Latest / HBCWestminster / 2.27.22 Luke 22:14-23 Pastor Danny Gardner

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2.27.22 Luke 22:14-23 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Allow me to read our text, verses 14 to 23, and then we'll pray and begin. It says,
• 0:29
  And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup, after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table, for the Son of Man goes as it has been determined. But woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. Pray with me, Lord.
• 1:00
  We remember the body and blood of Jesus Christ and the true freedom which they purchased. May all glory go to him who is worthy and in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. Well, last week, you'll recall.
• 1:15
  pastor sam encouraged us with these words from the battle hymn of the republic and it's funny we did get quite a few song requests from last week hoping that pastor sam would lead us in his rendition of the battle hymn of the republic which he did not do for us today you recall from last sunday uh that song but nevertheless uh that verse that said this and with this he kind of ended he said christ died to make men holy let us die to make
• 1:45
  men free god's truth is marching on if you recall your american history you may remember a woman named harriet tubman she was an abolitionist during the american civil war who became what they called a conductor of the underground railroad that network system which was emancipating slaves from the south getting them across many of those borders into the north and she helped to run that underground railroad estimates are that somewhere around 70
• 2:16
  slaves were freed because directly because of harriet tubman and her help and there's a phrase there's a quote that is often attributed to her there's some question about whether she said it or not but almost everybody thinks that she is the one who said this where she said i freed thousands of slaves and i could have freed thousands more if they had just known that they were slaves i freed thousands of slaves she said i could have freed thousands thousands more if they had known
• 2:46
  They were slaves. It's hard to believe that the movie Braveheart is nearly 30 years old. I, in my opinion, think it is one of the greatest movies of all time, right? And anybody who is right thinking probably agrees with me. 30 years old, this movie. How tragic to think that there is an entire generation of Americans who is all but unaware of the battles between William Wallace.
• 3:15
  and King Edward Longshanks, unaware, are they, of Mel Gibson, face painted blue, covered in the blood of his enemies, being tortured, eventually executed, with his final breath screaming one word, which would spark a long-lasting rebellion. One word, which became the battle cry of both medieval Scotsmen and also every 20-year-old American male who lived in the 1990s. Can I get an amen?
• 3:44
  One word which rocked the cinema world. The word freedom. Americans love freedom. We talk about it all the time. Freedom. And especially the infringement upon our freedoms is the theme, even the bedrock of our country's history. We are a people of rebellion. It has come, freedom has come to the forefront of our conversations, especially in the last couple of years.
• 4:15
  Presidents and prime ministers around the world are daily being accused of threatening their people's freedoms or violating their freedoms. You can't tell truckers to go home and then threaten them with arrest if they refuse. That, we are told, is a violation of their freedom. You can't tell us what to wear. You can't tell us where to shop. You can't tell us where to eat. Those would be violations of our freedom. But don't forget, church, that all of those things, every single thing that you've argued with your friends and family about in the last 24 months,
• 4:44
  The mandates, the masks, all those school board meetings, the elections, the governors, the presidents, all of them, even if you really do believe that they are all a threat to your freedom, don't forget, church, they are only a threat to your earthly freedom. Your earthly freedom, which you were never guaranteed anyway. But we find through Christ, our heavenly freedom is secured. My son Chase, who is 11 years old, has been reading along with us.
• 5:16
  in his bible reading and hopefully you guys are enjoying that read scripture app we determined at the beginning of the year we as a church as many of us were willing and able we're going to read through the bible together at this point now we're reading deuteronomy right you guys are now about ankle deep into deuteronomy but a few weeks ago along with the rest of the church my 11 year old son chase was reading leviticus we were all
• 5:37
  In Leviticus. And one morning, I walked downstairs. He's got his Bible there. He is reading. He's in the middle of reading Leviticus. My 11-year-old looks up at me in the middle of it and he says, Dad, are you so excited? And I thought, what could you possibly be excited about? Like, you know, you're 11, you're reading through Leviticus. What are you excited about? And then he said this, are you so excited, Dad, that we don't have to do any of this stuff anymore?
• 6:08
  And I thought, you know, from the mouths of babes, right? I mean, there it is. I just got rebuked, I think. I just got called out by my 11-year-old that I wasn't excited enough as I read about the rituals and the Levites and the sacrifices and the temples, the tabernacles and all of these things. He looks up at me with his Bible and he says, Dad, are you so excited? And then he said this. He said, Christ did it all for us and we are free. We're free because of Jesus.
