The New Passover
Mark 14:12-25
Introduction: One of the things that come out of working with
children is to be reminded that we can’t take anything for granted! You know
their favorite question? “WHY?” Kids always want to know why we believe what we
do, and why we do the things that we do. Time and tradition can obscure the
truth even for mature believers. One of the things associated with the
celebration of Passover was the practice of the youngest child present to ask
questions, “Why do we eat these foods?” “Why do we do these things?” It is an
opportunity to teach, and for all who are present to be reminded, of the things
that are really the basis of our faith. As
Passover was associated with the redemption of the Firstborn and the Exodus,
Jesus used the bread and wine to symbolize His coming sacrifice and the rescue
He would accomplish… Way back on the mount of transfiguration, Moses and Elijah
appeared there talking with Jesus. Moses would immediately be associated with
the Exodus from Egypt. Moses was used to lead them out, but Joshua would lead
them in. When Moses and Elijah appeared on the mountain with Jesus, 0nly Luke
tells us what they were talking about: His departure [exodus] which would soon be accomplished in Jerusalem. Paul was
quite explicit when he said, “...Christ,
our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed [for
us]...” (2 Cor 5:17, ESV). We’ll
see here in Mark 14:12-25...
The Maine* Idea: Jesus fulfilled the Passover, which was a reminder
to the Jews of what God had accomplished, and gave His followers a symbolic
meal, to reflect on the salvation He accomplished for us.
Context: Remember the
context, chapter 14 of Mark began on a doubly ominous note: Passover was
approaching, and the religious leaders were actively plotting to put Jesus to
death. The anointing of Jesus with expensive perfume allowed for Him to make an
enigmatic reference to His coming death on the eve of Passover, He said, “...she has anointed my body for burial...” and
at the same time that was apparently the last straw for Judas as He went to the
leaders with His intentions to betray Jesus…
I. Preparation
of the Passover (12-17). The scene on
the Eve of Passover is reminiscent of the preparations for the triumphal entry
a week earlier. There too we saw Jesus give a couple of disciples some
instructions about what was about to happen. Remember there we read in 11:1-6,
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and
Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, "Go into
the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a
colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, 'Why are
you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it and will send it back here
immediately.'" 4 And
they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they
untied it. 5 And some of
those standing there said to them, "What are you doing, untying the
colt?" 6 And they told
them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.
The
question then as here is chapter 14 is whether this contact had been arranged
by Jesus beforehand, or was it sovereignly guided in the moment, or was it an
indication of His divine omniscience? Mark does not answer that question for
us, but the implication seems to be that this is another case of Jesus knowing
details no mere man could know, even about specific future events like this,
and perhaps even guiding the characters to do exactly as He desired. So here
the question is regarding the location of the Passover meal Jesus would share
with his disciples… Back in our context, we read in 14:12...
12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they
sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you
have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" 13 And he sent two of his
disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of
water will meet you. Follow him, 14
and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says,
Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15 And he will show you a large
upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us." 16 And the disciples set out and
went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the
Passover. 17 And when it was
evening, he came with the twelve…
NB. Jesus is in control of the events leading to His
death… He is guiding [His]story as planned. On the face of it, the whole
picture is an unlikely one. First of all, in that setting, men did not normally
carry water jars, that was usually done by women, or sometimes by children or
slaves. It was unusual enough that coming into the city and seeing such a
thing, the disciples would know this is the person they needed to
follow! Everything would be arranged so
that Jesus and the disciples would have a place to share the Passover meal
together. It had to happen in order to fulfill all righteousness.
Mark
refers to “...the first day of unleavened
bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb.” This is another indication that the Passover,
and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, had virtually merged in the first century.
If you recall in our study of John’s Gospel, John makes a point that Jesus was
crucified at the hour that the Passover lambs were sacrificed (John 19:14ff.). How
could that be if we see here in Mark Jesus sharing the Passover with His
disciples? I don’t know for sure! A few
ideas have been proposed, but scholars haven’t come to a consensus. There may
have been differences in the celebration between Galilean pilgrims and Judean
locals. Or there may be a difference between Mark’s time references as He
writes to a Roman audience, and that of John as He writes a “Jewish” gospel. For
my part, at this point, I think the best I can do is to take each account at
face value. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was killed in association with the Jewish
Feast of Passover, and He had a last supper with His disciples which they shared
in association with the Passover feast. The
point is that Jesus fulfilled the Passover, which was a reminder to the
Jews of what God had accomplished, and Jesus transformed that meal, giving His
followers a symbolic meal, this last supper became the Lord’s supper, for them
to anticipate and for us to reflect on the salvation He accomplished for us. So
I. Preparation, then...
II. Prediction
of Betrayal at The Final Passover –
In the previous context, after the anointing of Jesus by the woman (Mary) in
the house of Simon, Judas had just gone out and conspired with the leaders to
betray Jesus… and now, just a few days later, Jesus reveals to the twelve,
including Judas, that He knows! NB. Jesus was not caught by surprise by
His betrayal… and still, He does nothing to stop it from happening. The
disciples clearly had no idea, no suspicions, as to who the traitor
might be—they all asked, “Lord, it is I?”
The sense of the question seems to be, “Lord, it’s not me, is it?”
18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus
said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating
with me." 19 They began
to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?" 20 He said to them, "It is
one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it
is written of 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."
