odds with God and brings forth death. So you see this need in the religious authorities and in Judas, but you also see human weakness. And you see this in the disciples. That not only is man steeped in his sin and has this sin problem, he has a weakness problem, so that even the best intents of man fail. And you see this in the disciples. They are weak, they are frail, they are cowards, faint-hearted. You see Peter's denial. There's the disciples' inability to stay awake in the Garden of Gethsemane. In verse 27, Jesus makes this statement. Mark 14, all of you will fall away. But they were all so confident. In verse 31, Peter kept saying insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they were all, get that, all were saying the same thing also.

13:26Well, this is man's state. This is where we are boxed in. Sin, vice, and weakness. So, both the slavery conditions of Egypt that is represented in the Passover elements and the slavery conditions of fallen humanity cry out. They cry out for someone who has the power to take pity and to come and deliver. That is the voice that rises out of humanity. Come, deliver, help me, Lord. Such was the cry that went up out of Egypt, and God heard. And such is the cry that rises from fallen humanity. We need someone to take pity, someone who is able to deliver. We need a Savior. That is what all this speaks about. So we looked at the slavery, the backdrop that poses the need for the Savior. Now we're going to look at the Savior. And it's against this backdrop of human bondage and human need that the Savior comes. And in the Passover, in the Exodus, God is that Savior. In Exodus 3, 7, the Lord said to Moses, I surely have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters. For I am aware of their sufferings, so I have come down to deliver them. You get that? I have heard their cries, and so I. I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. You see, God heard the cries of Israel, and he came down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians. And that's the Exodus account. Well, in the Lord's table, again, it is God who is the Savior, God's Son. And Mark is going to draw this out, and this is where he's going. 15:39, the centurion looks up, the Son of God, the veil is rent. The confession, the Son of God, one of God, of essence, not of man, but one of God, the Son of God. Though he was man, yet he was God. And what Mark says at the end of the gospel, John says at the beginning, John 1:1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. The Savior is no other than God Himself. So, why did He come? To go to the cross. Why did He come? The whole purpose, the whole life was one march to the cross. In fact, as we just looked in Mark chapter 10, you remember in verse 32, He's going up to Jerusalem. And as they were going on the road to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking on ahead of them, they were amazed. They were like, what is it with this guy? He's going up to Jerusalem. We know what's going to happen to him in Jerusalem. And there's something in the stride of Jesus that amazed those watching. And it scared the daylights out of him. It's like, you're going up. He couldn't wait. There was something very determined, something looking forward. And Jesus, speaking in that context, he took the 12 aside and he said, look, let me tell you what's going to happen up there. Behold, we're going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles. And get this: they will mock him, they will spit on him, they will scourge him, and they will kill him. And look at you, going right up. And then he says, And three days later, he will rise again. You see, he shows us what trusting in God looks like, doesn't he? Here's Jesus with that stride going up to Jerusalem, ready to put up with the spitting, the scourging, the killing, the handing over, all that stuff. He knows it. He's also entrusted himself to God, who will raise him from the dead. And so he goes, trusting himself completely. Listen, nothing that you and I will ever experience in this life. He has not had to trust God more. Okay? And just in His humanity, he gives us that example of one who can trust no matter what in God. But that was his life. It was one big march to the cross. Why?

