Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church
Series: Easter
The last supper
Sunday, 23 April 2006
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Big Point:
Jesus reinterprets the Passover to point us back to his death, to remind us currently of his presence in the resurrection with us, and to point us forward to when we will be with him.
Intro:
From a very young age, we are taught to celebrate our nationality as Australians. The most common way we are taught to do this is by singing the national anthem – Advance Australia Fair. I saw an interesting show on TV where they were asking a number of kids what the first line of Advance Australia Fair was. Among the amusing answers was one little guy who thought it was “Australians all love ostriches”. One day he is going to grow up, and learn that it is really “Australians all let us rejoice”, and suddenly that song will make a whole lot more sense, but most importantly have a whole lot more meaning!
Well today we’re continuing our series following Jesus over his last 7 days in Jerusalem. We’ll hear that in today’s passage Jesus celebrates a traditional Passover meal with his disciples. But in light of events that are about to happen, Jesus will reinterpret the meaning of this meal, (just like our little guy earlier learning the right words!). By doing this he will give his disciples a new ritual that will have a much greater meaning than the original.
Lets pray that God will help us understand his word.
A specific time…
We’ll pick up the account at Mark 14:12
12On 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?"
Well it’s obvious that Jesus and his disciples have entered Jerusalem on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And so Jesus disciples want to know where they are going to celebrate the Passover meal. This would be like a family arriving in Sydney in the week before Christmas, and asking themselves “Where are we going to have Christmas lunch”.
But its not Christmas lunch the disciples want to celebrate, it’s the Passover. Now Passover is probably a little less familiar to us than Christmas, so lets jump into the Old Testament to see what its about.
The explanation of the Passover is found in Exodus 12. It’s part of an annual feast to remember the single most important salvation event in Israel’s early history. It commemorated God’s rescue of the Israelite slaves from Egypt. You may remember that Israel was stuck in slavery in Egypt. But God had promised them a land of their own. So he choose to save them. After Pharaoh refused to let them go, God sent waves of plagues upon Egypt. The last plague was the “death of the firstborn”, which involved God passing over the land, and killing the firstborn child in every family. But God had prepared the Israelites by giving them a ceremony to perform which would prevent their firstborn being killed. They were to kill a lamb, and splash the blood on the doorposts of their house. Then they were to eat the lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. And they were to be dressed ready to leave, for that night God would save his people. And he did. God stuck the land of Egypt that night, but passed over the houses of the Israelites. When pharaoh realised what had happened, he sent the Israelites out of Egypt.
God told the Israelites that this would be a memorial day, that should be kept throughout all generations as a reminder of what he had done for them at the Pass over. So now as we come to Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem, about 1500 year later, we see that the Passover is still being celebrated. And like good Jews, Jesus disciples are asking where to prepare to eat it.
Could Jesus have wanted a better situation than this? He knew he was going to be betrayed that night. He knew that he would be killed the following day. And he knew that he was about to spend the evening with his disciples sharing a meal that remembered sacrifice, the spilling of blood, and the salvation of God’s people. It’s almost like he planned it that way.
A specific place…
Lets keep reading from verse 13:
13So 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. 14Say 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?' 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." 16The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
So Jesus sends his disciples into town with specific instructions on where they are to eat.
It’s much easier these days isn’t it! We just ring the restaurant and make the reservation!
But these instructions he gives sound like something we’ve already heard in Mark! They’re very similar to when Jesus sent two disciples to commandeer a donkey in chapter 11. And it just reminds us again that this Passover dinner wasn’t just Jesus catching a bite with friends at a restaurant. This night had been chosen carefully. This was part of Gods plan. God obviously had something special prepared for this night. So the disciples did as Jesus instructed, and prepared for the Passover.
Have a look at where they were going to eat the meal. It wasn’t going to be held in a temple, or any other place of religious significance. Instead, it was to be held in someone’s home, upstairs in the guestroom. Kind of like a lounge room I guess. And if we sneak a peak at verse 18, we’ll see that it wasn’t a formal occasion, as they were reclining at the table.
Have a look at who was invited to dinner. Normally the Passover would be celebrated as a family unit. So who does Jesus invite? He invites his disciples. By celebrating the Passover with his disciples, Jesus is showing that they are his family.
The betrayer:
So things are going pretty smoothly. They have a location, the disciples have prepared the food, and in verse 17:
17When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
So it would have been kind of like an Australian Christmas dinner. Plenty of food, friends, and a jovial atmosphere. But all that was soon shattered with verse 18:
18While 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."
19They 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. 21The 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."
Imagine if this was said at the Christmas dinner you were picturing. In fact for many Christmas dinners you probably don’t have to imagine! It’s jarring isn’t it! The festival like atmosphere has been shattered and we’re left with a stunned silence.
Of course we, the readers of Mark, knew this was going to happen, because Mark told us about Judas the betrayer back in Mark 3:19, and again in Mark 14:10. And we also knew that Jesus imminent death was part of God’s plan.
So why did Jesus mention it here? Why is this jarring, awkward statement revealed at this celebration of the Passover?
