Introduction: If you knew that you were going to die tomorrow what would you want to do? Would you want to go somewhere that you’ve never been before, or see something that you’ve never seen before?
If you knew that you only had a few hours to live who would you want to talk to? Who would you want to spend time with? Would you want to talk to the President or go see an old friend that you haven’t seen since college? Or perhaps you would just like to spend a relaxing evening at home with your family.
This morning I want us to spend a few minutes talking about how Jesus chose to spend the last few hours of his life. You see, Jesus realized that His life on earth was quickly coming to an end. He didn’t choose to do something that He had never done before, or talk to someone that He had never met. Instead He chose to do something that He had done several times. He chose observe the Passover with His Disciples. If you have you Bibles follow along as I (Read Matthew 26:17-30)
MT 26:17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
MT 26:18 He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, `The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ "
MT 26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
MT 26:20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
MT 26:21 And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
MT 26:22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
MT 26:23 Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.
MT 26:24 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."
MT 26:25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."
MT 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
MT 26:27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
MT 26:28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
MT 26:29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom."
MT 26:30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
There are four things I want to point out to you about the Last Passover meal that Jesus shared with His Disciples and how we can apply them to the Lord’s Supper that we are going to share with one another this morning. The first thing I want you to Notice is:
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PREPARED. (17-19)
It’s good to be prepared! Whether you’re talking about being prepared for your final exam; or being prepared for company to come over, or being prepared to pay your taxes.
The Passover meal was observed at sunset on the 13th day of Nisan, which is (April 14th) according to our Calendar.
Passover is one of the most important religious festivals of the year for the Jews. It reminds the Israelites of the fact that God delivered them from Slavery in Egypt. You remember the Story. Moses went to Pharaoh and told Him that God wanted him to let the Israelites leave. Pharaoh refused and as a result God sent a series of plagues upon Egypt. The last of which was the death of their firstborn sons. In order to keep their sons from being killed, God told the Israelites to do something very specific. They were to slaughter and eat a spotless lamb and place some of its blood on the doorframes of their homes. When the Angel of death passed by, He would see the blood and pass over their home. God made this a lasting ordinance which was to be celebrated every year to remind the Israelites of how He had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. And of course it is still observed by Jews today.
Four days before the Passover meal, each family in Israel was required to pick a spotless lamb and separate it from the rest of the flock to prepare it for sacrifice.
Josephus, the great Jewish historian, tells us that 500,000 Jews from all over the world typically attended the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Jerusalem each year. Jewish law permitted two families to share a lamb, so roughly 250,000 animals were sacrificed in a 2-hour period of twilight on the evening of the Passover.
Josephus also said it required 600 priests, slitting the throats of four lambs per minute, to complete the task. It was said that during that 2-hour period, the blood from those animals ran down like a stream from the eastern slope of the Temple Mount into the Kidron Valley.
This was a graphic foreshadowing of the awful price that Jesus would pay on the cross of Calvary to atone for our sins. .
Several things had to be done before Jesus and His Disciples would be able to observe the Passover meal together. The Disciples knew this, so they asked Jesus where they were going to observe the feast so that they could go and begin making the necessary preparations. Jesus told Peter and John to go into the city and look for a man carrying a jar of water. They were to follow him and inform the owner of the house that Jesus wanted a large private room to observe the Passover with his Disciples. The owner of the home was probably a wealthy follower of Jesus, that Jesus himself had probably already made arrangements with.
As I said, there was a lot of preparation that went into observing the Passover. The disciples would have to purchase unleavened bread, spices, fruit, and a lamb. The room where they were going to eat had to be cleaned thoroughly. If any trace of dirt, dust or even a crumb of bread was found it had to be removed.
Just as the disciples had to do several things to prepare for the Passover meal, we to have several things that we should do to prepare to partake of the elements of the Lord’s Supper?
Llyod prepared the bread and David prepared the grape Juice but that’s not what I’m talking about. The preparations I’m referring to are spiritual in nature.
According to the Apostle Paul we should not observe the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. In other words, we should make sure we are prepared to partake of the Lord’s Supper before doing so. Now, what do I mean by that? I think there a few things each of us needs to do this morning in order to be prepared to partake of these sacred elements.
(1) We should make sure our hearts are free from any unconfessed sin.
(2) We should make sure our minds are focused on Jesus, and what He did for us, and not on ourselves or the things of the world.
Paul said, "let a man examine himself", which brings us to our next point. Which is…THE IMPORTANCE OF…
II. SELF EXAMINATION (20-25)
Jesus interrupted the meal with a startling statement. He said, "one of you will betray me." Jesus had mentioned to the Disciples on several occasions that He would be delivered into the hands of his enemies, but he had not told them that one of them would be the one to actually betray him. When Jesus dropped this bomb on them, the disciples couldn’t believe it. They were deeply disturbed and saddened by what Jesus said. They each examined their relationship and commitment to Christ.
Jesus knew who would betray him, but he allowed the other disciples to examine their hearts and motives, which is something else that we should be doing this morning as we prepare to partake of the Lord‘s Supper.
The Disciples took turned to Jesus and asked, “Is it I.” Even Judas went through the motions of asking Jesus, even though He knew he was the one that Jesus was referring to. The others doubted, they questioned, they wondered.
Judas on the other hand knew, because He had already agreed to hand Jesus over to the chief priests for 30 pieces of Silver.
I believe when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sin there is no room for doubt or debate. We know exactly what we did or didn’t do. We also know that God wants us to confess that sin to Him and renew our relationship with Him.
I believe Jesus was giving Judas one last chance to repent of the evil that was in his heart and mind. When it became evident that he was not going to repent, Jesus told him to go, and do what He had to do.
Where do you stand with the Lord this morning? Is the Holy Spirit convicting you of some sin in your life? Is your heart prepared to partake of these sacred elements?
Next, we see:
III. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW COVENANT. (26-28)
Jesus again interrupted the Passover meal. This time he interrupted it in order to transform it into the Lord’s Supper. He took the bread and he told his disciples that the bread represented His body. Bread was seen as a symbol of sustenance. In doing this Jesus was saying that His body was going to be offered as a sacrifice so that they could live.
He also took the cup of wine and said that it represented His blood which was going to pay the price for all of our sins. As we sang a few minutes ago, “Jesus Paid It all.”
The disciples were to "take" or "receive" the bread, which represented the body of Christ, and they were to drink the wine, which represented His blood, which would be shed for them, and for us.
This represents the wonderful truth that we can have life and forgiveness and be released from the power of sin by receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is the New Covenant that we remember and celebrate today. Finally the last thing I want you to notice this morning is…
IV. The Joy of Anticipation. (29-30).
Jesus told His Disciples that He would not observe this meal with them again until the Kingdom of God was restored. This implies that a day is coming when the Kingdom of God will be restored, and those of us who are Christians will sit down and celebrate this sacred meal with the Lord Jesus Himself. Many Biblical scholars believe this will take place at the Marriage supper of the Lamb.
We are anticipating the observance of this special service this morning, but we should also anticipate the day when Christ returns for his bride (the church) to fellowship with her forever!
There is a church in Millan, Italy that was bombed out during WWII. All of the walls of the church fell down during the war except one. The wall left standing had Leonardo Da Vinci’s "Last Supper" scene painted on it. What a wonderful illustration of how this meal that we call the Lord’s Supper has survived throughout the last 2000 years and will continue to be celebrated until He returns.
*******************************************************
Do you need some good practical advice related to one or more areas of the ministry? If so check out my website and purchase my E-book "Get Practical! Sound Advice for those in the Ministry."
