Matthew 26 (Part 2) :17-30

We're going to be dealing with some of the elements related to the Last Supper, the time when Jesus got together with his disciples and kind of inaugurated this new observance that took the place of Passover. I love Passover, I've got to tell you that, I really do. I think Passover is one of the really coolest of the Jewish celebrations along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread that goes along with it, and the reason of course is that it connects the dots between the Old Testament and the New. And that for some people is a big deal, I mean they read the Old Testament and they're kind of left like, I don't get this, you know, it's like I really don't, I'm not making the connection here, I'd rather just kind of hang out in the New Testament and live there. Well, the Old Testament is so rich with just insight and understanding of the things of the New and it gives us such greater dimension and clarity and so forth, and this is one of those places. If you're like me, you like Good Friday and you like Easter as far as just the celebratory aspects of what these observances are all about, then Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a key to understanding and enriching your insight as it relates to those holidays. So anyway, here we are, Matthew chapter 26, let's pray. Father God open our hearts, may your spirit just teach us today, Lord you are the teacher, you are the teacher, oh God just fill us with understanding, grant us illumination, give us spiritual eyes to see, spiritual ears to hear, a spiritual heart today to be receptive to what you want to say to us Lord. You know everybody here in this room, you know everybody within the sound of my voice, those who are watching us live on the internet right now, and Lord you know every person, you know every situation, every circumstance going on in their heart, you know how best to apply today's word to their lives. So we pray that you would do that. Minister Grace, we thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Verse 17, read along with me. It says,