• 6:35
  And I said, you know, Chase, I'm probably not as excited as I should be. We don't have to do that stuff anymore, church. Because of this morning's text, when Jesus said that he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, that fulfillment found its exclamation point in this morning's text. This was the completion of that fulfillment. Consider.
• 7:03
  Just for a moment, what it is that Jesus accomplished that evening when he celebrated Passover, what would be the final time on earth? We said last time we met, we'll say it again. What we have before us marks the last legitimate Passover. It also marks the first Christian communion. And so let's turn our attention there. And church, I would prod us to say, let's turn our attention there with some excitement. Jesus did it.
• 7:34
  And because He did, we are free. Let me pick up in verse 14. It says, And when the hour came, He reclined at table and the apostles with Him. Now many times in Jesus' ministry, He said the words, My hour has not yet come. When His mother Mary came to Him asking Him to reveal Himself at a wedding where the wine had run out, He replied with, My hour has not yet come. When His brothers mockingly encouraged Him to go up to Jerusalem to declare Himself to be the Messiah, He replied with,
• 8:05
  My hour has not yet come. And then this morning's text, which marks the major turning point in redemptive history. The hour had come. This event signaled the close of the old covenant. And think about this. This is where the Old Testament ends and the New Testament begins. A new covenant being offered by the blood and body of Jesus and specifically a new covenant.
• 8:35
  of freedom previously and for hundreds of years every jewish family brought a passover sacrifice an unblemished lamb every year we see in our tax that this year this final passover that our heavenly father also brought his lamb to be slain alfred edersheim in his quintessential work the life and times of jesus the messiah describes this final passover this way and i love his description
• 9:04
  He says, it was probably as the sun was beginning to decline in the horizon, just at sunset, that Jesus and the other ten disciples, remember Peter and John had been sent ahead to prepare a place, but Jesus and the other ten disciples descend once more over the Mount of Olives and into the holy city. Before them lay Jerusalem in her festive attire. This was Jerusalem during a celebration.
• 9:27
  You can imagine what we imagine Christmas time with all of the lights and the festivity and all of that, just that energy in the air. That's what was going on in Jerusalem. Before them lay Jerusalem in her festive attire. All around, pilgrims were hastening toward it. White tents dotted the sward, gay with bright flowers of early spring, or peered out from the gardens or the darker foliage of the olive plantations. From the gorgeous temple buildings.
• 9:57
  dazzling in their snow-white marble and gold, on which the slanting rays of the sun were reflected, rose the smoke of the altar of burnt offering. These courts were now crowded with eager worshipers, offering for the last time, in the real sense, their Passover lands. The streets must have been thronged with strangers, the flat roofs covered with eager gazers, who either feasted their eyes with a first sight of the sacred city for which they had
• 10:26
  so often longed. It was the last day view which the Lord could take, free and unhindered, of the holy city till his resurrection. The last time Jesus would see Jerusalem with the lights on. It's a beautiful scene for sure, but not nearly as beautiful as what the Lord had in store. The basic message of the Passover is that God delivers his people from the judgment of sin by the death of an innocent substitute.
• 10:57
  That was the basic message that sin would be taken care of by the death of something innocent. In fact, it is exactly what Pastor Sam preached last Sunday. And weren't you guys blessed by Pastor Sam's sermon last Sunday? That we should all be faithful witnesses, no matter where we are, no matter where the Lord puts us, that we are to be faithful. And he used this text as a springboard, 2 Corinthians 5.21.
• 11:24
  For our sake, he, that is the father, made him Jesus. To be sin, who knew no sin? So that in Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God. What began in Genesis 3 with God himself sacrificing animals in order to clothe the man and woman and so to cover their shame. What continued in Genesis 22 with the ram caught in the thicket, which Abraham was commanded to sacrifice instead of his son. What was pictured for hundreds of years.
• 11:54
  through this sacrifice, you can imagine, of thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of animals. What was pictured in those sacrifices this very evening found fulfillment in Jesus. We know from our text two weeks ago that Jesus and his apostles were in a large upper room inside the city of Jerusalem. Now, most houses in Jerusalem were two levels, but the upper level, what was the roof,
• 12:22
  was normally open air, like a roof deck or patio. It was not enclosed. But those upper rooms which were enclosed were typically owned by wealthier people. And so we can assume that because Jesus was meeting in an enclosed upper room, that he was probably borrowing the upper room of a wealthy friend.
• 12:46
  An obscure statement made in Mark chapter 14 and verse 51. No doubt you've probably read the gospel of Mark. Maybe you didn't even notice this statement that's made. And it is really random. It says, and a young man followed him to the garden of Gethsemane.
