Remembering the Cups
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Read Luke 22:14-20
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.
My goal for us tonight is to remember what Jesus’ death accomplished on Good Friday.
The Lord Jesus tells his disciples in 15 that he eagerly desires to eat Passover with them.
The Passover was a feast that God established in Exodus 12-13 in order to remember of God's deliverance from slavery and the angel of death in Egypt.
14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
In the time of Jesus, the traditional Passover meal would include four cups. In keeping with God’s command to “remember” the Passover, the Jews added the four cups of wine to the seder ritual. (Ray V.)
The practice of the four cups is born out of four promises that God gives his people in Exodus 6:6-7
6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
Four promises:
I will bring you out
I will deliver you
I will redeem you
I will take you
Those four promises are at the heart of the passover meal.
1st Cup: I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians
1st Cup: I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians
The word picture of slavery is burdens: it’s hopeless and exhausting.
Forced to make bricks
Forced to provide their own straw
Their babies were murdered by force.
2nd Cup: I will deliver you from slavery
2nd Cup: I will deliver you from slavery
The would drink the second cup while telling the story of how God delivered his people from Egypt.
3rd Cup: I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
3rd Cup: I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
This cup is a reminder of God’s salvation. God saved his people not from slavery but from judgment.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
Now Jesus takes this third cup and makes an amazing revelation: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20)
This is the cup Jesus used to institute the Lord’s Supper to remind us that the Lamb of God would have to shed his blood in order for God’s judgement to “pass over” our lives.
4th Cup: I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.
4th Cup: I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.
After partaking of cup #3 Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14:25-26, Matthew 26:29)
We are not 100% sure but it seems that Jesus does not partake of cup #4. The reason is because he wants to wait until the the kingdom of God is fully established. There is a final meal that is going to take place.
What is this final meal? Revelation 19:9 declares, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
Now, I want to talk to you about a 5th cup.
After the Passover meal Jesus goes out to pray. Mark tells us that Jesus began to be greatly distressed and troubled. (Mk 14:33). Mark uses words to describe the strongest possible anguish a person can experience. Luke describes Jesus in agony and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. (Lk 22:44)
What is going on? Jesus is not the first person to die on a cross. Many others have gone before him.
Let me show you what is going on.
Luke tells us that Jesus prayed saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Lk 22:42)
What is this cup?
In the OT, the prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah would connect God’s wrath and judgment over sin with the imagery of a cup. (Jer 25:15; Is 51:17)
The prophet Ezekiel calls it the cup of horror and desolation which tears your breasts. (Ezk 23:33)
No wonder Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” (Matt 26:39). Jesus gets a preview of what’s coming: He will take on himself all of the justice and wrath of God on human evil.
Philip Ryken “If I understand Gethsemane at all, it means that Jesus loves me even more than I can imagine. It is not just that he died for me, but that he died this horrible, damnable, God-forsaken death that no one would ever want to die. He died this death because there was no other way for sinners to be saved, no easier road to redemption, no alternative to the cross.”
Jesus took my cup, our cup and drank it dry.
On the cross he cried out, “it is finished.”
Show the empty cup
Jesus took my cup, our cup and drank it dry. Now he extends to us the cup of fellowship.
Let us know partake of communion as he remember his love through his death.