The Last Supper
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The Last Supper
Mark 14:12–26
Intro:
In our prison system, a condemned prisoner is usually allowed to choose what they will have for their last meal.
Some of their choices are interesting.
• Gary Gilmore—The first man executed after the death penalty was reinstated in 1977, chose hamburgers, eggs, potatoes and bourbon, which was smuggled into his cell.
• Ted Bundy—A serial killer executed in Florida in 1989, had a burrito and mexican rice.
• Timothy McVeigh—Executed in 2001 for his part in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK had two pints of Mint Chocolate Chip ice Cream.
• John Wayne Gacy—A serial killer who murdered at least 33 young men and buried them under his house, had Kentucky Fried Chicken, fried shrimp, french fries, strawberries and Diet Coke.
• Walter LaGrand—Executed in Arizona in 1999, asked for six fried eggs, 16 strips of bacon, one large serving of hash browns, a pint of pineapple sherbet, a breakfast steak, a cup of ice, 7-Up, Dr Pepper, Coke, hot sauce, coffee, two sugar packs, and four Rolaids.(Really lol)
In our text today, the Lord Jesus Christ gathers with His disciples to partake in His last meal.
He does not have the privilege of requesting what He will eat for His last supper,
but the meal He eats may just be the most important meal ever eaten.
The meal Jesus Christ eats on the eve of His death is a meal that preaches the Gospel.
It is a meal that displays the grace of God.
It is a meal that signifies the creation of a new spiritual covenant between God and repentant sinners.
Lets join Jesus and His discipiles at The Last Supper.
.
My prayer is that These details will help you understand why The Last Supper was so significant then and what it means for you today.
I. The Preparations for Supper
I. The Preparations for Supper
v. 12–16
There was a lot of prep work that went into the passover.
You could say it was a Jewish thanksgiving just way more important
A. The Purpose For The Preparations
v. 12
—Our text says the disciples came to Jesus wanting to know where He wanted to observe the Passover meal.
The Passover was the main feast of the Jewish religious year.
It was to be held on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish calendar, Ex. 12:6; Lev. 23:5.
The regulations for the Passover are found in Exodus 12.
According to verses 1–11 of that passage, every family in Israel was to take the following steps.
• They were to choose a lamb, Ex. 12:3–6.
• They were to take the blood of the lamb and put some on the door posts of their homes, Ex. 12:7.
• They were to roast the lamb over a fire and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, Ex. 12:8.
• They were to eat this meal, with their shoes on, their walking sticks in their hands, Ex. 12:11.
This would be a good time to look at the center piece of the passover
The feast involved a lamb, Ex. 12:3–8.
Notice that Ex. 12:3 called for Israel to choose “a lamb”.
This could have been any lamb at all.
Then, it is called “the lamb” in verse 4.
This refers to the particular lamb that was chosen for the meal.
Then, it is called “your lamb” in verse 5.
This makes the lamb very personal.
They were to select the lamb on the “tenth day of the month”, Ex. 12:3, and they were to keep the lamb until the “fourteenth day” of the month, Ex. 12:6.
There would be an attachment that would develop between the family and the little lamb.
This was intentional, God wanted them to see the high cost of sin.
He wanted them to understand that salvation is a personal matter
The same is true with Jesus.
His death on the cross is meaningless for you until you receive Him by faith.
His death cannot save you until you turn to Him and receive Him
Listen to what the Word of God says:
John 3:16 for God so loved the world....
Acts 16:31 believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved
Rom. 10:13 for whosoever shall... Eph. 2:8–9 for by grace are ye saved...
Have you received Jesus as your Savior?
We all will face God on judgment day, the only thing that will determine your outcome on that day is not your good works or the amount of money you have put in the plate.
The only thing that will determine your outcome is if you have made Christ “your Lamb”
Has His blood been applied to the doorpost of your soul?
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Oh precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow,
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
B. The Plan For The Preparations
v. 13–16
—In response to their question, Jesus sent “two of His disciples” to make the arrangements for the Passover.
