Today, we begin a journey through the last 24 hours of Jesus’ earthly life. As many have witnessed, it was 24 hours that absolutely changed the world…
- Where once there was a void of love, now LOVE entered in…
- Where once we were unable to relate to God, now we can walk closely with our Creator through faith…
Do we need reminders that this has happened—reminders of what God did for us through his Son, Jesus? Well, in short: Yes! We’re human beings! And, because we are, redundancy is a good thing! Jesus knew that; he knew that we’d need constant reminders of who we are and whose we are, in a world that would grow busier & busier, always trying to distract us from our connection to God; Jesus knew we’d need reminders … so that we might continue as vessels of the light of God in a world where darkness—all too often—seems to rule…
During this series, even though we’ll be filling in the story of Jesus’ last 24 hours with sections of the other Gospels, we’ll primarily be using the Gospel of Mark—commonly known as the oldest of the Gospels. So, let’s begin. Listen now to how Jesus went about making sure … that we’d have all the reminders that we’d need…
“On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the day they prepare the Passover sacrifice, his disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations so you can eat the Passover meal?’” … In the course of their meal, having taken and blessed the bread, he broke it and gave it to them. Then he said, ‘Take, this is my body.’ 23 Taking the chalice, he gave it to them, thanking God, and they all drank from it. 24 He said, ‘This is my blood, God’s new covenant, Poured out for many people. 25 I’ll not be drinking wine again until the new day when I drink it in the kingdom of God.’” – Mark 14:12, 22-25 (MSG)
They had probably shared this ritual meal—called the Passover Seder—in years past. But this time was different. The disciples were pretty confused. Usually they were guided through this ritual meal by direction and words from the Hagadah (the book from which Jews conduct the Seder = order). The traditional Passover Seder is very ‘orderly’ and a great occasion for joy—a celebration of their freedom from bondage. But, something was different about this Seder meal…
Background: Seldom has any historical figure gone downhill in popularity as fast as Jesus did in the last week of his life! Four (4) days earlier he’d entered Jerusalem with crowds of people welcoming him as they would a king! They shouted, ‘Hosanna,’ waved palm branches & threw their cloaks down on the road for him to ride over. They were convinced that he was the promised Messiah! By Thursday, however, he was essentially in hiding, as the religious leaders plotted his death, with the help of one of the twelve (12) disciples closest to him…
Jesus, of course, knew what was coming. He’d foretold (prophesied) all of it, but his disciples never really understood. The events of the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life would test his disciples … and they would fail… ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ the people would shout; they were convinced he was the long-awaited Messiah, basically saying ‘Save us now, Jesus! Deliver us!’ But, God had something bigger in mind, didn’t he? Here’s how the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life began: First…
THEY PREPARED FOR THE PASSOVER SEDER (LAST SUPPER)… Verse 12 states, – “On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the day they prepare the Passover sacrifice, his disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations so you can eat the Passover meal?’” Jesus turned to two (2) of his disciples (Luke = Peter & John), asking them to go into town to make preparations for the Passover feast, or Seder (a private meal) and he tells them this (vv.13-15):
"Go into the city. A man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him. 14 Ask the owner of whichever house he enters, ‘The Teacher wants to know, Where is my guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a spacious second-story room, swept and ready. Prepare for us there."
A man carrying a water jug would not be hard to spot; this was primarily a woman’s job; it would have been unusual… Jesus had probably arranged for the meal in advance… Also, a house like this would have been owned by someone quite wealthy—someone willing to risk their wealth, status, perhaps even life itself to help Jesus. Everything went just as Jesus had said…
- About 3 PM, Peter & John would’ve taken a lamb to the Temple for sacrifice, joining tens of thousands of people arriving for that very purpose…
- After the Temple ceremonies, they would’ve taken the butchered meat to the upper room to be basted in oil or wine and roasted for three (3) to four (4) hours…
- About 7 PM, they would have sat down to begin the meal (which could last several hours)…
Again, the purpose of the Passover Seder was to have a time of remembrance and celebration over their people’s liberation from Egypt. For over 400 years, they’d been enslaved in that country. Then, with the help of one named Moses, God had delivered them to freedom (Exodus 3-13). They didn’t want to ever forget; even as the generations passed by, they wanted this part of their history with God to be remembered forever. So, a meal was put in place to memorialize the event (like when we start family traditions that carry on for generations)… One Rabbi has commented this way: “It is a meal filled with ritual, from the food you eat, to how you eat it, to how you sit.” And, if you’ve ever attended a Seder meal, you know exactly what I’m talking about (Edmund)… Again, this night was different; it was…
A TIME THAT ENDED UP BEING ABOUT BETRAYAL & REPENTANCE. Verses 17-19 explain to us, “After sunset he came with the Twelve. 18 As they were at the supper table eating, Jesus said, ‘I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators, one who at this moment is eating with me.’ 19 Stunned, they started asking, one after another, ‘It isn’t me, is it?’” So, what happened to the JOY of Passover? This night was taking an incredibly unusual turn…
Have you ever been to a family gathering where there was a bit of tension in the room? You know, when the ‘crazy uncle or aunt’ shows up and begins to do their thing?