• 13:02
  At the end of the Lord's Supper, we know that Jesus and his band go across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives, into the Garden of Gethsemane. And a young man followed him to the garden with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. All he's wearing is a bed sheet. And they, that is the Roman soldiers, seized him. They find this young man wearing the bed sheet. They grab him, but only by the bed sheet. And he left the cloth and ran away naked.
• 13:29
  That's all it says about this guy, right? It's just this really random little paragraph kind of stuck into the middle of the crucifixion story. There's this young guy who follows him to the Garden of Gethsemane. He's wearing nothing but a bed sheet. He ends up running away without the bed sheet. You say, well, what in the world? Now, listen, commentators almost universally agree that perhaps this was the author of the Gospel of Mark. Now, who wrote Mark? Mark.
• 14:01
  right it was mark no doubt being dictated by the apostle peter right so peter's telling the story mark's writing it all down that the author mark includes these two little verses mark 14 verses 51 and 52 that he includes that about himself he wanted to make sure that people knew that he was an eyewitness to those events i saw these things but he was hesitant for obvious reasons to name himself in the book
• 14:31
  Remember that naked guy? Present, right? This would eventually become John Mark. That's who that was, a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. The man that had a disagreement with the Apostle Paul at one point in the book of Acts. That is this John Mark. And perhaps some have deduced that the upper room belonged to John Mark's wealthy parents.
• 14:58
  Because how else would this young man know where Jesus was, know where to find him? Maybe it was actually happening in his house. It was John Mark's house, his upper room, and that's how he knew Jesus just left. The rest of the guys went with him. I'm going to follow him to see what happens. Right? That's how Mark would have known where Jesus would be. Again, this was also likely the very same upper room in which Christ's faithful followers gathered.
• 15:24
  after his crucifixion in Acts chapter 1, when it says that Jesus had been crucified. And now this brand new early church, 120 in all, is trying to figure out what to do next. It says in Acts chapter 1 that they met in an upper room. It was the same upper room, very likely, Mark's home. Now, speculation aside, we know that the Passover meal had been prepared.
• 15:47
  This would have involved the sacrifice and roasting of a lamb and the preparation of a variety of herbs, of wine, unleavened bread. Each of those things which they would consume had significance as the meal was eaten, as scriptures were recited. Notice verse 15. And Jesus said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. The Greek states the word desire twice. It doesn't use the word earnestly. It says,
• 16:18
  I have desired, desired to eat this. A literal rendering would have been with desire, I desired, or desiringly, I desired to eat this meal with you. You may ask, well, why was this particular Passover so special? Why would he have earnestly desired to eat it? Jesus would have participated in Passover meals probably every spring of his 33 earthly years.
• 16:47
  However, never until this one was Jesus ever the head of a Passover company. A company would have consisted of a minimum of 10 persons. The company head was chosen to sacrifice the lamb and then to lead the meal. Jesus had been a guest many times before. We even have a couple of them recorded in Scripture. But he had never been the head. And hence, not until this Passover before us did Jesus ever offer the Passover lamb himself.
• 17:17
  This is the first time he ever did it, where he was the one who offered the lamb. Until now, it had always been offered by another. And thus, the only time Jesus ever offered the sacrificial lamb was the very year he offered himself as the sacrificial lamb. Notice verse 16, for I tell you, he says, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He says something very similar in verse 18.
• 17:45
  For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. This statement, I think, probably gave some hope to the apostles. If you've been going through the gospel of Luke with us, you'll recall a few weeks ago in chapter 21 that Jesus described the end of the world. Remember that? And I even said, don't fret, church. The end of the world isn't the end of the world, right? That Jesus looks at the temple and he says, you know this building?
• 18:14
  The foundation of our religion, of our faith, of our society, our culture is going to be destroyed. He describes this catastrophic devastation of the temple, the city of Jerusalem. But then he reminds his hearers here in verses 16 and 18 that even his own death would not be the end of the story.
• 18:36
  Although this would indeed be the final Passover of his earthly life, he says there will come another time when all would be fulfilled and he would once again celebrate with his people. I think this is probably in reference, I think, to the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation 19 and verse 9. This will be, he says, the final time I will do this on earth, but a day is coming at the consummation of all things when we will celebrate again.
