Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
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Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Luke 22:7-23; The Last Supper
Jason Sterling March 16, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to Luke, chapter 22 this morning. Luke, chapter 22. We have been this year, have been studying the gospel of Luke, and we've been looking at Luke through the angle and through the perspective of the table. Every gospel has some emphasis and one of the emphasis of Luke is meals. Jesus is either at a meal or he's going to a meal or coming from a meal, and so we've been making our way through the gospel of Luke by looking at those meals and they've taught us a lot about who Jesus is, why Jesus came into the world. They've taught us a lot about the realities of his grace. But last week, if you were here, we shifted gears. We're going to trying to prepare our hearts for Easter and for the resurrection, and so we shifted gears from looking at the meals in eating with Jesus to walking with Jesus to the cross. Last week we looked at the triumphal entry Jesus enters into Jerusalem for the last week of his life and we will be walking with Jesus in this last week and we will obviously end on Easter Sunday by looking at the resurrection. This morning we are looking, interestingly enough, at another meal, the last supper, the Passover meal in which Jesus celebrates with his disciples the night before he was crucified. So follow along with me. This is God's word Luke 22, 7 through 23.
Speaker 1:Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And so Jesus sent Peter and John saying go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat it. And then, or they said to him, where will you have us prepare it? And he said to them behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house. The teacher says to you where's the guest room where I may prepare or eat the Passover meal with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. And they went and found it, just as he had told them. And they prepared the Passover.
Speaker 1:And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. And he said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup, after they had eaten, saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table, for the Son of man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another which of them it could be who was going to do this. This is God's Word. Let's pray, bow your head and we'll pray for the Spirit to help us. Let's pray together. Father, please come through your Spirit, be with the one who preaches, give me humble boldness as I deliver your word, and I pray for those that are listening. You brought us here for this word this morning and I pray that you would help those listening to receive the word and faith and that you would do a deep work in us through this passage this morning. Show us Jesus, show us the goodness of the gospel through this passage. It's in Christ's name, I pray, amen.
Speaker 1:We partake every week of the Lord's Supper at our church, week of the Lord's Supper at our church, and of course there are theological and biblical reasons behind it, but one of the reasons, important reasons that we do it, is that our loves are shaped by our habits. Our loves are shaped by our habits. Jka Smith, in his book you Are what you Love, says that our hearts are like compasses, that they're constantly being trained to point towards something and in the direction of something. And the things that we repeatedly do, especially in worship, they actually shape us and shape our affections and train us way more than we realize. And so our order of worship, from the welcome every week, through the singing, through the songs and confession and through the preaching of the Word and especially weekly communion. It is intentionally designed this service to set our hearts on Jesus, to set the compasses of our hearts on the message of the gospel, so that our lives are shaped and formed by the realities of the gospel, by the realities of Jesus' love for us.
Speaker 1:However, it is possible that as we approach the Lord's Supper every single week and as we approach worship every week, to do so mindlessly, it's possible that we become overly familiar and this becomes the Lord's Supper rote ritual. And when that happens, it actually robs us of joy and transformative power. And we experience this all the time, don't we? I mean, think about. I'll give you several examples. But you plant flowers here in the spring, or maybe you paint your house, or you paint a room, or you get some new furniture, or you hang a picture and you go by and you go, wow, that's beautiful and it captures you. And if you paint your house, you go out to the curb and you look and you go out for the first couple of weeks. Then you see the flowers and you're in awe and marvel at them. Then what happens? You quit noticing. It becomes so familiar that you don't even notice it anymore.
Speaker 1:And if we're not careful, we can do the exact same thing with the Lord's Supper. And if we're not careful, we can do the exact same thing with the Lord's Supper. We can do the exact same thing with worship. We can mindlessly go through the motions so that it becomes overly familiar and so that it robs us of joy and cuts the heart out of its life-changing power. We don't want that to happen, and in order for that not to happen, we have to engage in this weekly rhythm with attentiveness. And then the question is okay, well, how do we do that? How do we make sure that we are engaging in the Lord's Supper and in worship every week with attentiveness? Well, lots of ways that we could talk about this morning. But one way is to slow down and to go back to the first supper, to go back to the first Lord's Supper and remember again, marvel again, what this meal is all about. And that's what we're going to do this morning. We're going to go back to the first Lord's Supper and we're going to look at this passage and my hope is that it would refresh us, that it would renew our perspective and our joy and our love for Jesus as we look at this passage this morning.
