Mark 14:22-26 - The Lord’s Supper

Today, we’re diving into Mark 14:22-26, exploring the profound significance of the Lord’s Supper. This isn’t just a ritual—it’s a command from Christ that connects us to the Passover, points us to the cross, and stirs our hope for the final feast in His kingdom. We’ll unpack how Jesus fulfills God’s promises, redeems us through His sacrifice, and invites us to remember His death until He returns. Join me as we reflect on the cost of our sin and the hope of the Gospel. Let’s dig in and look to Jesus, our true hope!

Transcript

99 - Mark 14:22-26 - The Lord’s Supper

Intro

• If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Mark 14 and find verse 22.
  • Today we have the privilege of not only worshiping our Creator…
  • Not only examining the Scriptures that He has entrusted to us…
  • But we have the privilege to follow Obey a specific command He has left us that we will look at today.
• As I have already mentioned today's service will look different because today we will not only sit under the preaching of the Word we will also partake of the Lord’s Supper as He commanded us.
  • Typically this is set aside for our Sunday evening service but in light of the scripture we will be examining today…
    • I felt it necessary to not only be hearers of the Word but also be doers of the Word. 
  • So I pray that this sermon and this service blesses you…
    • I pray that you will draw nearer to Christ during this time…
    • I also pray that you will have a better understanding of why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the first place…
• With that let us read our text and open in prayer…

Mark 14:22-26

• I grew up in a church that practiced what we called communion the last Sunday of every month.
  • I do not believe I heard it called “The Lord’s Supper” until I was an adult.
    • It was set up much differently than what is often practiced in Southern Baptist churches.
    • It is certainly different from how we typically obey the command of Christ.  
  • You see it would be tacked on to the end of a Sunday morning service and could often be practiced rather quickly.
    • The pastor, and usually one other helper, would stay at the front of the church.
      • Then the church would gather to the front and kneel down, taking the bread, and taking the juice, and after a few moments in prayer they would then make their way back to their seats and open up the altar for the next participant.
    • Growing up in that church I could not tell you how young I was when I took communion but I can tell you it was long before I knew the Gospel.
      • For me it was nothing more than a fun thing we did once a month where we got to eat and drink in the sanctuary.  
        • Then after I got to drink the leftovers.
    • I cannot speak for others that grew up in similar situations but I can reflect back on it now and confidently say that it was nothing but religious exercise void of any real significance.
  • My fear is that for many, even perhaps across this room, that is the case today with the Lord’s Supper…
• Too easily we can often fall into the monotony of religious duty and if we are not careful what we do week to week can be void of meaning.
  • It reminds me of a story of a granddaughter who was excited to host her very first Thanksgiving meal for the whole family.
    • Over the years she had carefully observed her mother host and before that her grandmother host and now it was finally her turn.
      • So she prepared the turkey just as she had learned year after year, cutting off the end and roasting it in the oven.
      • Though she had watched her mother do it many times now that it was her turn she wondered, what is the benefit of cutting off the end…
        • Did it aid in the cooking speed, was it some secret to keep the turkey from drying out…?
      • She decided at that moment to be sure to ask her mother when she arrived for dinner.
    • Well the meal was finally ready and the family had all arrived and this daughter turned to her mother and asked…
      • “Why do we cut the end off of the turkey?”
        • The mother replied…
      • “I alway did it because I watched my mom do it but I do not know the reason”
        • Well thankfully the grandmother was still alive to impart her wisdom so the two turned to the grandmother and asked the same.
        • To which she replied…
      • “I do not know why you are cutting off the end of your turkey, my pan was alway to small.”
    • Religious monotony is a dangerous thing and it can lead us to doing things only because we watched those who came before us.
  • It does not always turn out to be a bad thing, sometimes it is just a funny thing, but other times it can carry dangerous consequences.
• We have witnessed in our day entire denominations depart entirely from the Word of God.
  • They have twisted scripture, blasphemed the Name of God, and entirely perverted the Gospel to fit their own desires.  
    • The most alarming thing about this drift for most is that they can remember a time…
      • A time that was not very many years ago…
      • When these denominations and these churches stood strong upon truth.
    • The fact is…
  • A small drift, can lead to a great fall, the likes of which we could not have imagined years ago.
• You may be wondering at this point, “What does this have to do with how we practice The Lord’s Supper?”
  • It matters greatly not only in how we practice the Lord’s Supper but how we practice all that we do.
    • If we do not know why we do a thing that we do…
    • If it cannot be traced back to the Word of God…
    • Then we are not very far away from just practicing religion.
  • Friend, if all we have is religion then we have nothing but emptiness.
• Let it not be of us today, let us understand why we do that which we do and let it be grounded in the Word of God.
  • Our time today will be spent considering these verses from three points of view.
    • First, we will consider…
      • The First Passover…
        • Where we will strive to understand what our Lord and His Apostles were practicing on this night.
        • There is great significance in understanding how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Promises made by God in the Old Testament.
    • Then, we will consider…
      • The Last Supper…
        • As they partook in this upper room there were some interesting deviations from how the Passover meal was celebrated.
        • Jesus was always intentional and, as one commentator put it, what He did on this night was essentially a living parable.  
    • Finally, we will see how this Last Supper is meant to cause us to look ahead to…
      • The Final Feast…
        • Where we will be with Him, and He will once again partake of the fruit of the vine.
  • After we work through these points we will then close our service as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together.
• Now that you know where we are headed let’s jump into our first point…

