Aren’t you thankful that our Lord Jesus Christ is more faithful than we are? As faithful and true as we may try to be, we know that we are imperfect. But we follow a Lord who has been perfectly faithful and true to us and to His Word! These verses show the contrast between the faithfulness of Jesus as He approached His suffering on the cross, and the lack of faithfulness in those around Him:
I. Jesus Knew He Would Die for Unfaithful Humanity (14:12-21).
A. Jesus sent two of His disciples to prepare for the Passover meal. He would use this meal together with His disciples to institute what we observe as the Lord’s Supper.
B. Jesus Himself would become the Lamb slain for the sins of the world.
C. The Passover was a special meal to remember how God had saved the people of Israel from the death of their firstborn sons during the great plague God brought on Egypt. If the blood of the Lamb was applied to the door posts of the house, the death angel would pass over that house.
D. If the blood of Jesus is applied to your life, death and hell no longer have claim on you. They must pass over your life!
E. Yet Jesus knew exactly the kind of people He was to die for. He tells them that one of the 12 would betray Him.
F. The disciples reveal the reality of the human heart. As faithful as we might try to be, we know deep down just how weak and sinful we are. They began to say, “Is it I?” This is one of the most profound questions in all the Bible. Don’t you think they would know if they were planning to betray Jesus? Yet the doubt of sinfulness in each heart left them asking, “Is it I?”
G. The answer to that question is, “Yes it is me.” We all have betrayed Jesus. Without Jesus, it would be better if we had never been born!
H. Judas really did betray Jesus, but he stands forever as a type of all men and women, for we have all betrayed Jesus with our sin and unfaithfulness.
II. Jesus Was Faithful Unto Death for Us (14:22-26).
A. The elements of the Lord’s Supper reveal just how faithful and true Jesus was for us in the most difficult of circumstances.
B. He gave His body for us. He poured out His blood for us.
C. His blood would establish a new covenant with mankind. We enter into relationship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ! By His blood we are forgiven and covered. We are made right with God based on what Jesus did in our behalf.
D. One day, we will join Him in heaven for all eternity because of what He did for us.
III. The Faithfulness of Jesus is All We Need (14:27-31).
A. Jesus knew the disciples would scatter and be unfaithful to Him in the hours ahead. But He already had plans to restore them!
B. The clueless disciples were adamant that they would die with Him.
C. But their salvation was not to be based on their faithfulness, but on the faithfulness of the Redeemer Himself – Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
The faithfulness of Jesus is all you need. Won’t you come to Him? Give your life, live your life, to and for the One who is ever Faithful and True!