• 19:05
  Notice verse 17, and he took a cup. When he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. Now some questions typically arise regarding Luke's treatment of the Lord's Supper. Foremost among them is why is Luke's coverage so brief? The simple answer is that Luke's gospel was penned a good five years after the writing of the Apostle Paul's 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, from the Apostle Paul,
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  had been written five years before the gospel of Luke was written it had had time to gain acceptance to be copied to be widely distributed in that early church long before five years before Luke ever wrote his and so that early church would have already read these words first Corinthians 11 verse 23.
• 19:57
  For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Now, we get together once a month on the first Sunday of the month. We take communion as a body. We take it again on the third Sunday of the month in our homes, right? So two times a month, we take communion as a church. We typically, almost every time we read this text,
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  right the lord jesus took bread he broke it distributed it and said eat this in remembrance of me and then we all eat in fact we'll do that again next sunday in the same way it continues he took the cup after supper saying this cup
• 20:40
  is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And so these very specific communion instructions had already been widely distributed among the church. And so Luke's very brief coverage, we find, is adequate. The church had already seen how to do communion. What Luke does is says, here's how it worked in the flow of the Passion Week.
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  Now, the Passover meal, what they were celebrating, what would transform into communion, began when the head of the company took the first cup, the first cup called the cup of blessing. And normally during a Passover meal, there are four cups given and then drunk, consumed by the attendees. Four cups. This would have been the first cup called the cup of blessing. It is different than the cup of communion, which we will talk about in just a moment. And did you guys notice?
• 21:40
  That in our text actually two cups are described you guys catch that Verse 17 and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he said take this and divide it among yourselves, right? There's cup number one notice down at verse 20 Here is the communion cup verse 20 says and likewise the cup after they had eaten Saying this cup that has poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood now that describes two cups there There are normally four cups during the Passover. We'll talk about that in just a moment but this would have been the first cup or 17 the cup of
• 22:12
  He spoke over a blessing, a thanksgiving. Normally that thanksgiving included two benedictions, one for the day and one for the wine. Something like, blessed are you, Jehovah our God, you've created the fruit of the vine, you have preserved us alive, you've sustained us and brought us to this season. No doubt Jesus said something like that. Then the wine would be passed, all would drink. Now the next part of the normal Passover ceremony would be as soon as that cup was consumed,
• 22:42
  would be for the head of the party to rise and to wash his hands. That's what would normally happen right there. But Luke doesn't record this, right? Instead, we get from the Gospel of John that Luke, right, that Luke actually leaves out, we get from the Gospel of John that Jesus, after the cup has been drunk, stands up and rather than washing his hands, does what? Washes the feet of the apostles.
• 23:12
  And so they all expected that he would stand up, that he would go over to the wash basin. But they did not expect that he would take off his outer robe, that he would grab a towel and wrap it around his waist, and that he would bring that wash basin over to the feet of his apostles and to begin washing them. Never, church, never, ever, ever, ever did the head of the company wash the feet of those who were going to eat. Never. That job was reserved.
• 23:42
  for the servant in fact John chapter 13 describes it this way it says when he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place he said to them do you understand what I've done for you do you understand what I just did right they're all sitting there a little stunned probably you call me teacher and Lord and you're right for so I am
• 24:02
  If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
• 24:23
  You know, the only time, the only time I can think of, I really did try to think of another time, the only time in Scripture I can think of that Jesus assumed a position of leadership. He stepped into the role of leader. He then, from that position, circled all the way back around to the bottom to take the role of the servant. Jesus said, yes, I am the head of the company, but as the head,
• 24:53
  took the role of the least. Why would he do that? And the answer is because Christ knew that it's people that matter. It's people that matter. It's not prestige. It's not power. It's not the seat that you fill. It's the service you provide. May I ask, church, does your life reflect this same priority, the priority of our Lord, who would, even from a position of power,
• 25:23
  neglect that position to go and take the role of a servant? Is your life about people? Or is it about power? Is it about prestige? I love that our Lord here was never, never above taking the role of a servant, and nor should we be. Do you ever have that attitude? And you're just going to have to confess this. This is just between you and the Lord, right? But does it ever kind of creep up in your own heart or in your mind? Like, there are some things that are just below me.
• 25:53
  There are some, I'm just, no, that's below me. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to tolerate that. I'm not going to take that because I deserve better. We never see that attitude in our Lord. Notice that Jesus continues by offering a saving reminder in verse 19. It says, and he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance.
• 26:20
  It is hard to overstate the monumental change that this statement represents. With these words, the old covenant closes with all of its ceremony and social and dietary laws, all of the rituals, the sacrifices, the Levites, the human high priesthood, the temple, the most holy place, the veil which protected the people from the presence of God, even the book of Leviticus. It all found its fulfillment that day.
