Endgame - 2 (2021)

EndGame - 2

Introduction

Final meals before execution are a long-standing tradition for condemned inmates. Traditions vary around the world regarding this practice, and are varied even within the US.

For example, in Florida, the last meal must be purchased locally and can only cost $40. In Oklahoma, the cost can only be $15. In Louisiana, the prison warden traditionally joins the condemned prisoner for their final meal.

Over the years, there have been some odd requests from some inmates.

- Timothy McVeigh [OKC bomber] - two pints of mint chocolate chip.

- Victor Feguer [murder] - one olive with pit, hoping grow into tree.

- Velma Barfield [serial killer] - Cheez Doodles.

Final meals have a long-standing tradition…much longer than we realize. We’ve been in this series called Endgame, looking at the last week of Jesus’ life. Today we are going to talk about his final meal, eaten with his followers just hours before his arrest and crucifixion.

Matthew 26:17-19 - 17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

This final meal that Jesus eats with his followers is called the Passover Meal during the Jewish Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is a meal that is packed with meaning, and has a very long-standing historical context. It takes us back to the Old Testament book of Exodus.

Exodus opens with the Israelites in slavery, working for Egypt. They are treated very poorly, like property. Enduring very harsh conditions, they cry out to God for deliverance. God hears them and calls a man named Moses to deliver them. Moses will go to Pharaoh, the most powerful man on the planet, and demand that he let God’s people go free.

As you can imagine, that conversation doesn’t really go very well. “You know these people that you own, who work for free, who have built the wonders of your kingdom…yeah, you should just let them go.” He refuses. Since Pharaoh needs some convincing, God begins a full-scale assault on Egypt. God will unleash a series of 10 devastating plagues. And as bad as the first 9 plagues are for Egypt, God warns Pharaoh that they will not compare to the 10th.

Exodus 11:4-7 - 4 So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

Tomorrow, death will come for the firstborn sons. Countless numbers of Egypt’s children will die, but Israel’s will be saved. This is a profound act of judgment against Egypt. And it is an act of choosing for Israel. A sign to the world that Israel is his people, that God makes a distinction between those who belong to him and those who do not…It seems odd to us that God would do this. How could God do such a horrific thing? We call this divine justice. This is God teaching us the biblical principle of “you reap what you sow.” Egypt had done this very thing to Israel years before.

Exodus 1:22 - 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Egypt is being punished for the way they punished Israel. God gives Pharaoh a warning the day before, but he refuses to listen. So Moses will get the Israelites ready. And he gives them very specific instructions for what needs to happen.

Exodus 12:21-23 - 21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, smear the blood on the doorposts as a sign that this house is covered by the blood of that sacrifice. And the house covered by the blood of the sacrifice will be safe. Death, judgment, will pass over that house. The Israelites do as instructed. They sacrifice the lambs, put the blood on the doorframe. And God does exactly what he said he’d do.

Exodus 12:28-30 - 28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.

This is the final plague, the final act of judgment. God finally gets Pharaoh’s attention. He summons Moses in the middle of the night and tells them to get all the Israelites out of his country. By morning, they’ve packed up and are ready to go. By the death of the firstborn, God’s people have been set free.

During this event, God isn’t just having them do this for this night only. He is establishing a celebration that the Israelites are commanded to remember for years to come.

Exodus 12:24-27 - 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

This final meal in Egypt is one the Israelites are to remember every year. To celebrate their deliverance. To remember how God saved them. And every element of it was to serve as a reminder…lamb was a reminder of the sacrifice that saved them, the bitter greens reminded of the bitterness of slavery, the unleavened bread reminded them of the purity of God’s people.

So every Spring, the Israelites would celebrate this meal together at this annual celebration of the Passover, remembering that God had saved them. That the lamb was sacrificed, the blood identified them, and death passed over them. God had set them free. Back to Matthew 26.…this is the time of year when they celebrate this feast. Jesus has already made plans for the venue and sent his disciples ahead to get things ready.

