Intro>In 1967 a groundbreaking movie directed by Stanley Kramer starred Spencer Tracy in his last film ever (he died 17 days after filming it), Katherine Hepburn, who won the best actress Oscar for her performance, and Sidney Poitier. The plot revolves around a wealthy white daughter who has invited her fiancee, a successful doctor who happens to be an African American (Poitier) home to meet her parents (Tracy / Hepburn) in San Francisco before she plans to fly to Switzerland and marry him and join him in his medical practice. The movies name comes from a key line delivered by the household maid and cook...The title: “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner!”
--The movie’s most important aspect was that it played a significant role in the overturning of laws in seventeen states at the time of the movie’s release which barred interracial marriages.
--But in terms of an important dinner...it comes nowhere close to the importance of the meal we’ll be participating in today.
I invite you to open a Bible and turn to Matthew 26.
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The setting of the Lord’s Supper is fairly well-known to most believers...
--It was part of the Jewish Passover celebration, commemorating how the Death Angel passed over the houses of the children of Israel while they were slaves in Egypt, houses that were covered by the blood of a sacrificial lamb.
Jesus knew that this Passover meal would be His final meal of any kind before His death...a very special time.
--Although it is quite probable that the families of the disciples were also gathered for the meal, I want to focus our attention today on the thirteen men at the table....
ONE AT THE TABLE WAS THE LORD HIMSELF.
--Mt.26:20 -- ”Now when evening had come, He was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.”
--But when Jesus invited His twelve disciples to His final Passover meal, LOOK WHO ELSE CAME TO DINNER...
<>ONE AT THE TABLE WAS BETRAYING HIM.
--Mt.26:14-16 -- ”Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?’ And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”
Mk.14:18 -- ”As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me...the one who is eating with Me.”
->Understand, Judas Iscariot had ALREADY met with the Pharisees, had ALREADY worked out a plan to turn Jesus over to them.
->He was actually looking for a convenient time, waiting to earn his “blood money.”
->And yet, hypocritically, he sat there along with the other disciples and Jesus Himself.
->He was cold, callous, calculating.
---Even when Jesus “spilled the beans” and announced that He already knew that one of them was betraying Him, what was Judas’ reaction?
He never did confess, didn’t repent right then and there, never changed his mind or his intent.
---He instead acted in mock horror, saying along with the rest, “Surely it’s not I, Lord!”
---But then he got up and went and carried out the plans he’d already put together.
---In a matter of a few hours he would lead the temple guard to Gethsemane, where he knew Jesus would be, and they would arrest Jesus.
---Judas had called himself Jesus’ friend, said he was someone who would be loyal and whom the Lord could trust.
---But when the chips were down and his loyalty would actually cost him something...he put his own interests ahead of anything else.
---When following the Lord meant taking a stand and being bold...he “switched sides”...and sold Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver.
---He was not a defender, because he was, in fact, a pretender.
---He had an agenda...turning over Rome...and when his agenda didn’t mix with the Lord’s mission, he betrayed Jesus.
->Guess who’s coming to dinner -- a cold, calculating, hypocrite...a betrayer.
<>ONE AT THE TABLE WOULD DENY HIM.
--Mk.14:29 -- ”...Peter said to Him, ‘Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”
->Simon Peter was at the table...so confident...so bold...so sure of himself.
---Bold enough to declare that all the rest might forsake Jesus, but never would he do something like that.
->And yet, when the chips were down, look at what Peter actually did:
---In the garden, he fell asleep when Jesus asked His “inner three” disciples, His best friends, to pray with Him.
---As Jesus was being arrested, he pulled out a sword and sliced off the ear of Malchus, one of the guards.
---Which resulted in Jesus chastising him for using violence to settle a non-violent dispute, and then Jesus reached over to Malchus and put his ear back on!
---As Jesus was being falsely accused by the Sanhedrin, Peter denied even knowing Jesus...and did it three times!
---Finally, with Peter’s confidence shattered and realizing he had let Jesus down, Peter ran away and hid from the authorities.
->Guess who’s coming to dinner -- a boasting, self-important, self-centered coward...a denier.
<>ALL BUT ONE AT THE TABLE WOULD ABANDON HIM.
--Mk.14:50 -- “and they all left Him and fled.”
--Judas sold Him out...and then went and hung himself before Jesus was nailed to a cross.
--Peter denied Him...and then ran and hid all the while Jesus was on the cross...and until Sunday morning.
->But all the other disciples except John also went into hiding “for fear of the Jews”
->They left Jesus in His hour of need.
->Do you hear what their actions were saying, what their actions were shouting out?...
---O sure, Jesus has been arrested...O sure, Jesus is going through the worst time of His life...O sure, Jesus has always been there for us, but at this time when Jesus is suffering, let’s be sure and think only of ourselves.
---O sure, we’ve heard Jesus teach that ”there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends,” but now it’s real...now we might actually have to put our talk into action...and we’re gonna choose to run and hide.
->Guess who’s coming to dinner: Eleven fair weather friends, “frady cats,” cowards of the county.
<>BUT LOOK HOW JESUS TREATED THEM...even knowing ahead of time what they would do...
-a) He loved them with an unconditional love.