Jesus tells them to enter the city and look for a man carrying “a pitcher of water”.
They were to follow this man and he would lead them to a house where they would find everything ready for the meal.
On the surface, these instructions seem a little vague. But, as always, Jesus had His reasons for why He did what He did.
Jesus knew that a certain servant would be carrying water from a certain well to a certain house.
He also knew that the disciples would find the perfect room when they arrived at that house.
I praise the Lord that we serve a Savior Who knows all things!
The Bible says,
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
He could have told them the address, He could have told everything about the house.
We dont know why he did it this way, one possibility maybe he did not want Judas to know the exact location.
We dont know, all we know is the Lord instructed these two to go and they went.
We are not told the reason for a lot of what Christ does and asks, we just live by faith and obey His command.
So, Peter and John went into the city and found the house.
The lamb was purchased
The Table was prepared
The Passover Feast is now Ready
I. The Preparations For The Supper
But just like any family get together, there is a problem that arises
II. The Problem at Supper
II. The Problem at Supper
v. 17–21
The first thing we see about the problem, is for a problem to be known, you have to make....
A. An Announcement
v.18
—After Jesus washes the feet of His disciples, He drops a bombshell on the group.
He announces that one in their number is going to betray Him into the hands of the Jews.
Could you imagine sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner and someone stands up and says, “One of you here is a traitor to this family”
Some of us would be like, “Oh this is about to get good. forget the turkey, bring out the popcorn”
No,but seriously could you just imagine the atmosphere?
But Jesus does it.
He calls out the one that would betray Him.
We know the identity of the traitor, his name is Judas Iscariot.
And just like Judas, there are some here this morning, that will betray Christ and walk away from him for what, money, family, job, reputation?
Dont be the problem this morning.
Next we see
B. The Astonishment
v,19
—When the disciples hear that one of their group is a traitor, they are filled with astonishment.
They begin to look at Jesus and say. “Is it I?”
Even Judas, who knows exactly what he was about to do, looked at Jesus and said,
“Master, is it I?” (Matt. 26:25)
C. An Appeal
v. 20–21
—Jesus uses this opportunity to try and reach Judas one final time.
In John 13, we are told that Jesus identified the traitor to John by giving Judas “the sop”, John 13:21–27.
To be handed the “sop” by one’s host at a meal was the ultimate form of respect and love.
A lot of what we believe about the last supper has been taught to us through the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
That painting shows Jesus and the twelve disciples seated behind a long table.
This was not how they observed the Passover.
That picture is dead wrong and has caused much confusion about the Last Supper.
In Jesus’ time, the Jews had adopted the Roman style of eating.
They reclined on pillows around a low table.
Typically, they would lay down with their heads near the table, resting on their left elbow.
The left hand would cradle the head and the right hand would be used to eat.
This explains how John would be able to lay his head on the Lord’s chest as they ate, John 13:25.
Given this arrangement, Jesus would have been flanked by John in front of Him and Judas behind Him. this would have made it easy for Jesus to hand Judas the “sop”, since they would have shared the same bowl.
It is interesting to notice that while John could lean back and rest his head on the Master, Jesus could have leaned back and rested His head on Judas!
Judas was as close to Jesus as John was, but Judas was lost!
Jesus issues a call to Judas to turn from his wicked plan.
Judas is given a chance to repent.
Notice the Lord’s words in verse 21,
Judas would have been better off to have never have lived, than to have lived and died lost!
The same is true of every person who ever draws breath in this world.
To live without Jesus is a terrible thing, but to die without Him is a tragedy greater than the mind can comprehend.
To die without Jesus means the eternal loss of the soul in the fires of Hell! \
Hell Is A literal Place it is a place
Of Punishment—Matt. 25:41
A Place Of Fire—Luke 16:24; Mark 9:43–44
A Place Of Pain—Luke 16:24, 25, 28; Rev. 14:10–11
A Place Of Wrath—2 Thes. 1:8–9
A Place Of Frustration And Anger—Matt. 13:42; Matt. 24:51
A Place Of Eternal Separation From God a 2 Thes. 1:8–9; Rev. 21:27
• Hell is a place you do not want to go!