18:14Because this is what it's going to take to deliver people from their fallen human condition. Nothing else is going to deliver you from that box that you were in, that box of sin, vice, and human weakness. Nothing. And so he marches to the cross for your deliverance. You see, first and foremost, you and I have to be delivered from the penalty of sin. There's no way around that. You must be delivered from the penalty of your sin. What is the penalty of your sin? Two words. What's the penalty of your sin? Two words. Make sure you get this. God's wrath. That's the penalty. And the manifestations of that wrath. Hell, displeasure, separation. But two words. You need to be delivered from God's wrath. You don't need to be delivered from the devil. You need to be delivered first from God's wrath. For as long as the frown of God is upon you, the wrath of God is upon you. And you need to be delivered to where the smile of God is upon you. That is what salvation is, the smile of God, so that he could then delight in deliverance. Doing you good. And how in the world, when we are filled and covered with our sin and vice and our human weakness, how in the world can we ever commend ourselves to God and gain His smile? The reality is we can't. But there goes the Savior marching up to Jerusalem. It's a beautiful picture. See, by the way, only God can be the Savior because only God has been offended. We must be delivered from His wrath. So we need to be delivered from the penalty of sin. The second we have to be delivered from the bondage of sin. The bondage of sin. What is the bondage of sin? Well, it's the love of sin and vice for sure. But it also extends to all that which keeps us from loving God with our whole heart. You see, we're not as, we like to think of ourselves we're not as bad as we could be, and we take a little bit of sick comfort in that. But the reality is, we never do love God like we ought to. Like Mary coming in with that alabaster jar, breaking it, and just pouring out those rich contents all over in just one very expensive, lavish moment, and happy to do so. That's a poured-out sacrifice. And that's, we need to be delivered from all that would keep us from responding to our loving Lord in the same manner. That is the bondage of sin. Need to be delivered from the penalty of sin, but from that bondage of sin and the ongoing mastery of sin in our life. So we've looked at the slavery that gave rise to the Savior. Now I want you to see God's sovereignty in both the Exodus and the events of the cross. As the first celebration, the Passover was given, it's clear that God was sovereign over the timing of the events. He tells Abraham, Your people are going to be in a foreign land, and they're going to be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. And in the Exodus, it's exactly what we see. And he comes out perfectly in accordance with God's timing. So he was sovereign over the timing of the events, but he's also sovereign over his enemies. And I want you to see this in Exodus, because I think oftentimes people misunderstand what's going on here. But in Exodus 4:21, it's very clear that God is sovereign over his enemies. And he says this. He says, Moses, go to Pharaoh, and when you go back to Egypt, see that you perform all the wonders which I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. So God is going to harden his heart. Let me just walk through these events. You can see how this hardening took place and Pharaoh's involvement in the hardening himself. In chapter 8, verse 15, and this is in the context of the frogs. Once there was a relief from the frogs, when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them as the Lord had said. Pharaoh hardened his heart. Then, in chapter 19, then they got these gnats that come out. The magician said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them as the Lord had said. So first, Pharaoh hardened his heart, and then there was this hardening. Then, you got the context of the flies. In verse 32, and after the flies, the plague had passed, Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go. So again, Pharaoh hardened his heart. And then you come in chapter 9, and you got the boils, the plague of the boils, and the magicians couldn't even come before Moses because they have boils all over him. And then you read in verse 12, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. Here's your fulfillment. Yeah, I'm going to harden his heart. And then here it is in Exodus. 9. The Lord, Yahweh, hardened his heart. It became stone. Did you see this progression of Pharaoh hardening his own heart and this suppressing the truth and then this final hardening effect of the Lord? And then he goes on to say, This, For if by now I had put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would have then been cut off from the earth. In other words, if I had reached out my hand and I wanted to take you down, you'd be gone right now. But he says, But indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain in order to show you my power and in order to proclaim my name through all the earth. Still, you exalt yourself against my people by not letting them go. God hardens the heart. Pharaoh hardened his heart. Let this frighten you. The last thing you want in life is a hardened heart, where God says, Okay, I'm going to harden you and I'm going to use you and I'm going to set you up for my glory. Listen, everybody here will give glory to God. You will either do it through a hardened heart to him, or you'll do it through a broken heart before him. But all will glorify him. God was sovereign over the events of the Exodus. But the fault was in Pharaoh, because he exalted himself against him. God's people. There's the fault. Pharaoh's not going to be able to stand before God and say, it was you. No, it was you, oh man, because you exalted yourself and bear the responsibility for it. But I will use you. If you exalt yourself, I will use you for my glory. But you don't want to be used in that kind of way. Well, we also see the sovereignty of God over the timing of the events involved in the Lord's Supper. Go back to Mark. We start working our way through the passage. Mark chapter 14, verse 12. On the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, his disciples said to him, Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? Very important question. It's a Lord's Supper. The timing is such that the Passover is at hand. But the question comes up: how could Jesus celebrate the Passover on Thursday night and be crucified as the Passover Lamb on Friday night? Anyone thought through that one before? Pretty important. He's going to celebrate the Passover, and yet he's going to be the Passover Lamb. How does that work? Well, it's just the amazing sovereign hand of God that two traditions emerged. Okay? One in the north and one in the south. The one in the north were the Galileans, they marked the Beginning of the day by sunrise. Those in the south in Judea marked the beginning of the day at sunset. So think about it this way. And we know this from Josephus and from the Mishnah historical records. Sunrise to sunrise was how the Galileans marked their days, and sunset to sunset is how the Judeans. So think about this. If Brother Wilton and I decided to plan a barbecue, okay, so we're going to have a barbecue on, what's today, the 26th of May. Let's suppose I'm saying we've planned a barbecue on the 26th of May, and Wilton, Wilton says, okay, we'll do it on the evening of the 26th, but he measures the day from the morning. So this will be the first evening. Tonight, we should show up and have a barbecue. But let's suppose that I start the beginning of the day after the sun goes down. So really, the 26th doesn't start until after the sun's down. So the first evening will be what? Tomorrow night, right? And so bottom line is, this gave rise to two separate celebrations of Passover. Those from the north, the Galileans, who kind of like to be in their little Galilean quarters anyway, celebrated the Passover on Thursday night. And those in Jerusalem celebrated it on Friday night. And this was very good for logistical reasons because of the number of sacrifices that. Had to be made. Josephus tells us that the sacrifices around this time were somewhere on the order of 250,000. About 250,000 lambs would have been sacrificed during the Passover around 66 AD. That's when the historic figure. But you get the idea. Logistically, cut through that many lambs is going to take some time. But all this tradition, celebrating, Jesus wanted to celebrate with his disciples for the purpose. He had a lot to cover that night. A lot of teaching went forth that night and a new institution. Talk about this. Talk about Christ claiming to be God Himself. He took authority over the Passover. And He said, basically, this is my body. This is my cup. All this stuff speaks of me. I am the fulfillment. And this is how it is to be celebrated going forth. So it's perfect. Perfect sovereignty of God in the timing of the events, even the traditions of man and how it is celebrated. Verse 13, but you see this going, see this sovereignty continued as you go through this passage. 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. To the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. So, the Passover would have had to be prepared. Somebody would have had to have gone into the temple, sacrificed the lamb. Only there could it be sacrificed. They would have had the preparation with the lamb, the bitter herbs, the wine, all the fruit paste, and all that went along with it. The upper room, he goes, he finds this upper room. And if it's the same upper room, which I think probably is in Acts 1:13, that's probably 120 people could fit in there, a large upper room. We also see this meeting place also in 12:12, then it was probably John Mark's house. Some have speculated that John Mark was the one carrying the water. Speculation. But certainly this large upper room could accommodate a significant number of people. And it was furnished and ready. Furnished, I wouldn't think of it as a bunch of tables and chairs as we would think it, or like Michelangelo has prepared, but there would be a big room with a lot of these big rugs, if you will, spread out for a meal that would take place, a lot sitting around on the rugs and reclining, pillows, and prepared. But what's important in all this is that Jesus is the host. Notice he's saying, Where is my guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Jesus is the one.