• 26:49
  in these words when jesus took bread and said this is now my body given for you do this in remembrance of me the bread of the passover which represented the affliction the jews endured in egypt would no longer be the bread of jewish affliction but would now transform into the bread of christ's affliction representing his life which was given for us here again we see that theme of substitutionary atonement
• 27:18
  Jesus took our place, satisfying the wrath of God. And you'll notice that Jesus took one loaf of bread, broke it, and distributed it among his disciples. That same loaf of bread was to be shared, symbolizing the unity of the body of Christ. And church, we get as close as we can to this. If you've been around the church a long time, you'll know that our communion wafers, right?
• 27:41
  have taken several forms through the years as we've tried to get closer and closer and closer to something like this. With modern kind of social expectations, sanitary expectations, efficiency expectations. I know that many churches, and ours included, have kind of gone to a pre-cut, pre-assembled little crunchy thing. And nobody knows what they're actually made of. But to call it bread is probably a stretch.
• 28:08
  And we did that for many years. And honestly, church, there's nothing wrong with that. The Bible does not prescribe. It describes, but it doesn't prescribe what you have to eat in that moment. The idea is some kind of bread, right? Which represents the body. And remember, it's all symbolic anyway, so it's okay to have a variety. But you'll notice in the text that Jesus took one loaf of bread, one loaf, and it was meant to symbolize the unity.
• 28:33
  Right? That we all share in the blood of Jesus. And so we have kind of done our best to keep things gluten-free, which people need, and to keep things efficient, to keep, you know, whatever. And so what we do is we get as close as we can. There are unleavened and gluten-free little, I don't know, they look like kind of tortillas, you know. But we cut those. We cut them ourselves. That's why they're soft and not crunchy. Right? When we take them, we'll take them again next week. And so those all come from one single source, from one piece that we cut into small pieces.
• 29:02
  So that we can distribute it amongst the body. It's meant to represent the unity that we share in the single loaf of bread. Notice in verse 20, it continues. It says, and likewise the cup after they had eaten, right? So a different cup than before. Saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Now I've already mentioned that a typical Passover Seder or Passover dinner has four cups that each individual is expected to drink throughout the meal.
• 29:33
  There are all kinds of thoughts regarding what these cups represent, but typically those four cups symbolized rescue, deliverance, redemption, and God's taking possession of his people. And the cup being referred to in verse 20 would have been the third cup. After the meal, the cup of redemption. The head of the Passover would hold up that cup and say something like, this is the cup of redemption symbolizing the blood of the Passover lamb.
• 30:02
  just as the blood of the lamb brought salvation to god's people in egypt from this point forward however that cup that third cup would no longer symbolize the lamb of egypt but rather the lamb of god who would take away the sin of the world in about three weeks our connect homes will meet again connect our once a month
• 30:25
  homes around the city we have nine different homes and we are working hard to get more of those i know that there are space issues i know that we are busting at the seams in many of those homes but would encourage you to jump into one of those i think we're going to our goal is to start three more of them by easter but this next month in march the third sunday in march i think it's march 20th i've encouraged our connect home leaders to actually lead a passover seder we've given all of the instructions
• 30:52
  All that we need to do, all that you need to prepare. It's not actually that hard. It's mostly kind of read and respond, but you lead them through the story of Egypt and how Christ fulfilled each of those things. And so we're going to look at doing that March 20th. All of you are welcome to come to Henry and Val's house. 200 of us will meet over there. Now we divide up, you know, nine homes around the city. Would love to have you at any one of those, all ages, including your kids. In fact, it's awesome for kids to be a part of this.
• 31:21
  This is one of those dinners that you kind of lead them through the story of God redeeming his people. But at one point during the Christian Passover, what we will celebrate, we ask this question. We ask, why don't we celebrate Passover today? And the answer is, we do. Kind of. Every time we celebrate the new covenant version of Passover by taking communion. The new covenant, like the old.
• 31:52
  was ratified with the shedding of blood our regular observance of communion we do it twice a month once as a corporate body here in the church once in homes around the city twice a month we take communion as a reminder to christians of the death of christ which satisfied and absorbed the wrath of the father you notice that our text ends with a somber reminder
• 32:20
  In verse 21, but behold, Jesus says, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another which of them it was going to be who would do this. Now, many of us have no doubt seen the normal arrangement of the table during a Passover meal looking something like this. Here is Leonardo, I almost said DiCaprio. That was close.
