Lord's Supper - The New Passover Series

Twelve men entered the Upper Room with Jesus, eleven men would look back at the time as a time of powerful redemption, as a time of healing and communion – one man, he would look back with regret.

Eleven men would break bread and share the cup with others becoming some of the most honored men in history. One man believed in the lie that he was not worthy of redemption and became the most scorned man in all of history.

Why the eleven? Why did the eleven make it? Because they never forgot. They never forgot the bread broken that night in the Upper Room, was broken for them. They never forgot the cup they all drank that night was the cup of redemption, a cup of redemption for them. And years later, they never believed in the lie that they were not worthy of being redeemed. When they held that bread, when they held that cup, they knew, that in spite of their imperfections, in spite of their sin, in spite of their seeming inability to be what they knew they should be, they knew, they were the redeemed. As the Hebrews in Egypt experienced on the very first Passover, death had also passed over the eleven and they would be redeemed by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t you ever forget. Don’t you ever believe in the lie – You are not worthy of redemption.

In the book of Exodus chapter 12, the tenth and last plague fell upon Egypt. Death passed over the houses of those who were covered by the blood of the lamb, and the joy of redemption followed with the household being released from captivity – but death entered the houses of those not covered by the blood of the lamb. They had no redemption. They had only mourning and regret. Death passed over the redeemed, and in the New Convenant, again death passes over the redeemed.

Here in Mark chapter 14:12-26 we see the celebration of the Lord’s Supper where Jesus celebrates the Passover meal with his disciples, what would be his last meal. With this brief description Mark impresses upon us the life changing significance of Jesus sacrifice for us. We are to never, never, forget, for there is power in the blood of Christ. Today, this very morning, there is healing, there is forgiveness, there is a fresh start, there is a placing aside of all those failures – by the power of the blood of Jesus.

By the blood of Jesus – death has passed over you, it has been rendered harmless in the new Passover, you who believe, will experience eternal life in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

As we look at our Scripture this morning, it is evident that Jesus makes careful advanced preparations. We see this in verse 13, right there in the beginning of our verses, the reference to the man carrying the water. This is probably a prearranged signal as ordinarily only women carried water in jars. Normally one would see a man carrying a wineskin, never a jar. This signal would allow recognition between the two disciples and the man without an exchange of words.

We saw that the call by the Jewish authorities had been put out to turn in Jesus for a reward, the call which Judas responds for a reward. Because of this, Jesus needs to be careful, so He sends in two disciples to make the necessary preparations so that He could then slip into Jerusalem and the upper room without being seen. Jesus chooses the Upper Room for its seclusion for an undisturbed Passover celebration. We may assume that the owner of the house was a person who was either a follower or sympathetic to Jesus and that he is the one who may have secured the lamb and the other food for the meal. Verse 14 indicates the owner had made the arraignment with Jesus, “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?’” And things were exactly as Jesus had told them they would be.

The room would be furnished with carpets to recline on as well as low tables to place the meal upon. The two disciples would have made sure all the elements of the Passover were ready: The unleavened bread, the wine in four cups, bitter herbs, a sauce made of dried fruit, spices and wine; and a roasted lamb.

At this time the custom was that the Passover meal began after sunset and could last until midnight, and had to be eaten within the city of Jerusalem. Jesus has been staying outside of Jerusalem at night, but on this night He enters the city after the twelve for what would be his last meal.