Matthew 26:26-29 - 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”

While this meal is packed with meaning because of its rich history, Jesus interestingly tells them that Passover has another layer of meaning…Passover isn’t really about Passover. Something deeper is going on here. Passover pointed to a greater meaning, a greater sacrifice. There is something else God wants his people to see. The sacrifice of a spotless lamb. The death of a firstborn son. Every element of Passover points to a greater reality, a whisper of something to come. Jesus says that all of Passover points to him. “This is my body…this is my blood…”

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover feast. The bread they eat represents his body that will be sacrificed for them. He’s the spotless Lamb of God. The wine represents his blood that will be poured out for for them.

With the sacrifice of Jesus, God is establishing a new covenant with his people. This is why the Bible is divided into Old Testament and New Testament. Testament means covenant. There was an old way that God dealt with his people, through these Feasts and the OT law and sacrificial system. But with Jesus, God is doing something new, something different than he did before.

Let’s talk bout what’s going on here. Remember, Passover is this celebration where the Israelites remember that they were slaves. Trapped by a power too great for them to overcome. There was no hope of escape. Then, through the death of the firstborn, God sets them free. God crushes the oppressive power over them.

Isn’t this exactly what Jesus came to do for us? We’re all held captive, trapped by a power we can’t hope to escape. Sin has taken us hostage and we need someone to crush our oppressor. We need someone to set us free.

John 8:34-36 - 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Sin is a slave-master. Each act of disobedience tightens the shackles. Sin and its consequences of death and judgment rule over us. But the Son offers freedom. The Firstborn Son of God (a title the NT gives to Jesus) sets people free. And he does that through his death. By the death of the Firstborn, we are set free.

Jesus uses the elements of the Passover Meal to point toward who he is. “This bread represents my body.” Unleavened bread, a symbol of purity. Undefiled by yeast (a symbol of sin in the bible). Jesus is the spotless Lamb, the undefiled bread, the pure sacrifice, the sinless Savior.

“This wine represents my blood poured out for you.” The blood of this sacrifice will identify you. And now the consequences of your sin, death and judgment, they will pass over you. You’ve been forgiven. You’ve been set free.

TS - This Last Supper really is the last supper. This one meal is the final expression of the Passover. It is the final meaning of the sacrifice. It is the final exodus from the tyranny of sin and death. This final meal is the meal to end all meals.

But this Last Supper is also a First Supper. Jesus is instituting a new Feast that we remember every Sunday when we gather together for worship. We’ve said a number of times that when we gather together, Jesus is the centerpiece of what we do because Jesus is the centerpiece of who we are.

When we take communion together, that is exactly what we are declaring. We focus our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on Jesus. We remember what he’s done for us. We take bread. We take juice. We remember his body sacrificed and blood poured out.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 - 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

When we gather together at communion, we are remembering the historical reality of these events. We look back on the cross. But notice what 1 Corinthians said…”you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

When we celebrate this meal together we are not just looking back. We are looking forward…forward to the day when Jesus returns. Sharing in this meal reminds us of all that has happened, and of all that will happen. And on that day, there is a Feast!

Revelation 19:6-9 - 6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty reigns.

7 Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready;

8 it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The Wedding Feast of the Lamb…notice the language…Lamb. Our sacrifice. All of God’s people through all of time gather together around one table. One of the ways eternity is described is as a feast. An everlasting celebration for what God has done.

Think about it - for hundreds of years, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. All of those feasts pointed towards Matthew 26. Pointed towards the spotless Lamb of God, the Firstborn Son of God, being the sacrifice for us. They couldn’t have imagined how glorious the fulfillment would be.

The same is true for us. For thousands of years, God’s people have now gathered weekly to remember Jesus and celebrate together. But all of it points to an ultimate reality…a day beyond our imagining.

A day when we will eat this meal in the presence of the one whose body was broken, whose blood was poured out. Face to face with the one who gave his life for us. But until that day, we gather every Sunday to celebrate. And we take communion together, reminding ourselves of the “already, but not yet.”

As we take communion together, we look back at the “already.” Jesus went to the cross on our behalf. We’ve been set free. We’ve been forgiven. And we stand on the solid ground of what Jesus has already done for us.

And at the same time we look forward at the “not yet.” The day will come when Jesus will return and we are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. We live lives marked by hope.

COMMUNION