31:30Hosting the meal. So he is sovereign. Just as he was sovereign over the timing of the events of the Passover, he was sovereign over the timing of the events of the Lord's Supper. But he is also sovereign over his enemies. Just as he was sovereign over Pharaoh and the Egyptian forces, he was sovereign over all that is going on in the context of the New Testament here. He was sovereign over the religious leaders. I mean, it was his triumphal entry, his cleansing of the temple, his teaching on the parable of vinegars. All this stuff is pushing the leadership to kill him. I mean, he's driving this thing. He's not tempting them to sin. He's not causing them to sin. But he knows how they will respond. He speaks truth. He has a mission. Listen, you put a thief in a room with a bunch of money. Guess what's going to happen? It's going to get stolen. Well, same thing with these. You give an opportunity to murder somebody with a bunch of murderers. Hate is just as predictable as love, okay? Someone who's filled with hate, God can control just as easy as somebody who is filled with love. In fact, I would even say hate is more predictable in many ways. But he had authority. He had sovereignty over his enemies. They were saying that they weren't even going to kill him during the festival. There might be a riot of the people in verse 2. Like, they had made up their minds. They're not even going to kill him during the festival because they don't want to riot. And God's like, no, I'm going to send Judas over there, and you guys, this is going to be too good of an opportunity for you to pass up, etc., etc. He ordained it to happen. And he used the sinful inconations of fallen man to bring it about. It's very important that you understand that this is the God of Scripture. I love the little detail: how Judas wouldn't have even known where this Passover meal was celebrated. Judas was looking for an opportunity to hand him over, and this would have been a great place. But all the secrecy, the pitcher, the man, even Judas, the disciples didn't even know where they were going. It's just a way for Christ to keep his Passover meal in secret. And then at the time, he lets Judas go and do his thing. But look at verse 17. When it was evening, he 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, and the one who is eating with me. Then 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. You see, Jesus knew who his betrayer was. He chose Judas, knowing that he would betray him. Now, Judas was evil at heart, he was a wretch, he was a thief. He was a self-absorbed monster and a fool. And though he operated on his own evil and he did everything to bring Christ down, he did nothing outside the plan of God, or he did nothing to change the plan of God. He did nothing to frustrate the plan of God, and he did nothing to adjust the plan of God.

