Introduction
We come to another meal, this one in which Jesus participates in the planning. It is the Passover meal. Mary took the occasion of the previous meal to honor her Lord, and, as Jesus interpreted her act, to prepare his body for burial. Now he will take the occasion of this significant meal to demonstrate how God has prepared his body for the sacrifice he will soon make.
Text
Passover
12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
Mark, by the way, is combining the two feasts – Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread – as though one continuous feast, which they in reality formed. He speaks of the day to sacrifice the Passover lamb. Let’s review what that entailed.
Passover is the feast which commemorates the exodus from Egypt. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had become oppressed slaves in Egypt. After generations of slavery, God raised up a deliverer, Moses, who led the Hebrews out after performing mighty miracles known as the ten plagues. He turned all the waters of Egypt into blood; sent a plague of frogs, then of gnats, and then of flies. He sent a plagued that killed all the livestock and a plague of boils. The plagues of hail and of locusts destroyed the crops. The ninth plague was that of darkness for three days. But it was the tenth, the last plague, which was the most grievous of all for the Egyptians and resulted in the release of the Hebrews – the death of every firstborn son.
On the evening of the final plague Moses gave the people these directions from God:
Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped (Exodus 12:21-27).
You see then where the name “Passover” comes from. Exodus 12:29-30 tells us that at midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to even of the livestock. There was not a house without someone dead. The exceptions were the homes of the Hebrews who had the marking of blood over their doorposts. The Lord “passed over” those homes. That same night Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew people to leave.
The Passover celebrates deliverance from slavery. But it is a deliverance that came through death. You might say that the firstborn of the Hebrews’ enemies died to set them free. Another way of representing death is the phrase “the shedding of blood.” By the shedding of blood of the lambs, the firstborn of the Hebrews were saved. Without that blood they would have died. By their blood they redeemed (purchased) the lives of the firstborn.
Indeed, to impress this upon the people God had Moses institute another custom for the Jews to follow. “After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, 12 you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand” (Exodus 12:11-16).
The redemption, by the way, was not based on God hating the firstborn, but just the opposite. He regarded the firstborn as belonging to him. The parents, in effect, were paying God to let them keep his son; but even then, the firstborn son was regarded as “set apart,” one who is consecrated for service to the Lord. Joseph and Mary did this for Jesus. The reason we know they were poor is that Luke reported in 2:22-24 that they offered a pair of doves or pigeons, which was the poor man’s substitute for a lamb to make redemption for his son.
But everyone, rich or poor, was to celebrate Passover with a sacrificed lamb. Passover was celebrated only in Jerusalem and all Jewish males were expected to travel there. Not all did, of course, but we can imagine how crowded Jerusalem must be at this time as families from everywhere came to celebrate the most joyous and significant event in the history of their people. Many people, such as Jesus, would have camped or lodged outside the city, but for the Passover meal itself, they had to be inside the city. That is the reason for the disciples’ question. Where does Jesus plan to observe the meal?
Preparation
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 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?’ 15 He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
This certainly is an interesting manner in which Jesus makes arrangements. It lends an air of mystery. How is Jesus able to gave such specific detail, and why does he withhold name and location? It reads like a passage from a spy novel. There is a secret contact to follow and a precise message to deliver. The contact is a man carrying a jar of water. Men don’t do that. They carry leather skins of wine and perhaps water, but not earthen jars – that’s a woman’s task. Perhaps Jesus had them go to a specific well or pool in the city to find the man. They follow the man to a house and deliver the message to the owner. He already has a room prepared. How did he know to do that and how did Jesus know? We don’t know! It is reasonable to believe that Jesus knew the owner and had made arrangements in advance.
But again, why such mystery? Why didn’t Jesus simply say where arrangements had been made, and why the secret contact? It is evident that Jesus intended for his location to be kept secret for the Passover meal. Remember, he does have enemies whom he knows are scheming to apprehend him at an opportune time. He also knows of one particular individual who is keeping watch on behalf of his enemies – Judas. By this method, Jesus keeps secret even from most of his disciples where he will be.
The two disciples that Jesus sent, by the way, were Peter and John according to Luke’s account. Though the room was prepared for the meal, they still had an important task – purchase a lamb without blemish and take it to the temple to be sacrificed. They may have bought the lamb earlier, but they had to wait on the day of the Passover to sacrifice it. In the temple court just outside the temple, the men brought their lambs and actually slit the throats of the lambs themselves. Priests would drain the blood and then splash it against the altar. The sacrificed lamb was then taken home to be roasted for the meal.
So Peter and John sacrifice the lamb and make final arrangements. When evening comes, Jesus and all the disciples gather for the Passover, what is to be their last supper together.
Disclosure
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
I mentioned last Sunday that Jesus and the dinner guests were literally reclining at table according to the Roman or Greek custom. They were required to adopt that custom at Passover. Do you know why? Because free people recline at table. Slaves must sit at table. Passover is about deliverance from slavery; it is for those who have been made free.