Just as Jesus reached out to Judas to stop him from going to Hell, He is reaching out to you today.
He has done everything He needs to do to prevent you from going to Hell.
He died on the cross to pay your sin debt.
He rose from the dead to grant you eternal life.
He gave you His Word to tell you about the Good News.
He sent His Spirit to convict you of sin and to draw you to Him, John 6:44.
The only thing that keeps you from being saved is you!
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Ro 10:9–10.
You must call on Jesus, by faith, for salvation.
You must!
There is no other way!
Jesus says, I am the way the truth and the life
I. The Preparations For Supper
II. The Problem At Supper
III. The Picture in the Supper
III. The Picture in the Supper
v. 22–26
Jesus uses the occasion of the Passover to institute a new covenant.
The old covenant, that had been in force since the Law was given to Moses, revolved around keeping rituals and symbolic sacrifices.
These rituals and sacrifices looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, Who would be God’s perfect sacrifice.
The new covenant would look back to the finished work of the Messiah.
Instead of keeping religious rituals and performing symbolic sacrifices, we rest by faith on what Jesus did when He died for our sins on the cross, was buried and rose again the third day.
In this passage, Jesus teaches the disciples, and the rest of us, what the new covenant is all about.
He wants us to learn the truth that salvation does not come through religious rituals and keeping the Law;
salvation comes by receiving what Jesus did for us by faith, Eph. 2:8–9.
he uses the Passover to teach us about His salvation.
Let’s learn from Him as He institutes the Lord’s Supper.
A. The Example
v. 22–24
Examples are used throughout God’s Word to illustrate something important
• Here, at this Passover Feast it is no different
Jesus combines words and symbols to communicate His truth to His disciples.
The pictures Jesus painted that day are powerful and they continue to speak to us today.
The first picture Christ paints for them and us is..
1. The Bread, Which Represents His Body
—When it came time to serve the bread, Jesus broke it and passed it around to the men at the table.
Because Jesus would have been partaking in the Passover feast As He did, He would most likely have said,
“Praised be Thou, O Lord, Sovereign of the world, Who causes bread to come forth from the earth.”
This was the traditional Jewish statement as the bread was taken.
But On this day, Jesus would add a new meaning to the bread when He said, “Take, eat: this is My body.”
Jesus equated the unleavened bread with His human body.
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Jesus used the bread that night to teach His disciples what He was about to do.
He was on His way to the cross to lay down His life for sin.
He was on His way to Calvary where His body would be “broken” for you, Isa. 53:4–6
Isaiah 53:4–6 (KJV 1900)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He wanted us to understand that the only way to have salvation was to become a part of Him by receiving what He did on the cross by faith.
That is why He said, “Take, eat …”
We must receive what He did for us, and we must internalize what He did for us on the cross.
This great truth is what we commemorate every time we partake in the Lord’s Supper.
It is a truth worth remembering!
2. The Wine, Which Represents His Blood
—When the time came to drink the third cup of wine, Jesus passed it around to His men at the table.
As He did, He would have said, “May the all-merciful One make us worthy of the days of the Messiah and of the life of the world to come. He brings salvation of His King. He shows covenant faithfulness to His anointed, to David and his seed forever. He makes peace in His heavenly places. May He secure peace for us and for all Israel. And you say, ‘Amen!’”
But, On that day, Jesus added a new meaning to the drinking of the wine. He said, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.”
Jesus equated the wine in the cup to His Own blood which was about to be shed on the cross.
The wine in the cup was produced through violence. Grapes were picked and crushed under foot to extract their juice.
Jesus was about to be crushed by the full weight of religious Israel and mighty Rome.
They would combine forces to see Him dead. More importantly, Jesus was about to be crushed by His Own Father.
When Jesus was on the cross, He literally became sin, 2 Cor. 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
As such, He was judged by God Almighty.