34:52As it said, he will go. Verse 21, the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him. But woe to that man to whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for him that he had not been born. And this is one of the most incredible statements on God's sovereignty and human responsibility. And I say there's a mystery, can't fully explain it. But one thing's very clear: God is sovereign. And the suffering that was predetermined for Jesus will happen just as it was written of him. Look at it, just as it is written of him. It's laid out there. Everything was laid out in Scripture. And there's way too many places that we could cover all those, but you could look at Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Zechariah 11, Zechariah 12. You can just go on and on. It was all laid out in Scripture. Jesus was not killed on some impulse or some thwarted plot. It wasn't Pilate or Caiaphas or Herod. It wasn't the Sanhedrin. The Romans, it wasn't even Satan, but it was God who killed him. It was God who broke him and poured him out as a guilt offering. Jesus will suffer as it is written of him, for sure. Isaiah 53:10 says this: But the Lord was pleased to crush him if he would render himself as a guilt offering. Lord crushed him and put him to grief. He would suffer. Acts 3:17, Peter looking at it, looks back and says, Look, I know you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also, but the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. All this has happened. And I know you did all this stuff in ignorance, he is speaking, but he says it was all written. So Jesus will suffer, but his suffering, very clearly in Scripture, is for others. Isaiah 53, 4 says, Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. We thought he was smitten by God, but he was smitten by God because of us. 53, 6 of Isaiah, all of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. So the suffering that he went through was for us.

37:2953. 12, he poured himself out to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressions. Yes, he was there. We thought he was smitten by God, but no, God was pleased to crush him and put him on the cross and number him with the transgression. But what was he doing as he hung there on the cross? He interceded for transgressors. He was numbered with the transgressors, but only as one who interceded for them. All the iniquity of us all fell on him. And this is exactly what Peter and John describe in Acts 4:27. Praising God, they said, For truly in this city there were gathered against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur. All this stuff, God, was in your hand. God is sovereign, but man is responsible for his actions. Look back at verse 21. Judas will bear the guilt for his sin. But woe to that man. Let that word just sink deep down into your body. Woe.

39:00Think of your master, the creator, the one who put you together. That says, Woe to you. And this is what he's saying to Judas. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man had he not been born. And this is one of the most frightening statements in all of Scripture. The terror that Judas will experience will be the severest of its kind because he had so much light, yet he's the one who suppressed the most light. It's probably only one other being in all of history, and that's Satan himself that had so much light and suppressed it. Here's Judas, Satan incarnate, so much light. He saw it all, and yet he suppressed it. You see, God's sovereignty neither cancels our human choice, nor does it relieve us of our responsibility for the moral choices we make. Though there is a mystery that I fully can't explain, God is sovereign, and that sovereignty extends over the sinful acts of man. He is not the author of sin, and you will bear the consequences and responsibility for your sin. But know that even this, God has in control. And the whole plea of all of this is: do not harden your heart. Look at Pharaoh. Look at Judas. Do not harden your heart. You get to the book of Hebrews. This seems to be one of his. Favorite text is this one in Psalm 95, 8. Do not harden your hearts. He uses it over and over in verse 3 and 8. He Hebrew says, Do not harden your hearts. Good in 3.15, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Again, in 4:7, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. The idea is, do not go down a road of hardening your heart before God, but go down the road of softening your heart. Listen, Pharaoh wasn't a Bible student trying to figure out what God's next plan for his life was. No, he was hard in suppressing the truth. And that brings us to the first key feature of the Lord's Supper, and that is self-examination. How different was that first Lord's Supper from the way that we celebrate it today many times? That night was not some relaxed, pensive, blessed assurance type evening. There was great tension in the room that night. There was much anxiety. In fact, some could hardly even speak. There was deep soul searching, serious soul examination. Verse 19, they began to be grieved and say, Lord, surely not I. Surely not I. You see, and one of the first things we need to do as we come and prepare our hearts for the Lord table is we need to examine ourselves in much the same way. The same way the disciples examined themselves that night.

42:05Lord, I am prone to fail you. Lord, I am prone to betray you. God, I am prone to deny you. In fact, let me look over this last week and I can start seeing the ways. And Lord, what ways in the week ahead am I going to be tempted to do the same? Look deeply within. That's the idea. Have you betrayed him this week, this past week? Is your heart being hardened against him now? Have you denied him? How might you do so next week? These are the inclination and the echo of the writer of Hebrews. Do not harden your hearts. I mean, it is this sinful condition, betrayal, denial, and hardening that we need to be delivered from. But this is why he came to sacrifice himself. I'm going to look at the sacrifice next week. You see, it's only when we understand our unworthiness to partake in the Lord's Supper that we are made worthy to partake of it. It's only in our awareness of our own need and our own unworthiness and our own proneness to sin, defection, departure, and betrayal that we truly become worthy because that is the condition He is delivering us from.

43:31Look forward to the next passage. I thank you guys for letting me study this stuff. Truly, I encourage all of you all to be teachers because there's nothing like studying the word to teach it. How rich it is to go from Passover to the Lord's Supper. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for giving us this memorial, Lord, that takes us into the night of your betrayal and takes us back to relive and to take us into that moment, to take us into a deep soul searching. Father, we ask you to move in our hearts as you did in those disciples. In Jesus' name.