It is a shocking scene, Jesus with His twelve
closest disciples, reclined at table, sharing a meal together. Jesus had
repeatedly told them what would soon happen, the Son of Man would be handed
over, put to death, and rise again the third day (8:31; 9:31; 10:32-33). They
didn’t seem to understand what He was saying. In Bethany he had just said He
was anointed for His burial, all of which spurred Judas to contact the leaders.
Now, as He reveals the unthinkable, that one at the table would be His betrayer,
they are saddened, and one-by-one ask, Lord, is it me? The fact is, they would all soon betray Him
at some level, Peter by denying Him three times. The others, by being scattered
deserting Him as Jesus is arrested. However, only for one, for Judas, is this
“premeditated betrayal,” essentially revealing His unbelief. Imagine how shocking this statement of Jesus
must have been to him! “One of you twelve will betray me!” Judas must have
thought, “How could He possibly know?! Did
He have a spy in the Sanhedrin? Was I talking in my sleep? Or... is He really… no,
it couldn’t be!”
At another level, as we have seen, it
had to happen this way. It was written. It was necessary for the Son of Man to
be betrayed into the hands of sinners. But divine sovereignty does not negate human
responsibility. Scripture predicted the betrayal of the Messiah. Here, Jesus
predicts His betrayal by one of the twelve. God’s plan will come to
pass. And Judas is responsible for the unimaginable treachery of betraying the
Son of God. God’s plan was prescriptive as well as predictive. And so,
“For the Son of Man goes as it is written of 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..." (Mark
14:21).
Judas would one day give an account of His actions
before the Great White Throne. Truly, it would be better for him if he had
never been born! At the same time, according to plan, Jesus fulfilled the
Passover. He took that which was a reminder to the Jews of what God had
accomplished, and gave His followers a symbolic meal, a new ordinance, to
reflect on the salvation He would accomplish for them and for us. So, I.
Preparation of the Passover, II. Prediction of His betrayal, followed by...
III. Participation in the First
Communion (22-26a). Jesus transformed
a “Last Supper” into a “First Supper,” giving new significance to the Passover
meal.
22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after
blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my
body." 23 And he took a
cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of
it. 24 And he said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not
drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the
kingdom of God."
It is odd that the two ordinances the
Lord gave the church, baptism and communion, both of which should affirm the
unity of the body and our common faith, have become such a point of division
between us. We’ll not address the question of baptism today, but the Lord’s
Table is a beautiful reminder of what God has done for us in Christ. Obviously,
as Jesus shared this meal with His disciples and instituted the ordinance,
their perspective was different than ours. They remembered the first
Passover, and were invited to ponder the meaning of Jesus’ words, looking ahead
to His sacrifice, when he spoke of His body which was given, and His blood
which would be poured out for many. Remember, all of this was against the
backdrop of Jesus’ teaching and predictions, and the anointing that had just
occurred at Bethany. Did they understand? Probably not, not until after the
Cross and Resurrection anyway. But what was Jesus saying about these elements
from the Passover Table?
First, “...he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and
said, ‘Take; this is my body.’” The Roman Church over the centuries came to
teach that Jesus was saying that the bread was actually being transformed into
the body of Christ. The term, “transubstantiation” relates that idea. The
Lutherans were not too far off from that, they held that the body of Christ was
present with and between the bread. Calvin was closer it seems when He taught
that the Lord was “spiritually present” in the elements of communion. It
seems pretty clear to me that this was symbolism. After all, Jesus was
physically there with the disciples as He instituted the Table! What could the
disciples have understood? Something like the “Bread of Life” discourse in John
6 when, as another Passover was approaching (Jn 6:4), He described Himself as
the Bread of Heaven. There is some way in which He is the Bread that gives life
as we receive Him, His blood brings the cleansing that we desperately need. The
Lord’s Table reminds us of that Spiritual Truth. It is not mystical, it is God
teaching us as we see and consider and taste the elements, to remember that
Jesus is not just a story, just about words on a page, He is the Word, who was
made flesh, and dwelt among us. This is why He came.
What is God
saying to me in this passage?
Jesus fulfilled the Passover, a reminder to the Jews of what God had
accomplished, and gave His followers a symbolic meal, to reflect on the
salvation He accomplished for us.
What would God have me to do in
response to this passage? It is
really a kind of object lesson, something that allows us to see and taste,
while we hear the scriptures read, and invites us to reflect on the rescue that
Christ accomplished for us. It is a perpetual reminder, showing forth His death
until He comes. It allows us to join with believers through the ages, as we
partake, in this symbolic meal, we are drawn back to the upper room, to that
last Passover, when the Lamb would be slain, once and for all. Let’s read Paul’s reaffirmation of this
ordinance in I Corinthians 11:23-28...
23 For I
received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the
night when he was betrayed took bread, 24
and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body
which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way also he took
the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the
bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of
profaning the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the
bread and drink of the cup.
And so, we
look back and remember. We remember that night in the upper room, and we
remember the next day, on Calvary, when the Lamb was slain. We look back, and we also look ahead, as we
“show forth the Lord’s death until He comes.” We were reminded in Chapter 13,
He will return! That also reminds us that the Kingdom is coming, and that one
day we will share in another meal, the marriage supper of the Lamb. And so we
look back and look ahead, and also, as we are invited here, look within: “...let a person examine himself...” I think the point it to
examine our hearts in relation to the gospel: have we trusted Christ as savior
and as Lord? Have you, by faith, shared in His death and resurrection? That is
the Good News! AMEN.
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