In the midst of the most wonderful celebration, Jesus drops a bombshell. “One of you, my closest companions, will betray me.” That is a sure way to take the fun out of a party. Do you realize that the dinner itself follows a prescribed ritual? Jesus and his disciples are not making small talk. Everything they are eating, the manner in which they eat and drink, the timing – everything is intended to commemorate God’s great work of redemption.
The matzah, the bread, is the bread of affliction to remember the hardship of the Hebrews in Egypt. The bitter herbs represent the blood of the lamb placed on the door frames. That they are bitter and dipped in salt water are meant to remind the celebrants of the bitter tears shed in bondage. At four specific times wine is drunk and the appropriate words of praise given. All parts of the meal have a role to play. Everything goes according to order, and for Jesus, that even includes his betrayal.
Why does Jesus tell? What purpose does it serve other than to make everyone feel as miserable as he does? I think it does it for the same reason he had several times before foretold his death. What is to take place that very night does not happen because he lost control of the situation, but because he is faithfully playing the drama that his Father has prepared for him and for us.
Judas may have thought that he was taking matters into his own hands, but he is merely playing into God’s hands. Jesus’ enemies may have thought that they were outmaneuvering him, but they in truth were merely following the script written for them. Nobody is getting away with anything; everybody is fulfilling exactly what has been planned for the greatest Passover of all – the redemption of all God’s people by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
Is it really a coincidence that the last supper is the Passover meal? “Don’t you see,” Mark is saying, “why I mention the sacrifice of the Passover lamb? Here is the real Passover Lamb. He has come to do the work prepared for him to do.”
Back to our story. Jesus’ remark shocks his disciples. They each ask the fearful question. 19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?”
20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
Even my close friend, whom I trusted,
he who shared my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me (Psalm 41:9).
John has us understand that the remark was made quietly, perhaps only for Peter and John to hear. It is clear that Jesus was not openly telling the other eleven disciples that Judas was betraying him. That would have had the same effect as the captain of an airplane announcing to the passengers that the fellow sitting in Row 14 Seat B plans to hijack the plane. The disciples would not have quietly gone on with the meal. Jesus’ reply was not a means to expose Judas, but a statement saying, “The one whom I have treated, and still treat, as a close friend is the one who will betray me.” It heightens the injustice and grief he is about to endure.
And yet, understand, what he endures has a glorious purpose. He is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. His betrayer is the one for whom we should feel horror. 21 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.”
The only thing that Judas gains for himself is his condemnation and to be remembered with hatred and disgust. What a contrast to Mary who is remembered for her act of devotion to her Lord. Mary acted in sacrifice and gained for herself great honor; Judas acted for himself and gained for himself great shame. Truly what Jesus said another time is true. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:35-36).
Conclusion
What are the lessons we can learn? First, understand that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. Whether we are firstborn, second-born, or last-born destruction is coming upon us unless we are marked by the blood of the Lamb. And that is what he came to be – our sacrificial Lamb. And understand that the only thing that saves us is the blood of the Lamb. It did not matter who anyone was in Egypt, how good or bad, religiously sincere or profane. It didn’t even matter if one was a Hebrew who believed in the Lord God. The blood of the Passover lamb had to mark, had to cover the firstborn son or else he would die. I tell you now: it does not matter how good you are, how sincere you are, how strong you believe in God, how loving you are. If you do not put your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ to cover your sins, you will die in your sins and be loss. But if you place your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ alone, that his blood alone atones for your sins, then you will be saved.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die,” Jesus told Martha (John 11:25-26). And then he said to her, “Do you believe this?” So he says to you. Do you believe him?
The second lesson to learn is that God’s sovereign will is to be done. We cannot outwit God. Don’t fool yourself. You can scheme all you want, but all you will be doing is carrying out his plan. Don’t be scheming another way to get into heaven. Don’t try to switch the terms that God gives. Don’t bother trying to avoid what you know God has called you to do – whether you are a nonChristian trying to avoid his calling to repent and embrace Jesus as your Passover Lamb or you are a Christian trying to avoid his calling to serve him in the way that he has prepared for you. You are getting away with nothing. None of you are trying to betray Jesus, but many of you are trying to outwit him. You are avoiding reading his words; avoiding prayer and Christian fellowship. Some of you skip from church to church, even from town to town to avoid being confronted by the Lord about your fears and weaknesses. God’s will will be done. You can be like Judas and the religious leaders and play into God’s will, or you can be like Jesus and resolutely, even gladly, do his will. Whatever the case, God’s will will be done.
Finally, understand that what matters is redemption. The coming of the Son of God to earth; all of his ministry; the reason for the sacrifice was to redeem us from our sins. Redemption, not “becoming nicer people” is what the gospel is about. Our great need is not to be better at keeping New Year’s resolutions; our need is to be redeemed for our sins. Praise God that Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. How great is our God that he redeems those who ought to be condemned; how great is our God that he redeems us by the precious blood of his Son.