Well it’s here because it stops the narrative, and gives what Jesus is about to say next some context. ‘Because’ of what Judas has done, Jesus must now die. On a simple level this is true because Judas has betrayed him to the authorities. They’ve been waiting for this moment and death is inevitable. But on another level, Jesus must die ‘because’ of people like Judas, people like us. Jesus is about to die to take the punishment for everyone who betrays him. And so he uses this Passover meal to help his disciples remember that. In fact the simple ceremony Jesus is about to share with his disciples is to replace the Passover celebration. This is our equivalent of the Passover. Us remembering our salvation history.
The supper:
The Passover meal used different foods to represent significant parts of the story of Israel’s salvation from Egypt. It’s like at Easter where we use eggs to represent new birth. The bread and wine were common elements of the Passover meal. So Jesus uses the bread wine to represent significant parts of the new salvation that is about to take place.
Firstly…
22Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
What does Jesus want his disciples to understand from the bread representing his body? There are few possibilities. The most obvious and probably most widely accepted is that his body is like the bread, broken. We see this idea in later New Testament passages like 1 Peter 2:24
24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.
1 Peter 2:24
So with this meaning, he’d want his disciples to remember his death.
But what else do we know about Jesus Body? We know that he didn’t stay dead. His body was brought back to life, and because of that he is eternally with us. So with this meaning, Jesus would want his disciples to remember his resurrection, and presence with them always.
But hang on, aren’t we the Body of Christ. Paul calls the Christian church the Body of Christ. So with this meaning, Jesus would want his disciples to remember who he is dying for, and what it should be that unites them together.
So which one of these interpretations did Jesus want his disciples to remember? Well, why can’t they remember all of them? When the disciples eat the bread, they can remember that Jesus body was broken for them. But he did not remain dead! He rose again and is with them even as they eat the bread. And in his death, they are united as one body of Christ.
Lets keep reading from verse 23…
23Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
24"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.
What does Jesus want his disciples to understand from the wine representing his blood?
Again, there are few possibilities. The most obvious is the connection with the blood in Passover. When the Lord passed over Egypt, it was the blood of the slain Lamb on the door posts that saved the first born Israelites. Likewise it is through Jesus death, the shedding of his blood, that salvation is possible for all who ask.
The other aspect to the wine is that it is recalling the blood of the covenant. This is like in Exodus 24:8. After Moses had received the Ten Commandments and other Laws, he sacrificed an animal, and sprinkled half the blood on the alter to God, and the other half on the people. He then said:
This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words”.
You see it’s the blood of the sacrifice that seals the deal. And just like blood from a sacrifice sealed the old covenant, so too Jesus blood from his sacrifice will seal the new. It is through Jesus blood that they can have confidence that God will indeed save them.
So which one of these interpretations did Jesus want his disciples to remember? Well, again they can remember both of them. When they drink the wine they can remember that it is through Jesus blood that salvation is both possible and guaranteed.
But don’t close your Bible yet. The ceremony doesn’t end at the bread and wine. Jesus finishes the ceremony by telling them when he will celebrate with them again. Look at verse 25:
25"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
Jesus is telling the disciples that he will be back, but not until the kingdom of God arrives in glory. In other words, the last days, end of the world. Until then, they can look forward to the day when he returns and invites them to the messianic banquet in heaven for eternity with him.
So Mark wraps up the supper in verse 26:
26When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
And we’ll see what happened at the Mount of Olives this Friday.
Applications:
So we’ve looked at the last supper from the perspective of the disciples. We’ve seen that that this was something that Jesus wanted his disciples to continue, to remember him. And we still continue it today. We call it communion. So in light of Mark 14:12-26, how should we approach communion? Are there any rules? What should we be thinking and doing when we participate? Lets answer a few questions:
Where and when can we do it?
We can do it Anytime and Anywhere. It would be easy to get the impression that we can only do communion here at the kneelers on a Sunday. Here on Sundays is perfectly valid, but it’s not the only place and time. Jesus did it with his disciples over a meal in someone’s lounge room! And we can do the same. Whenever you are eating and drinking, particularly with Christian friends, you can remember what Christ has for you.
Does it have to be unleavened bread and wine?
No. The bread and wine don’t have any special properties. They are just symbols that act as a visual reminder of what we are celebrating.
Is it a sad of happy occasion?
Well we call it celebrating communion don’t we! There’s little bit of sad because we have to face the reality of our sinfulness. But the rest is happy because we are remembering that Jesus has saved us, is with us, and will return to invite us to spend eternity with him.
Lastly…
What should we thinking about when we celebrate communion?
When we celebrate communion we should look back, look around us, and look forward, all in our head of course!
We should look back and remember that Jesus died for our sins. Through his death, we are made right with God. But also remember that he did not remain dead! He rose again.
We should look around us and remember that because of Jesus resurrection, he is here with us as we celebrate. It is through him that we are united with other Christians.
And we should look forward to when Jesus will return, and invite to spend eternity in heaven with him.
And on that note, I say Amen.
