The Passover

Passage Guide

If you have your bibles, turn with me, or if you use an electronic device, “click” over to two passages of scripture:

Matthew 26 and John 13.

It is now Thursday in the Passion Week. The next MAJOR thing we see Jesus doing, although he does many things between his triumphal entry and Maundy Thursday, but the next MAJOR thing he does is the last dinner or the last supper. As we prepare to take the Eucharist which Jesus himself instituted here next week, Jesus, too, began to prepare for his last meal with his disciples.

Main Text #2

Hopefully you still have your place in Matthew 26. Notice what it says, beginning in v17:

​Matthew 26:17–30 NASB17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.” 26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: “Surely it is not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus *said to him, “You have said it yourself.”26 Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and [e]after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the [new] covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”30 And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Passover was a meal that God commanded the Israelites to observe every year on 15 Nissan, like the car. The Hebrew calendar was tied into the lunar cycle, and 15 Nissan is always a full moon. In our Gregorian calendar, Easter always occurs after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox, signifying the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. Passover commemorated the event of when God delivered the Israelites out of the slavery and bondage in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land of their own. What happened was that God sent Moses to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and told him to “let his people go.” Pharaoh refuses, and after nine plagues, God finally had enough. Have you ever had enough?

Illustration

Comedian and singer Mark Lowry tells the story about how one time his mother “had enough.”

He said:

“One day when I was about 8 years old, I was in the kitchen, minding my own business when my older brother Mike — Mr. Perfect — who was 10 years old came walking through the kitchen. Now, I was in the kitchen first. But he came walking into the kitchen and he had that look on his face. It was a look that said, ‘I need to be slapped.’

Well, what was I to do?

I walked over and SLAPPED him.

Next thing I knew, I was on the floor. He had me by the throat, and I was pounding him in the face — we were having a wonderful time.

There was only one problem:

Mama was in the kitchen.

She was washing dishes, and just about that time, mama ‘had enough.’

Did your mama ever ‘have enough?’

I wish that God would build on the back of every Mother’s head a little red light, and it would start flashing ten seconds before ‘enough.’

So we’re fighting and all of a sudden, without any warning, mama ‘had enough.’

All of a sudden, she throws herself over the kitchen sink and began wailing:

‘OHHHHH I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED! LORD FORGIVE ME FOR FAILING WITH THESE BOYS!’

My brother and I stopped fighting and went… [look of surprising interest]

This was a lot better than our fight.

Mama was pitchin’ a fit!

She kept screaming, ‘OHHHHH I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED!

Then, all of a sudden, the phone started ringing. I looked at mama, looked at my brother, looked at the phone, looked back at mama, looked back at my brother, and I said:

‘I wonder who’s gonna get the phone?’

My brother looked at me and said:

‘Not me.’

That left mama, who’s in absolutely NO condition to answer the phone.

She was still screaming, ‘OHHHHH I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED!’

Then, all of a sudden, mama started heading towards the phone.

I immediately started fasting and praying. I said,

‘Oh dear Lord…please don’t let that be daddy on the phone…

…I’ll go to Africa, I’ll wear polyester bermuda shorts for the rest of my life, I’ll do anything you want, just please don’t let that be daddy on the phone.’

Mama, still going towards the phone, still screaming, ‘OHHHHH I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED! I can’t believe the way you boys treat me! I went through the shadow of the valley of DEATH to give you birth. Between the two of you, I’ve been in labor HALF MY LIFE!’

She gets to the phone, places her hand on it...

‘OHHHHH I’VE FAILED, I’VE FAILED!’

[Normal voice]: ‘...hello?’

Your mom ever do that? To this day, I have no Idea how she did that.”

But God had ENOUGH. So, he said, paraphrased, “let my people go, or I will KILL your first born sons.” Needless to say, Pharaoh called God’s bluff. Only God doesn’t “bluff,” does he? Pharaoh lost his first-born son that night. But God told the Israeli’s to sacrifice a lamb and paint it’s blood on the doorpost of your homes. If you do this, I will pass over you. That’s why it’s called “passover.” This is a very important event because in the Passion of Christ, it represents a few things: First, the lamb sacrificed represents Jesus Christ and his “once, for all” sacrifice. Second, the wooden doorpost, painted with the blood of the lamb represents the cross of crucifixion and Jesus’ blood poured out for sinners upon it. Third, the “passing over,” or “passover” of God’s judgement on the Egyptians and their firstborn represents the “passing over,” or “passover” of God’s final judgement upon those who have believed. Today, in the time that we have left, I want to speak to you about three very important things Jesus did at the last supper and why they are important to us.

1. Jesus Gave Us A New Covenant

​Matthew 26:28 NKJV28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

If you look at the Old Testament, everything in it is a giant representation of Jesus and what he would do, so you can see that from the beginning, or at least from the fall of man, God had a redemptive plan in motion. Passover was a representation of the covenant God made with Israel.

​Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics and Philosophy of Religion CovenantA mutually binding relationship between two or more parties.

The English word covenant comes from the Latin convenīre, meaning “to come together, agree.” The Hebrew words kārat berît literally mean to “cut a covenant,” meaning to kill an animal, or in most cases familiar to us, to cut the skin, or foreskin, as in circumcision — and it’s where we get our modern phrases “cut a deal” or “strike a deal.” If you notice, when God had them kill a lamb, paste it’s blood on the doorpost and said he would “passover” them, it’s a representation of the cross, and a covenant made with them. After that, God leads, or “calls” Israel, his chosen people, out of Egypt. In much the same way, God choses who he will save by “calling them out,” making them his “called out ones,” or the “church.” And people say that the church didn’t exist before the New Testament. Folks, the “idea” and “symbolism” of the “church,” in the Hebrew, עדה (ey'dah), meaning “congregation,” or “assembly,” and in the Greek “ekklesia,” meaning “called out ones” has been around since the exodus. Then, God leads them through the Red Sea by parting it where they can pass through on dry ground. This is a type of water baptism. This rag-tag group of nearly 2 million Israelis, assembled in the desert, called out of Egypt, cut into covenant with God and baptized into God’s family through the Red Sea was the very first church. Everything that happens in this Old Testament story is a symbolic representation of where on redemption’s hill, the blood of Jesus Christ was poured out for us to redeem, ransom and reconcile us back to himself. Jesus knew that by his death, he was taking upon himself what we deserved so that he could replace that sacrificial lamb of which he symbolized the ultimate lamb of sacrifice. He gave us a NEW covenant. There was no need for a sacrificial lamb anymore, because he WAS the lamb. 29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

​Romans 6:10 NASB10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

2. Jesus Gave Us Access To The Father

The word “communion” in the noun sense means

​Concise Oxford English Dictionary Communion■ noun 1 the sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings.

​Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Communionintimate fellowship or rapport

The word “communion” comes from the Latin word “communio,” and it is defined as “sharing in common.” What that means is that Jesus gave us access to the Father. We are sons and daughters of God!

​Ephesians 1:4–5 NASB4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, We are able to have an intimate relationship with the Father the way Adam and Eve did before the fall. We are born of two elements, dirt and Spirit — dirt can relate to and minister to the things from dirt, and Spirit can relate to and minister to the things from Spirit. We were meant to be living intersections between God and man with a hand-hold on Spirit and a hand-hold on the earth. But we sinned in the garden and lost our hand-hold on Spirit. And so we lost our ability to access God. Jesus gave it back. Now, because he is our brother, as sons and daughters of God, and through his perfect sacrifice, we have access to God.

3. Jesus Gave Us Atonement

Turn with me over to John 13.

​John 13:3–20 NASB3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ 19 “From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. 20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 *got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself.5 Then He *poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. 6 So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” 8 Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” 9 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”12 Then, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; and you are correct, for so I am. 14 So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you. 16 Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ 19 From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am He. 20 Truly, truly I say to you, the one who receives anyone I send, receives Me; and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” We need to pay close attention to what’s happened here. Notice: v8:

​John 13:8 NASB8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

8 Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” This does not mean, “Unless you are baptized you cannot be saved.” It means, “unless I wash your sins away by My atoning death you have no real relationship to Me.”

​Revelation 1:5 NASB5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—

5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—

​1 John 1:7 NASB7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. Notice again vv9-10:

​John 13:9–10 NASB9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

9 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.” Look, if you are in need of saving grace, Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross is available to you. I know we’ve talked a bit about predestination over the last few weeks, but the truth is if you have a desire for God and to be saved in the first place, you’ve been called, and salvation is available to you. Once you’ve been saved, however — once you’ve been “washed in the blood,” you don’t need to be “washed” again. After salvation, all we need is confession of sins, the continual application of Jesus’ death and blood to cleanse our daily sins. Notice v14:

​John 13:14 NASB14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

14 So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. It is here that we find meaning in the words of Jesus’ brother James:

​James 5:16 NASB16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much. In confessing our sins to one another, we are washing each others feet. By forgiving our brothers and sisters of wrongs suffered against us, we are walking in humility — we are becoming like Christ!

​Isaiah 53:5 NKJV5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

This is not only Spiritual healing but physical as well! Most physical ailments are rooted in sin, and therefore this is just as much about physical healing, too. With the bread, we remember his broken body, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities chastised for our peace and healed, BOTH spiritually AND physically, by his stripes.

​Matthew 26:27–28 NASB27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

​Matthew 26:28 NKJV28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The NKJV uses the words “new covenant,” i.e. replacing the old covenant. With the wine, we remember his blood, that is “being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins,” and that gives us access to God the Father.

​Ephesians 5:25–27 NASB25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. With the continual washing of one another’s feet, we present our Lord a holy and blameless bride, being forgiven of sins that otherwise would eternally separate us from God. Do you believe in Jesus today? Let’s stand together...