Well, the tension was a bit like that in the upper room on that night. What was going on with Jesus? He’d just finished riding triumphantly into the Holy City a few days ago, and it was great to be his disciple then! But, now things had changed. Everyone was conscious of the heightened tension between Jesus and the religious leaders. He’d probably pushed them just a little too far. They all wondered what was going to happen to Jesus—and to them. Would there be repercussions from his actions in the Temple?
Into the midst of this tension-filled room, Jesus suddenly blurts out, “One of you will betray me!” And, then the finger-pointing started… You can almost see it, can’t you?
The truth is that the acts of betrayal by those closest to him are still unsettling. Why? Because we realize, every time we hear this story, that such betrayals are still commonplace today—every time someone in leadership (ecclesial/political) disappoints us, for instance. Jesus might as well have said, “All of you will betray me,” and with the possibility of that realization, we have to look at ourselves:
- When have you been Judas?
- When have you been Peter or the other disciples?
- When have you betrayed Jesus or denied or deserted him?
The reality is … all of us will, at one time or another, betray him—every one of us!—which takes us to this…
JESUS MOVED THIS MEAL FROM PASSOVER SEDER … TO HOLY COMMUNION. Verses 22-25 read: “In the course of their meal, having taken and blessed the bread, he broke it and gave it to them. Then he said, ‘Take, this is my body.’ 23 Taking the chalice, he gave it to them, thanking God, and they all drank from it. 24 He said, ‘This is my blood, God’s new covenant, Poured out for many people. 25 I’ll not be drinking wine again until the new day when I drink it in the kingdom of God.’” This confused the heck out of the disciples; what was he talking about?
He broke the ‘matzo’ (unleavened bread) and handed it to his disciples … and said, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26). “Hey, that’s not part of the Hagadah! Where did he get those words from?” they were probably thinking… They didn’t understand the object lesson, but they ate…
Then Jesus took the cup—likely the third of four (4) small cups of wine the disciples would have drunk at the Seder—and again, he left them scratching their heads when he said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). They would have recognized the ‘blood of the covenant’ comment from Exodus 24:8 (Moses offering sacrifice to seal their relationship with God). But, when Jesus said ‘This is my blood of the covenant,’ he changed everything! Jesus transformed the Passover Seder, a meal meant as a celebration of freedom for Jews, to a celebration meal for all who would soon be able to experience true freedom in Him…
Adam Hamilton tells it this way: “The last twenty-four (24) hours of Jesus’ life is the story of God whose love for his people is so amazing and profound that he would send his Son to lay down his life as the sign and seal of a covenant (agreement) that would deliver the human race from death.”
This new meal, this new Passover, that we now call Eucharist or Holy Communion, would be a lasting reminder of God’s love, his grace, and the sacrifice of his Son…
It’s a meal that defines us—that will always define us as God’s people! Like the Passover Seder—a meal that begins with slavery & ends the night with freedom … so too our time of Holy Communion is a meal that tells a story … of someone who saved us, that gave us our freedom through the cost of his life, that God—walking in human flesh—suffered and died for us. This is the story we remember. It’s a BIG STORY, and we have to ‘get it’ if we’re going to be followers of Jesus Christ…
We believe that Holy Communion…
- BOTH takes us back to the cross, to remind us what God did to save us…
- AND it also points us ahead to the day when we will eat this meal in the kingdom of heaven (see 1 Corinthians 11:26).
Jesus gave us a meal by which we can remember him the rest of our lives. From that time to right now, every time Jesus’ disciples have shared this meal of bread and wine (OR grape juice), it’s bound them together as his followers, reminding them that he is never far away… Every time you come to the Table, let it remind you of the same!