Never Forget Series

Never Forget

24 (Pt.1)

Matthew 26:17-20; 26-27

3/12/2010

I. Introduction

1. What would the last twenty-four hours of Jesus Christ look like if it were set in a 21st century culture to the format of the popular "24" television series?

2. How it would be if a man was so radically different from every other person who has ever lived, that only being God Himself could explain it?

3. Imagine this God-Man gathered a few followers, lived among us, caught fire with the masses, and became the most popular, sought after spiritual leader and teacher of the day but whose teachings threatened both the political establishment and the spiritual authorities, and you were a witness to it all.

4. How would that look? How would you respond? What difference could it make to you, to your family, and to the world?

5. Amazingly, it all begins with a meal, but not just any meal - it is the last meal of a condemned man.

A. They had shared hundreds of meals together

B. This one would be special

1. It wasn’t just about dinner. It was about a memory.

C. Jesus is well aware of our tendency to forget.

D. Last meal example – David Castillo – 1998 Texas - a lethal injection.

1. twenty-four tacos, two cheeseburgers, two whole onions, five jalapeno peppers, six enchiladas, six tostadas, one quart of milk and one chocolate milkshake?

II. Two things the meal should cause us to never Forget

1. Never forget the LOVE God has for the World

A. To understand the significance of this gathering you have to understand a little about Jewish tradition

1. Matt 26:17-19

2. Our American Thanksgiving is a modern analogy

3. Share a little detail about the institution of the Passover

a. The most important holiday for a 1st Cent Jew

b. 10th of 10 plagues

c. 4 days before – the 10th day of the month Nisan

i. Select a lamb and bring it to the temple

ii. In Jesus day that would have been upwards of ¼ million lambs sacrificed

1. It is estimated there were about 600 priests killing an average of 4 lambs a minutes over a 2 hour period to accomplish this task.

2. That’s a lot of blood

a. It was a graphic reminder of the ugliness of sin, but also of the grace of God

B. Key principle - Either God will remove your sin from you or your sin will remove you from God.

2. Never forget the LIFE Christ gave for You

A. The Passover had been observed in Israel for 1500 years.

1. It was the oldest of all the Old Testament rituals.

2. It preceded the giving of the law. Older than any of the other Jewish feasts.

3. It pre-dated the priesthood, the tabernacle, and the entire mosaic sacrificial system.

4. This night would mark the end of the old Passover. It would be the last Passover sanctioned by God.

B. Research the details of a Passover Seder

C. Matt 26:26 –

1. Obviously he is speaking symbolically

a. Ex –“picture of family” – This is my family

D. Matt 26:27

1. Very shocking

a. nothing more repulsive or gross to a Jewish mindset than the ingestion of blood

i. from either an animal or a human.

b. The Old Testament forbids eating or drinking of blood.

c. To this day, Jewish people eat kosher meat - processed so that there is no trace of blood at all.

2. The Old Covenant required a continuous flow of blood

a. The New Cov only required one sacrifice

3. The OC required a spotless lamb

a. The NC the “lamb of God” is the sacrifice

4. The OC sacrifice was temporal

a. THE NC sacrifice is eternal

E. BREAD AND WINE would never be looked at the same way by those12 men

III. Remembering God’s love and Christ’s Life help us

1. Evaluate our present

A. What is true about my today because of what Christ did yesterday?

2. Anticipate our future

A. What could come tomorrow that would be more powerful that what Christ did at Calvary?