Sermon Tone Analysis

Nearly every week, people will come to me after the service to ask a question, or comment, about the sermon I’ve just preached.

99% of the time, it’s very nice—you guys encourage me well, which isn’t the case for a lot of pastors—so I consider myself blessed.

But every once in a while someone will come out with a comment which is just so far off the mark that I don’t know how to respond.

And by way of illustration, I mentioned my wife Loanne, and how she once said something that blew my mind when she said it: that the most fundamental relationship in our life is not that of husband and wife, but of brother and sister in Christ.

She’ll be my wife as long as we’re both alive; but she’ll be my sister in Christ for all eternity.

So that relationship is the foundation on which we can build our lives together as husband and wife.

One time (it wasn’t here, and I was preaching in English, so I feel comfortable talking about it here) during the sermon I talked about the Holy Spirit and his work.

A guy came up to me afterwards and said he had a question.

He leaned in and said, “So…why don’t you care about the poor?”

I didn’t quite know what to say.

“What gave you the impression that I don’t care about the poor?”

“You didn’t talk about the poor.”

I said, “What do you mean?”

A guy came up to me after the service, and said he had a comment about my sermon.

(I’m only telling this story because I know for a fact this guy isn’t here today, and doesn’t listen to my sermons—he does not like me.)

He leaned in and said (in all seriousness), “So…you’re saying you have sex with your sister.

You realize you’re encouraging incest, right?

Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Well no, because that wasn’t the point of this particular sermon.

We were talking about the work of the Spirit.”

“So the Spirit doesn’t care about the poor?”

“You know,” he said, “…like ghosts?”

He wasn’t kidding; he was deadly serious when he said it.

I just stared at him for the longest time; I had no idea how to respond to that.

Like, that is what you took from what I said?

We took a long time that day talking about the nature of our relationship as brothers and sisters in the church, and I’m pretty sure I was clear that Loanne isn’t literally my biological sister.

And yet, not only is that what this guy heard, he felt comfortable coming out with this comment

You get to a point in these discussions where you just don’t know what to say in response to what you’re hearing.

It’s so far off topic, or inappropriate, or just confused, that you’re simply at a loss for words.

But every so often, someone will say something in response to the message that is so inappropriate that I just don’t know what to say in

Last week we saw one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible.

In , we see Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper with his disciples.

It’s an absolutely beautiful moment.

In just a couple of sentences, Jesus sets forth for his people an institution which is so full of meaning that we still continue to be nourished by it, over two thousand years later.

Last week we saw one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible.

In , we see Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper with his disciples.

It’s an absolutely beautiful moment.

In just a couple of sentences, Jesus sets forth for his people an institution which is so full of meaning that we still continue to be nourished by it, over two thousand years later.

The passage we’re going to see today is also one of my favorite passages, for a very different reason.

On the heels of that incredible teaching tool Jesus gives his disciples, we see not just one, but a series of actions and reactions from the disciples who are sitting at the table with Jesus.

And their reaction to his institution of the Lord’s Supper is about the most disappointing reaction we could imagine.

The disciples are there with him, sharing this incredibly important and meaningful moment with Jesus, and immediately after—not even a few minutes later, but right away—they start coming out with the strangest and most inappropriate questions you can fathom.

This encourages me greatly as a pastor.

Because if Jesus—the Son of God himself—had this kind of reaction when he taught, then clearly it’s not all my fault.

Let’s go back a little bit to remind us of the context.

Jesus is at his final meal with his disciples, and they are celebrating this incredibly meaningful feast of the Passover together.

They’re reclining at the table, and we read in :

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.

15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.

18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 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.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

19 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.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

So we saw this last week.

He gave them the bread as a symbol of his body, which would be literally broken for them in just a few hours; and he gave them the cup as a symbol of his blood, which would be shed for them.

He told them that this meal is a sign of the new covenant he is establishing with them—he would soon present himself as the perfect sacrifice for his people; he would provide for them the fulfillment of the covenant.

It was an absolutely beautiful moment.

And then things take a turn, very quickly.

The first turn comes from Jesus himself.

Betrayal (v.

21-23)

So you see that at the end of v. 20, there are no end-quotes.

Jesus says, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood, and apparently without pause, he says (v. 21):

21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

22 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Anon, 2016.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

So the first disappointment isn’t really a disappointment—Jesus knew perfectly well what was going on, and we do too, because we read v. 1-6.

We know Judas is there with them, and we know what his real motives are.

The sobering thing to realize here is that this is Judas’s first (and last) Communion.

We could wonder why Jesus would have let Judas participate in this Communion, knowing what he was about to do.

But we should remember that no one is worthy to come to this table with Christ.

And Judas’s presence there with Jesus and the other disciples only accentuates the painful fact that Christ’s betrayal was to come from within—from someone with whom he is close, whom he loved.

When Jesus says, “Woe to that man by whom [the Son of Man] is betrayed”, it’s a lament: he knows not only what’s about to happen to himself, but what will happen to Judas afterward.

It’s a profoundly sad moment, and it is that moment that kicks off all the others.

The next disappointment we see here is the ego of the disciples.

The most disappointing response to Jesus’s proclamation we could imagine

Betrayal (Judas, v. 21-23)

Ego (v.

24-30)

24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

Without a pause, Jesus acknowledges that his betrayer is here with them.

So try to imagine this scene.

They are celebrating the Passover together—the most sacred Jewish feast.

As we saw last week, the Passover was a feast to remember the faithfulness of God toward his people.

In the middle of the Passover feast, Jesus gives them this incredible picture of the bread and the cup, which represent the sacrifice he was about to give for his people: his broken body, and his shed blood.

It is the fulfillment of the Passover—God continues to show his faithfulness to his people in sending them a Savior.

And in the middle of the Passover feast, Jesus gives them this incredible picture of the bread and the cup, which represent the sacrifice he was about to give for his people: his broken body, and his shed blood.

It is the fulfillment of the Passover—God continues to show his faithfulness to his people in sending them a Savior.

24Il y eut aussi une rivalité entre les disciples pour déterminer qui devait être considéré comme le plus grand parmi eux.

25Jésus leur dit: «Les rois des nations dominent sur leurs peuples et ceux qui exercent le pouvoir se font appeler bienfaiteurs.

26Que cela ne soit pas votre cas, mais que le plus grand parmi vous soit comme le plus jeune, et celui qui commande comme celui qui sert.

27En effet, qui est le plus grand: celui qui est à table ou celui qui sert?

N’est-ce pas celui qui est à table?

Et moi, cependant, je suis au milieu de vous comme celui qui sert.

28Vous, vous êtes ceux qui avez persévéré avec moi dans mes épreuves; 29c’est pourquoi je dispose du royaume en votre faveur, comme mon Père en a disposé en ma faveur.

30Ainsi, vous mangerez et boirez à ma table dans mon royaume et vous serez assis sur des trônes pour juger les douze tribus d’Israël.»

And just on the heels of that, these idiots start trying to one-up each other.

Maybe they were recalling the times when Jesus sent them out to preach the gospel and heal; and they start comparing notes.