The full force of the awesome wrath of God was poured out onto the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is not mere theory, this is the clear statement of the Word of God, We have already quoted Isa 53:4-6, 10
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
This truth is made clear in numerous places in the New Testament.
Just to quote a few:
Paul says it this way...
⮚ Rom. 4:25, “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
Peter says...
⮚ 1 Pet. 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”
When Jesus was crushed on the cross, His precious blood was shed.
When the blood was shed, God was satisfied. Rom. 3:25–26
Romans 3:25–26 (KJV 1900)
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Now, all who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, have their sins washed away by the blood of Christ.
He takes the righteousness of Christ and applies it to the account of the repenting sinner.
He saves the soul because of the shed blood of Jesus.
That is what we commemorate every time we take the cup in Communion.
That cup reminds us that Jesus took our place on the cross.
It reminds us that we have been made right with God through His blood.
It reminds us that our sins have been washed away and we are clean in the eyes of the Lord.
It reminds us of His sacrifice for us and it fills the redeemed heart with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
This morning when we take of the Lord’s Supper, and the bread and the cup come your way, if you are saved and in fellowship with the Lord, take the bread and the cup with joy.
Remember what the Lord Jesus did for you when He came into this world to die for your sins on the cross.
Let the Lord’s supper be a time of profound worship as you meditate on His love for sinners like as us!
B. The Expectation
v. 25
—Jesus tells His men that He will not drink of the cup until He does so in His future Kingdom.
The third cup in the passover meal if you remember was called the cup of blessing.
So Jesus says, I will not drink of this cup of blessing again until that day in the kingdom.
At this moment, Jesus is looking down the corridors of time to a day when He will return to this world and establish His kingdom.
He is looking to a time when He will put down all His enemies.
He is looking to a time when He will rule the world with righteousness.
Jesus went to the cross with the expectation that He would rise again, go back to Heaven and return to the earth in glory and power to rule and reign.
That was His expectation, and that is exactly what will happen one day, Rev. 19:11–16.
C. The Exit
v.26
—When they finished the meal, Jesus and His men sang a hymn and left the upper room.
They finished the meal and headed out to the Mount of Olives.
There is so much we could say here about this place but time will not allow.
Christ went here because it was so sacred to him
Here he wept of the city
Here he spent many hours with his Father
It was here that he would be arrested
It would be here that in 40 days, He would accend to His Father and it will be here that He would return
So for this to be the place he went after the passover is fitting.
They didn’t know what was about to happen.
They did not know that before the sun sat the next day, their Master would be arrested, tried several times, condemned to death, beaten, crucified and buried.
They did not understand the truth that He was headed to His death.
They didn’t know, but Jesus did!
Yet He went anyway.
He knew that Judas would bring soldier to arrest Him, yet He went anyway.
He knew that Israel would reject Him, yet He went anyway.
He knew that the people would reject Him, yet He went anyway.
He knew that he would be beaten, yet he went anyway.
He knew that He would be nailed to a cross in shame, yet He went anyway.
He knew about the pain He would suffer, yet He went anyway.
Why would a man do that?
He did it because it was what the Father wanted
He did it because it was the only hope we had.
He did because He loved you!
He did it because He loved me!
He did it because He cares!
I, for one, am thankful that He did it!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
I hope as we are about to take part in the Lord’s Supper, you will never look at it the same way again!
I hope you will be thankful, grateful and filled with love for the Redeemer Who paid such a high price for your redemption.
It might just be that you would like to praise Him today. It might just be that you would like to get around these altars and worship Him for all he has done for you!
It might just be that someone here has never been saved.
Today, if the Lord has spoken to your heart.
He has shown you that you are a sinner.
He is calling you to come to Him.
If that is your condition, please come to Jesus Christ today and trust Him to save your soul.
I thank the Lord for His love. I thank God for His Son Jesus Christ.
Parts of message taken from : Alan Carr, The Sermon Notebook: New Testament, 2015, 1046–1058.
and many other resources.