• 32:47
  That was close. We'll edit that out of the recording. There's Leonardo da Vinci's version of The Last Supper. It is internationally famous. It is one of the most famous works of art of all time. In fact, it is a brilliant work of art. It's just nothing like what would have happened that day. In fact, the similarities aren't even very close to how it would have actually happened that day.
• 33:14
  The first century Jews had adopted a seating arrangement from the Romans known as a triclinium. It was a three-sided table arranged in a U. It probably would have looked something like this. Ancient Jews didn't use chairs around this table, often pillows. They would recline, they would lay down, they would prop themselves up using an elbow on these tables. You'll notice there is a U shape, right, and all of the attendees sitting around the outside of the table. Now, by deductive reasoning, by harmonizing the gospel accounts,
• 33:44
  We can even gather much of the seating arrangement. The head of the table was not in the center the way that we do it. Rather, it was on the side. Do you see Jesus' name there on one of the pillows on the close side, the middle one? That was considered the head of the table. To his left would have been the highest seat of honor. That was the seat of honor to the head's left. And notice who occupied that seat. It was Judas. To his right.
• 34:13
  would have been his most beloved friend. And notice who that was? That was John, right? The gospel of John even calls John the disciple whom Jesus loved. John would have been to Jesus' right. You even recall a time where John leans against Jesus and asks, which one is it, right? And I honestly think, I think he was asking because he was afraid of what? He was afraid it was going to be him. Like, it's not me, is it? Is it me?
• 34:41
  It's not me. And Jesus says, no, it's the one to whom I give this bread. He takes a piece of bread, dips it, and then he hands it to Judas, who was sitting on his left. Now, John was the youngest of the apostles. Therefore, he would have been considered the least, and yet he was in that most trusted spot. Now, seating would continue to the left around the table from the greatest to the least in terms of importance. The final seat, the one on the very end, was reserved.
• 35:09
  for the servant who would be charged with running to the kitchen to get refills. And notice where Jesus put Peter, right? Peter was the oldest. He would have been considered the foremost. He was often the one to whom the others looked when they needed leadership, and yet Jesus put him at the end. And this is why Peter can look across the table at John and say, hey, ask him which one it is, because Peter was no doubt afraid of what? Ask him if it's going to be me. Is it going to be me? All right, John asking the same thing. Wait, which one of us is it?
• 35:40
  Now notice here that all of this, I think, was done intentionally by the Lord. It was ordered to prove a point when he would stop during the meal, stand up, and begin washing their feet. Peter was the one who was supposed to do that job. He was sitting in the servant's spot. He was supposed to be doing the washing, which is why it makes sense that he has that little outburst. Jesus goes to Peter's feet. You remember what Peter says? Never. Never.
• 36:11
  You will never wash my feet, Lord. What are you doing? Give me the stuff. You're not supposed to be doing that. I wash your feet. You don't wash my feet. And Jesus says, unless you let me wash your feet, you have no part in me, right? And remember Peter's response? He's like, well, then wash my whole body. And Jesus says, no, the feet is good. Let's slow down a little bit. Let's just stick to the feet. Now, next time in our study, you're going to see that a full-on fight breaks out.
• 36:40
  Among his disciples. Among these apostles. Over which of them is best. A full on fight starts in 24. Where they start arguing with one another. Around this table. That's where they're all sitting. Because they're arguing about where Jesus placed them. That order. Who he thought was more important than who. And so they begin arguing. Why would Peter be at the end? Wait a minute. He's just a kid. He gets to sit in the best spot. The most beloved spot. Why didn't I get that seat? And they start actually arguing. All the while Jesus is washing their feet.
• 37:10
  and saying go and do likewise all the while he's describing his blood being spilled in the middle of that he's saying take a drink they all drink and then they start arguing about who's going to have the best seat who's going to have the most prominent position in the kingdom while he's describing and explaining the significance of his impending death a church imagine for a moment that you were there that you were one of those apostles sitting around that u-shaped table
• 37:40
  Imagine you were there to hear Christ transform the Passover into communion. Imagine that you were there to hear him utter what would become some of his last earthly words. And imagine as you watched him tear the bread, pour the wine, and declare over his people freedom. Freedom from all that had come before. Freedom from all of the rituals and all of the laws. He says, fulfilled. And you are therefore free. And Lord, thank you.
• 38:10
  for your word and thank you for its truth and god i pray that as it is preached we would know not only here but also do god i pray that we would receive it for what it is the words of god and not the words of man in jesus name amen