Stop there if you would please for just a moment. So we got the feast of unleavened bread and we got the Passover. Some people might get a little confused about these, but don't. It's really kind of the same celebration, although there's two feasts that are being talked about here, although people will sometimes say, you know, the Passover, and they will refer to the feast of Passover and the feast of unleavened bread because they're right next to each other. They celebrated the Passover and then for seven days immediately following that was the feast of unleavened bread. So it was eight days of feasting that was just tucked together, all right? So people would sometimes call it the feast of unleavened bread, but they meant Passover too. So they used these terms, you know, synonymously and they all kind of understood that. But again, there were different things being commemorated in each of these. In the feast of unleavened bread, there was a commemoration of how the people had to get up quickly and leave because after the last plague in Egypt, when they were enslaved there, you'll remember the Egyptians, they wanted them gone like now, and they didn't have time to bake their bread or let the bread rise. And so the feast of unleavened bread, this seven-day period of having no leaven, no yeast, and having unleavened bread was a commemoration of how quickly and rapidly they had to kind of get up and move. And so forth. But you know, you guys probably know, from some of you guys who have looked into and studied the Old Testament, that yeast or leaven is also a picture of sin. And to be without yeast in their home was a constant reminder that these people, the Israelites, were to be holy unto the Lord. And they were to live their lives apart from the ways of the nations, the world, if you will, for you and I. And as the scripture says, you know, I am holy, says the Lord God, so be holy in all that you do. God speaks to his people, be holy, and so forth. And that is that idea of being without leaven or without yeast. And you know the connection there. As yeast works its way through a batch of dough, so also sin permeates our lives. And so yeast becomes this picture. And a really very apt picture of the effect of sin in our lives. The more we allow it in our lives, the more it permeates our lives, and so forth. And then you have the Passover. And I love the Passover. I love this celebration. Because the night before they left Egypt, God had been, you know, previously performing all these plagues, these miraculous signs in Egypt to show Pharaoh that he was the king of kings, the God of all gods. And after some of the miracles, Pharaoh would say, alright, you guys can go. And then he would harden his heart and say, no, you can't, you stay put, and so forth. And God spoke to Moses. And he said, listen, I'm going to do one more, bring one more plague on the nation of Egypt. And after this, they're going to let you go. Let me tell you, they're not going to want you around anymore. But he said, what I'm going to do is I'm going to send a destroying angel to come into the nation of Egypt. And that angel is going to put to death every firstborn male, human and animal. There will not be a home where there is not death. But I have made arrangements for you as my people. And this is where Passover just gets so incredibly cool because of what God told them to do. And this is given to us in the book of Exodus, the 12th chapter. Let me show this on the screen to you. Because this is where they're given direction. It says, Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, here's what I want you to do. Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, meaning according to the size of your family, your clan, your whatever, and kill the Passover lamb. And take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and touch the lintel, which is the weight bearing thing above the door or above a door or a window, but in this case a door, and the two doorposts on the side with the blood that is in the basin. And he says, none of you shall go out of the door of your house until the morning for the Lord, here's what's going to happen, the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when, look at this, when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over, and hence the name, the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. This is such a powerful, beautiful picture. Because what were these people doing that night of the very first Passover? Well, they were in their homes, and he said, don't leave your home. If you walk out of your home, you're outside of the protection of the Lord. You stay in your home, because when the angel passes through the land and he sees that blood on the door, he's going to pass over your home. Nothing will happen to those people who are in those homes. So what were they doing? They were sheltering under the blood of the Lamb. What are we doing today, people? We're sheltering under the blood of the Lamb. And the blood of the Lamb has been applied to our hearts, to our very lives, alright? To the entrance of our very lives. And we are no longer marked for death. The Bible says that because of what Jesus did on the cross, through the forgiving of our sins and conquering that penalty that hung over our heads by consuming it himself, that that penalty is no longer ours to suffer, and death itself has been robbed of its victory. And so it's this beautiful, beautiful picture of what Jesus has come to do. But here back in the Old Testament, and I actually have a picture, they didn't have cameras back in those days, so I found kind of an artist's rendering of what they probably did. The hyssop plant is interesting. I actually saw a picture of hyssop, and you cut them maybe so long and you put them all together and it has kind of a bushy, kind of a blossom thing on the end, and you put them together and you bind the stems together and it becomes this paintbrush. And it literally will absorb, you know, whatever you're painting on. In this case it was the blood of the Lamb. And they would literally paint it on the lintel and on the sides, the doorposts, and thus the death that would come that night to Egypt would pass over their homes. It's a powerful, powerful picture. And as I said, the Feast of Unleavened Bread goes right along with this celebration because Passover begins. It's the first Passover is the first thing and that you they would celebrate and then they would go into that week-long Feast of unleavened bread. Here's what it says in Exodus also in chapter 12 It says this day shall be for you a memorial day and he's talking there about Passover He says 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 and then he goes on to say Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread now He's talking about the feast of unleavened bread that just is right on the heels of Passover and on the first day That's Passover. You're gonna hold a holy assembly and then on the seventh day Which would be the conclusion of the feast of unleavened bread? You will hold another holy assembly and you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt Now you have a better understanding hopefully as we kind of go into this and we see what Jesus is doing with his disciples here during this time because This is the season of Passover. Isn't it fascinating you guys? I mean, isn't God's timing just incredible I mean at the very time when people were sacrificing lambs in Celebration of Passover the Lamb of God was being crucified and I mean the timing of God is impeccable He wanted to make sure that nobody got this one messed up in their mind and their understanding of the connecting point between The celebration or the observance of Passover and what Jesus was doing on the cross. I mean, there's no mistake here And and and and even if we thought there might be a mistake, you know, somebody said well, you know you Christians I think you guys taking hold of Passover and the feast of unleavened bread and making it your own I mean, those are Jewish Observances. Those are what are you Christians doing? Observing those things and connecting them to your your Christianity. Well, let me tell you some one of the most popular Jews of all time the Apostle Paul is the one who made the connection and when he wrote to the Corinthians in in his first letter the fifth chapter. This is what he said. He said cleanse out the old Leaven or the old yeast remember it's a picture of sin Get rid of it that you may be a new lump meaning a lump of dough as you really are Unleavened in other words without the tyranny of sin in your lives. Look at this. Look at this guys. Paul makes the connection for Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed see Paul's the one who makes the connecting point between these two things He says he's been sacrificed. So let us therefore Excuse me Celebrate the festival or the feast not with the old leaven In other words, not the old man the old sinful nature Let's not live our lives with the old sinful nature, but rather he says let us be that unleavened bread the bread of sincere Truthful kind of people who live our lives in Christ and with honesty and sincerity and that sort of thing So you see again, it's it's the Apostle Paul who's making the the connecting point connecting the dots for you and I between the old Celebrations and how they point to Jesus and the fulfillment is in Christ himself Now moving on in your text now look with me in your Bible in verse 20 It says

and they were very sorrowful and began to say to him it's Judas, isn't it? Now actually they didn't say that because they didn't know They couldn't see into Judas's heart and even when Judas left later that evening to go betray Jesus they didn't know why he left They thought maybe he had to go buy something because he was in charge of the the community purse And and they thought well, maybe he just got has something to do or whatever, but they didn't know in fact I kind of like this Did you notice that what they do say to Jesus when he says one of you will betray me. They said Lord is it me? You know, I like that these guys are usually kind of a bunch of bumbling dodo heads for the most part when it comes to Understanding things but this is one place Where they have stuff kind of dialed in and I really appreciate it because there's this there's this Tendency in our human nature to think that we're above things and we hear about sins We we you know watch the news or we hear and we hear that somebody did something Horrible heinous, whatever and we just kind of go. Oh, man. I'd never do that and Whether we say it with our mouth we think it with our hearts. I'd never do that You never catch me doing that and you can hear yourself saying something like that, can't you or at least thinking it fact of the matter is Every one of us in this room has a sinful nature Every one of us and within the context of that sinful nature the potential is there for you and I to pretty much do anything And it is the healthiest thing for you and I to say when we hear of something like this to say Yeah The potential for that is inside of me. I mean it it disgusts me to think about it but the potential there is resident within my sinful nature and That's the honest assessment of myself that looks at sin and says Lord It's not me is it because you know I could see myself doing something really stupid So Lord is it me is it me? And he answered in verse 23

