The Flavor of Passion

Introduction

Illustration about unforgettable flavors

Now imagine the taste of kitty litter crunching between your teeth as you bite into a sandwich. Not a welcoming flavor is it? Well this is what Alfalfa and Darla taste as they’re on their date in the movie The Little Rascals. I’m sure you can see them. Alfalfa has it all planned out at the He man Women Haters Club headquarters, where no woman is ever allowed. He rushed to lock the doors, ensuring no one is able to get in an interrupt only to discover that his date has been sabotaged. He sits down in his seat to the embarrassing sound of a whoopee cushion. He and Darla partake in grape soda that has been funneled through an old sneaker. After they grab what he believes to be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and they endure a bite and swallow of kitty litter. But why? Why would Alfalfa go through all this trouble to impress Darla and why would his “friends” go through such lengths to sabotage this date?

Focus: This text is tailored to teach us that Jesus Christ’s willingness to recline in fellowship with us exposes the fragility of our faith, solidifying our need of His saving grace.

Function: Our response to Jesus’ grace should be a continual remembrance of His pouring out for us, resulting in a heart repentant of our insufficiency and yielded to His all sufficiency.

Big Idea: A call to Jesus’ table is a call to partake in sacrifice!

Background:

Maundy Thursday: so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus at the Last Supper (that is, the mandatum novum or “new commandment”)

A “certain man” (verse 18). But what made this man distinct? Mark and Luke describe in further detail that he was carrying a jar of water.

The cause: The taste of betrayal (v.21)

“One of you shall betray me”

The response: The taste of brokenness (v.26-27)

“Take it and eat it...drink from it, all of you.”

The touch of humility

John 13:6–9 “He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.””

The result: The taste of forgiveness (v.28)

“...which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”

also consider the mission of passion: John 12:44–50 “Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.””