MAUNDY
THURSDAY
April
6, 2023
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Mark 14:12-26 (EHV)
His Final Steps
Led to the Upper Room
1. Where a lamb that had died was
carefully prepared.
2. Where the Lamb that would die carefully
prepared.
3. So that His lambs who would die
were also prepared.
Ask any Jewish person and they will
tell you, it’s takes a lot of preparation. I am of course talking about the
Passover meal. If you like, you can do a google search on how to celebrate a
Passover meal and you will find mostly uniform instructions and you will see
it’s going to take a lot of work, so many preparations. The true removal of all
yeast from the home, certified by a spring cleaning most of us would never want
to do. All the right foods. Sections of Old Testament Scripture to be read at
the proper time. So many preparations. Ask any Jewish person and they will also
tell you it’s all about the lamb, the specially chosen Passover lamb, what it
signified and how everything in the meal changes once the lamb is present. We
see those truths combine tonight as our journey with Jesus continues as Jesus
final steps lead him to an upper room where a lamb that had died was carefully
prepared.
“On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the
Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to
go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 He
sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and there a man
carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Wherever
he enters, tell the owner of the house that the Teacher says, ‘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 His disciples left and went into the city and
found things just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.” The
celebration of the Passover is part of the Old Testament Ceremonial law that
God gave the Old Testament church. One of its purposes was to help them
remember how God had rescued their ancestors from slavery in Egypt and chosen
them to be a special nation on earth. The way God had done that was by sending
progressively worse plagues on the nation of Egypt to incentivize the Pharaoh
to let God’s people go. The worst plague was the final plague where God sent
the angel of death to kill the firstborn son in every household in the land of
Egypt unless the blood of a lamb had been painted on its doorframe. When the
angel saw the blood on the doorframe he passed over that household. It was
spared from death. And so the name Passover. At Jesus’ time hundreds of
thousands of people would be visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover near
the Temple. Thousands of lambs that had died were prepared. Jesus and his
disciples got one of them.
That preparation of the lamb by itself
was no small deal. That’s because, for the Jews who were looking for the
Biblical Messiah to come, the Passover was a whole lot more than their version
of the 4th of July. The whole Passover was designed by God to keep
the people’s eyes on their need for a Savior. They could not save themselves.
They were doomed to die eternally. Only the Messiah could save them. Like the
lamb of the Passover, he would die in their place. So the Passover lamb could
not be just any lamb but a perfect year old male lamb now carefully prepared.
With New Testament hindsight we know
that the Old Testament Passover lamb pictured Jesus. The real slavery of all
people is the slavery to sin and the Devil. The only way for freedom was a the
sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. So his footsteps led him to
the Upper Room where he carefully prepared to do what He came for, to die. “When
it was evening, he arrived with the Twelve. 18 While
they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Amen I tell you: One of you will
betray me, one who is eating with me.”19 They began to
be sorrowful and said to him one by one, “Surely not I?”20 He
said to them, “It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me in the
dish. 21 Indeed, the Son of Man is going to go just
as it has been written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
We talked about this when our Lenten
journey started. What do you do, what do you focus on when your time with
someone is short? Important things. As Jesus, the Lamb of God sent to take away
the sins of the world prepared to die he stayed on mission. God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn people but rather to save people. While those
who refuse to believe in Him condemn themselves everyone who believes is saved.
One was there at the Passover meal whose love for money had crowded out faith
in Jesus as his Messiah. Judas, the Betrayer. What does Jesus do? In love
reaches out to him yet again. What do you suppose happened when Jesus said, “One
of you who is eating with me will betray me?” Did his face flush? Or was his
control that good that he should have been playing on some world poker tour? We
don’t know what Judas did other than join the others in saying, “Surely not I?”
But Judas is not important here. Jesus is. He knew exactly what would happen
and so He carefully prepared to die. And if you want to hear more of what Jesus
said when His time with his disciples grew short you can read about it in the
Gospel of John chapters 13-17.
A lot of time was spent by our Lord in
the upper room where Jesus made sure his lambs who would die were also
prepared. John’s Gospel gives us for instance these super comforting words spoken
by Jesus in the Upper Room. “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in
God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to
prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may
also be where I am.” See how Jesus prepared His lambs for death, His
and theirs. Don’t be troubled. Heaven has mansions prepared just for you.
That’s where I will be going to and then when the time is right I will come
back for you and take you with me. That’s all physical death will be. How kind
and thoughtful Jesus is for His lambs. Of all those sitting around that table
only the Apostle John would live to see old age. All the rest died young.
And Jesus did more to prepare His
lambs for their death. He provided a faith building and faith proclaiming meal.
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread. When he had blessed it, he broke
it and gave it to them, saying, “Take it. This is my body.” 23 Then
he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them. They all drank from
it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the
new testament, which is poured out for many. 25 Amen
I tell you: I will certainly not drink again of the fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 After
they sang a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” The Lord’s Supper.
You know what it is. Jesus tells you exactly. He took bread. “This is my
body.” Not a representation, symbol or
picture. Is means is. A miracle. He took the cup filled with grape wine. “This
is my blood.” Not a representation, symbol or picture. Is means is. But wait
there’s more. It is the blood of the new testament or covenant. This is the
covenant God has made with us, to forgive us our sin and remember them no more.
Jesus is preparing us, His lambs. Your sins are forgiven. You can live that way
right now. No guilt in life. And no fear in death. With sins you forgiven
heaven is your home. But wait there’s more. Jesus said He would not drink of
the cup until that day when he drinks again in the kingdom of God. Look ahead
lambs of Christ. Feasting is coming. Banqueting, with Jesus. Not only does
Jesus prepare us to look at the ending of earthly life without fear but even
with longing. Jesus, our Savior, face to face!
That’s why Jesus’ steps led Him to an
Upper room. Preparation. And lambs. Jesus carefully prepared to finish His work
as Savior so that we and all His lambs are prepared. Soon the Passover
replacement meal will be celebrated in this service. It has been carefully
prepared for you. As you watch or participate as appropriate, remember, it’s
all about the Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world. That means you
too! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment