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Soul-Searching during Supper Msg 1321 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We're working our way through Matthew's gospel and we've come
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Speaker 1: toward the end at the 26th chapter. I'll be reading
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Speaker 1: for you verses 17 through 30, which take place in
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Speaker 1: an unusual setting where you and I have never been.
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Speaker 1: And with a body of people you and I have
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Speaker 1: never met. So we will have to engage our imagination
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Speaker 1: We will do that during the reading and we will
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Speaker 1: certainly do that as I get underway in my message
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Speaker 1: so that we might picture in our minds what it
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Speaker 1: must have been like. And after doing that, realize how
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Speaker 1: directly it speaks to every one of us. For God
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Speaker 1: has given us his word not to satisfy idle curiosity,
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Speaker 1: but to transform our lives. And even in a passage
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Speaker 1: like this, where there was a shocking statement made by
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Speaker 1: one in the midst of these disciples. Matthew 26, I'll
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Speaker 1: be reading from the New Living Translation. Your Bible may
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Speaker 1: read a little differently, but you can follow along and
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Speaker 1: we'll all stand together for the reading of God's word.
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Speaker 1: Matthew 26, 17 begins, On the first day of the
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Speaker 1: festival of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
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Speaker 1: where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal
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Speaker 1: for you? As you go into the city, he told him,
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Speaker 1: you will see a certain man. Tell him, the teacher says,
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Speaker 1: my time has come. And I will eat the Passover
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Speaker 1: meal with my disciples at your house. So the disciples
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Speaker 1: did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.
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Speaker 1: When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table
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Speaker 1: with the 12 disciples. It should read, Jesus reclined at
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Speaker 1: the table with the 12 disciples. While they were eating,
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Speaker 1: he said, I tell you the truth, one of you
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Speaker 1: will betray me. Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn,
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Speaker 1: Am I the one, Lord? He replied, One of you
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Speaker 1: who has just eaten from this bowl with me will
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Speaker 1: betray me. For the Son of Man must die, as
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Speaker 1: the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will
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Speaker 1: be for the one who betrays him. It would be
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Speaker 1: far better for that man if he had never been born.
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Speaker 1: Judas The one who would betray him also asked, Rabbi,
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Speaker 1: am I the one? And Jesus told him, you have
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Speaker 1: said it. As they were eating, Jesus took some bread
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Speaker 1: and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and
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Speaker 1: gave it to the disciples saying, take this and eat
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Speaker 1: it for this is my body. And he took a
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Speaker 1: cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it.
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Speaker 1: He gave it to them and said, Each of you
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Speaker 1: drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms
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Speaker 1: the covenant between God and his people. It is poured
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Speaker 1: out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.
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Speaker 1: Mark my words. I will not drink wine again until
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Speaker 1: the day I drink it new with you in my
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Speaker 1: father's kingdom. Then they sang a hymn and went out
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Speaker 1: to the Mount of Olives. You may be seated. Out
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Speaker 1: of great darkness and a time of spiritual decline, known
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Speaker 1: as the Dark Ages. God caused certain individuals to rise
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Speaker 1: up like beacons of light who would speak truth or
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Speaker 1: would write truth that would find its way into the
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Speaker 1: hymnody of the church. As far back as the 12th century,
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Speaker 1: one such individual was named Bernard. He ministered in the
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Speaker 1: region of Clairvaux, southern France. And Bernard of Clairvaux wrote
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Speaker 1: words that have brought deep thought to the minds of
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Speaker 1: believers down through centuries. From the time he wrote it,
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Speaker 1: and then as time passed, in his era, gave harmony
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Speaker 1: to the melody that accompanied the song, and we know
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Speaker 1: it today as O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, referring to,
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Speaker 1: of course, our Savior who was suffering and dying for us.
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Speaker 1: Let's bow for prayer. prepare ourselves for this time of offering.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, dear Father, for your great love for us.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for understanding us as we are. Thank you
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Speaker 1: for your patience as we are in the process of
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Speaker 1: growing and learning. Thank you for showing us along the
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Speaker 1: way what it means to accept your forgiveness and to
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Speaker 1: forgive others. Show us anew what it means to carry
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Speaker 1: Christ around with us and to represent his righteousness in
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Speaker 1: a world that has long since lost its way. I
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Speaker 1: pray today for mothers and dads who rear little children.
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Speaker 1: What a task that is. I pray that you would
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Speaker 1: give them strength, wisdom, patience, understanding. Enable them to establish
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Speaker 1: a standard of right and wrong since that has been
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Speaker 1: lost in this culture in which we live. I pray
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Speaker 1: for those who are getting up in years that you
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Speaker 1: would give great grace and encouragement and special strength to
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Speaker 1: press on, to realize that you're not through with them,
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Speaker 1: that you have a place for them and you are
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Speaker 1: using them. I pray for those who work in difficult places,
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Speaker 1: who face insuperable odds as they are surrounded by those
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Speaker 1: who discount and disclaim the words of Christ. Give them
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Speaker 1: special measures of grace to live for you and to
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Speaker 1: represent you in a way that is realistic and marked
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Speaker 1: by mercy and grace. Thank you, Father, for raising up
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Speaker 1: this church and for using us in the lives of others.
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Speaker 1: May we not be caught in the net and the
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Speaker 1: web of indifference or pride or self-satisfaction. May we realize
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Speaker 1: we have been placed at this particular place in life
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Speaker 1: that we might touch the lives of those who are
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Speaker 1: searching for a way through. Help us to do that
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Speaker 1: consistently And faithfully. Now Lord. We have the joy of giving.
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Speaker 1: We give. With great gratitude. And we give. With generosity.
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Speaker 1: Through Christ. And for Christ. And to the glory of Christ.
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Speaker 1: In whose name we pray. And for whose purpose we give.
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Speaker 1: And everyone said. Amen. We have kind of a funny
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Speaker 1: saying in our home when we talk about an imaginary desire.
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Speaker 1: We refer to, we'd like to have been a bug
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Speaker 1: on the wall when that particular thing happened. Maybe you
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Speaker 1: have the same saying that you grew up with. It
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Speaker 1: has to do with being an unseen and uninvited observer
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Speaker 1: in a setting that is significant. For example, when a
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Speaker 1: surprising discovery was made, it would have been great to
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Speaker 1: have been a bug on the wall and to hear
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Speaker 1: what was said or to see how people acted. For example,
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Speaker 1: when Columbus and his crew first sighted land after all
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Speaker 1: those days of nothing but water, what a great moment
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Speaker 1: to have seen and heard what was said. Or maybe
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Speaker 1: when some scientist makes a discovery or some explorer comes
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Speaker 1: across that moment he's been waiting for. Lewis and Clark,
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Speaker 1: when they first got their glimpse of the blue Pacific
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Speaker 1: as it spread out before them. In that moment, how
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Speaker 1: fabulous it would have been to have been there. Sometime
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Speaker 1: we have in mind those moments when something significant is announced.
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Speaker 1: When Dwight Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the invasion of Normandy.
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Speaker 1: against the counsel of a number of his fellow officers
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Speaker 1: and even those who told him of the weather on
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Speaker 1: that June day in 1944. To have been there and
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Speaker 1: to have heard what was said and to have seen
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Speaker 1: how he felt. Or how about being in the capsule
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Speaker 1: when it first touched down on the moon's surface? I
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Speaker 1: don't know how a bug would get into the capsule,
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Speaker 1: but it would be nice to have gotten in there
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Speaker 1: and to have been a bug on the wall of
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Speaker 1: that capsule and heard what was said or when that
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Speaker 1: first step was taken on the lunar surface. How fabulous
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Speaker 1: it would have been to have been right there and
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Speaker 1: to have heard and seen that event. Go back far,
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Speaker 1: far back in time and on the post of the stable.
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Speaker 1: It would have been wonderful to have been a bug
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Speaker 1: that watched Mary and Joseph when they first looked at
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Speaker 1: God in the flesh. We don't have a record of
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Speaker 1: those words. Surely, very significant words were shared between the
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Speaker 1: two of these godly Jewish teenagers as they realized the,
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Speaker 1: now it fits, the awesome moment when that sacred head
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Speaker 1: emerged from the womb. How great to have been there.
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Speaker 1: Fast forward 33 years and we're on the wall of
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Speaker 1: a second story flat, we would call it, an upper room.
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Speaker 1: The 12 disciples along with their master have eaten a
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Speaker 1: very special meal and then out of the blue, Jesus
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Speaker 1: shocks them with one of you will betray me. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: those of us who have grown up in the church
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Speaker 1: and heard sermons and teaching around the Last Supper, we're
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Speaker 1: no longer shocked by that because we're familiar with the setting.
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Speaker 1: But trust me, Had I been a bug on the wall,
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Speaker 1: I would have looked at Judas, but I would have
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Speaker 1: been the only one. Because no one else suspected Judas.
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Speaker 1: Are you kidding? He's the treasurer of the group. He's
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Speaker 1: the trusted member of the Twelve. He, quite frankly, may
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Speaker 1: have been the brightest of the bunch. The only one
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Speaker 1: not a Galilean. Judas Iscariot. Traitor incognito. And like a
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Speaker 1: terrorist today, he had kept all of the evil in himself.
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Speaker 1: Shared it with none of his close friends. until ultimately
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Speaker 1: in the Garden of Gethsemane, he plants that fateful kiss.
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Speaker 1: And then everybody knew. But not now. Strange, strange, isn't it?
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Speaker 1: Clarice McCartney, for a number of years, pastor of First
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Speaker 1: Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, has written a number of biographical works,
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Speaker 1: and I pulled one from my shelf just this last
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Speaker 1: week and checked what he had written on Judas. He
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Speaker 1: calls him a great mystery. I think that fits. I mean,
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Speaker 1: how could he? Why would he turn on Christ? He
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Speaker 1: has seen everything Peter saw and Andrew saw and Matthew saw.
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Speaker 1: He's been around along with the other disciples, Peter and
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Speaker 1: John and Judas. He's right there. He was there when
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Speaker 1: the storm was stilled and the wind stopped howling and
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Speaker 1: they're in the boat with the master. There's no question
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Speaker 1: that he is of God. And when the lame are
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Speaker 1: healed and the blind are given sight, and he turns
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Speaker 1: on him for 30 pieces of silver, best we can estimate,
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Speaker 1: probably about $ 19 worth of Our money. 19 bucks. Why?
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Speaker 1: As best I can figure, and if McCartney thinks he's
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Speaker 1: a mystery, I don't disagree with that. I would say
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Speaker 1: so also. But if I try to probe the mystery
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Speaker 1: and get into that cryptic reasoning in that motive, I
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Speaker 1: have to say... The man is disillusioned. I believe Judas
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Speaker 1: expected Jesus to overthrow Rome. And I believe when he
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Speaker 1: heard teachings regarding the kingdom, now's his chance. I think
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Speaker 1: he was a zealot. I think he was among those
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Speaker 1: described by some writers as those who carried daggers and
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Speaker 1: were given to assassinations. He was the type who was
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Speaker 1: just waiting for the moment for Jesus to give the
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Speaker 1: Romans the thumb down and to take over. But he didn't.
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Speaker 1: Even when the kingdom was offered, and Judas saw this also,
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Speaker 1: and Jesus slipped away into the crowd, turning away the offer,
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Speaker 1: Judas was there thinking, game over. Where's he going? The
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Speaker 1: crowd's ready to crown him. And then it isn't long
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Speaker 1: before Jesus dialogue with them and his discourses drip with
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Speaker 1: words regarding his death. His death. Doesn't sound like a
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Speaker 1: conquering king to me Thanks, Judas. Exactly what Satan would
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Speaker 1: want in one who would carry his message. But before
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Speaker 1: we get there, we're at a scene in this Last
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Speaker 1: Supper that we think we're familiar with because we've all
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Speaker 1: seen the picture where they're all sitting in chairs. on
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Speaker 1: one side of the table, posing for the artist. It's
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Speaker 1: not the way it was. We covered that before. It
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Speaker 1: wasn't a table like our table. It wasn't chairs like
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Speaker 1: our chairs. Meals were eaten low near the floor. The
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Speaker 1: table is a wooden block. like a very low coffee table.
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Speaker 1: And often it is in a U shape, a U shape,
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Speaker 1: where those who are eating at the table recline. They
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Speaker 1: recline on a pillow. hand or elbow on the pillow,
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Speaker 1: they are using the right hand to manage the food,
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Speaker 1: and they're leaning, which means their feet are out to
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Speaker 1: the side, as you would be in a reclining position,
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Speaker 1: try to imagine. I thought about doing it, and I thought, no,
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Speaker 1: I'm not going to go there. You can get it.
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Speaker 1: You're leaning on a pillow and get this. The one
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Speaker 1: who is leaning or reclining, I should say, the one
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Speaker 1: who is reclining to your right is in your chest area.
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Speaker 1: His head is. Right? He's reclining and he's right here.
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Speaker 1: Your head is in the chest area of the one
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Speaker 1: on your left. Got it? And the host of the
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Speaker 1: meal was usually in the crook of the ewe. Right
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Speaker 1: in the center. So we're able to place who was
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Speaker 1: reclining where when we arrange the table as it may
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Speaker 1: very well have been. But first, the meal itself. Because
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Speaker 1: you and I are Gentiles, we're not familiar with Passover meals. Oh,
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Speaker 1: you may have attended one where it was set for you,
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Speaker 1: but you've not prepared it, and chances are good you've
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Speaker 1: not even been where it was served. But if you
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Speaker 1: were Jewish, it would be an every year experience, as
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Speaker 1: familiar as a Thanksgiving meal is to Americans. A Passover
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Speaker 1: meal consisted of a roasted lamb, Every part of the lamb, legs, hooves, head, tail,
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Speaker 1: every part of it is roasted. And every part of
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Speaker 1: it is to be eaten. None of it left. Because
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Speaker 1: it is a commemoration of deliverance that goes all the
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Speaker 1: way back to Egyptian slavery in the days of Moses
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Speaker 1: when it was first inaugurated. All of the things that
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Speaker 1: are served at the meal symbolically reflect on something related
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Speaker 1: to the Egyptian slavery. The one who would ultimately come
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Speaker 1: and deliver them would be the Messiah, represented by the lamb.
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Speaker 1: And then there was the dip called the harosheth. It
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Speaker 1: was a paste like our dip. mixture of apples and
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Speaker 1: dates and pomegranates and nuts mixed all together, we would
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Speaker 1: call blending together, and that would be like a dip,
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Speaker 1: that consistency. That represented the clay from which the bricks
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Speaker 1: were made in ancient days by the Hebrews while slaves
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Speaker 1: of Egypt. As they ate from that bowl, they would
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Speaker 1: remember and would talk about the slavery and what they
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Speaker 1: had gone through, their forefathers had endured under Egyptian slavery.
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Speaker 1: And then there were those loaves called unleavened bread. Simply
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Speaker 1: means bread made without yeast. So they're flat and they're brittle.
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Speaker 1: And you didn't cut them or slice them, you snapped them.
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Speaker 1: When you broke, you would break the bread and it
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Speaker 1: would snap and it would make little flat pieces, not
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Speaker 1: unlike our chips today that are often in a shape
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Speaker 1: like that and they snap when you break them. And
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Speaker 1: then there would be the bitter herbs. The unleavened bread
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Speaker 1: would refer to that that need for them to cleanse
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Speaker 1: the house from all leaven, which is their picture of sin,
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Speaker 1: get rid of all of that so that none of
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Speaker 1: that would be in the house and the bread would
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Speaker 1: be made as I've just described it. And then fourth
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Speaker 1: would be the bitter herbs composed of such ingredients as
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Speaker 1: endive and horseradish and lettuce and similar foods. That represented
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Speaker 1: the bitterness of slavery. Everything had a meaning, had a symbol.
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Speaker 1: And if you're Jewish, all of that is significant. When
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Speaker 1: we have our Thanksgiving meal, we often refer back to
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Speaker 1: the pilgrims. We go back to those early days when
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Speaker 1: they endured the bitter winters, having just come to the
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Speaker 1: New England area of our country, and so on. So
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Speaker 1: the Jews reclined at the table and they knew how
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Speaker 1: to prepare the meal and they did and these disciples,
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Speaker 1: all Jewish, with Jesus, are around the table and words
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Speaker 1: are shared among different ones. While they're eating the meal
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Speaker 1: and no doubt discussing the things of recent days, Jesus
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Speaker 1: breaks in with this shocking statement, there's a traitor among us.
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Speaker 1: It was the among us part that was so shocking.
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Speaker 1: I think it would be helpful if we left Matthew
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Speaker 1: 26 and went to John 13. Because in John 13,
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Speaker 1: more details are given than Matthew includes. So turn there,
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Speaker 1: will you? John 13. And beginning at verse 21, we'll
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Speaker 1: take up right where we were in Matthew 26. John writes,
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Speaker 1: who is at the table, he's writing 60 years later.
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Speaker 1: Matthew wrote rather soon after Jesus had died, risen from
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Speaker 1: the dead and ascended. Matthew wrote, but not before Mark,
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Speaker 1: who is the first one to write. But John waited
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Speaker 1: a long time before he wrote. And having thought on
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Speaker 1: it all, He writes this, John 13, 21, Jesus is
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Speaker 1: deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, I tell you the truth,
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Speaker 1: one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at
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Speaker 1: each other, wondering whom he could mean. Now look closely.
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Speaker 1: The disciple Jesus loved was reclining next to Jesus at
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Speaker 1: the table, okay? Remember what I described? I take it
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Speaker 1: that John is on Jesus' immediate right. His head is
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Speaker 1: right here. He can look up into the face of
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Speaker 1: Jesus as he reclines at the table. So Simon Peter
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Speaker 1: motioned to him to ask, who is he talking about?
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Speaker 1: You know how we do that when we don't want
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Speaker 1: anybody to hear us? We go... We go, we shape
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Speaker 1: the words, who is it, with our lips. Peter does
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Speaker 1: this to John. So John gets the signal from Peter.
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Speaker 1: Of course, Jesus sees it, and he knows all things.
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Speaker 1: So Jesus says, verse 26, it is the one to
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Speaker 1: whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.
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Speaker 1: What's that about? All right, listen carefully. It wasn't uncommon
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Speaker 1: to have a guest of honor at the Passover meal
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Speaker 1: who would be at the left of the host. And
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Speaker 1: one of the traditions was that the host would prepare
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Speaker 1: a little tidbit, breaking off a couple of the pieces
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Speaker 1: of the unleavened bread and putting some of the bitter
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Speaker 1: herb in between, make a little sandwich, and then dipping
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Speaker 1: that into the keresheth, the dip, and would give that
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Speaker 1: to the guest of honor. I'm suggesting it's Judas. Why
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Speaker 1: would I suggest that? It's his last appeal. It's Jesus'
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Speaker 1: way of saying it isn't too late. I know what
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Speaker 1: you've been doing. I know what you're up to, but Judas, listen.
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Speaker 1: This is all without words. This is my last offer.
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Speaker 1: For you to repent, don't go there. And we read
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Speaker 1: that he took that little sandwich, if you will, and
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Speaker 1: he gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot. When Judas had
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Speaker 1: eaten the bread, look closely, don't miss this, Satan entered
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Speaker 1: into him, and Jesus told him, he realized it's over.
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Speaker 1: There's no more appealing. When Satan enters a life, he's
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Speaker 1: an embodiment of the enemy himself. So Jesus says, hurry
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Speaker 1: and do what you're going to do. Now notice carefully,
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Speaker 1: none of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.
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Speaker 1: Keep reading. Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus
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Speaker 1: was telling him to go and pay for the food
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Speaker 1: or to give some money to the poor. Judas left
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Speaker 1: at once and it was night. Now back to Matthew 26.
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Speaker 1: I know you're sitting here listening to this wondering how
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Speaker 1: could they not have known? After that, even after the dialogue,
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Speaker 1: remember the location of the heads? I think it was
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Speaker 1: said very softly. What Jesus said to Judas was quietly spoken.
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Speaker 1: If Judas said anything back, it was softly spoken, not heard.
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Speaker 1: That's why Peter says, find out who it is. And
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Speaker 1: there was such trust in Judas, which is often the
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Speaker 1: way it is with traitors. There was such trust in Judas,
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Speaker 1: no one would have guessed him of all people. And
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Speaker 1: when he slips out into the night, they thought he
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Speaker 1: was running an errand. Not even then did it dawn
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Speaker 1: on them. If we were to take the time and
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Speaker 1: remain in John 13, we would go on into 14, 15,
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Speaker 1: and 16, in what is called the upper room discourse.
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Speaker 1: Remember we had the Olivet discourse where Jesus taught his
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Speaker 1: disciples on the side of the mountain about his plans
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Speaker 1: for the future. In this upper room where he's at
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Speaker 1: the table with his faithful 11, Judas is now gone,
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Speaker 1: he communicates the work of the Holy Spirit and the
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Speaker 1: important role he will fill Because Jesus is leaving them,
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Speaker 1: this is where he begins to say, don't let your
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Speaker 1: heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
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Speaker 1: In my Father's house are many places of residence. If
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Speaker 1: it were not so, would I have told you I
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Speaker 1: go and prepare a place for you? And if I
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Speaker 1: go and prepare a place for you, I will come
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Speaker 1: again and receive you to myself. That's all the beginning
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Speaker 1: of the upper room discourse said in this room. But
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Speaker 1: they had just had their meal together. So we're back
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Speaker 1: in Matthew 26, and Jesus, verse 26 of Matthew 26,
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Speaker 1: took some bread and blessed it. Stop. Wait. Up until now,
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Speaker 1: the bread commemorated something related to the ancient Exodus, but
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Speaker 1: not now. Before, the wine represented something related to the
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Speaker 1: meal from the ancient past. No longer. Now we have
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Speaker 1: a new meaning. Look at it for yourself. He says,
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Speaker 1: as he picked up some bread, he blessed it and
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Speaker 1: broke it and said, take this and eat it, for
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Speaker 1: this is my body. Unfortunately, once again, we're so familiar
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Speaker 1: with the words, we use them at every communion service.
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Speaker 1: Every time we serve the Lord's table, we use those words.
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Speaker 1: But that was the first time something like that had
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Speaker 1: ever been said. So let's think about those words. Some
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Speaker 1: read the words and they take them literally. Literally. They
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Speaker 1: take them to mean exactly that. And so they teach
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Speaker 1: that when the sacrament is served, literally the bread becomes
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Speaker 1: the body of Jesus. And the wine becomes the blood
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Speaker 1: of Jesus. But Jesus is there with them. The bread
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Speaker 1: wasn't him. He was still there. He's saying the bread
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Speaker 1: represents my body. Let me give you a little a
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Speaker 1: little rule to follow when you do your own interpretation
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Speaker 1: of Scripture. If the normal sense makes good sense, seek
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Speaker 1: no other sense. Okay? Now, the normal sense would be
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Speaker 1: that this couldn't mean his literal body. He's the one
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Speaker 1: who said earlier, I am the door. No one thought
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Speaker 1: he was a door. He's the one who said, I
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Speaker 1: am the vine, you are the branch. You didn't think
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Speaker 1: I'm now a branch, or Jesus is now the vine.
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Speaker 1: He means this is represented by it. I'll give you
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Speaker 1: an illustration. Some time ago, Cynthia, in an unguarded moment,
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Speaker 1: had a picture taken of her. She hardly knew they
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Speaker 1: were taking it, and snap, they took it, And I
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Speaker 1: think it's the best picture she's ever taken. And I've
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Speaker 1: got one on my desk here at the church. I've
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Speaker 1: got one on my desk at the seminary. I've got
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Speaker 1: one on my desk at home. I've got every place
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Speaker 1: but in bed with me because I don't I don't
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Speaker 1: need a picture in bed with me Okay, and whenever
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Speaker 1: somebody is visiting with me at at my study Whichever
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Speaker 1: study it is and they don't know her They'll look
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Speaker 1: at the picture and I will say This is my
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Speaker 1: wife Now she's not framed behind glass Okay It's a
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Speaker 1: representation of my, and it's so elementary to tell you this,
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Speaker 1: but I think of that when I think of those
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Speaker 1: that take this literally. This represents my body. That picture
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Speaker 1: represents my wife. When I travel without my family, I
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Speaker 1: have a picture of my family, and I put it
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Speaker 1: at the table where I eat. And often while I
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Speaker 1: eat alone, they're right there. I can talk to them.
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Speaker 1: Or whatever. Usually don't, but I could if I wanted to.
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Speaker 1: Because it represents my family. Now, that's what we have here.
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Speaker 1: And he goes to the wine and he says, this
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Speaker 1: is my blood. Obviously, again, not representing the blood, or
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Speaker 1: not the exact blood of Christ, but representing the blood
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Speaker 1: of Christ. You get it. For the first time, they're
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Speaker 1: having to come to terms with a reminder of their Savior,
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Speaker 1: whom they've always had with them, but now it will
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Speaker 1: be in the ingredients that are observed at this meal.
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Speaker 1: And the meal will not be once a year. It'll
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Speaker 1: be when you gather for worship. And when you observe
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Speaker 1: these elements, my body and my blood, you'll remember my death,
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Speaker 1: which was given on your behalf. And it will be
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Speaker 1: a marvelous reminder of the Savior. And then he even
37:49
Speaker 1: makes a statement regarding time. Matthew 26, 29, I will
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Speaker 1: not drink wine again until the day I drink it
37:59
Speaker 1: new with you in my Father's kingdom. Not only future
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Speaker 1: to their day, but future to our day. Someday in
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Speaker 1: the future, when that kingdom is established, the Savior is
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Speaker 1: there at the feast. Won't it be marvelous? He will
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Speaker 1: be the host, and we will enjoy The meal with him.
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Speaker 1: And then we read a very intimate statement by Matthew.
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Speaker 1: They sang a hymn. And then they went out. Don't
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Speaker 1: you wonder what they sang? The word is a hymn.
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Speaker 1: Most likely one of the Psalms. There were psalms that
38:54
Speaker 1: fit in the category of Hallel, H-A-L-L-E-L, Hallel Psalms, 113
39:00
Speaker 1: to 115, may have been one of those. Then there
39:04
Speaker 1: was the grand Hallel Psalm, 136, that ends with the
39:08
Speaker 1: same repeated line, his loving kindness is everlasting. Maybe they
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Speaker 1: sang that responsively together. They certainly knew it by heart.
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Speaker 1: No doubt had sung it all their lives. as Jewish
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Speaker 1: boys growing up and now as Jewish men with the Savior.
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Speaker 1: I would love to have been there, a bug on
39:32
Speaker 1: the wall, when they sang the hymn. I wonder if
39:37
Speaker 1: they were able to finish it. Because hymns that are
39:42
Speaker 1: meaningful often touch us deeply and tears replace voices. As
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Speaker 1: they realize this is the last, no other meal, not
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Speaker 1: with the Savior. He will soon be gone. They sang
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Speaker 1: a hymn, and they went out to the Mount of Olives.