--Jn.13:1 -- ”Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
-->His love for them, and for us, is not based on what we do, whether or not we return His love....His love is unconditional.
-->His love didn’t stop when Judas betrayed Him, when Peter denied Him, when eleven of the twelve abandoned Him.
-->His love didn’t stop when nails went through His feet and hands, when thorns were pressed into His brow.
----In fact, as we sang earlier today: “The nails in His hands, the nail in His feet tell us how much He loves us.”
-->His love was actually demonstrated with His first words from the cross: “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing.”
-->His love for them and for us is agape love...”warts and all” love...love that forgives, even forgets our sin!
----That’s why we can shout to the Lord that nothing compares to the promise we have in Him.
-b) He invited them to join Him in an intimate meal and a personal relationship.
--Lk.22:7-8 -- ”Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed, and He sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’”
-->Even knowing they would abandon Him, He included them in His invitation.
-->His love for them and His inclusion at the meal was not dependent upon how they would treat Him, but how He loved them.
He invited them to a meal...then, after His resurrection on Sunday, He invited Thomas to come and see, and touch His scars.
-->Even after they abandoned Him, He forgave them and invited them to continue His mission...to proclaim the Good News.
-c) He died for them...sacrificing His own life so that they might live forever.
--Rom.5:8 -- ”For God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
-->He who never sinned, died to pay the penalty for all who do...and we all do.
-->After being betrayed, denied, abandoned by His own...He endured the taunts and false accusations of the Sanhedrin.
-->After a kangaroo court, He was mocked, beaten, spit on, stripped, whipped, nailed to a cross, and left to die.
-->All the while He could have stopped it at any moment...but chose to love us even when we condemned Him.
----It’s why we can sing it with great feeling: “Amazing love, how can it be that You, my King, would die for me?! Amazing love, I know it’s true...in all I do I’ll honor You.”
<>However, ONE WOULD STAND WITH HIM.
--Jn.29:26-27 -- ”When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”
-->In stark contrast to what the other eleven disciples did, John’s testimony was given in his actions, and if those actions could talk, here’s what John was saying:
----Judas might betray You, Lord, but I’m here for you.
Peter might deny You, but I’m here beside You, Lord.
----Do you need to see a supportive face in the crowd while You’re on the cross?...I’m here, Lord, right in the front row.
----Do you need someone to take care of your mom and family during this stressful time?...I’m here, Lord, ready to be of service.
----I’m not only with You in the good times around the table, but in the tough times around the cross too.
---ILL>I’m reminded of the story of King Frederick the Great of Prussia. He was widely known as an agnostic. By contrast, however, General Von Zealand, one of the king’s most trusted officers, was a devout Christian. So it was that during a festive gathering the king began to make crude jokes about Christ, until everyone was rocking with laughter...all but Von Zealand, that is. Finally, General Von Zealand arose and addressed the king: “Sire, you know I have not feared death. I have fought and won 38 battles for you. Now I am an old man, and I know that soon I shall go to into the presence of One who is greater than you, the mighty God who saved me from my sin, the Lord Jesus Christ whom you are now blaspheming. I salute you, sire, as a king, but I do so as an old man who loves his Savior, an old man now standing on the edge of eternity.” The place went silent, then, with a trembling voice, the king replied, “General, I deeply apologize to you.” And with that, the party was over, and everyone went to their homes.
->Guess who’s coming to dinner: One “sold out” and faithful follower...who loved Jesus more than his own life.
Bringing It Home...
<>Today, Jesus has invited you to His table...He’s invited to dinner...but who are you today? What are you doing?
-->Are you now, like Judas did long ago, betraying Him?
----Are you so busy with your own agenda that Jesus only gets your left-over time? Your left-over offerings?
----After how He has so wonderfully demonstrated such great love toward you, how are you showing your love for Him? Or are you?
----Are you being bold in proclaiming Him to your neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, or are you remaining silent when they taunt God, when they take His name in vain?
-->Are you now, like Peter did long ago, denying Him?
----Are you standing your ground, living a life that is pure...refraining from things others might be doing simply because of your love and commitment to Him, your desire to stand up for Him and honor Him in all you do and say?
----Or are you compromising, denying your commitment to Him, your allegiance to Him, your relationship with Him?
----Is He only your Lord when it’s convenient? Are you only serving Him when everything is going good?
-->Are you now, like the eleven did long ago, abandoning Him?
----When times get tough do you run TO Him or do you run AWAY from Him?
----Do you trust Him or doubt Him? Are you thinking to yourself, “Why should I continue to serve Him when I still have problems in my life? ? Or...”He’s given me so much, but why should I give my tithes in return?” Or, “Why should I continue trusting Him when my church won’t be continuing as a church after next week?”
<>Today He’s looking for those who will STAND WITH HIM...in the good times and confusing times.
----Being unashamed to proclaim Him...never compromising for a laugh, a new romantic interest, or for money.
----Being willing to stand up for Him when others take His name in vain.
Remaining faithful to Him, even when you might not understand His ways or His timing just yet.
<>Which are you? Which will you choose to be today?
<>We’re going to celebrate around His table in a moment...and Guess who He’s invited to dinner....YOU.