The First Passover

• For us to truly understand what Lord has commanded in three of the four Gospels we must first understand what they are doing in the first place…
  • Please turn with me to where this all began, the book of Exodus, and turn to Exodus 12.
    • We are going to jump in at the end of Israel's time in Egypt.
    • At this point in the story nine plagues have fallen upon Egypt, and there has been a final plague threatened.
  • In Exodus 12 find this final plague coming upon this nation, the death of the firstborn. 
    • However, there is a difference with this plague other than the severity.
      • This time Israel also has a response that is required of them.
      • They are found to be in danger as well if they do not respond as God has commanded.
    • More than that, this command and this night is to be a night of remembering year after year, it is to become a feast for the people of Israel.
      • Actually it is the first feast commanded of the people of Israel.  
  • So across this chapter we not only have the story of this final plague falling upon Egypt, we also have the command to celebrate the Passover year after year. 
• We are going to read a few verses across this chapter but let’s start in verse 2.
  • Exodus 12:2 - A Start
    • Consider this with me, an event so life changing that it completely reshapes your calendar?
      • Not just your calendar, personally, but the calendar of your entire nation.
        • That is what this was to be for the Israelites.
      • This event that was about to happen was going to reshape their entire world…
        • Their calendars and their lives are to reflect that.
      • The time of the Exodus was a time that was continually remembered by the people of Israel.
    • As for the meal it is talked about a few verses down, jump with me to verse 5.
  • Exodus 12:5-8 - A Sacrifice
    • In these verses we have the sacrifice discussed…
      • The requirement of it, and the Lord is very specific..
        • It is to be a lamb without blemish, a year old.
        • It is to be killed and roasted over fire and…
        • Its blood is to be applied to the doorpost.
          • This action was unique to this time, we do not see this carried forward.
      • However, this meal was supposed to be practiced…
        • They were to eat unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
    • This is the meal that Jesus and the apostles shared together, this is what John and Peter had prepared that day.
      • It was one of the most important days on the Hebrew calendar.
    • Let’s keep hitting some highlights throughout this chapter, jump down to verse 14.
  • Exodus 12:14 - A Symbol
    • Here we find that this feast, this meal, is to be practiced year after year and it is to be so as a memorial of what the Lord has done.
      • It is like a big object lesson that was intended to cause the people to remember what the Lord had done.
      • They were to eat it together in a very specific way that accomplished two purposes.
    • First, it was so that the people of Israel remembered what the Lord had done.
      • They remembered how He brought them out of Egypt, how He brought judgment upon the Egyptians.
      • They were also to remember what He saved them from, how they were brought out of slavery and then given a land in which to dwell.
    • Then, the second reason this meal was so specific was to teach the next generation about what God had done.  
      • Look at what they were told beginning in verse 24.
  • Exodus 12:24-27 - Teaching the next generation
    • Take note fathers and mothers it has always been the task of the parents to teach the children about the Lord.
      • Do not take lightly the position you have been placed in…
      • Do not squander your moments but train them up in the way they are to go.
    • One of my favorite parts about this meal and these verses is how the natural curiosity of children is meant to be the driving force behind this teachable moment.
      • However, it was not just the questions of children that drove the discussions around this table.
      • Even with Jesus and His Apostles He would have faithfully retold the story prompted by their questions as they celebrated together.
• The reason we are spending time looking back at the first Passover is because we cannot fully understand the Lord’s Supper that we are commanded to share without understanding its starting point.
  • Much like children thinking that the 4th of July is only about fireworks we could find ourselves being ignorant of its beginnings.
  • Let it not be so but let us remember what the Passover and what this final meal that Jesus shared with His twelve was all about.
  • Before we leave Exodus behind let’s turn to one final place and remember what we learned last week.
    • Turn with me to Exodus 6 and find verse 6.
• The Passover meal could be divided into four different sections separated by four different cups that represented four different promises that God had made and kept.
  • These promises are found in Exodus 6 and would be reiterated throughout the Passover meal.
• Now when it comes to…