Speaker 1:Three things, three headings, if you're taking notes the preparation of the Lord's Supper number one. Secondly, the recipients of the Lord's Supper number two. Lastly, the meaning of the Lord's Supper. The preparation, the recipients and the meaning. Let's look at those in turn. First, the preparation. Look with me at verses. If you have your Bible or if it's on your phone or the bulletin, look at verses 7 through 13 with me. You'll see four times you'll see the word prepare mentioned. You'll see four times you'll see the word prepare mentioned. Jesus and the disciples are now in Jerusalem. It's Passover and so there needs to be preparation.
Speaker 1:For 1,500 years God's people have been celebrating the Passover. It was a monumental moment in Israel's history. You find it in Exodus, chapter 12. Pharaoh would not let God's people go. God sends the plagues, and if you remember the story, the last plague was when the angel of death was going to sweep through Egypt, killing all the firstborns. The only way you escaped God's wrath was God's people had to put the blood of a slain lamb on the doorpost. And if you had the blood of the lamb on your doorpost, the angel of death would pass over your home and your firstborn would be spared. And that's what they're celebrating. The Passover was a meal to celebrate the night that God had delivered them and saved them, and so for 1,500 years they've been celebrating this through the Passover.
Speaker 1:And so it's obvious any good Jew at this point would be saying where are we celebrating? We got to make preparations. Where are we celebrating? We got to make preparations, and so Jesus sends out Peter and John into the city. He says you're going to see someone with a jar of water. They're going to meet you. They're going to take you into this home. The master of the house. Tell them that I sent you. He will point you to the room, make preparations there. And the disciples go and do exactly what they're told.
Speaker 1:Verse 13, and everything happens. This is where we're going to focus. Everything happens exactly as Jesus said it would, and that is what I want us to see under this first point, and that is what I want us to see under this first point. Notice who's in control of every detail that is happening. They went and found it, just as Jesus had told them. Jesus is in charge of every detail, even the hard and the chaotic things, like the betrayal, his own death that is coming is under his control. Look at verse 22. For the Son of man goes as it has been determined. John 10,.
Speaker 1:Jesus says no one takes my life from me. I lay my life down on my own accord. Why is that so important? Well, because in a few hours things are about to get really crazy In a few hours. Things are about to get chaotic. Jesus is going to be betrayed, which he's predicted here and knows is coming. He's going to be arrested and tried and nailed to a cross. It's about to get really difficult. And it's going to look to the disciples and to Jesus' followers. Like Jesus is not in control at all. It's going to look like everything that they had staked their life on is coming apart at the seams.
Speaker 1:And Jesus is reminding the disciples, and he's reminding us this morning as we sit here, that things are not as they seem, that this is all part of the plan, that none of this is taking Jesus by surprise, is taking Jesus by surprise that he's in control of every single detail that comes to pass in your life and in the world. So what? What does that have to do with you sitting here this morning? And what does that have to do? Remember our theme. What does that have to do with weekly communion? Every single week, when you come forward and you huddle up in groups and the elders take the elements and they preach the gospel to you, it is a reminder to you that Jesus is in control of your life, that Jesus has not left the building that he's in control of your life and he's in control of the world, even when it doesn't look like it, even when it doesn't feel like it and doesn't look like it, even when it doesn't feel like it and I realize that's probably difficult for some of us to hear this morning, because some of you are in very difficult situations and your life feels really, really hard. And so hearing that God's in control, maybe that's frustrating, maybe that's confusing, maybe it pushes you towards all sorts of why questions. We don't know the answers to the why questions. He's God and we're not. But here's what I do know Jesus is good, jesus knows your specific situation, jesus cares about your specific situation, jesus loves you, he holds your life in his hand and not a hair can fall from your head without Jesus, your Savior, knowing it, jesus, your Savior, knowing it. So, while we don't have all the answers, we don't need to be afraid, because Jesus is with you wherever you go and he will never leave you and he will never forsake you. And so in a few minutes, when we come to this table, remember that when you take the elements, remember Jesus has not left you, that he is in control. Even when you don't understand. Lean in and find comfort in that fact.
