Breaking Bread Before It Breaks Bad! Series

The Road To Easter

Pt. 4 - Breaking Bread Before It Breaks Bad

Introduction

Destination disease. It is deadly. It is contagious. It is the inability to enjoy, learn from or live in the moment long enough to pay attention to the now because we are focused on then! The drive to next causes us to miss memories. It causes us to miss opportunities. It causes us to miss moments that we should learn from and gain wisdom. We are so focused on the final destination that we refuse to slow down and learn.

Jesus' journey to Easter is our focus. The destination holds so much meaning and hope for us that if we aren't careful our drive for that day causes us to miss important moments along the way. We are attempting to pause and reflect on the road Jesus took to get to the empty tomb. What happened on the Tuesday or Thursday before He is raised from the dead? Do you know? Does it matter? Let's walk this road together and see as we head to the Disneyland of our faith . . . Easter!

We have reviewed Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry. We talked about Jesus' Monday when He cleansed the temple. Last week, we discussed Tuesday. It was the day Jesus handed out hope.

Now if you have your Road to Easter Card, then you will realize that Wednesday is missing. The reason that is the case is that we know practically nothing about Wednesday. Little is recorded. A woman anoints Jesus' feet. Judas meets with the Chief Priests and agrees to betray Jesus. Other than those events there isn't much known. So, the only thing I can tell you is even Jesus pauses. Jesus, knowing the hardest days are about to begin, disappears from the public stage. Maybe with no details we need to learn that our ability to handle the public stage is established in the private days. Some of you just need to take a day and refresh, renew, strengthen for the days to come.

Then comes Thursday. Thursday is the beginning of a brutal two days. It is chock full of events. It is long. It is grueling. It is eventful.

It is on this day that Jesus will wash His disciples' feet. It is on this day that Jesus prays in the Garden in agony, despair and with such intensity that His sweat becomes blood. It is on this day that Judas kisses Jesus' cheek to identify Him to the Romans. It is on this day that Jesus is arrested. It is on this day that Jesus heals the Roman guard's severed ear. It is on this day that Peter will follow at a distance and ultimately deny Christ. It is on Thursday that Jesus is brought before Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the whole religious council had gathered to begin making their case against Jesus. He is accused of blasphemy. He is spit on. He slapped. He is struck in the face with fists. It was an incredibly difficult day. We could spend week's examining this day alone.

However, let's back up, slow down and also realize that there was an important event that is positioned at the beginning of all that will take place on this painful day. We call it the Last Supper.

Thursday - Communes

Text: Luke 22:14-20 (MSG)

When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, “You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.” Taking the cup, he blessed it, then said, “Take this and pass it among you. As for me, I’ll not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives.” Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory.”

He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.

VS. 15 - (WEY) He said to them, "Earnestly have I longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."

(LET) And He said to them, Upon passionate longing I have passionately longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

(KJV) With fervent desire I longed to eat.

This moment, that has captured the minds of artists and the hearts of Christians for centuries, takes place before everything else on this hectic and heartbreaking day. However, if you read verse 15 slowly, then we discover that this wasn't as much about the meal as much as it was about the men Jesus ate the meal with. There is a deep, fervent desire, longing, and passion inside of Jesus to spend some quality time with His closest friends, followers, confidants right before everything becomes unbearable!