The Last Supper

• It would do us well again to consider these four promises and these four cups.
  • Would you read these promises again with me…
    • Exodus 6:6-7
  • Again, these four promises would be represented by four cups throughout the meal.
    • Let’s keep this in mind as we turn back to Mark 14 and see how our Lord departed from what was typical and initiated what is for us today a church ordinance.
    • Even though we opened with these verses, let us read them again so they are fresh on our minds…
  • Mark 14:22-26
• Let us try to place ourselves here with Christ as He shared this final meal with His Apostles.
  • Jesus, being the Master Teacher, did not pass up on this teachable moment.
  • Let us consider, as we did last week, how these promises from Exodus 6 would have aligned on this final night.
    • Imagine with me Jesus lifting the first cup of the meal and reiterating the promise that the Lord had made, perhaps even quoting from Exodus 6…
      • “...I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians…”
        • Together they would have considered the weight that their ancestors carried…
        • And they would have remembered how God had taken that weight off of them.
    • A bit later in the meal our Lord would have raised the second cup and shared the second promise God made to the people, again quoting from Exodus…
      • “...I will deliver you from slavery to them…”
        • They would drink and remember that their people were once slaves and that God had set them free.
    • It is when it comes to the third cup that our Lord departs from the script and changes what is said…
      • The third cup is intended for them to reflect upon that third promise…
        • “...I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment…”
        • Certainly God did that for the Israelites as He poured out His wrath upon the Egyptians.
      • However, here our Lord departed from the script and told them…
        • “...This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many…”
        • Can you imagine these men looking back and remembering His words as they were tied to this third promise to…
          • Redeem by Great Acts of Judgment…?
      • In less than a day Jesus would be hanging upon the cross suffering the judgment of God that He did not deserve so that a people could be Redeemed.
    • This was not the only departure from the norm of that night, surprisingly enough after Jesus took this third cup He then declared…
      • “...I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
      • Which means He left the meal open ended as the final cup was not taken up.
      • Remember what the final promise they were to remember…
        • “...I will take you to be my people…”
        • Though God had fulfilled it in the Exodus there is a greater fulfillment that is yet to come.
  • So consider with me that when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we not only consider it in view of the Passover, we not only consider it in view of the Cross, but we must also consider it in view of what is to come…
    • 1 Corinthians 11:26 - “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
    • That is to say that everytime we partake of the Lord’s Supper together we look ahead to the second coming of Christ.  
  • Which ushers us into our final point on this passage…
• It is the understanding that this final cup is not to be taken up until…

The Final Feast

• Please turn with me to Revelation 19 and find verse 6.
  • Jesus leaves this final meal open ended because He will one day return and celebrate with the Redeemed as He dwells with His people.
  • Revelation 19 catches a glimpse of what is known as the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
    • Revelation 19:6-9
  • What a moment to look ahead to where we get to celebrate with the One who died in our place, the One who bore our sins and offered us eternal life.
• What a privilege we have before us today to obey the command of our Lord to take this bread and to take this cup and do so in remembrance of what He has accomplished.
  • Yet also to look forward with eager expectations of what is to come when we are welcomed into Glory.
  • As we obey our Lord I want us to go back to where we started…
    • Let us not do this out of religious monotony, let us know and be sure why we are partaking of the bread and juice.
    • It is not only to obey our Lord but it is to remember what our sins cost…
      • J.C. Ryle said of this…
        • “The bread and wine will remind us how sinful sin must be, when nothing but Christ’s death could atone for it.”
      • As we take these elements here in just a few moments let us reflect upon our own sinfulness and what our forgiveness cost.  

Closing

• We will now close out our time in the Word and as we do I would urge you to do two things as I pray for us.  
  • First, consider the goodness of God shown in the hope of the Gospel.
    • Christ came and lived a perfect life and died in your place, have you placed your faith in this Great Savior?
    • If not there is not a better time than now to repent of your sins and be saved.
  • Second, if you are in Christ today as we prepare to take the from the Lord’s Table together I would ask that you would examine your life and be sure you are walking in the faith.
• I will pray for us now and give us a few moments to respond before we go into the final part of our service.