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Speaker 1: And what follows is Gethsemane, the arrest, the trials. the scourging,
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Speaker 1: and the death. Before I close all of this off,
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Speaker 1: may I suggest a reversal of roles? In this gathering today,
40:34
Speaker 1: as we find ourselves sitting together, we're not the ones
40:39
Speaker 1: observing from a distance and invisible. That's Christ. He looks
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Speaker 1: into every one of us and he sees what no
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Speaker 1: one else around us can see. You just think you
40:57
Speaker 1: know the person next to you or the one to
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Speaker 1: whom you're married. You don't know that person like the
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Speaker 1: Lord knows him. And he looks deeply within our lives.
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Speaker 1: And if I may quote from Psalm 139, It's as
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Speaker 1: if we are saying to him right now, search me,
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Speaker 1: O God, and know my heart. Try me and know
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Speaker 1: my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in
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Speaker 1: me and lead me in the way everlasting. Interesting words,
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Speaker 1: wicked way. Literally, the Hebrew says, see if there be
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Speaker 1: any way of pain or anything within me that brings
41:42
Speaker 1: you grief or anguish. Show it to me. See, the
41:49
Speaker 1: Lord doesn't search our hearts so that he might know.
41:53
Speaker 1: He already knows. He searches us so that he might
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Speaker 1: show it to us and reveal it to us. That's
42:01
Speaker 1: why we are often urged to search our souls when
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Speaker 1: we come around the table before we partake of the
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Speaker 1: Lord's bread and wine. We search ourselves to see if
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Speaker 1: there is any way of pain. There is nothing hidden
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Speaker 1: before our God, no secret that he does not know.
42:33
Speaker 1: Because that's true, I'm going to ask that we pause
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Speaker 1: right now and close our eyes, bow our heads, and
42:41
Speaker 1: sit very quietly before him. For the next few moments,
42:50
Speaker 1: I invite you to use those words, search me, oh God,
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Speaker 1: and know my heart. Know my thoughts. Could it be, Lord,
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Speaker 1: that I have played the part that isn't true? Other
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Speaker 1: people think I'm yours, but honestly, When I search and
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Speaker 1: you reveal it to me, I realize I've never trusted
43:25
Speaker 1: in your son. I've never told the Lord Jesus Christ
43:34
Speaker 1: I want him to be my savior. So I want
43:41
Speaker 1: to do that right now. Or it may be that
43:46
Speaker 1: you've begun to uncover an area That's been going on
43:50
Speaker 1: long enough. It explains the lack of peace that you've
43:56
Speaker 1: lived with. I don't know what it is. But if
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Speaker 1: you search your heart, you will find it. He'll show
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Speaker 1: it to you. He will cleanse you. What can wash
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Speaker 1: away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What
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Speaker 1: can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood. Trust
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Speaker 1: in Christ now. Open yourself up to him. Offer him
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Speaker 1: your life. No strings attached. Nothing held back. And I
44:44
Speaker 1: can assure you he will come in And make a
44:47
Speaker 1: world of difference. From this point on. Thank you dear father.
44:57
Speaker 1: For your faithfulness. As you. Deal with each one of us.
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Speaker 1: It's as if we're all alone with you. In this room.
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Speaker 1: And we can feel. Your searching presence. As you scope out.
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Speaker 1: our thoughts, our words, our actions, our motives, our lifestyle,
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Speaker 1: as you reveal to us what we have been trying
45:31
Speaker 1: to hide from others, that we have no business continuing.
45:37
Speaker 1: I pray, Lord, that you will enable us to unveil
45:45
Speaker 1: Strip back whatever has kept it hidden so that before
45:50
Speaker 1: you we are an open book and you began to
45:54
Speaker 1: do a work of cleansing in our souls. Deliver us
46:00
Speaker 1: from any attempt to be or to appear something that
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Speaker 1: we're not and then lead us in the way everlasting.
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Speaker 1: Speak to me just as you speak to everyone else.
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Speaker 1: Show me whatever is needed in my own life that
46:22
Speaker 1: ought to be changed, and I will lay it before
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Speaker 1: you and acknowledge it. These things we pray, believingly, in
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Speaker 1: the name of Jesus, our Savior. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen.
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46:47
Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.