Speaker 1:Secondly, the recipients of the Lord's Supper. Did you notice who's around the table? The disciples are around the table with Jesus. Look at verse 21. Behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me at the table. Then verse 23,. Very significant, easy to miss.
Speaker 1:They began to question one another which of them it could be who was going to do this. Isn't that interesting? In Matthew's account it says one by one around the table, they said is it I? I found that very interesting Because every single person around the table knew they were capable of betraying Jesus. And my question for you this morning is what would you have said that night if you were around the table with Jesus? Would you have said no way, not me.
Speaker 1:Friends, if you do not think you're capable of betraying Jesus, then you don't know the depths of sin within your own heart. Betraying Jesus, then you don't know the depths of sin within your own heart. We know, because we know that we have the whole Bible, that Judas is the one who betrays Jesus. And if you look at the context of this passage, it's really interesting. Right after this passage, jesus looks at Peter and says look, you're going to deny me three times. And then, after that passage, jesus, in the worst night of his life, goes to pray and he looks at his friends, his closest friends, and he says will you stay awake with me, will you just please pray? And what do they do? They all fall asleep.
Speaker 1:Do you see who's at the table? You see, the point is that the people that are at this table sharing a meal with Jesus are sellouts, betrayers. They're slothful. Everyone around this table at this Passover meal is a sinner desperately in need of rescue. And here's the amazing thing that's also easy to miss.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 15. Jesus said to them, to the sellouts, to the betrayers and deniers Jesus looks at them and says I not just desire, I earnestly desire to eat this meal with you before I suffer. My goodness, I mean, think about that. Jesus knows what they're going to do and he says I want to be with you, I'm going to stay at the table, I want to share this meal before I suffer. If you were sitting down at a meal with your spouse and you knew they were going to get up from the table and be unfaithful to you, would you stay? If you were going to sit down at a meal with a co-worker or a friend and you knew that they were going to get up from that meal and they were going to stab you in the back and deny you and betray you and turn on you. Would you stay at the table? No, who in the world would stay at the table? No, jesus would stay at the table. Jesus would stay at the table.
Speaker 1:Jesus has the same knowledge of the disciples. He knows they're going to be unfaithful to Him, yet he doesn't leave the table. He says I earnestly desire to eat this meal with you. Please do not miss the heart of Jesus for desperate, unfaithful sinners. It is full of compassion and it is so tender.
Speaker 1:And we instinctively think don't we the things we're deeply ashamed of and the failures in our life? We think it's those things that keep us away from Jesus. And so we run and hide or we blame someone else, or we get defensive or we deflect Friends. Jesus knows you, he knows me, he knows us all the way to the bottom. He knows our unfaithfulness. He knows our secret sins and our shame. He knows the things in our lives that we've never told anyone. Jesus knows that we're never going to love him as much as he loves us. And yet he says I earnestly desire to share this meal with you.
Speaker 1:And in a few days or a few hours, jesus says I'm going to walk to a cross and I'm going to spread out my arms and I'm going to be crucified and die for all of those things that make you ashamed. To say it another way, the Lord's Supper is not centered around your commitment to Jesus, thank goodness. The Lord's Supper is centered the entire meal is about Jesus' commitment to you. Everything Jesus has done and everything he's going to do on Good Friday when he's crucified is not for the good people, it's not for the righteous, it's for sinners. And so when you come to the table in a few minutes, rest in the goodness and tenderness and compassion of our Savior for unfaithful sinners who went to a cross and took all of our sin and our shame and our failures on Himself and got what we deserved. What we deserved, jesus. It was placed on Him.