now This is this is this doesn't mean that Jesus reached out and put something in the dish and ate it and then Judas did it right? After that as much as Hollywood would like to get you to believe that This is a statement simply meaning someone who has lived in a very intimate Connected way with me is the one who's going to betray me in other words what Jesus is saying is it's not some stranger It's not some guy. You've never met. He's right here. He's among us The betrayer is right here. He's been one who I've considered a friend and And you see you and I don't think of going out to eat as that big of a deal with people We do it all the time. Hey, man You want to go out to eat or you want to come on over? We're gonna grill some burgers or something like that You know in our Western sort of a culture we can be still disconnected from people even though we share a meal with them But in an Eastern culture it was an act of intimacy to share a meal with someone because you shared a common bowl and You would dip things in the bowl and they didn't have a double dipping Rule is you could do that all you wanted you could dip and then you didn't dip some more and you all be dipping in The same community bowl, and you know what that means Yeah us germaphobes. We know exactly what that means. You know we're whacked out on germs today But you know they in that Eastern culture considered it kind of a sharing of life And when I sit down and have a meal with some down someone I have been intimate with them in a very Physical way not and I'm not talking sexual here, but intimate nonetheless And so when Jesus says he about the one who betrays him that that you know He who has dipped his hand in the dish is the one who's going to betray me. He's saying he who with whom I've been intimate Connected You know close is the one who is going to do this and he goes on to say in verse 24

in other words Jesus is saying my departure here in the next 12 to 36 hours you're that you're going to see is all that has been prophesied in the Old Testament But then he speaks of Judas without raising his name at all And he says in verse 24, but woe to that man By whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would now listen to this guys it would have been better for that man if He had not been born I've had people over the years asked me many times Do you think you think Judas repented and and got saved at the end? No, I don't Unfortunately if he had repented and gotten saved Then it wouldn't the statement by Jesus really wouldn't be true Now you say well, you know it says in in in the Bible that you know, he was very sorrowful and yeah He was he was sorrowful to the point of committing suicide He was sorrowful unto death, but the Bible says that there's a sorrow that doesn't lead to life It just leads to death and people do that all the time just because somebody acts Sorrowfully when they see their sin doesn't mean that You know the that they've repented sorrow. It does not equal repentance It just means sadness now There is a godly kind of sorrow that will work its way toward repentance, but that's godly sorrow That's that's that's not just sadness. That's a sorrow that says We're gonna do something about this. I'm gonna come to God. I'm gonna humble myself I'm gonna ask for forgiveness and I'm gonna trust him to cleanse me and wash me. Do you do that every day people? I hope you do I cuz I I I have to I mean, I don't know if you do But I sure do I have to come to him every day Lord. Forgive me Forgive me for you know something. I said something I didn't say Something I did something I didn't do you know, just just Excuse me always needing some kind of forgiveness But so he says and then and then Judas posts the question to verse 25 Judas who would betray him answered is it I rabbi and he said to him you have said so that's it's right in other words out of your own mouth now Matthew doesn't give us all of the details of the Last Supper and what happened in that room like some of the other gospel writers do we know that after shortly after this Jesus got up from the table and took out took off his outer garment and wrapped it around his waist and he began to wash their feet remember that whole story Judas was still there at that time he washed Judas his feet can you imagine he knows he knows this guy is the betrayer he knows it and he gets down and washes his feet Judas kick off your sandals buddy I'm gonna wash your feet okay would you do that knowing someone was betraying you because it wasn't just he was going to betray him he had already begun he'd already talked to the Jewish religious leaders and kind of said just hang on I'll give you the sign I'll tell you when it's the best time to arrest him all that had already happened Matthew doesn't give us the details of that particular thing and he'd also doesn't tell us about a conversation between Judas and Jesus where eventually Jesus turned to Judas and said what you're going to do do quickly and the Bible says that at that moment Satan entered in to Judas and he went out to finish the work of betrayal and now Judas is gone Matthew doesn't give us the specifics of that he doesn't even cover that at all but when we get to this point now where Matthew is in the commentary Judas is gone and it says in verse 26

and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying

stop there again please now this is this is I can only imagine what the disciples were probably thinking remember these were all good Jewish boys they'd been through several Passover celebrations in their lives and they knew what was common to a Passover celebration and this wasn't it what Jesus was saying was completely different completely other in fact the the head of the table would would take bread and the typical Passover meal and he would lift it up in front of everyone who was there and he would say this is the bread of affliction of our fathers and he would invite everyone who was at the table to partake of that bread and it was a reminder of the affliction in fact God even calls it the bread of affliction in the Old Testament it was a reminder this bread without yeast reminding us how we had to quickly leave Egypt after God delivered us powerfully you know and and how we we didn't have time to even allow our bread to rise and and and we had to leave in haste and and so forth and in fact the whole Passover meal it was just full of meaning you know they would eat bitter herbs I don't know about you but I just I I struggle with bitter things sometimes eating and I can't imagine doing it on purpose you know I mean it's but I guess probably one of the reasons I've never I don't drink coffee you know and some of you guys I've seen what you drink and after you put other things in it it's not coffee anymore I'm not sure what it is looks like mud but it's it's not coffee but because real coffee is like that it's just and and they would actually eat bitter herbs in the Passover meal to remind them of the bitterness of their affliction and their slavery you know they're in Egypt they would drink salt water to remind them of their tears during those years of affliction and and and slavery and and oppression and obviously the the lamb that they were partaking of here they they are remembering the blood that has been drained out of the lamb and how it was used to protect them their forefathers if you will when God sent the destroying angel over Egypt and and so forth so all these things are just pregnant with meaning for them and and and all these things are very symbolic and and so forth and yet they hear Jesus saying things like he takes the bread instead of saying this is the bread of affliction he says this is my body it's like wow Jesus is reinterpreting the elements of Passover and he's applying them to himself and instead of highlighting the afflictions and the suffering of Israel he's pointing to his own suffering this is my body which is given for you this is my blood remember the blood of a thing that's the life remember that's why the Jews weren't allowed to eat blood still in the animal it had to be completely drained out because why the life of a thing is in the blood don't eat the blood the bloods for sacrifice the blood signifies the life and Jesus said this cup is my blood it is my lifeblood and I am pouring it out for you and suddenly and I don't know how much of a connection these guys made at that point probably not much it was probably much later on suddenly the understanding here that this all points to Jesus it's all about Jesus it's not about religion it's not about festivals or keeping festivals it's not about rituals it's not about traditions it's about Jesus Christ and if we could just understand that if we could just embrace that the reality of that we get into so many arguments oh I hear so many arguments debates things like that going on about religion and this well what do you think about who gives a rip it's all about Jesus Christ you guys there is no more important question than who is Jesus and what did he do it doesn't anything beyond that is just is practically meaningless it all comes down to him it is Jesus who said I am the way not a way the way and I am the truth not a truth the truth and I am the life not a life the life and no one comes to the father except by me that's pretty daring stuff to say and by the way you better be God if you're gonna say it because nobody else can make good on it except God in human flesh so you know this Jesus let me tell you something this is important stuff and he as he be as he reinterprets the Passover celebration and the understanding that these guys have of it he he turns their attention to himself it is about me you guys this is what the prophets foretold and this is what all the festivals of the Old Testament foretold and this is what they pointed to it points to me you guys it points to me and what I am going to do on the cross for you that's what it's all about it's not about religion I think we should kick religion to the curb let's just talk about Jesus Christ let's talk about what he did let's talk about what he has accomplished for us on the cross and how he has been raised from the dead on our behalf that's what's important so you know this is this is amazing Jesus and Jesus is saying the same thing these Jews knew and understood that every time they went through a Passover celebration it was all about remembering it was all about remembering what God had done for the Jews how he had delivered them and so forth and Jesus uses the same language we have to go to Luke to find it I'll put it up here on the screen for you from Luke chapter 22 and he took bread and when he'd 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 so as often as you do this do it in remembrance you are to come together we are to come together and to use this time to say okay what did Jesus do let's talk about it again let's remember again just like the Jews remember all the bitter herbs and the salt water and the the lamb and all the things that were in front of them it was all to just bring their memory to the forefront oh yeah oh yeah God's deliverance God's faithfulness you know God delivering us from bondage that's the same thing for you and I oh yeah that's right God delivering me from the bondage to sin his faithfulness dying on my behalf paying the price the penalty of my sin with his blood that I might be set free to live my life for him you know remembering verse 29 look in your Bible

I love how this section kind of ends with Jesus looking forward looking forward to the coming celebration that we will have with him in the new millennial kingdom what a wonderful thing that is verse 30 and when they had sung a hymn and they traditionally sang certain hymns from the book of Psalms we have the lyrics to this day it says then they went out to the Mount of Olives where that continues I'm going to ask the men who are serving communion this morning to go ahead and ready themselves to do that and now with the the a little bit more of the background of the understanding that we have from Matthew 26 and the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the connection points and how we've kind of you know drawn the the connected the dots if you will maybe this is making more sense to you as a opportunity to remember what Jesus has done for us on the cross you you you you you you you you you you you you