Speaker 1:Lastly, the meaning. Look at verses 17,. The meaning of the meal Verses 17 through 20. The Passover was not. It was a long meal. It was drawn out. They were celebrating and lingering and remembering and Luke brings us to the table, actually, in the middle of there were several courses, and Luke brings us to the table. In the middle of of there were several courses and Luke brings us to the table in the middle of the meal.
Speaker 1:And at this point the disciples are not thinking this is anything different, that there's just simply going through the meal, like they've gone through for 1500 years as the people of God, celebrating God's deliverance in Egypt. And so they had a lamb at the table and they had unleavened bread and bitter herbs and drinking wine. All of this was going right according to schedule. And then Jesus stands up and he says something that would have floored them. Verses 19 and 20,. Took the bread, after giving thanks, he broke it and he said this is my body, which is given for you. And then he took the cup and he said this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant that's been poured out for you. Jesus here is saying that his suffering is going to lead them through the ultimate exodus, that Jesus was going to rescue them not from Pharaoh, but from an even greater enemy, the enemy of sin and death, not through putting blood on a doorpost, but through his blood that he would shed, and it would cover them and protect them from the wrath of God.
Speaker 1:The disciples, most certainly at this point, are starting to realize there's something different happening at this meal on this particular night, that this meal is not about something that happened 1,500 years ago. It's about something that's about to happen. It's about the Lord, jesus Christ. And it's interesting that none of the gospel writers actually mentioned that a lamb was actually on the table at the Passover feast. They mentioned bread, but a lamb is not mentioned. Why, tim Keller? I love this. He says because the lamb was not on the table. The lamb was at the table, jesus, the Passover lamb. All of the lambs that had been slaughtered for 1500 years pointed to this lamb, the ultimate and final lamb of God, jesus, who would be the sacrifice, once and for all, for our sins.
Speaker 1:And then the Bible all of a sudden starts to make sense, doesn't it? Isaiah 53. Remember what it says, talking about Jesus's suffering, suffering, jesus would be like what a lamb going to slaughter. You get to revelation, chapter five. Every nation, tribe and tongues gathered around the throne of god and they're saying worthy is the lamb of God who was slain. John the Baptist, in John chapter 1, sees Jesus and he doesn't say oh, here comes the shepherd. What's he say? Here comes the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world.
Speaker 1:On this night, jesus is instituting the Lord's Supper. He's instituting a new meal for his followers, a meal that would sustain and nourish and encourage them. Not only is this meal that we partake of meant to remind us and help us to remember the past and sustain us in the present. It's also meant to give us hope for the future. There is a forward pointing element to the Lord's Supper. You see it in verses 16 and 18. Twice there is reference to the coming kingdom of God. I will not eat of this bread or drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes again.
Speaker 1:Think of the Lord's Supper like standing next to a grill. I used to do this all the time with my girls, still do some, but I would be cooking outback, cooking steak. They would come up they would say what are you cooking? I would give them a piece of steak and they would say, wow, that's good. I can't wait for dinner. When are we eating dinner? It was a foretaste of the meal to come. It's the exact same with the Lord's Supper. This is a foretaste, it's an appetizer of the great wedding feast of the Lamb that is to come. We know it's coming because we've tasted it.
Speaker 1:Jesus wants our eyes, as the people of God, on the future, and one of the reasons we partake of this meal every single week is that it fills us with hope and it keeps our eyes on the future, on the coming kingdom of God, when Jesus will come and wipe away every tear from our eyes, make all things new, and we will feast with him forever. And so let's come to the table this morning. Are you ready? And as you come, remember this meal points you to the control of Jesus over your life in the world, it points you to the tenderness and compassion heart of Jesus for sinners, it points you to his work on the cross as the Lamb of God and it points you forward to the day Jesus is going to wipe away every tear.
Speaker 1:And so let's come now to the table. Let's pray every tear. And so let's come now to the table. Let's pray Father, thank you for living for us and thank you for dying for us. Forgive us for the ways that we betray you and deny you and sell you out, and I pray that you would help us this morning to remember that you are in control, that you would help us to remember your work and that you would fill us with hope. Would you do that as we partake in this meal together? In Jesus' name, amen.